bizarre
really bizarre and not in the best way. in my opinion none of the characters were particularly sympathetic or likeable at all, which is fine at times for some films, but for this one it was hard to stay engaged beyond just watching the train wreck in motion. the plot was also a little meandering and not the most clear or engaging. it did have potential for intrigue and I liked some of the film's premise, but I just couldn't get into it as a whole with the way it was executed. the humor didn't grab me and neither did the story.Was this review helpful to you?
Strange finger
The movie is almost 20 minutes long but it was over in an instant. The background for the story is the loud TV program with commercials and news about current issues in the Korean society. And then there is this chopped finger found at the parking place.I have seen people cutting and chopping and losing fingers in many Korean movies. Most recently in the movie "Hopeless". I even remember the news about some Koreans chopping off their own finger in protest against Japan. But the main question here is: what can you do with a finger? Apparently, a lot but nothing worthy. Maybe this is an allegory on how we are interested in the lives of other people but at the end we can only live our own life.
So this short movie is very strange. I didn't understand it but i liked it.
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Just have a box of tissues.
The only reason I'm taking points of the rewatch value is because you'll want to cry all over again. A particular kind of cry. One I'd have to be ready for again. Seriously, have tissues handy.This was a beautiful movie. I loved the characters and their stories, some where straight up injustices, and some that you realized that probably did deserve what they got. It was still hard to see anything happen to these women though. More so it's about connections and choices. It always makes me sad seeing how South Korea portrays orphans and prisoners. Prejudices against people for things they can't control. I hope this isn't really how it is . . . . but I've been told it is.
The actors were amazing. Whether they were top cast or just little side rolls. Which is impressive. The characters grew and the actors did such a wonderful job that you could see that growth. Be totally affected with it right along these amazing women.
The music was great. Which is important here! It was used in so many ways. To make us laugh. Empower the women. Convey hope, longing, and eventually heart break.
Overall I probably can't add to the praise everyone else has already sung (hahaha! couldn't resist), but I definitely will say this is good enough that I would suggest it to none K-drama fans. It holds up well enough. I was so happy with the acting and story. It was such a moving movie and I loved that all of the characters grew. No one was unaffected by the plot!
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Premiering at the 26th London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (since renamed BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival), on March 28, 2012, 'Speechless' (Chinese: 無言; pinyin: Wu yan), its fifth film, between short films and feature films, after filming 'Stanley Beloved' (1998), 'First Love and Other Pains (1999), 'Innocent' (2005) and 'End of Love' (2009), is a homosexual drama about a mysterious young Frenchman who is found naked on the banks of a river in a remote border city in southern China, precisely in Wuhan.
On this occasion, Chung joined forces with fellow writer and director Claudia Priscilla ('Look at Me Again') to take the protagonists on a journey in which destiny transcends differences in gender and culture.
In this film, the director continues to represent the violence of queers, but the film not only focuses on homosexuality, but also on the frustration of love.
The stranger (Pierre-Matthieu Vital), is arrested by the local police. Apparently he doesn't want to or can't talk (hence the title of the film), so he is sent to a hospital to find out what's wrong with him.
During his convalescence in the health center he remains mute, plagued by nightmares and scenes from the past. Despite having lost the ability to speak, the mysterious character is still able to create an emotional bond with the cute and kind Xiao Jiang, a nurse, who decides to help him when he is about to be transferred to an asylum, taking him clandestinely to his uncle's remote house in a distant village.
As Jiang connects with his new, silent friend, he discovers the secrets of his past and the reason for his silence. Jealousy, homosexuality and cultural differences caused the young Frenchman great harm from which he has not yet recovered.
The discovery leads to the retelling of a secondary love story between exchange student from France, Luke, who is eventually revealed to be the patient's identity, and a fellow college student named Han Dong. Unfortunately, Han has a girlfriend, Xiao Ning, who proves to be dangerously jealous.
Screened at major LGBT film festivals in London, Vancouver, Toronto and Turin, the interracial romance easily appeals to people of all sexual orientations as it reveals the true nature of love: that it is transcendent, but can also fade like dew.
Although the film is slow and somewhat confusing, it conveys this sad reality about the differences between the acceptance of homosexuality by different cultures. The drama gives way to a thriller that addresses themes such as betrayal, jealousy, revenge, and investigation, while showing scenes of frontal male nudity and sexual content, and viewers discover the truth step by step.
"Speechless" has quite a few flaws, notably the use of flashbacks to tell everything, completely interrupting the narrative, but it is a beautiful song against homophobia and for friendship and acceptance of those who are different.
'Speechless' is a surprisingly intriguing film that unfolds slowly and reveals what happened to Luke to render him mute. In the first half of the film, we glimpse Luke's memory as he attempts to piece together his own backstory, including scenes in which he has sex with another man. Once Luke leaves the hospital and joins Jiang, he disappears, leaving Jiang to investigate to find out how he ended up in the hospital. What follows is a series of twists and turns as Jiang tries to uncover the truth about his mysterious friend.
Following the personality of the main protagonist easily leads to falling in love with him, and that is what will happen to the viewer who is able to convince that any act is justified if it is out of love.
On the other hand, being faced with a story based on memory loss gives rise to a certain intrigue and a development to reconstruct the forgotten personality.
Simon Chung makes sure you are immersed in Luke's story as you, as Jiang, try to discover what really happened. From the opening scene of the film, where we see Luke swimming naked before he is arrested, you are intrigued to know what happened and if he is really crazy. Of course, things aren't that clear cut, but the film's many twists and turns eventually reveal the events leading up to that moment.
The handsome Han Dong is played by mainland Chinese model, actor and magician Jian Jiang, while actress Yung Yung Yu plays Xiao Ning.
Chung also gets strong but sensitive performances from his young cast members.
One of the difficulties Chung encountered during filming is that the actor who plays Luke does not speak fluent Mandarin Chinese, so he had to offer him help to train him to deliver his lines.
Filmed in the small town of Shantou, on the east coast of Guangdong Province, and in the northern countryside of this province located in southern China, and at Shantou University, 'Speechless' is a solid mystery drama and It hooked us from the opening scene.
Of course, it helps that Pierre-Matthieu Vital is very pretty, so seeing him naked from the beginning definitely helps the film win you over. This young actor's performance is very good and he has to be expressive through other means, since his character barely utters a word.
Simon Chung has created an intriguing film that explores not only homosexuality, but tells the story of a young man whose innocent relationship with another man had such traumatic consequences.
As the director noted, the inspiration for the film came from a real-life case known as the "Piano Man", in which a man appeared on the east coast of England several years before filming began.
'Speechless' reminds me of 'Soundless Wind Chime', another 2009 Chinese film with a gay theme and a similar atmosphere, which also has as its main theme a romance between two young people, one Chinese and the other Western. Unlike 'Speechless', the dialogue in the aforementioned film is mainly in English.
Chi-Lap Chan's beautiful cinematography and Sebastian Seidel's music introduce us to the fascinating romance between Han and Luke, who was still speaking at the time. However, it is the more subtle growth of love and understanding between the silent Luke and Jiang that has stayed with me.
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Wang YiBo's 1st Big Screen Movie In The USA, All Over The World! What More Could I Ask For?
1st If You Love, And Adore Wang YiBo As Much As I Do, This Movie Is Not For The Faint Of Heart... I Was Chingy, Screaming, And Almost Brought To Tears Crying Watching This Movie. Knowing The Age In Which YiBo Filmed This Movie, And All The Stunts, And Hard Work Made Me So Sad For Him That I Wanted To Cry For Him. The Hard Work, And Dedication He Put Into This Movie. It Is So Real, And So Life Like, I Couldn't Even Begin To Tell You. This Young Man At The Age Of 24-25, Whatever It Might Have Been, When No Name/Hidden Blade Came Out YiBo Had Just Turned 25, He Did All His Stunts, He Did All The Fighting, And Punch Scenes Himself... In An Interview, It Was Said There Was Not Enough Time To Teach YiBo How To Punch, And Hit Correctly, So YiBo Said He Felt Bad, And Sorry For All The Actors That He Punching, Because He Was Really Punching Them, And Hurting Them.I Honestly Was So Excited That This Movie Was Coming Out To The USA, I Even The Tickets To The Showing The Night Before The 1st Opening... YiBo's 1st Big Screen Movie In The USA, What More Could A Huge Wang YiBo Fan Ask For Like Me?
As For The Story Line Some Parts I Didn't Like Especially When It Came To The Prisoners, And Animals, But That Is What War Is So What Can You Do? A Feed Part Left Me A Little Tramtized.
The Stunts That Were Done By YiBo, And All The Actors Were Amazing... I Can't Imagine How Hard It Was To Get It So Real, And So Life Like Like They Did. The Visual Affects Are Insane Too. It Was Jam Packed With A Lot Of Exciment.
YES, THERE IS LOTS OF GORE!!!
Lots Of Twists, And Turns.
What Seems To Be What It Seems Is Not What It Seems!
Even Though There Was Certain Things I Didn't Like, I Ended Up Watching No Name/Hidden Blade The Day Before Is Was Released, And The Last Day It Was Released In The USA. That How Much I Really Liked It, Or Maybe It Was More To Support Wang YiBo With His 1st Big Screen Movie, 2nd Time Around I Brought My Mom Too... NO IT'S BECAUSE THAT IS HOW MUCH I LOVE AND ADORE YIBO, AND WANTED TO SUPPORT HIM.
My Mom Was Even On The Edge Of Her Seat, And I Remember She Comented At One Scene Oui Yo Lay, In Taiwanness It Like Oh My Goodness, Like Basically Her Heart Is Hurting For Him. She Even Asked Me How Old He Was, And I Had Told Her, I Know She Was Feeling The Same Way I Felt With Him Being So Young, And Having To Go Though All That.
All I Gotta Say Is Yes There Are A Few Scenes That I Don't Like, I Wanted To Jump Out Of My Skin, Because Of All The Stunts YiBo Did, But It Is A Really Great Movie, Because There Is A Lot Of Action, And Excitement. Plot Twist And Turns. What You Expect Is Not What You Think. What You Think Is Not What You Expect. Pay Close Attention To Everything, And Every Detail, Because You Might Miss Something That Is Very Important.
My Husband, And I Noticed Diffrent Things The 2nd Time We Watched It, When We Didn't Notice It The 1st Time We Watched It.
P.S. YES, AT THE VERY END YIBO IS REALLY EATTING THE DRUNKEN SHRMP ALIVE, RAW AND MOVING!!! If That Isn't Being Brave Or Up For A Challenge, And Being A Professional In His Profession I Don't Know What Is!
September 4th, 2024 @ 9:?? A.M.-10:47 A.M.
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Soapy Middle-school Story Based on a Song
Three years into a very successful career as singer-songwriter in 2008, Angela Aki released her 8th single "Tegami (Haikei Jūgo no Kimi e)" or "Letter: Dear 15-yearold Me". The song was then used in the following year as competition song in a national competition for middle-school choirs and NHK produced four documentaries following Aki to various middle-schools as the children rehearsed the song for the competition. One of those documentaries served as inspiration for a 2011 novel by Nakata Eiichi, a pen-name of the extremely prolific writer Otsuichi, and that novel is the basis for this 2015 film. The song itself has since become the standard graduation song for middle-school graduation ceremonies in Japan.The story is set in a small island town near Nagasaki, and centers around three characters: third-year student Nazuna who is the captain of the choir club, Kashiwagi-sensei who was a well lauded classical pianist and who has returned to the island to serve as a substitute teacher for a year and first-year student Satoru. The film slowly reveals the backstories of these three characters as Kashiwagi disrupts the old way the choir was run by allowing boys with all their cooties to join the group. All three of the characters have very soapy pasts and the plot is overly reliant on convenient plot timings for events that otherwise would have little chance of being conincident. But the film does build to a lovely climax at the provincial choir competition in Nagasaki City with a truly moving performance of Aki's song by the choir.
If you love the song, then this film is probably a must-watch. For the more general viewer, the film is still quite good with some excellent performances by the three main actors as their characters go through a year of growth which does reflect well the dialogue within the lyrics of the original song.
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Watch this when you are angry
This is a great movie to vicariously live your vengeance fantasies. Worth your time!This is a great movie to vicariously live your vengeance fantasies. Worth your time!
This is a great movie to vicariously live your vengeance fantasies. Worth your time!
This is a great movie to vicariously live your vengeance fantasies. Worth your time!
This is a great movie to vicariously live your vengeance fantasies. Worth your time!
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This review may contain spoilers
I wish more people saw this
Adult lesbian couple, love, finding your place in society full of judgment, real life struggles and lack of communication ..Title says it all.
Beautiful, but crushingly sad. At least for me. There’s something about stories like this that always makes me emotional.
If you’re an adult lesbian, queer or sapphic that is in the closet, I think you might agree..
Needless to say, I cry every time I watch this. I cannot be objective. :):
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This review may contain spoilers
an absolutely devastating must-watch
I remember when spaceless came out a few months ago and I didn't watch it, but now that 4 minutes is almost over, I figured I would. And holy shit.I am so glad that I skipped it when it came out during pride month cause it is an absolute masterpiece of an emotional hate crime 😭
Anyone who thinks Jes and Bible don't have chemistry is a fucking idiot, they are perfect! The scene by the water is literally devastating and they both played it so well. It's so sad, but so beautiful.
Bible was the standout for me, just the utter devastation on his face in most scenes, and then the end, the soft smile after Tul tells Garn that he named his daughter after him.
The story itself is just so devastating (I know I keep using that word, but it's the most fitting) because Garn was willing to suffer just so that he could still have Tul in his life. And I don't blame Tul entirely for the way he treated Garn, but I do hate him just a little bit for knowing how Garn felt and lowkey leading him on. But props for being honest and telling him that it was never gonna happen. It's still sad tho because it almost feels like Garn died of a broken heart 😭
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Slow, simple, cute
This is a slow movie, with a very simple plot and storyline. I am a fan of the two main actors anyway, but I think they do a good job carrying the movie.Are there flaws? Yes. But I would be nitpicking if I were to list them.
The main thing to take away from the movie, in my opinion, is honest and open communication. This is of course a familiar theme in Kdramas and movies; difficulties, misunderstanding, and conflicts due to holding back and not communicating clearly. It's difficult to "take a hint" if one isn't even being given.
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I love BTS!
It’s really beautiful! I love it! …………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….Was this review helpful to you?
Unrealistic but interesting
I couldn't fully enjoy the movie. It has a lot of great elements, but also a lot of stupid, illogical and unrealistic details. I won't reveal spoilers but I will at least mention the first scene where we see the main character Im Gyu-nam mapping the way through the DMZ. The scene is full of tension and looks attractive, but it is completely unrealistic. The whole movie is like that. They don't represent the realistic view on North Korean regime but an anecdotal exaggeration of it. The events in the plot are so "extra" that until halfway through the film I kept asking myself: "Is this really happening?", and later I came to terms with the fact that the film is based on impossible plots and even more impossible instant resolutions. Maybe modern audience likes that, but to me it was a bit off putting from what is generally very engaging and interesting story.Life in North Korea must be very difficult, and the film develops the theme of free will and choice well. Is it better to live in obedience-slavery but in security or to live in freedom but in uncertainty? The two main protagonists each answer this question in their own way.
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Lot Of Gore... Lots Of French... A Learning Experience...
I Love And Adore Wang YiBo, That Is Why I Wanted To Watch This... I Was Happy To See Jason Gu From Oh My Emperor, And X-Nine. I Have To Say The Movie Was Quit Grusome. Lot's Of... Let Just Say Don't Have Dinner Or Lunch While Watching This Movie. The Stunts, And Diffrent Affects Were Amazing. I Was So Afraid Something Bad Was Going To Happen To YiBo, His Stunts Were So Crazy. This Young Man Is Such A Brave, And HARD WORKING Young Man. The Story Line Wasn't That Great, It Was More Of The Fact That Wang YiBo Was In It, And It Being Action Packed. There's A Lot Of French In It, So Be Prepared To Read Alot. The Acting By YiBo, And The Main Actors, And Actress Did Amazing Jobs. Everything Was Really Good Except The Gore, And The Story Line. And Don't Get Me Wrong, It Was A Good Movie For Educational Perposes, Never Knew Anything About This About China, Niether Did My Husband... So I Am Quit Happy I Ended Up Watching This Movie, And I Want To Thank YiBo For Being Apart Of It, Because If It Wasn't For Him, I Probably Would Have Never Watched This Movie. I Am So Proud Of Him For Being In This Movie, And Showing How It Is For The UN In China.Was this review helpful to you?
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Half History channel -half comdey/action
Where to begin? Watching this movie feels like watching two one-hour movies smushed together to create this two and half hours “movie.”In the first half, it feels like Jack’s modern group is just wandering around, lecturing the viewer about Chinese history, while the scenes set in ancient times are just reenactments you’d see in a history documentary. Then, in the second half of the movie, it shifts into a comedic action film with a hint of nationalism.
Sometimes, it feels like a vanity project for Jackie Chan, yet at the same time, he’s hardly in the movie and often feels like a background character in his own story. It was supposed to be a great love story between Jackie’s Zhao Zhan and Meng Yun, but they don’t share enough screen time to make their relationship engaging. It ends up feeling more like a one-sided love story between Meng Yun and Hua Jun. I suspect the limited screen time is partly because they spent a lot of money de-aging Jackie, which adds to the “vanity project” vibe. Meng Yun’s love for Zhao doesn’t feel essential to the plot but seems forced because it’s a Jackie Chan movie. The ancient storyline could easily be about war and revenge, and it wouldn’t change much of the overall plot.
The one bright spot is Peng Xiao Ran’s Xin Ran and her romantic pursuit of Lay Zhang’s Wang Jung. This subplot kept me entertained throughout. Her character is genuinely funny and engaging. Honestly, they should have made her the reincarnated horse, Lei Zhen, instead of giving that role to the gamer, since the horse Lei Zhen has a more substantial character arc than Zhao Zhan. “It sacrificed its life in the past for its master and returned in modern times as a woman to pursue its man again.”
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Crazy Delight
Rewatching this gem after so many years, I am surprised how little recognition this film has among Korean film enthusiasts. There are fans who know all the main directors and love to watch arthouse directors, such as Hong Sang Soo, but whenever I ask them have you seen "Save the Green Planet?" I'm often met with a perplexed look: "What's that?"Save the Green Planet!, Jang Joon Hwan's feature-length debut film, is a sci-fi, comedy, psychological thriller. Yes, somehow Jang Joon Hwan manages to masterfully weave the disparate genres into one cohesive piece, all on his debut! The film is told from the perspective of Byeong Gu, a secluded beekeeper living in an house on top of a mountain. This house, however, is no ordinary house; it was rebuilt over an abandoned mannequin factory allowing for a labyrinthian underground palace with various elaborate makeshift devices and traps. Byeong Gu is also no ordinary man. He is a conspiracy theorist who is convinced that the CEO of a pharmaceuticals company is an alien overlord. Sheer madness and hilarity ensues when Byeong Gu kidnaps and traps the CEO under his house. Byeong Gu attempts to torture the truth out of the CEO, while he goes on with his ordinary day-to-day activities, while avoiding the attention of authorities, and all while treading the thin line of sanity and insanity.
What I most appreciated about the film is how Jang Joon Hwan subverts the traditional hero's journey and what we have instead is a very confused and pitiful villain against an asshole victim. Our morals are constantly tested, the legal procedure is flipped, and just as we are complicit in Byeong Gu's devious acts, we also end up a little bit insane with him.
It has moments of absurdity with surrealistic elements, but Jang Joon Hwan doesn't use the surreal as a cheap tool to lose the logical coherence of the film as most surrealist comedies do. Rather, the surreal in this film is a tool used to create or alleviate tension and self doubt.
Unfortunately, after Save the Green Planet's box-office flop, Jang Joon Hwan must await nearly a decade for another attempt at feature-length film. But by then, the damage is done; the creativity and ambitions of Save the Green Planet! is long gone and what's left is caged bird: the conventions that Jang Joon Hwan overcame becomes his shackles.
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