The Puppetmaster

Hsiao-hsien Hou's The Puppetmaster (1993) is the second part of his trilogy of historical films which focus on Taiwan's development. This time the period of time is between 1908 and 1945, which means the focus of the film is on the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Taiwan's situation is reflected through the true story of a puppeteer, Li Tianlu (who has acted in Hou's other films). Hou mixes elements of fiction and documentary by recreating scenes of his life while letting his interviews with the puppeteer narrate most of the film. The director's admiration of the central character can be seen in the film - he once said that Li Tianlu is one of Taiwan's national treasures.

The easiest way for me to write a review of The Puppetmaster is to compare it with the first part of the trilogy, City of Sadness. While both of them share the social and historical layers, the intimate layer (personal, on the level of characters) is more perplexing in The Puppetmaster because characters come and go and there seems to be no central character other than the puppeteer himself - who remains a bit distant figure throughout the film. The narrative is more like a collection of short bits from here and there - and the way tension is subtly gained and then let loose is weird yet incredibly haunting.

Sadly, the way I saw The Puppetmaster only added to my confusion: the video was severely cropped so some of Hou's compositions were a bit messed up and the complex lighting lost some of its magic when the picture was too dark at times. Despite all of that, it didn't destroy Hou's formal magic that is a feast for the eyes - even though it is very minimalistic. And most importantly the music plays a significant part in The Puppetmaster - a soundtrack so poignant and fitting.

The Puppetmaster is a hard film to digest - there is no doubt about it. I will have to rewatch many times before I give my final evaluation for the film - so don't take this rating as the one that I will firmly stand by.

Score: 9 out of 10

Memories of Murder

Before I watched Joon-ho Bong's Memories of Murder (2003), I had heard a lot of good things about the film. There was even a guy who included it in his five favorite films of all time. So naturally, my expectations were high for the film even though I doubted a little whether the film could be so good.

Memories of Murder tells about three detectives working on a serial murder case in a small Korean town. The film subverts the viewers' expectations all the time by breaking the conventions of the genre. While it uses a lot of the cliched tropes (such as false arrests, torturing innocent people), the path these tropes take the story is vastly different from a conventional detective story.

Instead of focusing on the mystery completely, the film is more about the main characters. Their gradual yet complex character development is the driving force of the whole film. I read somewhere that there is a strong political subtext behind two of the detectives, but I'm not sure if it was only someone reading too much into the film or not. However, the film does have social themes along with the more personal ones so the interpretation of the two characters is probably not completely pointless.

The most confusing thing about Memories of Murder is its balance between comedy and drama. Bong is better when he focuses more on being satirical, but in Memories of Murder he leans more towards being serious and dramatic. And that's why the bits of hilarious comedy don't really fit into the film. The dramatic moments are also handled in a weird way because the film is emotionally quite confusing - and I don't see why this film should be so.

Formally Bong delivers again. His cinematography is simply wonderful to look at: the lighting and colors represent the psychological state of the characters (becomes darker and darker as the film goes on); the compositions are beautiful; the camera drives are impressive yet again in the long takes. Bong can create intensity to any scene with simple yet excellent camera movement.

Memories of Murder is a film that had the potential to become a masterpiece, but some of its brilliance was lost already in the writing process. However, the final result is an entertaining and thought-provoking film that I would recommend for anyone.

Score: 8 out of 10

Frost/Nixon

Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon (2008) is an interesting political thriller. It is based on a true story of how a British talk show host, David Frost, forced a confession out of Richard Nixon regarding the Watergate scandal.

The screenwriter Peter Morgan's approach to the subject is careful and good, but nothing revolutionary or involving. The structure of the story is good, but the build-up phase isn't necessarily good. Luckily, the film generates more tension once the interview begins - and explodes in a great way. At the very end, the film's emotional core becomes a little mixed up, but fortunately it's not too distracting. The film is a nice study of two significant historical figures and it is honest especially about Nixon. The best thing about the film is that it never becomes preachy or one-sided - it's comfortably smart that way.

The form is nothing new under the Sun (the Sun being Hollywood in this case), but it is very good during the interview. The lack of music adds a nice touch to the film and makes the film more like a documentarian take on the subject. There are also these pseudo-documentarian interviews that are used as a narrative device once in a while. It actually works quite well even though I'm very skeptical towards using this in films - it doesn't seem to work usually.

The most important (and successful) aspect of Frost/Nixon is the acting. Frank Langella makes one of the best performances of the entire decade as Richard Nixon. His intimate take on the disliked president is unforgettable. Michael Sheen's portrayal of David Frost is amazing as well, but the character is far from being as great as Nixon in this film. The rest of the cast do quite well in general - especially Kevin Bacon is pitch-perfect in his supporting role.

In general, Frost/Nixon is a very good accomplishment in Hollywood: it remains strictly inside the safe boundaries, but it does the best it can within these "restrictions".

Score: 8 out of 10

City of Sadness

As I have been watching Hou Hsiao-hsien's films recently, I've been eagerly waiting for City of Sadness' turn: I had seen it once before and I had a feeling it would become one of my all-time favourites this time. And yes, it had a huge impact on me.

Hou's City of Sadness (1989) is an account of what one Taiwanese family had to cope with before, during and after the infamous 228 incident during which tens of thousands of Taiwanese were killed or they vanished. It was the epitome of the conflict between the Chinese and the Taiwanese in the country - after the Japanese occupation of Taiwan ended in 1947 due to Japan's loss in the World War II. 

It is amazing how Hou makes the film work so seamlessly on personal, social and historical layers. Although you can't separate the three very well because they are so tightly combined together - especially the latter two. It is so heartbreaking to see the family slowly crumble and fall apart - only because of the political reasons. The family had resorted to "crime" during the Japanese occupation to help the district - yet the wanted change only makes things even worse. The characters are helpless under the cruel force of history and politics. 

Even though making Wen-ching (Tony Leung) a deaf character was initially a practical thing (Leung couldnt speak Mandarin or Taiwanese convincingly), his character became a metaphor for Taiwan's situation. It is even more interesting to take a look at the story in that light.

Hou's form is at its best in City of Sadness: that says a damn lot. His use of ellipses works perfectly this time and causes no real confusion either. The most famous example might be the gangster fight of which we only see the outcome: before we even see it begin, the next cut takes us to the final blow. And because of this, the outcome is even more powerful in its brilliant subtlety.

His compositions and framing are simply wonderful to look at. Just take a look at the snapshots placed below the text. His habit of revisiting the same compositions packs a terribly huge punch in City of Sadness. The best example (by far) is the hospital shot (the 4th snapshot) which is repeated at least 6 times during the film.

All of his formal techniques cause this cleverly powerful influence on the viewer. It gets only better the more you watch the film. And it's not only the form: the content is so bittersweet and tragic that it is certainly an unforgettable experience to watch the film. I was deeply touched by its subtle sentimentality and the profound content.

Sadly, I had terrible difficulties in writing this review. I have utterly fallen in love with the film and I'm struggling to share my passion. City of Sadness is one of the greatest films I've EVER seen.

Score: 10 out of 10

Persepolis

Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis (2007) is based on Satrapi's graphic novel which - in turn - was based on her own experiences of growing up in Iran and Europe. Marjane is a 10-year-old girl when the Iranian Revolution takes place in 1979. The Shah of Iran is replaced by Islamic fundamentalists. Unfortunately, The new Iran isnt better than under the rule of Shah - in fact it's even worse.

The film follows the aftermaths of the revolution - and a terrible war - with stunning depth. The storytelling is complex and phenomenal. The film seamlessly moves between the content's personal and social layers and the density of its content is unbelievable.. Marjane's coming-of-age is portrayed in a delightfully detailed way. For example, her moody relationship with God is briefly yet brilliantly handled in the film.

The film's imaginative (mostly) black and white animation is perfect. The character and art design are unforgettable. The film's use of music gives a strong image of what the world was like back then. I would especially like to mention the hilarious rendition of Eye of the Tiger, used in order to mock cinematic training montages.

In short, Persepolis is a brilliant account of what has happened in Iran in the past few decades - and it also impugns the positive views of Europe. The film is surely one of the masterpieces of the decade.

Score: 10 out of 10