un pensamiento para ti...
"He aprendido que todo el mundo quiere vivir en la cima de la montaña, sin saber que la verdadera felicidad está en la forma de subir la escarpada. He aprendido que cuando un recién nacido aprieta con su pequeño puño, por vez primera, el dedo de su padre, lo tiene atrapado para siempre. He aprendido que un hombre sólo tiene derecho a mirar a otro hacia abajo, cuando ha de ayudarle a levantarse..."
~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez
If u haven't watched Fearless, go watch it! Awesome movie, with the style of modern day cinema coupled with the good old days of sincere story-telling. As I said before, watching this movie in the cinema brought me back to the times where movies like the Wong Fei Hong series were at its peak. It's a match of gritty and slick kung-fu with a great story that is both philosophical yet not preachy, and it is now updated with better art direction and cinematography.
Only complaint is the last scene, which was a little 'huh' moment for me. I mean, I'm sure it was meant to convey something deep, but it was lost on me.
Whatever it is, this is how martial arts movies should look like.
Three cheers for Jet Li!!! Hip hip hooray!! Hip hip hooray!! Hip hip hoorayyyyy!!!!
UPDATE (3/2/06):
This was written in Lifestyle magazine (Feb issue):
Blinded with grief, (Huo Yuanjia) leaves his hometown of Tianjin and wanders aimlessly until an old woman and her granddaughter chance upon the straggler and bring him back to their village. They nurture him back to health, allowing him to forget his desire to fight.
But while trying to save a child from a neighbouring Siamese tribe one day, Yuanjia's passion for martial arts is reignited, leading him to experiment with a lighter and more refined style of fighting that would become the legendary Mizong Fist.
Finally realizing that the essence of martial arts lies in sportsmanship rather than brutality, Yuanjia returns to Tianjin to improve the art.
I don't remember seeing the part in bold. Did u?
U know, if the distributor were astute enough, they might consider going the Peter Jackson way, and that is to release a DVD which is extended and uncut. I mean, from Michelle Yeoh to this, it seems like lots of vital bits were snipped off in order to make the length of the movie more managable.
This excerpt does remind me of one plot hole in the movie, although I guess I can't be too picky also - how come the tribal people could speak Mandarin so well??
2 comments:
Interesting plot hole. I al eager to watch the DVD. By the way I can believe the tribal people can speak good mandarin. Have you seen the China CCTV CNY shows? THey can speak very well indeed.
Why cut I wonder such an important scene? It was like all of a sudden he wanted to go home, when he was reminded of his parents' death anniversary like SEVEN YEARS later. That is a plot hole.
Actually, even till today some tribes, especially those in the very rural areas of China, still cannot understand Mandarin. For example, I was watching one episode of Globe Trekker (think it was still known as Lonely Planet when this episode was shown) and the travellor went to visit the Miao tribe. When she tried to say 'ni hao' to the children there, they didn't understand. She then asked her translator, who was from the tribe, if they understood Mandarin and he said they didn't.
This situation has probably changed now that the some of the tribes are schooled in Mandarin, but I believe that that's a recent development as a result of communist rule. During Huo Yuanjia's time, these tribes would have remained rather isolated hence would not have the need to even pick up the language.
That's just my theory.
I didn't count the years when I was watching the movie. SEVEN years? Now that one can consider a plot hole which unfortunately could have been addressed. Hope they release an extended DVD with all these deleted scenes.
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