On the plus side, very many thanks for such an informative, well laid out, and useful article. On the negative, how come every time I put a tick against one watched movie I also end up adding two or three new ones to my list? Now I've got four more - the Rurouni Kenshin series - and that's just from my first quick read through! :-)
In the UK you can rent or buy it on Amazon Prime (£2.49/£7.99). If you're prepared to risk downloading it as a free torrent file, it's certainly available on ThePirateBay. From your location? Just Google it. It's highly rated and still very popular, so I doubt you'll have trouble finding it somewhere.
Great graphics, shame about the script! It also doesn't hurt that the male lead - Lu Han - is gorgeous ... though way too young to have made it to the position he's supposed to be in.
Luckily, I don't speak Mandarin Chinese, so if I do watch it again it will be with the subtitles turned off. A little of the dialogue is in English though, and the music is frequently OTT ... but there's always the mute button. As it stands, I rated this 4*. If I hadn't understood what they were saying, I'd have given it a six, maybe even a seven!
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that somewhere there's an attic with a portrait of this guy in, and it's that which is doing the aging. (If you're the one who has it, I'd like to buy it please.)
You know how sometimes a film is bad but there's just something about it , and it becomes a cult classic? Definite candidate. I laughed quite a lot. Sometimes when I was supposed to, others when I probably wasn't.
If he didn't win an award for his performance in 'The Silent Forest', there's no justice! I suspect that great things lie ahead in this guy's future ... for him and for us.
11 ... no, make that 12 out of 10! One of my all-time favourite movies, and number one in its genre. Superb acting from the two leads, a masterclass in directing and cinematography, and heart-rending? I've just started to cry again while writing this, just thinking back to it. Time to watch it again, I think. ...
EDIT: Just rewatched it. My eyes started watering about ten seconds in ... the music is superb: just that alone makes me cry, knowing what's to come.
Given that the three lead actors are Renshi de Guzman, Keann Johnson and Adrian Lindayag, I'm having difficulty understanding how anyone could even notice the scenery or take in the plot. :-)
Luckily, I don't speak Mandarin Chinese, so if I do watch it again it will be with the subtitles turned off. A little of the dialogue is in English though, and the music is frequently OTT ... but there's always the mute button. As it stands, I rated this 4*. If I hadn't understood what they were saying, I'd have given it a six, maybe even a seven!
EDIT: Just rewatched it. My eyes started watering about ten seconds in ... the music is superb: just that alone makes me cry, knowing what's to come.