Poetry - Movie Review

Poetry

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The name “Poetry” may suggest a literary romance. The story, however, has nothing quite close to what we assume to be romantic in spite of the mention of life’s beauty waiting to be explored and discovered. And only those who care to observe with the heart are aware of such beauty and try to express it in words in form of poetry writing.  

Yang Mi-ja, a 66-year-old suburban woman who has joined a Poetry class, often laments her inability to even start writing a poem. But while her classmates are far more out-spoken in their sharing of personal experiences, she is the only one who has succeeded in writing a poem ultimately. And that is because she has been true to her inner self. As her instructor comments, she has actually written from her heart.

However, by no means is Yang Mi-ja portrayed as a rich lady who has all the time she needs to enjoy poem writing. On the contrary, she is on the dole and works part-time as the caretaker of a fastidious handicapped post-stroke patient. Besides, she has to take care of her grandson, a typical home-boy and loafer incapable of self-care. Worse still, he turns out to be one of the gang of six involved in campus bullying, which has led to a suicidal case. And, as if she did not have enough of a headache, she is diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s disease. Nevertheless, the greatest agony is her failure in convincing her grandson to face up to his own fault.

The problems she is confronted with are those typical of current society - problems such as juvenile delinquency, campus bully, attempts to cover up crimes, etc. Even the disease seems common in the modern era. What place is there for poetry in her miserable life then? Why is poetry chosen as the central theme of the film? As I see it, her renewed interest in poetry somehow serves as an escape from the cruel realities of her life. When she is supposed to be discussing the compensation, for example, she suddenly leaves the group and is later seen to be admiring some nice flowers. In another case, on her way to meet the mother of the murdered girl, she allows herself to be entirely enthralled by a fallen pear. 

One interesting detail is that she is very careful about dressing herself properly when she is out. It may somehow throw light on her refined nature though she does menial work as a supplementary source of income. If she had been better off, she could have been well educated, which is evident from her fondness for poetry to the extent that she sees a policeman’s dirty jokes as a sign of disrespect for poetry.

Though “Poetry” is a story surrounding the tragic life of a woman, it is not targeted merely at female audience. In fact, it is recommendable to a wide audience range.

A spiritually enriched day

I find the Feast of Corpus Christi of special importance this year. In fact, it’s been a spiritually enriched day for me today. I attended two consecutive masses in the morning and joined the Eucharistic Procession in the evening.

Fr Chan, who celebrated the first mass, advised us to reflect on the meaning of the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion, treasuring the chance of welcoming Jesus Christ to live in us and asking Him to help us seek spiritual enhancement and pursue sanctification in our lives.

In the second Mass, Bishop Stephen Lee explained to us the importance of the Feast of Corpus Christi in association with the Covenant which God has established with us. Through receiving Holy Communion, he said, we can be enlightened and strengthened to combat violence and frustration, which seem to be growing in intensity in our own selves, in society and even in the world.

Before the start of the Eucharistic Procession later in the evening, Bishop Stephen addressed the participants, first in Chinese and then in English. He explained how Jesus’ breaking the bread symbolized his sharing his life with us. We should also learn from Jesus to share our lives with others by doing our parts well at home, in the workplace and in society. This, according to the Bishop, is the core value of our lives as Christians. Bishop Lee then guided us to think about the busy town centre the Eucharistic Procession would be moving through. We would be distracted by the curious passers-by and shops with attractive products. But if we followed the Eucharist, the symbol of love, we would not stray off the path. This is also true of life. There are distractions in life but we need not worry as long as we abide in Christ and allow ourselves to be guided along by Him.

Though I have often been teaching my Sunday school kids about the Holy Sacraments, I understand my inadequacy and feel the need to be inspired by the ministers’ preaching and by frequent participation in religious activities. Honestly, I am not very keen on joining a procession as it can be quite tiring. But I am convinced somehow that this can be a way to proclaim my faith in public. Besides, it isn’t too bad to arouse the interest of the tourists in our Christian belief.the

Bishop Barron's talk at the Google headquarters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enDhX49F3XI

As the relationship between religion and science has been a subject of study for ages, the presence of a religious person in a digital work environment inevitably draws great attention. It is not known how much public interest was aroused when Bishop Barron addressed a room full of Google and YouTube employees at the Google headquarters (Googleplex), but his talk on Youtube kept me engrossed in all its 55 minutes’ duration. With the intention of having some reflections on the talk later in time, I have summarized it as follows:- 

Bishop Barron began by saying that Google, as a search engine, triggers a lot of restlessness in religion. He referred to our mind as being a restless searching one. At the moment we find something, more questions come up. In fact, the more we know, the more we want to know. 

He explained that this is also true of our will. The will is always seeking something good. It will not rest until it finds what he refers to as unconditional happiness, or beatitudal happiness – the desire. To explain unconditional happiness, Bishop Barron invited his audience to think of wealth, honour, power and pleasure. While wealth is the desire for something better, honour serves only as a remedy for natural wants. Power is a source of activity to attain an end but is not an end itself. Pleasure is the side-effect of something fundamental. Therefore, none of them is unconditional love. The desire for happiness, according to Bishop Barron, is an infinite desire, which cannot be satisfied by anything in this world. It is only in God that the desire can be satisfied.

Bishop Barron then referred to the Books of Kings in the Bible. With his success in making fire come down from heaven to consume the sacrifice, Prophet Elijah proved that his is the only true God. Ahab, in spite of the big team of priests he had summoned, failed in his many attempts, thus proving himself to be a false god worshipper.

Bishop Barron also talked about God’s creation work with reference to the Book of Geneses. The creatures came forth in an orderly way, which he compared to a stately liturgy mass procession with the priest taking the rear. This symbolizes that everything in the world is meant to turn to God in praise and that is the purpose of creation. All things are to be led by a human being (symbolized by the priest), who can give praise. It is understood that everyone is a seeker of something worthy but we should not let anything in the world be our object of worship. Let us hook our infinite desire on the infinite object. Only true worship will make us satisfied and the right praise refers to worshipping God alone.

Finally, with reference to St. Augustine’s saying, Bishop Barron explained that our heart is restless until we rest in God. God is love and it is only when we give away love, which God has given us, that we can find the beatitudal happiness that we have been looking for.

Its Hidden Side - The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue

"The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue.”  The mere name suggests the sad tone of the movie. In fact, the whole movie guides the audience through the lives of a few sad characters, each blaming life for reasons of his own. There is Mika, the nurse who sees frequent deaths in the hospital where she works. She then has to speed home on her bicycle to shake off the feeling of pensive sadness thus caused. Her mother’s death, believed to have been a suicide, also accounts for her constant doubt about life and death. Having once been jilted, she has lost confidence in love. Even when her ex-boy friend returns with a refreshed attempt to win her heart, she turns him down.

Shinji, the chief male character, is a construction worker. Underpaid and without job security, he is all the time worried about the high costs of living, having to work out the price of practically everything before making a purchase. He seems to be always squinting at something or someone with suspicion because of blurred vision in one eye. Once he is seen reading a book in a boisterous girlie bar where everyone else is having fun and fooling around, deliberately oblivious of the misery of life they are trapped in. Even his small den, with hardly any space for a comfortable stretch of his long legs, is lined on one wall with low shelves of books. He could have found a better job had it not been for his poor eyesight.

The director’s use of shots well serves to highlight the uncertainty of life and the bleakness of the future. The blue-collars waiting in a queue for the bus are all bending over their cell phones, heedless of a hot-air balloon flying overhead. Mika, the only one aware of its presence, looks up and feels something ominous. Then every now and then, the threat of an earthquake is felt and someone exclaims, “Japan is over!” A man, the stoutest among the few construction workers, dies suddenly of a stroke.
Everyone seems to be smoking, venting his grievances through deep inhaling. Ashtrays overflowing with half smoked cigarettes appear repeatedly on different scenes. There seems nothing more they can do in protest against life. Life is a complete picture of melancholy.
Despite the seeming hopelessness of life, however, there is a sprinkling of encouraging signs. With a screaming voice, a busker sings the refrain repeatedly, asking everyone to go for it, though no one ever stops to listen. The slowly developing friendship between Mika and Shinji, an attempt to give love a try, is encouraging enough for each other to view life with more optimism. The blooming bud of the potted plant on the side of the ashtray is an obvious sign of hope, too. 
One interesting remark I would like to make, though, is that because of the pervading night scenes, my eyes had to struggle a bit for adjustment during the rare moments of broad daylight. 

This is a good movie especially for those who are used to the prosperity of the city of Tokyo and are curious about its hidden side, too.

“An Invisible Guest” - a must-see

https://www.facebook.com/CinemathequePassion/posts/720803321377177

The movie “An Invisible Guest” is one of the best I’ve seen. The name may hint at its being a detective story. It is indeed a suspense movie about a murder case (actually a case within a case). But instead of describing the police’s attempts to solve the case, the movie is, for the main part, about a defense lawyer questioning the murder suspect on the details of the incident that had led him to be trapped in the scene. 

As often as not, my reflections on a movie include some of its content. But I know I must be careful this time as any details disclosed may reduce the viewing pleasure. The exchange of questions and answers between the lawyer and the suspect keeps us audience mentally engaged throughout the movie, trying to figure out the hidden truths behind the case. Questions flash through our minds: How much truth is there in the suspect’s story? Why does the lawyer sound so impatient and agitated? Is she really trying to help her client? In fact, what makes the movie entertaining is the feeling of anxiety and tension developed from the unexpected circumstances as the mystery slowly begins to unfold. I think I am somehow aware of a plot twist, a strange direction of the story, when the lawyer suddenly presents her own interpretation of the case, trying to make the suspect accept it. And, the surprise ending greatly enhances the movie’s splendor and impressiveness.

I have always enjoyed movies about smart people trying to outwit one another. This is the first movie since “the Thomas Crown Affair” (a 1999 film) that has given me the satisfaction of racking my brain trying to solve the mysteries together with the characters in the story. It being a Spanish movie, however, dependence on the subtitles somehow affects the understanding of some details. This is felt especially towards the end when the dialogue exchange, accompanied by the playbacks of related incidents with swift scene switching, becomes increasingly heated. This is perhaps an added delight to the movie viewing experience.

I enjoy the movie for one more personal reason. Unlike most of the other European movies with realistic depictions of sex and violence, “The Invisible Guest” presents the murders without terrifying bloody scenes. Even for fatal assaults, nothing more than sound effects is used. I would see this as an important feature of a highly refined cultural production.

“The Invisible Guest” is a movie too good to miss. I may consider watching it again for a better understanding of some neglected details.

Heartache --- Reflections on the movie “Loveless”

I bought a ticket online for the very first screening of the movie “Loveless”, much attracted by the movie title, the picture of a sad-looking boy, and the remark “screening with heart-ache (心痛放映)” that accompanied the screening schedule. I was thus prepared for a tear-jerker when I went to the cinema. 

The movie is a realistic portrayal of human nature. As the name suggests, it is an accusation against an aching void of love between people, resulting in their selfishness, pretentiousness, jealousy and greed. The discontented wife has endless complaint about her unhappy marriage, which she claims to have resorted to as an escape from her nagging mother. Her mother has, in fact, brought her up with strict disciplines and stringent religious rules. Even years later, when mother and daughter meet, the exchange of words serve only to hurt each other rather than mending a withered relationship. She is thus thirsty for love outside her marriage. The husband, though less verbally aggressive, is also obsessed with an extramarital affair. 

What and whom is the heartache about then? It is their twelve-year-old boy who has been thrown into the abyss of despair, loneliness and misery. He is undoubtedly the victim of his parents’ “lovelessness”. For, instead of feeling sorry for having neglected him, they have seen him as a hindrance to their pursuit of what they call genuine love. The mother even mentions more than once that his birth has ruined her life. Therefore, his sudden disappearance one day does not come as a surprise. 

The details of the search procedure are depicted vividly and profoundly, keeping us audience emotionally engaged. The scene of a forlorn, desolate underground structure beneath a forest region suspected to be the boy’s hideout is distressing. Imagine the boy hiding himself in a place so shabby and dilapidated in his eagerness to avoid witnessing the constant quarrels between his parents. The agony he suffered must have been traumatizing! 

The director succeeds in drawing attention to the evil consequences of parental divorces. The movie is indeed a wake-up call to parents at this time when broken families have become a common social phenomenon.

I did not shed a tear but I felt a heartache that lingered long after I had left the cinema.

A piece of advice for the would-be viewers :Be prepared for certain scenes unsuitable for children and teenagers. 

Book review - "A Pale View of Hills" by Kazuo Ishiguro

It did not take me long to realize that I had made the wrong choice of the book “A Pale View of Hills” as the one following “The Remains of the Day” on my reading list. By comparison, it is inferior to the latter in its content and linguistic appeal. There is no surprise at all, though, as it is Kazuo Ishiguro’s very first novel.

I won't say I don’t enjoy the reading. But the pleasure from the perusal must have somehow been affected by the Japanese elements that pervade the entire story - the Japanese names, the frequent exchange of bows, and whatnot - which I find a bit exotic in an English novel. 

The frequent use of long conversations serves, I think, to enhance the reader's understanding of the background of the story. From the exchange of words between father and son, we learn about the generation gap in the wake of the bombing of Nagasaki and the subsequent increase of the American influences on the youths. The writer mentions repeatedly the couple's divided opinions about the election of a political candidate, which was unknown to the Japanese culture prior to the arrival of the Americans. What happened to a Japanese woman and her daughter also hints at the tendency towards intermarriages and emigration to the United States. The author is intent on impressing the reader with this part of the Japanese history. Aside from these details, however, there are few focuses of dramatic interest.

The one I’ve read is a New York Times publication. On the book cover the name of the author is highlighted with the phrase “Author of the Remains of the Day”. Though the need for the borrowed fame is understandable, “A Pale View of Hills” is itself the winner of the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize.

Perhaps it would be fairer if I would not bother to compare the two books or if the comparison serves only to encourage me with the truth that diligence pays, for Kazuo Ishiguro has made amazing improvement since his first novel.