Classic movies.... Let's see.
I guess I liked Charlie Chaplin's modern times. I'm a little bit of a fan of slapstick humor and asian cinema has a lot of that, so without further ado, here's some good classics from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China that I have watched.
Peking Opera Blues (It takes place in China during the warlord period where generals were literally carving up China and fighting over land, hard to imagine a comedy in this setting but it actually works nicely )
Execution in Autumn (this one's main appeal is that you get to see a lot of characteristics of the Han Dynasty in China, the costumes and props are really well done, you can tell it's an old movie but it really stands up to modern ones)
Farewell My Concubine (I'd be surprised if you haven't heard of this movie, it's famous in the Western world too, it takes place in 3 different eras, feudal china, japan occupied China, and Liberated China, arguably more eras but I won't get into that)
To Live (another movie that takes place in many eras in China, but it starts after the end of World War II in feudal China right before the civil war so, feudal China, civil war China, the early days of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.)
I know that some people may think that you're wasting your braincells away watching movies but some of the older Chinese cinema does a really good job at capturing these historical moments and it really helps you get an understanding of a different cultures.
Another movies I liked is Kamikaze Diaries (Takes place in imperial Japan, I don't want to give away the plot, it's a b&w film but it made me cry, you get the general idea of the film theme by its title though)
There's many more I could discuss but this is all for now. Maybe I'll do one more.
I've seen "The Flower Girl", it's supposed to be a masterpiece of North Korean cinema but personally, the movie was just so depressing, I spent the entire time looking for one happy moment.
Ok I guess there's time for more...
Let's see. "Come and See" was another good one, it's a film about the invasion of I think of Belarus very dramatic and chaotic the entire film but enjoyable.
Lastly I'd like to suggest Yellow Earth
Yellow Earth is about a CCP member who comes to the countryside to collect folk songs and transform them into Communist propaganda. It's interesting because a lot of the CCP's songs do have a real folk song feel to them, search for 阿瓦人民唱新歌 if you want to know what I'm talking about.
So to list what I said
Come and See
Yellow Earth
The Flower Girl
Peking Opera Blues
Kamikaze Diaries
Execution in Autumn
Farewell My Concubine
To Live
All interesting movies, I recommend them to anyone who is interested in history or wants to see culture at work.
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the revolutionaries will be forever young
25 May 2014, 11:03 am
