15
This review may contain spoilers
Sadness and brokenness
What should I say? I have a kind of weakness towards films that are based on real events. I will like them anyway. (Please check the historic background of the movie yourself too! You won't understand it otherwise. This movie was the first movie ever made about this event.)
I guess this one I found even more beautiful because I've been to Jioufen/Jiufen before (where the movie is set), and to see how beautiful the place looked like in the past, and how similar, makes me feel sentimental. I recognized some streets and the view of the coastline was exactly the same as I have seen.
This amazing cast also makes the movie great. I especially liked how they incorporated the many different languages that were spoken at the time. In one scene, 3 different languages were spoken and 2 people were translating. Another thing I liked was the cinematography. It's a movie where you don't always know what is exactly happening, you have to wait and find out together with the characters. The length of scenes, the point of view of the camera, the way the camera would stay in place and sometimes a character would go just outside of the frame but still the scene continued, and the use of music, especially having no music in the longer scenes where the deaf male lead was communicating through writing, it all elevates the experience of the movie.
The story itself shows many different emotions, but it does indeed end with sadness and brokenness. And knowing the history, it's not just for the city, the story is bigger and continues even after this movie.
Is this the best movie you will ever see, it depends on what you like but probably not. Is this an impressive masterpiece about important history, with a story that is needed to be told. I think it is.
I guess this one I found even more beautiful because I've been to Jioufen/Jiufen before (where the movie is set), and to see how beautiful the place looked like in the past, and how similar, makes me feel sentimental. I recognized some streets and the view of the coastline was exactly the same as I have seen.
This amazing cast also makes the movie great. I especially liked how they incorporated the many different languages that were spoken at the time. In one scene, 3 different languages were spoken and 2 people were translating. Another thing I liked was the cinematography. It's a movie where you don't always know what is exactly happening, you have to wait and find out together with the characters. The length of scenes, the point of view of the camera, the way the camera would stay in place and sometimes a character would go just outside of the frame but still the scene continued, and the use of music, especially having no music in the longer scenes where the deaf male lead was communicating through writing, it all elevates the experience of the movie.
The story itself shows many different emotions, but it does indeed end with sadness and brokenness. And knowing the history, it's not just for the city, the story is bigger and continues even after this movie.
Is this the best movie you will ever see, it depends on what you like but probably not. Is this an impressive masterpiece about important history, with a story that is needed to be told. I think it is.
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