Consider who funded it, Anne.
You turn on any of my crew, you turn on me.
Mal ,'Ariel'
Buffista Movies 3: Panned and Scanned
A place to talk about movies--Old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Betsy HP - Sep 06, 2004 3:40:10 pm PDT #3636 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
Anne W. - Sep 06, 2004 3:42:00 pm PDT #3637 of 10001
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
I knew nothing about the movie going in, Betsy. Who funded it? Was it the Chinese Gov't, or was it Mel Gibson?
Betsy HP - Sep 06, 2004 3:47:38 pm PDT #3638 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
Heh.
The movie's funded by Communist China ("Beijing New Picture Film Co."). The first Qin Emperor has become an official cultural hero in Communist China. It felt a bit allegory-ish while I was watching it, so I looked up the details. The first Qin Emperor is famous, by the way, for burning all the Chinese books he didn't approve of -- every single copy. He also buried scholars alive.
Anne W. - Sep 06, 2004 4:01:56 pm PDT #3639 of 10001
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
Somehow, I do not find any of that surprising. I loved the movie while I was watching it. It didn't hit me until the ride home just how propagandistic the thing was.
Betsy HP - Sep 06, 2004 4:39:29 pm PDT #3640 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
Yip. That's why I ultimately love CTHD more. Hero is a more beautiful movie, but CTHD has a better text and subtext for me.
tommyrot - Sep 06, 2004 4:48:41 pm PDT #3641 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
For the record, I did like Terminator III. And I managed to watch the whole thing without being distracted by the fact that the lead character is governor of California.
I think I should rent Predator. That movie has two governors in it.
Lilty Cash - Sep 06, 2004 5:36:32 pm PDT #3642 of 10001
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
I think I should rent Predator. That movie has two governors in it.
Vote Carl Weathers in '05!
§ ita § - Sep 06, 2004 5:37:17 pm PDT #3643 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I really dislike T3.
I really liked Hero, but my heart went out most to Snow and Broken Sword. Oh, god, and poor Sky who's just going to hear about all this on the rumour mill.
Something I did notice -- although the subtitles only said "our land" when they were specifically talking about the country, the Mandarin phrase was used a whole lot in the minutes following. Kinda cool.
But yeah, I had a profound sense of sadness knowing how it was going to end as soon as Qin sussed Nameless.
Betsy HP - Sep 06, 2004 5:38:23 pm PDT #3644 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
Can you make a wuxia movie with a happy ending?
§ ita § - Sep 06, 2004 5:42:13 pm PDT #3645 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I think there seems to be a requisite nobility and sacrifice that lends itself to that sort of ending. But a movie like Wing Chun is wuxia, and a pretty happy wrapup.
For me, Hero went past that sort of expectations of the genre into the same sort of place as Amistad, or The Last Mohican, or Schindler's List -- where lots of real people really died. If it had been a little less lyrically beautiful, I might have cried for what of history it made me remember clearly.