IMDB Review#244: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring

After a short hiatus (I really don’t know where  the time has gone the past two weeks!) my IMDB challenge continues with Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring (let’s call it Spring for short).

Spring is a South Korean film which follows a young boy who is being taught how to be a monk by a wise old master. The film is split into four main vignettes, each one named after a different season, which represent the different stages in the boy’s life. Each vignette deals with a different theme of humanity, including cruelty, love and redemption, and we are shown how each of these impact on the boy as he progresses through life.

I must admit that Spring was a film which I was not particularly looking forward to. I made the classic error of prejudging a film based on its DVD cover and I had decided straight away that this film was not for me. As I started watching the film, all I wanted to do was to get this one out of the way so that I could continue with my challenge but as the film progressed, I found myself slowly falling for its meditative charm and by the end of the film I was taken in by its scope and by the statement it was trying to make about life in general. However, it was only after the credits had rolled and I was reflecting on the film that I started to realise how good a film this is.

I must also admit that I am not entirely sure I fully understood the film after just the one viewing which creates a little bit of a dilemma for me in trying to review the film. Part of me (the emotive part) thinks this film was great – truly original and fresh. However, another part of me (the rational part) cannot find the reason why I thought that this film was great. Perhaps that is not a bad thing, as Spring is a film which I will definitely watch again (therefore it has the potential for repeat viewings), however, for me, a truly great film is one which has impact the first time you watch it and stays with you long after the credits roll. Therefore Spring is only partly successful in that respect.

Credit must also go to the fantastic cinematography and score which really add to the atmosphere of the film. The location of the film (set on a floating monastery in the middle of a lake) is such a calming location that it really adds to the meditative nature of the film – an important concept in Buddhist life.

Overall, this is a film which I would recommend to those who enjoy slow paced films which grow on you as time passes. However, if you are looking for a film with impact which you can fully appreciate and enjoy as you watch it, then this one might not be for you.

Rating: 7/10

IMDB Review #249: Ip Man

One of my aims when commencing my IMDB top 250 challenge was to broaden my horizons and experience different film genres which I wouldn’t normally chose to watch. One such example is the martial arts genre to which Ip Man belongs. I can honestly say that, apart from the Karate Kid movies, I have never watched a martial arts film, nor have I ever had the desire to watch one. Ip Man has, however, gone someway to destroying my bias against Kung-Fu as it is a highly entertaining film which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Ip Man is a loose biopic of Grandmaster Ip Man, founder of the Wing Chung branch of martial arts and mentor to Bruce Lee. The film is set in the 1930s and focuses on Ip Man’s early life in Foshan, China, where he is a wealthy man and part of upper class society. Upon the Japanese invasion in 1937, Ip Man, like most other inhabitants of Foshan, is driven from his home and forced to live a meagre existence under Japanese rule. The film documents Ip Man’s struggle to provide for his family and his quest to protect Chinese honour in the face of atrocities committed by the occupying Japanese forces.

The film is well paced and I, for one, was gripped throughout. Donnie Yen, in the role of Ip Man, gives a great performance and is a powerful presence on screen. The supporting cast are also very good, particularly the two Japanese antagonists who provide a real sense of danger to the people of Foshan. The film also features some spectacular production design which really brings to life the 1930s Chinese setting. The contrast in living conditions before and after the Japanese invasion is lovingly rendered on screen and adds to the authenticity of the film. 

As this is at heart an action film, the fight scenes are particularly important and it is no surprise that they are beautifully choreographed and demonstrate some outstanding skill from the lead actors. The film manages to display enough violence to give the fight scenes authenticity but manages to avoid descending into a display of gratuitous violence at the expense of plot development.

At the heart of the film is an interesting theme of the modern vs the ancient. The skilful, hand to hand combat, which is at the heart of the martial arts demonstrated in the film is, in several scenes, contrasted to the more mechanical use of modern weaponry. This is an interesting juxtaposition which raises the question of whether the technological advancements which have created modern weapons, has resulted in a loss of honour in our humanity. 

 

Sure, the film is not without its flaws. The dialogue is clunky places (although I suspect that has something to do with the English translation) and there are some glaring plot holes which you could drive a Japanese tank through. In one scene, Ip Man teaches the entire workforce of a local factory how to defend themselves from local bandits and, whilst entertaining, it is a stretch of imagination too far. 

The story also lacks the ring of truth, and after some brief research into the real Ip Man, it becomes clear that this is a highly fictionalised account of the man, with the focus very much on the creation of a good story rather than historical accuracy. The film is also a heavily biased representation of the Sino-Japanese war, presenting the Chinese as honourable people and the Japanese as a savage race, reliant on their weaponry. 

These are, however, relatively minor complaints in a film which is hugely entertaining and a fine example to Hollywood of how to make a traditional blockbuster which is reliant on acting, direction and choreography instead of special effects. It may not be fine art but, as Saturday night entertainment, this is an excellent film.

Rating 8/10

IMDB Review #250: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

And so the challenge begins…

 There have been many films released over the past few years which have environmental undertones; Avatar, The Road and Wall-E to name a few. Whilst these films have mainly used the environmental theme to create the setting for a story, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (the second film by Hayao Miyazaki) fully embraces environmentalism, creating a story which has as its central theme the relationship between humanity and the earth. 

The film is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the Earth’s ecosystem has been destroyed in what is referred to as The Seven Day War. The central character is Nausicaa, a Princess of the Valley of the Wind, which is one of the last few habitable places on earth. Large swathes of the earth are now covered by a ‘Toxic Jungle’ which is guarded by a variety of giant insects, the most deadly of which are known as Ohms. 

War breaks out when a rival race, known as the Tolmekians, invade and destroy the rival city of Pejite in order to obtain the embryo of a Great Warrior (the creature who is thought to have destroyed the earth) which recently been discovered. On transporting the embryo back to Tolmekia, the Tolmekian airship crashes in the Valley of the Wind, prompting the Tolmekians to invade the Valley in order to retake the embryo.

The Tolmekians believe that in order for earth to survive, the Toxic Jungle must be destroyed and so plan to use the Giant Warrior to destroy the Toxic Jungle and all other people who stand in their way. However, Princess Nausicaa has discovered that it is not the plants of the toxic forest that are polluted, but rather the soil and water in which they grow. The plants themselves are actually slowly cleansing the planet so that it will be clean once more. When Nausicaa discovers the Tolmekian plan, she, along with Prince Asbel of Pejite, sets off on a mission to stop them in order to save the planet and all of the creatures and people who inhabit it.

 One of the first things that struck me when watching the film was that it was incredibly ahead of its time. Originally released in 1984, the environmental theme of the film is very relevant to the modern day and Nausicaa has to be one of the few films which may be more relevant now than when originally released.

Another thing which I thought interesting, was that Nausicaa contains that rarity in modern day cinema; a strong female lead character. Too often in animation and often in live action films, the lead female character (if indeed there can be said to be one) is the stereotypical damsel in distress. In fact, if you look closely at the Disney Pixar Films, not one of them even has a strong female character (the closest Pixar comes is Mrs Incredible in The Incredibles). It is therefore refreshing that Nausicaa bucks the contemporary trend and not only has a female as its lead character, but a strong female warrior who is not afraid to risk her life to protect all other species on the planet, be it good or evil.

The animation is lovingly rendered and each frame incredibly detailed resulting in a visual experience which doesn’t feel out of place when compared to more recent examples of traditional animation. The world in which the film takes place is exceptionally complex and is comparable to the worlds which exist in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or Avatar. Some of the different races and transportation which is used in the film clearly reference Star Wars and it is clearly one of the main inspirations behind the film.

Whilst the detail of the setting adds to the richness of the film, it also creates some complexity in the story. The last half hour of the film is chock full of different locations and tribes of people (such as the Tolmekians, the Pejite and the people of the valley). As the story nears its conclusion we constantly jump from one event to another, many of which often happening simultaneously, and this leads to a bit of conclusion in the plot.

Overall, whilst I enjoyed this film, I didn’t love it. I didn’t ever feel that emotional connection with the main characters which I need in order to truly fall in love with a film. Despite that I think there are enough interesting aspects of this film to warrant a repeat viewing, however I do not think its status as one of the top 250 films is really justified.

Rating 7/10

1 down, 249 to go…