The family watched the Parade on tv earlier. A rehash of more or less the same stuff every year. You could, if you wished, try to squint a lil to look past the boring displays, to find those minute details that evoked a sense of "Hey, like it or not, we are in the same boat/shit together." (Or some would refer to as national identity or the stronger word- patriotism.)
More than anything, National Day brought home the fact that we live on a tiny island. We watched the A4's and F16's did their fly-bys past the stadium on tv, the sound from the tv superimposed with the actual booms and roars of these planes as they flew by above our apartment. The fireworks and cannon-salutes sounded as though they were fired not so far away from our backyard. After so many NDPs, mum and sis were still tempted to run to the kitchen to try to catch a glimpse of fighter-jets, fireworks and whatnot. For a moment, the sudden amplification of sound seemed to transport them to a different time and space. I had to break the reality to them that we live on the second storey- That they would merely stare into concrete or the neighbouring Apartment-Block-50 if they ran to the kitchen's window.
I thought to myself- Given that I was born in a different time and space, and had the option to choose my place of residence, I would likely decide to settle on a tiny island, close to the sea, off some peninsula again, as opposed to some smacked-centre region on a huge land mass or continent.
House of Flying Daggers
Watched House of Flying Daggers earlier too. I had not disliked any Zhang Yimou's films. I pretty much enjoyed this one as well. But it somewhat pales in comparison to the best films he made. My favourite films done by him are To Live and Not One Less.
The chase scenes in the woods were reminiscent of Kurosawa's blazing, breath-taking tracking shots. The colours (harsh snow-white against shades of green) used were luscious as they had been in the last movie, Hero. The plot-twist at the end landed a rather thought-provoking and cool closure for the film. Relationships between the main characters did not seemed to have been established very well though. Parts of the film and some of Andy Lau's lines made it seemed like a rerun of Infernal Affairs. Where I watched the show, I was not sure why but part of the audience would laugh at the mere sight of Andy Lau. The fight-scene in the bamboo-forest harked back to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as well. I was sure most audience (including myself) could not help but felt the correlation with these other films because it was inevitable we would carry with us previous movie experiences to this one or any other.
It has to be said that Zhang Yimou is a die-hard romantic. The kind that suscribes to the old-school (shakespearean) adage that reads:
The greatest romance is the death of a romance.Expect one or more parties involved in a love-affair in his films to die or part ways.
Final thoughts. My opinion is that HoFD is a simple, romantic and thoughtful film. If anything, the crucial ending made it more meaningful. A contemplation on a classic love triangle- told the relationship of 3 individuals tied in a fragile deadlock, whereby they each loved and valued one another. Main fault found with the film is that in place of the lengthy action/dance sequence, more could have been done to establish the relationship of the 3 protaganists.
Without a doubt though, Zhang Yimou is one of the greatest directors around.
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