primco Reviews

In the Bedroom (2001)

Look at the movie. Just look at it. What, you late for an appointment or somethin?

[30 December 2001]

To everybody who says, "what's the point of showing that?" or it dragged on, "unrelievedly slow". Well, I don't know, what's the point of showing anything? What do YOU choose to show? This movie makes you ask that questions because it takes a series of events, (and yes, the director knows that you've seen "Ordinary People", and you think you know how it should unfold), and takes a slow, careful look at it. This movie is overflowing with great photography.

What are you entertainment-bots whining about? Guess what, the audience is "responsible for providing all the emotion". You're staring at some light projected on the wall. You're the one warming up the chairs. Your brain either likes the way it looks or not and then you feel emotion. The audience always provides MOST of the story. I think the point of a film with such a heavy subject as this is to only hint at what the audience could feel and let them get them all worked up if they want. Otherwise, you feel manipulated. Some movies are more subtle in their hints than others and thank god this one is. Try the movie "Simon Birch" if you want to be shouted at with gigantic neon signs exactly what emotion to feel, "Ok, now feel SAAAAAD. Mmmmm wasn't that sad?"

This movie kicks ass. It's gorgeous. I was stunned speechless for an hour after I saw it. The characters are driven by upper-class white puritanical rage and that's the most ho-hum part of this movie for me. But imagine what it must be like to live there. I think that's what this movie is about. It is very similar to "The Sweet Hereafter" in that respect. You are dragged into the claustrophobic yet beautiful atmosphere of that place. I felt like I had been slapped by Sissy Spacek in that auditorium. Ouch.

Yi Yi (2000)

Reflections multiply the beauty of this film beyond anyone's rating system

[10/10 · 25 May 2001]

I'd love to do a systematic investigation of every reflective shot in this movie. I can think of 10 stunning examples off the top of my head. In the director's comments track on the DVD you can hear Edward get noticeably excited when another reflective shot presents itself on screen. He points them all out, and it's true that the shots do seem to present themselves to the director. Although you must assume he had something to do with them, he confesses that it was magic that he discovered when he got to the location. Neither he nor I can explain what effect the superimposition of a night cityscape on a dark office space has on our understanding of the emotional world of the character sandwiched between the layers of light.

It seems there is magic at work all around. But it is not magic at all, as we learn from Mr. Ota's card trick -- merely attention. Maybe it's the reflection's ability to split out attention out into many streams of thought and quickly focus it back down that gives his scenes their vertiginous exhilaration. How else to explain the rush one feels from looking at a completely static shot where you can barely make out the actors?

He set out to make a film about family but I think he discovered he also wanted to make a film about life in Taipei. The reflections are the device that lets him make two movies at once. I think that's what is most special about each reflective shot. It is the instantaneous visual realization of an epic goal, and a reminder to the audience of both themes working in the movie.

His assuredness and gentleness astounds me.