Owaranai Uta

The annual Japanese Film Festival is upon us again. Of the 6 previous festivals that I am deeply involved, my most personal one was that of 2006- the theme was "Friendship".

The theme was to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between Japan and Singapore. But for me, it was a good opportunity to pay homage to my youth and my friends whom I spent seemingly endless times with and I feel as close as family.

Many of the films at the festival that year, therefore, explore the coming-of-age period and celebrate friendship.

And the final scene in LINDA, LINDA, LINDA is to me the most apt in presenting the theme: the four high-school girls who formed a band in 3 days, after going through thick and thin together, presented at the school's rock festival the ending song: "Owarania Uta". Translated in English: "Endless Song". As the band performs and rains pour down seemingly endlessly, empty shots of the school were edited into the montage: class room, locker area, open field, swimming pool- places that brings back lots of personal memories.

Yes, the rain will end, just as the good-old-days. But the memories linger on endlessly, just as the song.

Here is the scene and below that the translated lyrics (from rifat1984's Blog):

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

kuso dare no sekai no tame

for all the shit in the world

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

subete no kuso tomo no tameni

everything is for the shit and all the followers

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

boku ya kimi ya karera no tame

for me,you and them

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

ashita ni wa waraeru you ni

as if we laugh at tommorow

yo no naka ni tsumetakusarete

down inside of me was so cold

hitori bochi de nai tayoru

feel all alone nothing to grip on

mo dame datto omou koto wa

i tought i dont want to feel it again

ima made nandodemo atta

but up until now how many time it happen

honto no shunkan wa itsumo shinu hodo kowai mono dakara

at the moment of truth im always affraid of die,that why

nigedasu shitakunai ta koto wa

try not to runaway

ima made nandodemo atta

but up until now how many time it happen

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

kuso dare no sekai no tame

for all the shit in the world

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

subete no kuso tomo no tameni

everything is for the shit and all the followers

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

boku ya kimi ya karera no tame

for me,you and them

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

ashita ni wa waraeru you ni

as if we laugh at tommorow

nareai wa suki ja nai kara

coz i dont like conspiracy

togaisarete mo shoganai

out of the line is no other choise

soredemo boku wa kimi no koto

but still thing all about us

itsu datte omoidasu darou

maybe oneday will be me remembered

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

kuso dare no sekai no tame

for all the shit in the world

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

subete no kuso tomo no tameni

everything is for the shit and all the followers

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

boku ya kimi ya karera no tame

for me,you and them

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

ashita ni wa waraeru you ni

as if we laugh at tommorow

slow part

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

kuso dare no sekai no tame

for all the shit in the world

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

subete no kuso tomo no tameni

everything is for the shit and all the followers

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

hitori bochi de nai tayoru

feel all alone nothing to grip on

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

kuchiake gai aisarete hibi

a victory song to start our day!!

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

kuso dare no sekai no tame

for all the shit in the world

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

subete no kuso tomo no tameni

everything is for the shit and all the followers

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

boku ya kimi ya karera no tame

for me,you and them

owaranai uta wo utao

lets sing an endless song

ashita ni wa waraeru you ni

as if we laugh at tommorow

UP is 'Thumbs Down'

I am suspecting that the development of the character Carl Fredricksen's look in Disney/ Pixar's summer blockbuster "Up" is inspired by Mr Warren Buffett. Take a look:

And the similarity extends beyond appearance. Both Carl Fredricksen and Warren Buffet stayed in the same house for decades; Both married their teenage/childhood sweethearts.

The observation keep me excited for a while when watching the animation but that is pretty much it. Aside from one other instance in which I was laughing out loud, I am pretty much underwhelmed by the latest Pixar effort (the laughing segment involves Fredricksen telling a story between a squirrel and his acorn).

I think a much better film is the short animation, "Partly Cloudy", that precede the feature. Though both have a common theme (Wild Life) and convey similar messages (biodiversity and preservation), the shorter of the two tell the story in a much more engaging and lively fashion. Much like the first 30 minutes of Wall-E, not a single line of dialogue was employed yet I enjoy every frame of the 6-minute short.

Nor are the animation and the 3-D effect spectacular to the extent one would expect from Pixar. A disappointment overall.

The Yasmin I Know

I first met Yasmin in 2004. That year, I caught RABUN at Singapore International Film Festival. I knew nothing about the film before the screening except that the fact the director was a fellow Malaysian. The screening was at the Goethe Institut auditorium, a les than ideal screening venue, and in VHS format. Yet I found myself enjoying it. That came as a surprise as most Singaporean and Malaysian films then (and, dare I say, even now) are technically not films but video. RABUN, despite some rough edges, is a proper film, an emotional engaging one at that.

After the screening, I chatted with some friends and an old classmate mentioned that she knew Yasmin in person. As a Film Society programmer, I requested that she pass my contact to Yasmin so I may ask for another screening at the society.

The following day, upon further research on the internet, I knew more about Yasmin, her stellar advertising career and that I have in fact seen her many works over Malaysian TV channels. Particularly impressive ones were those she made for Petronas broadcast over Chinese New Year. I thought then perhaps the high-profile person like her would not be bother to get in touch with an unknown contact.

I was wrong- she called a few days later and we talked business for a while. Then I suggested meeting up the next time I went up to Kuala Lumpur so I can get from her the RABUN VHS. She agreed to meet me at an cafe near her office.

When we met at the cafe, we immediately hit it off like old friends. Later she invited me to her office and we talked some more- about films, books, Malaysian and Singaporean cultures. What I anticipated as a short, rather formal meeting to pick up a tape turned into a friendly exchange that lasted more than an hour.

After the Society's screening of RABUN, we stayed in touch and caught up several times whenever she visited Singapore. In recent years, however, I have not seen that much of her, apart from on screen (she played a role in Ho Yu Hang's RAIN DOGS) and her appearances on newspapers and TV. Yet I engaged in virtual-conversation with her when watching her works: "That idea of minimally narrated TV commercial is so Iranian."; "I see Yamada Yoji's influence in that weeping scene."; "Aha! That final scene is direct copy of Kiarostami." etc.

Her films are certainly not perfect. Segments of the films may look compartmentalised and out-of-place with the overall flow of the narrative. I guess that is a common trait among commercials-director-turned film makers. Her strong desire to showcase multiculturalism in her films may be peculiar or jarring to the film structure. Nevertheless, the emotion within are genuine and infectious and the stories are certainly close to hearts for many Malaysians and Singaporeans. At times, she would include some elements of social commentaries on Malaysian society that come across as daring and controversial. The courage is truly admirable given that her day job involved dealing with people that may come from organisations with vested interests.

Personally, I enjoy her commercials more than her films. Over the years, she made many of them for mainly two accounts: Petronas and TV3. Those for Petronas ones were particularly endearing and often moved me to tears. As a national oil company, Petronas annually commissions TV advertisements that, rather than marketing the company or its products, celebrate Malaysia and its diverse culture and they are aired over the National day (31 August), Hari Raya and Chinese New Year. It is in these 1-2 minutes clips that really bring home her vision of love is a universal language. Thus whether it is the Hari Raya or Chinese New Year message, I always feel a swelling in my heart.

Don't take my word for it- catch the youtube video below (thanks for their service, we are able to watch and re-watch many of her commercial works) and ask yourself if the message is any diminished should it be any where else in the world.

I am looking forward to seeing this year's Merdeka clip which I presume Yasmin has completed prior to her departure.

Yasmin, wherever you are, let me tell you that you are the woman outside of my family who made me cried the most over the years. So long and thank you for all the tears.

Let the Right One in

Though their screen appearances are limited, the two "father" figures loom large.

Audience was not told of the information but it can be inferred that Oskar's parents are divorced. And while Oskar stays with his mother, his father, in Oskar's eyes, leads a disagreeable lifestyle. It is therefore not hard to imagine that Oskar's loneliness, reclusiveness, violent tendency and susceptible to being bullied derive from his father's absence from his life and the shame that he feels in not having a complete and normal family. Hence, when Eli enters his life, Oskar has no second thought of accepting and embracing her even after knowing her true identity.

The other "father" figure is Eli's companion whom she refers as her father. If Eli is a 200-year-old vampire, the middle-aged man surely cannot be her father. Judging by the extend to which he is prepared to go in satisfying her thirst, he must love Eli dearly and unconditionally. Significantly, could history be repeating itself 40 years down the road when Oskar becomes a middle-aged man himself?

Love never dies.

Impression of Happy-Go-Lucky

Road to reality,
row, drive, walk, cycle or just
Happy-Go-Lucky

Angels and Demons vs. The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code, the novel, may have been more popular than Angels and Demons written before it (simple statistic: numbers of reviews on amazon.com as at 2 June 2009 read 3,900 vs 2,308). The general consensus for the two adapted films, however, show over-whelming preference for the latter. Reasons given: tighter pacing, action sequences were more exciting, better hair-do, less irritable accents.

I generally agree with the consensus. In addition, I prefer the film version of Angels and Demons over that of The Da Vinci Code because a key part in the book was omitted in the film: they were suppose to have decode one additional cryptex before getting to the secret. It is a crucial plot point in the book that there should be a pair of cryptexes, which has to be left out due to length constraint.

So, it was a relief for me that there remain four elements in Angels and Demons, the film.

Beside my little squabble with the earlier film, Angels and Demons is indeed the more involving of the two. Exhibit 2: the scores.

Both films were scored by Hans Zimmer and an unusual decision was made: some of the score in The Da Vinci Code was re-arranged and used lavishly in Angels and Demons. Indeed, the climatic endings share essentially the same scores, performed and arranged differently, as one can listen for oneself in th links provided below. Yet I walk out of the cinema remembering the music in Angels and Demons but not the case for The Da Vinci Code.

American Ganster

Despite its critical and box-office successes, American Gangster is a less engaging and complete film compared with Protege, a Hong Kong production directed and written by Dereck Yee that was produced and released a year earlier.

On "Eraserhead" and "A Lustful Man"

It was an interesting experience- last week, I watched David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and Masumura Yasuzo's "A Lustful Man".


In his feature debut, Lynch has already shown some of his universal themes and signature motifs that recur in his later films - e.g. ambient noise, severed human organs, social outcasts, dysfunctional and perverse family relationship. The one universal theme that interest me most in Eraserhead and, for that matter, all other Lynch's films is women.


That too is the central theme of A Lustful Man. Despite the film title and the protagonist's attitude towards women, Masumura was actually expressing outrage toward how women are ill-treated in ancient and indeed present-day Japanese society.


To have watched two totally different films back-to-back at random and both evolve around the same theme but yet the approaches are completely different- misogynist in the former and philogynist in the latter, is indeed the joy of watching and reading films.

Distant Voices, Still Lives

Watching "Distant Voices, Still Lives" is like watching Terence Davies' Home Video- 80-minutes long at that. I was half-expecting to watch 10 to 15 minutes of the DVD and move on to watching something else.

Instead, I sat (slouch is my usual posture) and watched the entire film. It was every bit as personal as I had expected yet the emotions exuded were rich and universal.

The voices may be distant but they were also closed to hearts. Lives of the bygone years may be still, as captured in photos, but they live within memories.

Impression of The Wrestler

Best years behind them,
leaping off flesh parade is
all too Sisyphean.

Poetries in Iranian Films

Has there been a study done on the varieties of promotional critical quotes on movie posters? Carefully selected, they are intended to appeal to the films’ target audience. Here is a collection (by no means exhaustive) of some of them:


Hard Sell: “(Two) Thumbs (Way) Up ! (!!!…);
Direct Sell: “Non-Stop Action”;
Statistical: “Five Stars/Hankies/Popcorns”;
Abstract: “Poetic”


Among them, probably the last example relates best to arthouse audience. So how is a film poetic?

The term is often generously employed for mainstream titles that tell a romantic story and with beautiful cinematographic shots. Films like Atonement and English Patient come to mind. While many of these films are highly watchable and possess artistic merits, the link between poetry and films extend beyond the intuitive categorisation.


Poetry, in its written form, is highly distinguishable from others such as novels and essays in its structure and rhythm. In short verses that conjure up images, imaginations and emotions, it is as much a literary form as expression of living. In that sense, Iranian films probably most closely reflect the essence of poems. For over centuries, poetry is the predominant art form in Persian culture. When Iranian film-makers turn to narrating stories with cameras, it is natural for them to adopt some of the unique characteristics of poem in their works.


It is therefore quite a different experience watching Iranian films compared with mainstream films. Just as one who enjoys reading The Da Vinci Code might need some adjusting to appreciate The Road Not Taken, one will need to approach Iranian films differently in order to capture its beauty in full blossom.


First requirement: Patience. Iranian films are typically minimalistic in style: Shots are beautifully composed and longer than usual; narrations are generally character-driven rather than event-driven; plot points, if any, are not distinctly identifiable. It is therefore necessary to sit back and allow our minds be carried along by the images and invest ourselves with the characters. Gradually, in the magical hands of a talented director, we will feel with the characters.


Taste of Cherry (1997; Director: Abbas Kiarostami) is one such film. The film tells the story of a suicidal man’s search for help in making sure his body shall be properly buried after his final act. In search of the ‘prospective' employee, he drives aimlessly across town and picks up strangers who are willing to listen and talk.

The director placed the camera within the car and on the front passenger’s seat. It was directed mostly on the protagonist but panned out occasionally and take in the scenes outside of the car. These empty shots form an important narrative for audience who patiently take in the dialogues, mostly conversational but philosophical when read in conjuncture with sequences such as the dusts blowing in the wind and passing cloud covering the moon. How the film ends (or not) is probably not important for we have taken a spiritual journey along side the protagonist.

Imagination is also an important attribute in appreciating Iranian films. Iranian directors tend to prefer images to narrators in expressing their ideas. As audience, we are demanded to work harder in piecing the images and narratives together and discern directors’ messages.


Kandahar (2001; Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf) tells the story of an Afghan-borned journalist who returns to and travels across the Taliban-ruled, war-torn motherland in search of her sister. One of the sequences in the film lingers on years after one has seen the film: An aid organization is airdropping prosthetic legs in a desert. As the false limbs drops to ground, a group of amputated men is seen, in slow motion, rushing toward the drop zone in clutches. The emotions of longing and tiredness on their faces are juxtaposed together with their desired items parachuting down from the sky. The anti-war message is subtly delivered through our inference from the images.


Above all, to truly appreciate Iranian Cinema, one should be equipped with empathy for life. For living is the central character in virtually all Iranian films. To that end, many of the actors and actresses are non-professionals. They are cast not for their acting skills but because they live the characters’ lives. Their performances, if you can call it that, therefore pierce directly across the screen and right into our hearts.


Like a bottle of good wine, good Iranian films are subtle, multifaceted and long in finish. The structure is not apparent at first but the construction is paced by the directors to evoke feelings in the hearts and minds of the audience toward the larger motif of life.


It is also poetry.

(The article first appeared in printed edition of asia! Magazine)

Impression of The Reader

Searching Redemption,
Mutual Company Found in
Solitude of Guilt.

Bolt

I am neither an animal nor animation fan (in fact, I don't like dogs). I do not particularly enjoy Disney productions (in fact, I dislike Hollywood films in general). I went into Bolt to catch a glimpse of the 3-D technology that is going to be the future of cinema experience (and was underwhelmed by its deployment in Bolt). The story line is routine and predictable (typical of Disney production).

Yet, I was all misty-eyed by the time the final sequence ended. There is something magical in the characters and the way the story is told. I guess if we were to assume it to be pixar-effect (a reasonable deduction given that it was produced by John Lasseter), the acquisition of Pixar would be one of the most rewarding purchases Disney has ever undertaken.

Impression of Brick Lane

Home in Foreign Land
Sustained only by Passion
that burns slow yet bright

J.J. Abrams and His Mystery Box

Sex and the City

From the start of the movie, we were expecting Labels and Love...

But instead, as the film progresses, the central theme is actually Friends and Food:

My Blueberry Nights/ Chung King Express

The Former merely the extension of the latter?

Impression on Johnnie To's Exiled

<野 店>
鄭愁予

是誰傳下這詩人的行業
黃昏裹掛起一盞燈

啊，來了
有命運垂在頸間的駱駝
有寂寞含在眼裹的旅客
是誰掛起的這盞燈啊
曠野上，一個矇矓的家
微笑看……
有松火低歌的地方啊
有燒酒羊肉的地方啊
有人交換著流浪的方向…