A Letter to Momo viewed one morning at the 2012 HKIFF

The 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival has ended

but my reviewing of films I viewed during the fest continue!

A Letter to Momo (Japan, 2011)
- From the Animation Unlimited program
- Hiroyuki Okiura, director

The morning after I attended an evening screening of 13 Assassins and then went with two fellow film fan friends -- one visiting from Britain, the other from Canada -- for dinner (and sake) at my favorite yakitori-ya in Hong Kong, I woke up early to go attend a morning screening of another HKIFF offering. As someone who is more night owl than early bird, I try to keep morning screenings to a minimum.  But it's hard to completely avoid them during such as the Hong Kong International Film Festival -- and, as it turns out, I went to two over successive weekends at this year's HKIFF.

I am happy to report that I got quite a bit out of both of the films I viewed in the HKIFF's 10.30am slot.  As I previously attested, I found The Look fascinating enough.  As for A Letter to Momo: I really am sincere when I state that it'd rank in the top five of the sixteen films I viewed at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Hiroyuki Okiura's animated coming-of-age drama centering on a girl who is brought to live by her newly widowed mother to her old family home on the remote rural island of Shio is the kind of film that unquestionably was made with a lot of care as well as love.  So it actually doesn't come as too much of a surprise to learn that this traditional hand-drawn anime work took seven years to make (even while one can't help but admire the dedication and persistence of its filmmaker.)

A Letter to Momo has drawn positive comparisons with Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro.  Some of the scenes depicting life in a seaside settlement may also bring to mind Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.  But the 13-year-old protagonist in this Hiroyuki Okiura film appears older -- and definitely also is sadder and more taciturn for much of the movie -- than those Studio Ghibli offerings' main female characters.  On a related note: the overall tone of A Letter to Momo also is more bittersweet than those Miyazaki movies.

Momo holds dear a piece of paper with the words "Dear Momo" written by her father that she found in a drawer of his desk at work after his death.  At the same time, she also is wracked by guilt along with sadness whenever she sees and thinks of this unfinished "letter" as the last time she saw her father, she had uttered words in anger that she came to deeply regret having aimed at him.  

After moving to Shio, however, A Letter to Momo's protagonist soon finds herself with little time to dwell on such thoughts as a result of her discovering the existence of three mischievous goblins that -- a la Totoro and the soot sprites -- few people other than her (and most definitely not any adults) can see.  Frightening at first, these supernatural creatures gradually come to reveal their softer and fun sides to Momo.  In the process, they slowly but surely help her to open up, psychologically heal and also emotionally (re-)connect with others, old family members and new friends alike.

Among the more interesting -- and admirable -- aspects of A Letter to Momo for me is how this film has whimsical supernatural elements and obviously is an animated work yet also can feel so very "real" as well as realistic.  In particular, I found its depiction of grief and how different people going about attempting to deal with the major loss of a loved one to be very moving, and their eventual coming together emotionally cathartic and touching.  And lest there be any doubt: yes, this cinematic work really did literally move me to tears even while also having a few scenes that will surely make one smile, laugh and, in at least one particular instance, get one's adrenaline positively pumping away!

My rating for the film: 9 

Lai Chi Wo -- reached at long last! (Photo-essay)

A couple of years after I first learnt about the existence of Lai Chi Wo -- and three photo-essays (see here, here and here) chronicling the hike I went on to get to that which once was the most prosperous as well as Hakka walled village in northeastern Hong Kong on -- I finally made it to this scenic locale.  Although my hiking party knew that we still would have some way to go to finish that day's hike, we couldn't help but linger in the area and do such as check out parts of the Lai Chi Wo Nature Trail as well as the village itself...

For one thing, we figured that it'd be some time before we'd be in this isolated part of the Big Lychee again.  For another, Lai Chi Wo really is a place that feels pretty special -- not least because there really aren't many places like it (left) in Hong Kong...

 The kind of sign that warns -- but also gets one laughing! ;D

 No sign of tree failure here! ;b

Lai Chi Wo's Hip Tin Temple (on the left) and primary school 

(on the right) both lie outside the walled village proper

The (still) well maintained Hip Tin Temple

looks immaculate inside as well as on the outside

Inside the walled village, there are buildings that look fit to 

still be lived in along with others that look ruined beyond repair

In addition, there are those that look to have been

largely abandoned -- but are still maintained for 

ancestral spirits to visit should they so wish

The way out out of Lai Chi Wo over on its western side

is not as flat as the way in from the south

And yes, it's more than six kilometers this way to the nearest

still substantially populated hamlet -- and minibus stop!

To be continued... in one last photo-essay documenting this very fulfilling around 15 kilometer hike! ;b

Two of the seven Japanese films I viewed at the 2012 Hong Kong International Film Festival

I Wish... was the title of a Japanese movie that screened

at this year's HKIFF -- and, as it so happens, 

the words on one of my Hello Kitty handkerchiefs! ;b

 I Wish (Japan, 2011)
- From the Auteurs program
- Hirokazu Kore-eda, director
- Starring Koki Maeda, Oshiro Maeda, Nene Otsuka, Joe Odagiri, Isao Hashizume, Kirin Kiki, Kyara Uchida, Hiroshi Abe, etc.

Famed Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest cinematic offering has a number of big and respected name thespians among the adults in its cast.  But they largely play second fiddle in the film to the children -- in particular Koki and Oshiro Maeda, the real-life pair of brothers who play two brothers who now live in different Kyushu towns as a result of their parents (essayed by Nene Otsuka and Joe Odagiri) having divorced.

Serious sixth grader Koichi (Koki Maeda) and his mother have moved in to live with her parents in Kagoshima while cheery fourth grader Ryunosoke (AKA Ryu) (Oshiro Maeda) lives with his slacker musician father and his bandmates in Fukuoka.  Both boys appear settled in school and have made  friends who they do spend time hanging out with but they still make time and effort to regularly talk to each other over the phone.

I'm not sure how long ago it was that their parents divorced but it's clear enough from early on in the film that Koichi pines for the days when his parents, brother and himself still lived in the same town and under one roof. And one day, after he hears another student in his school tell a story involving there being a way to make wishes come true, he decides to go about doing what he can to make his wish to have his family reunite come true.   

Koichi assumes as a matter of course that his younger brother will share this wish, and Ryu agrees to journey to meet up half way with Koichi and help him effect his plan. But the truth of the matter is that Ryu doesn't share Koichi's wish for their family to get back together again as Ryu's memories of time spent as a family tends to involve quarrels breaking out at some point or other between his parents.

If Hirokazu Kore-eda were a more conventional filmmaker, the brothers' differing wants and wishes would get easily resolved.  But because he is not, they are not -- and, in the process, I Wish turns out to quite a bit more than the average, conventional movie revolving around a couple of children who, as it so happens, do actually -- and admirably -- come across as regular kids (rather than the kind of precocious tykes that feature in way too many movies).

Bereft of cheap theatrics, I Wish is the kind of drama that doesn't contain any incredible emotional highs or dramatic emotional lows.  Instead, it has a lot of moments that appear close to life -- that will make you smile in knowing recognition as well as smile in amusement, with pleasure or, a couple of times in the movie, through bittersweet pain.  

As it so happens, the best section in the film for me actually didn't involve Koichi and Ryu's family but, rather, the boys and their friends who had decided to go off with them in their journey to make their own wishes come true as well and a lonely elderly couple who open up their home to the children and make them pampered guests for the night. The possibility is left hanging in the air that maybe it might turn out that this elderly couple and one of the children are related.  

No matter however that it's never confirmed or disproved.  Rather, the magic lies in realizing that there are such things in this world as the kindness of strangers -- and love between two brothers who some people might be inclined to dismiss as being too young to really be capable of having feelings so strong and thoughts as deep as they are depicted as having in I Wish.

My rating for the film: 8

 13 Assassins (Japan, 2010)
- From the Gala Presentation program
- Takashi Miike, director
- Starring Koji Yakusho, Goro Inagaki, Takayuki Yamada, Hiroki Matsukada, Yusuke Iseya, etc.

Six years ago, I viewed Takashi Miike's torture-filled Imprint at the 2006 Hong Kong International Film Festival and considered it the second worst of the 23 films I saw at that year's HKIFF. (Not only that but I'd also consider the Japanese filmmaker's English language offering to be the worst of his films that I've seen to date.)

As it so happens, I've not seen another Miike movie since then... that is, until this year's HKIFF, when I took in a screening of his masterful reworking of a 1963 film about 13 assassins who embark on a suicidal mission to assassinate the Shogun's younger brother that is considerably more mature and dramatically serious than any other Takashi Miike film that I had previously viewed.

13 Assassins has been compared with Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.  I also see similarities between it and Peter Chan Ho Sun's Bodyguards and Assassins, notably in the structure and rhythm of both films being along the lines of introductory/teaser action, then a period of not so much action during which considerable time that is devoted to introducing and fleshing out both films' large group of "good guys" before the action truly (re-)commences in earnest.      

At the same time, 13 Assassins also contains touches of the kind one expects to see in a Takashi Miike movie (and would most definitely not expect to see in a film by either Akira Kurosawa or Peter Chan).  In particular, this film's cruel villain, Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu, may be based on a real life historical personality (and identified as a member of the real life Matsudaira clan) but he (who is portrayed to chilling effect by Goro Inagaki) is shown enacting atrocities in a way that could be described as over-exaggeratedly larger than life as well as cold-blooded and casual.

And the horror of it all is dramatically hammered home by the shocking physical uncovering of what he did to one truly tormented woman in particular -- who, among other things, literally weeps blood red tears when recounting what had happened not only to her but her family at the hands of the evil lord.

In contrast, the main hero of 13 Assassins is a man whose demeanor as well as physique would not cause him to be noticed by many. Instead, what comes to stand out about Shimada Shinzaemon (who is played by Koji Yakusho) as the film goes along is this samurai's steadfast resolve, honorableness and, also, uncommon intelligence and craft -- all of which bode well for him and the motley crew he assembles to carry out their mission to assassinate Lord Naritsugu despite his small group inevitably having to go up against a force that is several times their number.

Understandably, the movie's 13 assassins are not all equally memorable.  But there definitely are a number of interesting characters in that group, including Shinzaemon's nephew (Takayuki Yamada) -- a gambler who views going on the mission as the biggest gamble of his life -- and the single non-samurai of the bunch, a deceptively tough mountain man (Yusuke Iseya) who doesn't seem to fear death like more normal men even while he also has an uncommonly strong zest of life (or is it just sex?!).

For all of the colorful characters who populate the film, the truth of the matter is that the star of the show really is the incredible action on display.  When viewed especially as individual strokes, much of what is on display in 13 Assassins is actually not particularly flashy. Instead, it's the intensity and ferociousness that really stand out -- and left me gasping for breath in view of how long it all goes on for in the film, and also at amazement at the spectacle of it all and how much it did resonate emotionally.

My rating for this film: 9

Awesome and Yellow (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

 

When hunting through my photo archive for suitable photos for this week's Photo Hunt themes determined by Sandi and Gattina, I came across a number of photos of yellow flowers that I had taken while hiking in Hong Kong.  But as pretty as the flowers were, they didn't fit the "awesome" bill to me.  (For, yes, it's true enough that however eye-catching Hong Kong's flora can be, I just don't get as excited upon spotting them as I do some interesting bug (especially those doing interesting things!) or beautiful scenery.)

On the other hand, awesome is indeed how I'd describe the taste of the predominantly yellow colored (with bits of green courtesy of the spring rolls that are included in the mix) oyster omelette that can be ordered at the ultra budget Four Seasons eatery in Yau Ma Tei whose clay pot rice I loved even before viewing the Hong Kong episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. And ditto re the delicious yellow dish of prawns fried in duck egg yolk that is on the menu of Tung Po -- which, yes, is another Hong Kong eatery featured in that same No Reservations episode!

As for the beer in this blog entry's bottom photo: if truth be told, it's not my favorite beer in the world -- not least since I prefer British ales to German wheat beers -- but it's drinkable enough and you've got to admit that its serving size (1 liter -- really!) is pretty awesome!! (And should anyone wonder, those small glasses contained fruit schnapps that a friend and I also drank that evening...) ;b

Scabbard Samurai and People Mountain People Sea at the 2012 HK International Film Festival

Japan may no longer be a feudal society but, to judge

from some of the films screened at the HKIFF,

samurai and their ilk still have salient places in 

the Japanese contemporary (cinematic) imagination 

Scabbard Samurai (Japan, 2011)
- From the I See It My Way programme
- Hitoshi Matsumoto, director
- Starring Takaaki Nomo, Sea Kumada, Itsuji Itao, Tokio Emoto, Jun Kunimura, etc.

This movie directed by one of Japan's top comedians was billed as family(-friendly) fare by the 2012 HKIFF's PRs.  But although its lead female character is a physically cute as well as immensely precocious acting preteen girl, I would definitely urge caution in bringing children to check out Scabbard Samurai.

To be sure, there are plenty of "laugh out loud" comedy moments in the film -- and of the kind that is very broad as well as physical.  These mainly come from the efforts of the movie's main character, a sword-less samurai (essayed by Takaaki Nomo) who is so down and out that his daughter (the precocious girl played by Sea Kumada) takes to pleading with him to spare her and him further humiliation by committing seppuku, to make a lord's depressed son smile -- and, in so doing, escape being put to death for having deserted his duties and clan.

But therein also lies the rub: to wit, that it's impossible to escape from the fact that Scabbard Samurai revolves around the increasingly elaborate -- and desperate? -- attempts of a disgraced man (whose young daughter spends most of the movie showing much disdain towards) to literally avoid getting his head cut off. Alternatively put, the laughter evoked can be genuine but at least one member of its audience (i.e., moi) couldn't help feeling that the comedy on display had a cruel side to it -- this not least because it often felt that the movie's main character had been more or less reduced to becoming a cross between a performing monkey and the victim of other people's schemes and experiments.

My feelings of unease were not helped by the protagonist acting in a far more passive and pathetic manner than any member of a warrior class/caste is expected to for much of the movie And my sense that there was an air of hapless desperation to his efforts only added to my general viewing discomfort.

At the same time, there was something heartening about seeing a man not just give up outright and entirely despite the odds and much of the world appearing to be against him. In addition, it does make one want to cheer along with others in praise as well as to encourage an anti-heroic individual who exhibits the kind of dogged spirit on show in this film.

Scabbard Samurai also undoubtedly gets points from me for originality.  Still, the truth of the matter is that I found its dramatic emotional swings and the filmmaker's general approach to be too disarmingly oddball to make the viewing of this cinematic offering to be an entirely enjoyable experience.

My rating for this film: 7

People Mountain People Sea (Mainland China, 2011)
- From the Indie Power programme
- Cai Shangjun, director
- Starring Chen Jiangbin, Tao Hong, Wu Xiubo

Before the screening of People Mountain People Sea that I attended as part of the 2012 HKIFF, its director -- who won the Silver Lion for Best Actor at last year's Venice Film Festival -- briefly appeared before the audience and was given an enthusiastic reception. Quite a bit of clapping followed upon it being announced that he would be available for a Q&A after the screening.

But as the credits rolled at the end of the 91 minute work, quite a few members of the audience made for the exit -- including, I have to admit, myself. And while one reason I left at the time that I did was that I was hungry (due to my having gone to the evening screening straight from work and consequently not having had time to grab a bite to eat), the truth of the matter is that I also didn't feel like the director would be saying anything to change the opinion I had come to form of this film that left me with some visually indelible memories but also seemed to be far more opaque in meaning at times than it should have been.

Shot in long takes and sparse in terms of dialogue, People Mountain People Sea is the kind of work that gives you plenty to look at and think with.  Some of the shots are beautifully framed, especially those featuring scenes of mountains and narrow, curvy and sparsely trafficked roads. But many more show (reveal?) scenes of Mainland China, both urban and rural, that look like they come out of many people's nightmares -- with those that take place in an illegal coal mine appearing to depict a hell on earth, with people reduced to near wordless brutes.

Perhaps if the film's gruff protagonist (a rural man with urban experience portrayed by Chen Jiangbin) spoke more, he'd be more understandable and sympathetic.  As it is, this man's motives for much of his actions are difficult to fathom. Granted that it's easy enough to see that he'd want to go look for the man who coldly murdered his younger brother for not much more than a motorcycle, especially after the police were able to tell him who the killer was but were unable to apprehend the culprit.

But the main character's methods to try to find the killer in the urban maze of Chonqing's shantytown(s) seemed way too simplistic. Furthermore, he just seemed way too easily sidetracked from his quest -- even if only temporarily -- in favor of going and reacquainting himself with a woman (Tao Hong) living in that city of 35 million inhabitants who clearly was the mother of at least one of his children even if she just as clearly was the wife of another man.

Although there are people who have problems with the final section of the film, I actually think that it's the strongest part of People Mountain People Sea. Admittedly, when I was watching it, I didn't quite understand what was going on.  But after thinking some more, I felt able to figure out what had happened -- and, in the process, was able to (finally) discern some humanity in a main character who previously had come across alternately as a cypher and man who his society and surroundings had made into an insensitive ruffian.

My rating for this film: 6

From Sam A Tsuen to Lai Chi Wo (Photo-essay)

As I noted a couple of weeks back, the first Chinese New Year that I spent in Hong Kong, two friends and I went on a northeastern New Territories hike (see here, here and here) whose first half I covered again some three years later with two other friends. But the second time around that I was in that part of Hong Kong where not that many people venture into these days, my party didn't turn back to Wu Kau Tang after we got to Sam A Tsuen. 

Instead, after a short stop for a nice meal -- and a look at the accommodations on offer -- at Fook Lee Teahouse, we pressed ahead to the once prosperous, nearly four century old Hakka walled village of Lai Chi Wo -- a place I've wanted to visit for some time now...

As the sign shows, Lai Chi Wo is just 2 kilometers -- and 

Wu Kau Tang only 5 1/4 kilometers -- away from Sam A Tsuen

Judging from the graves located nearby, Sam A Tsuen

used to be a more populated -- and prosperous --

village than it is these days too

Deep in the heart of the Hong Kong countryside,

people do things like keep bees

Along the way to Lai Chi Wo, near Siu Tan,

lies this abandoned but still physically impressive house   

From this part of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (and 

thus Mainland China) is visible across the water

Instead of proceeding directly to Lai Chi Wo, we detoured

up a hill from where we got good views of such as 
Yan Chau Tong Marine Park and some nearby islands

Also viewable from the hill was the village 

of Lai Chi Wo and its green surroundings

A closer view of Lai Chi Wo, with its famous 

fung shui woods in the background

To be continued... for yes, there still is at least one more photo-essay still to be assembled from photos taken on this hike! :b

He's a Woman, She's a Man's two main men

 Flowers for -- and tributes to -- Leslie Cheung

outside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel 

on the 9th anniversary of his tragic death

He's a Woman, She's a Man posters on display at the 

Hong Kong Cultural Centre as part of a tribute to

the 2012 HKIFF's Filmmaker in Focus

Director Peter Chan Ho Sun was on hand for a Q&A

session at the screening of He's a Woman, She's a Man

that I attended this afternoon -- and brought his daughter

and parents to watch the movie too! :)

Nine years ago today, Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing took his own life. This April 1st, his fans continue to remember him with great fondness and paid loving tributes to the charismatic singer-actor by doing such as going to, and placing flowers outside, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel -- from whose 24th floor he chose to jump to his death. Many of us also attended at least one of the two screenings of He's a Woman, She's a Man -- the Peter Chan Ho Sun-helmed romantic comedy in which Leslie Cheung played a man loved by two women -- on today as part of the 2012 Hong Kong International Film Festival.    

This afternoon's viewing of He's a Woman, She's a Man was the second time I got to see that which is among one of my five, not just ten, favorite Hong Kong movies of all time on a big screen in Hong Kong. The first time was three years ago courtesy of Red Mission -- and even though the film was screened without English subtitles on that occasion, I treasure that viewing experience, not least because it was really wonderful to watch it in the company of many other appreciative fans of the superstar we refer to as Leslie (no need for a surname).

This second viewing really was super special though -- and not only because the version of the film that was screened had English subtitles and the screen and theater at Hong Kong City Hall was larger than the screen and theater where the movie was screened three years ago.  Instead, it was because in the audience this afternoon was the director, Peter Chan Ho Sun, his young daughter and his parents -- and after the movie, Peter Chan answered questions from audience members at considerable length and in Cantonese, Putonghua and English.

A few years back, I had the privilege of interviewing Peter Chan (as part of the publicity push for his The Warlords). Due to such as his busy schedule, the interview ended up taking place over two separate days.  And, memorably, after I switched off the tape recorder and concluded the official part of our meeting, he and I continued talking for a further one and half hours -- on a variety of topics, including others of his movies such as He's a Woman, She's a Man (which I was really glad to be able to tell him that I dearly loved).

At this afternoon's Q&A, Peter Chan was as open and sharing as I remembered that he was when I talked with him one on one those years ago. Some 10 questions were asked and he gave paragraphs worth of answers, not just single line or word responses, so I can't report everything he said.  However, the following are some things he said that I found particularly memorable and interesting:-

- Up until today's screening of He's a Woman, She's a Man, his young daughter had never seen a movie from start to finish, only in 10 to 15 minute spells. She consented to go with him to watch this film of his after he told her that he thought she'd laugh a lot watching it, and also that she would be seeing a wonderful man (Leslie) in it.

- Peter Chan considers Leslie Cheung to have been the best ever actor he's worked with. Among other things, he was perfect in terms of such of remembering and delivering his lines, and remembering his cues. Leslie actually wasn't all that happy when Peter Chan complimented on this. He thought that there are far more important aspects of acting than those. Peter Chan's response was that, then, at least, you're the best actor for/to directors.  Because these are aspects that directors consider super important.

- Peter Chan also considers Leslie Cheung to have been a "larger than life" person as well as actor. In terms of acting, maybe this may make it so that his acting and persona may come across as too exaggerated, over dramatic, etc. But sometimes, you need that -- and it makes for something special in a movie. In terms of personality, Peter Chan said that Leslie Cheung was the kind of person and actor who was better playing non-ordinary characters and people -- and that this was what made Leslie really suitable to play someone like He's a Woman, She's a Man's Sam Koo (a successful music producer loved by two woman, including the superstar singer he made famous (essayed by Carina Lau)).

- A fan from Japan told Peter Chan that she remembered reading an interview around the time that He's a Woman, She's a Man had become a big hit in her country in which he had talked about being disappointed that the movie's predominantly female fans were so attracted to the character Sam Koo. He replied that there might have been something lost in translation as he had actually said that he was "bewildered" by the female fans having been so attracted to the character of Sam Koo -- because he had modeled Sam Koo on himself along with Leslie!

- Rewatching He's a Woman, She's a Man today (after not having done so for some years now), he was shocked at how much of himself he actually had put into the character of Sam Koo. "Back then, I was younger and more naive", Peter Chan said. Among other things: he gave Sam Koo the same birthdate as his own. Also, he really had wanted to have separate residences from his girlfriend -- and actually did so in real life!  Only, whereas in the movie, Sam Koo and Rose (Carina Lau's character) had apartments on different floors connected by a door in one's floor and another's ceiling, he and his real life girlfriend -- now wife -- Sandra Ng had had apartments on the same floor that were connected by a balcony -- with each side of the gate that  connected their apartments having locks so that each could lock the other out if he or she so wanted!!

- Peter Chan also said that Leslie Cheung gave a lot of input when making the movie -- including for the character of Sam Koo.  He specifically credited Leslie with coming up with the movie's touching final lines of "whether you're a boy or girl, it doesn't matter. I only know that I love you".

- A Mainland Chinese fan asked if Peter Chan had any plans to make a film that was a tribute to Leslie Cheung the way that Comrades, Almost a Love Story was a tribute to Teresa Teng. He said that he's thought about this but there are issues of such as copyright that will have to be dealt with in order to do so.

On a personal note, I'd love to see Peter Chan make such a movie.  Still, regardless of whether he does, I have to say that I'm already grateful for his having directed and produced so many good and great movies as he already has done -- and yes, he is indeed one of the people who made me fall in love with Hong Kong cinema... and Hong Kong itself too.