Monday, October 13, 2008
san diego asian film festival #9
so this past weekend, mr. man and i took a trip to the san diego asian film festival to watch some films.
i don’t normally watch a lot of movies, but i think when you start watching multiple movies in such a short time period you can’t help but compare and contrast the themes… hahah, do i sound like a nerd yet? at any rate, if i wanted to simplify things, i could say that the films we watched all dealt with one subject matter - purpose in life.
in family inc, we watched as an american-raised daughter left her dream in the states to apprentice under her dad in china, thereby fulfilling her dad’s dream. i think it was particular poignant for me to see the daughter of a chinese businessman return to work for a man that she only saw twice a year while he thought he was doing the best for his family - my dad always talks about how he has trouble knowing how to treat his children because his dad was always absent as well. although i’m 2 generations away from it i could see similarities in the relationships. of course, this movie also displayed the chinese guilt that is laid down for the children to do their duty to the family - not that big an issue in my life but i can see it affecting my friends…
assembly is a chinese war movie that was a bit intense in it’s warfield depictions, but as it followed one man’s journey beyond the war, he was unwavering in his goal to celebrate the unsung heroes who had fought beside him.
at first i didn’t want to see accuracy of death because i hate things that deal with the supernatural, but in the end this one touched me the most. the movie uses the grim reaper as a literary tool to discuss if a person’s life has been fulfilled before they can die - and we watch as the grim reaper makes several visits to determine if a person’s life has been fulfilled. as he suspends the death sentence on someone, he gives her another chance at life, and at the end of the story, we are shown what she has made of her life. it was bittersweet (as life usually is) to see the parts of her life that changed and to see the one thing that was constant throughout her life.
chocolate is a martial arts film starring a 14 year old! this was done by the makers of “ong bak”, and so it was extremely neat to watch the young actors make a film like this, knowing that it wasn’t special effects or camera tricks, but all real choreography! in the movie, she plays an autistic child who uses her gift at martial arts to collect money from her mother’s debtors to pay for her medical expenses.
it was a weekend of sitting (and subtitles!) but i enjoyed being there - and i got a free toyota matrix t-shirt! it was also fun wearing a festival pass and getting into any movie we wanted, and the gala was nice too. i found myself standing next to john cho a couple of times, y’know, harold, from harold and kumar =) i know there were more people there too but i don’t know their names and i didn’t take pictures with them… but they were there!
thanks to mr man for bringing me to the sdaff!