DesertTalkies Film Reviews!

 Well, Oscar nomination day has come and gone, and I have realized that I am woefully behind in watching the movies that were nominated. I am now on a quest to amend that, starting with the short films and working my way up.  Island in Between [2023] Directed by & Featuring S. Leo Chiang  Language: English and Mandarin Chinese  In my Human Geography class, we have been looking at at border disputes, and how states will often contest borders due to political, social, and economic differences. One example we have studied in particular is China and Taiwan, and how years of conflict have separated people who are ethnically and culturally similar yet different only in political ideology. And this movie explored exactly that: detailing not only the narrator's journey between finding 'home' between Taipei in Taiwan and Beijing in China, but looking at how the focal point for tension can be seen most clearly in Kinmeng, a Taiwanese island off the coast of Mainland China....

  Fallen Angels [1995] Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Michelle Reis, Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese  I managed to avoid revision for my upcoming exams for one last time to see Fallen Angels in the cinema! This movie was nothing like what I was expecting: just the name Fallen Angels seems like a movie with a primary focus on love: it is a Wong Kar-Wai movie after all! Although there was a love plot in the movie, it wasn't the main focus, which was interesting to see.  If anything, Wong Kar-wai movies are known for their romance, and this movie presented love in a very different manner: it explored isolation, and the loss of love. It was quite interesting to see: love was exhibited in a way that was not just romantic and sexual; it was layered like many of his other movies are. It explored the idea of platonic love and love through what could be described as friendship. It explored the idea of familial love. It was a ...

  Days of Being Wild [1990] Starring: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Carina Lau Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Cantonese, Mandarin I was very lucky to find that in my city, a local independent cinema was having a Wong Kar-wai retrospective, where they were showing Wong Kar-wai's most influential movies in a bid to increase tourism to Hong Kong. I had originally wanted to watch 'In the Mood For Love' on the big screen, yet it sold out almost instantly. In response, I watched this instead, and I am so glad that I did.  If the movie does anything well, it is character development that excels. Although the movie was quite short, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of symbolism Kar-wai was able to pack into it. All of the characters felt very fleshed out, but not the the point where their storylines became repetitive, as is the case with may Western movies. Kar-wai's craft, in my opinion, is giving the audiences small hints throughout his movies, meaning t...

In The Mood For Love [2000] Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Ping Lam Siu, Rebecca Pan Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Mandarin, Cantonese  The vibrance and elegance of Hong Kong in the 1960s comes to full view in this stunning movie. I was born in Hong Kong, so I've always been interested in understanding more about the place I lived for the first few years of my life. I have often heard my parents talk about 'In the Mood for Love' and how it was one of the standout movies they can recall seeing. And whilst I don't have as strong an infatuation with this movie as my parents do, I can say that this was pretty impressive. The main accomplishment of this movie was the narrative: the film was a selection of artistic scenes, stitched together in a sometimes painstakingly slow yet intensely moving way. If you know me, you will know that I tend to loathe movies that do not have a clear plot: a story that is, for the most part, easily digestible. However, it w...

  EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE [2022] Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu & Jamie Lee Curtis Direction & Screenplay by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert Languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese I’ve always enjoyed watching Michelle Yeoh: she is a phenomenal actress. Therefore, when I found out that she was finally starring in a movie I was immediately inclined to watch it. But, unfortunately, my love for Michelle Yeoh does not trump my hatred for Sci-Fi films. Whilst members of my family loved this picture, I simply could not sit through it: it was definitely not my cup of tea at all (at least the science fiction element of it). Let’s start with the acting. I find it difficult to discern what good acting looks like in a film that’s not very intellectually stimulating, but one thing that I can say for sure is that there was definitely a lot of versatility in the roles of each character in the cast. That’s a huge credit to the screenwriters: science ficti...

THE FAREWELL [2019] Starring: Awkwafina, Zhao Shu-zhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma Screenplay & Direction by Lulu Wang Language: Mandarin/English A deeply moving story of a family spread over continents yet closely tied together with love and familial bonds. As the beloved grandmother, or Nai-Nai , is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the family fabricates a marriage in the family so that they are all able to return to China and spend time with Nai-Nai without having to tell her about her disease. The Chinese believe that fear of a malady is often worst than the malady itself. Into this cultural setting comes ‘Billi’ (Alwafina) with her American values, and the clash of cultures that ensues is subtly written in the movie, and makes for a rare watch.  It is very seldom that we see Asian movies getting significant recognition in Hollywood: this was the first Mandarin-language film that I have ever seen being shown at cinemas where I live. I originally watched the film a few years ago, when...