Reviews

A Nostalgia-Ridden Love Story To The 1990s …

When discussing about directors Frankie Chen and Chen Yu Shan’s ‘ Our Times’ , the movie is often directly attributed on a surface level as merely being a stereotypical and cutesy love story between its two main leads Lin and Taiyu . However is arguable that when you are able to delve further beneath the film’s surface ‘ Our Times’ isn’t just a literal romance, but a love story and homage by its creators to the nostalgic days of youth in 1990s Taiwan.

Original or replicated props,popular culture references to 90’s idols such as Aaron Kwok and Andy Lau, outfits and copied hairstyles from the era given to the drama’s cast animated scenes to life with euphoria as bubbly palettes and vivid hues onscreen attempted to perfectly capture the rose-tinted warmth and sweetness of adolescence throughout the movie.

However that isn’t to say that Chen and Shan entirely limit the nostalgia-ride with merely visuals. The reimbursed injection of the “ordinary girl meets her Prince Charming” trope admittedly did have its highs-and-lows throughout the movie.

An evident feminine-perspective to this cliche helped to add a breath of fresh air to an otherwise overused trope. Flashbacks and flash forwards throughout the drama’s non-linear storyline between Lin Zhen Xin’s dilemmas as a young woman in her thirties( Joe Chen) against Lin’s naive teen-self ( Vivian Sung) helped to present Lin Zhen Xin’s journey throughout the movie.

Nevertheless ‘ Our Time’ ‘s pragmatic focus upon Zhen Xin’s embroiled meeting with the seemingly fearsome delinquent Taiyu (Darren Wang) could admittedly sometimes feel shoehorned by cliches in an attempt to keep the drama’s plot-drive afloat throughout the movie’s duration. Considering that this is one of the focal drives of the storyline it wasn’t necessarily bad per say that the film attempted to offer opportunities to bring forward the two unlikely lovers together. On the other hand the movie could often feel as though it was trying to drive the series sometimes through enforced misunderstandings leading to further drama, rather than allowing coherent events to take place and then resolving problems throughout the film.

One of the most pleasant surprises of the film came through the movie’s lineup. Joe Chen played the older-self of the female lead; a woman in her thirties stuck in a deadbeat office non who begins to reminisce about her school days back in the 1990s. Despite Chen not having as many focused scenes as she should’ve done as the main character’s older-self in the film, the actress was able to interplay her character incredibly well with younger actress Vivian Sung.

Sung is arguably one of the main highlights of ‘ Our Time’. Whilst at times the actress could admittedly feel as though she was putting on a slight over-the-top ambience to her onscreen persona in order to sway audiences towards her image as the “ dorky teen and fan girl ”, Sung could also surprisingly captivate a loveable and down-to-earth charm to Zhen Xin’s teen-self for audiences.

Costarring alongside Joe Chen was Jerry Yan as main male lead Hsu Tai Yu’s older-self. The actor’s well-known performance as the main lead in the popular adaptation of the original ‘ Meteor Garden’ did carry through with a slight gruff charm onscreen. Nevertheless Yan’s appearance whilst necessary to wrap-up events was limited and brief to say the least.

The notable star-attraction of the series as the younger Hsu Tai Yu was Darren Wang. As the actor’s breakout role Wang portrayed troublemaker Taiyu with a few awkward line deliverances at times but quickly made up for this through surprising heart and soul in tour de force moments of the momvie, as well as wittiness when screen time called for it also.

On the other hand for a movie filled with easygoing nostalgia and sweet chemistry between the leads ‘ Our Time’ could often fall victim to pacing. For a film exceeding a two hour duration trying to captivate an audience is quintessential and dragged-out scenes and dialogue exchanges could often sometimes weigh heavily upon its paced-narrative. Plot points could sometimes feel slightly cyclical at times without adding anything new to the storyline; something that could’ve easily been fixed if the storyline had arguably kept its structure a little more rigid and succinct .

The ending admittedly on a crisp and sweet note for audiences- expected of the genre but fitting for the characters and events of the movie.

Frankie Chen and Chen Yu Shan is an expected love-story with cliches and shoehorning sometimes worming its way into the events of a laissez-faire paced plot. Nevertheless there’s no doubt that there’s something oddly endorsing about its cast, bright palettes and authentic set pieces as well as Chen and Shan’s homage not just to the 1990s, but an attempt to engage audiences through the universal experience of nostalgia also.

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The Detonation Of The Rom-Com…

Takashi Miike has long been known for his blood-soaked and violent movies through his legacy left upon Japanese cinema. Therefore it should come as no surprise that his directed psychological-horror ‘ Audition’ (1999) has led to an onslaught of confusion, surprise, intrigue and horror amongst anyone who has watched Miike’s surrealist film.

Based on the novel by Japanese writer Ryû Murakami, ‘ Audition’ ‘s seeming basic plot-drive could easily be mistaken by the naked eye as a rom-com. Ryo Ishibashi played Aoyama; the middle-aged father and widower who is raising his teenage son Shigehiko (Tetsu Sawaki). Worried about his father Shigehiko suggests that Aoyama should move on and find someone new.

Aoyama soon urged the help from his filmmaking partner Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimara) to film a fake audition for a melodrama as a way of looking for a young and attractive woman. Soon Aoyama seems to have found exactly who he is looking for in Yamazaki Asami ( Shiina Eihi); an ethereally beautiful young woman who is well-mannered and charismatic . However Asami’s perfection soon begins to slip through the cracks as Aoyama stumbles upon darker truths surrounding his seemingly " perfect woman" and her past.

Takashi Miike’s film is tainted with its equilibrated infliction of violence and gore. However unlike many of the director’s previous works which are often soaked in crimson red long before the rolling credits, ‘ Audition’ is a movie which is poignantly self-conscious about its insidious undertones.The notable emotional emphasis upon Shigehiko and Aoyama’s objectification of women early on in ‘ Audition’ has arguably led to a lot of interpretations and mixed-criticism towards Miike’s great contrast between the first-part and second-half of the movie.

Arguably Miike is purposeful within his initial setup of the first part of Audition in equal rendition to a rom-com with the setup and Kunimara’s awkward and flustered micro-expressions around Asami.

Nevertheless even early early on in Miike’s tedious first-part there are hints towards something not being quite right with Aoyama’s dream girl; sitting alone on the floor in an empty apartment, staring at the phone on the ground and all but disappearing after Asami and Aoyama spend the night together. Miike’s clear emphasis upon the expected subservience of women presented a clear critique upon the expectations of Japanese society twisted and morphed into a monstrous reality as the events progress.

However whilst the first-half of ‘Audition’ can arguably be excused as Miike’s presented innocuous romantic fantasy which takes a darker turn in the second half there is an undeniable problem with Miike’s pacing; it is incredibly slow-burn and in parts tedious . Naturally the events are supposed to be gradual but scenes in the first part could often feel dragged out. Overstretched dialogue exchanges could often disengage audiences in parts which whilst necessary often lacked a great ability to coincide with impactful shock and horror amongst audiences by hooking them in the first-part.

However patience is often said to be a virtue. The second-half of ‘Audition’ acts as an enriched reflection of character study where personal traumas and moral, sexual and social boundaries began to blur and frustrations towards gender limitations became more prominent. Aoyama’s fear against women became a reality through Asami became a reality as a sardonic and satirical tone veiled the movie with a boundary where it was hard to truly root for anyone without having to acknowledge the ugly head of the character’s flaws. Reflected in the gradually illusive cinematography techniques which became gradually more vivid throughout this part Miike’s dark irony was perfectly captured in the final part with a shocking twist to its events.

‘Audition’ is a movie which is not for the faint hearted. It is slow-paced and tedious in its initial exposition and whilst failing to arguably wrap up some key points, it is still a movie which unlike many modern horror films understood the impact of suspense and building fear. The cast were were brilliant within their roles and Miike’s emphasis upon themes of gender and limitations disturbingly explode in clear vision for the delivered conclusion of the movie.

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A remake of Dangerous Liaisons made with an international cast of Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, and American actors. If this is the first version of this story you've ever seen, you might be far more impressed than I was.

What I liked about this movie: The cinematography was lush and the scenes were wrapped in golden light and settings. 1930's Shanghai came to life beautifully.

What didn't work for me: Mostly the acting and the reworked story. Cecilia Cheung played the Marquise de Merteuil/Madam Mo Jie Yu role. This is a key role, she was the independent, manipulative, devious mind pulling the strings in business, society, and the bedroom. She should have been the alluring lethal danger in this movie. Unfortunately, instead of displaying the cunning and cruelty at the heart of Jie Yu, Cecilia could only manage a fake smile and a grimace occasionally, bringing almost no nuance to this multi-layered character.

Jang Dong Gun in the Vicomte de Valmont /Xie Yi Fan role was pleasing enough but lacked the sexually sinister side needed as Valmont/Fan slept his way across Shanghai and ultimately tripped himself up by falling in love. Zhang Zi Yi portrayed the Madame de Tourvel/Madam Du Fen Yu role. Her performance was perhaps the most disappointing, and I'm a fan of hers. Somehow, they transformed her into a frumpy woman, a woman who moved and dressed like an elderly little old lady. A reserved character became almost lifeless in her hands, and it was hard to understand how Fan fell so hopelessly in love with her.

The secondary younger characters, integral to the story were given short shrift and much of their important action was done offstage.

Key parts of the original story were cut out or given to other characters. Sometimes a new vision works, this retelling of the tale did not for me. Again, if you've never seen other versions of this, this interpretation may be perfectly serviceable.

Most unsatisfactorily of all, they took the bite, rancor, revenge, and tragedy out of the ending. This cast lured me into watching yet another version of this story, bitterly disappointing me in the end. Jang Dong Gun's charisma did lift an otherwise limp version of this sexual and power games movie, but his performance wasn't enough to save it for me. Instead of Dangerous Liaisons it was more like Irksome Liaisons.

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A little cliche but still heart-warming

For a 2011 movie, this was pretty much what you'd expect. It was heart-warming and I could see it being a tear-jerker for some, but it also just doesn't provide many new plots or characters compared to similar movies that I've seen.

The pacing was quite nice in the first half — I'm a sucker for the way they did the slow burn — but the second half had a lot of plot development and not much of the same patience dedicated to them. This is one of those movies I wish was a drama because maybe those backstories could have been fleshed out more and the characters could have more conversations with each other, especially once the conflicts started kicking in. I especially felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

Other than that, this was a really wholesome movie for the most part and I had a good time watching it.

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Much sex, little story

I just don't know, what the movie was supposed to tell us. That the people, who go to love hotel, have sex there? Actually the movie didn't catch enough of my attention, so I just loosely followed. The first half or even more is about different people renting the room in the said love hotel and having sex in there, and the staff was permanently listening to them. Maybe it was involuntary, they had some ventilation going to the staff room and it served almost as a speaker... But even so they didn't see it coming, that two guests (room teacher and a high school student girl) commited suicide. After that and the death of the father, who was the first owner, the young owner closes the love hotel and leaves for somewhere, presumably Tokyo. And bevore leaving she also has sex in the same room with some guy, whom she liked since high school...
That's it. I don't understand why it was filmed in the first place. The acting was alright, considering the script. Story is more or less none-existent. Music was okayish. If someone wanted to make an erotic film, the movie doesn't show anything, despite many moments with people having sex, there is nothing erotic or sexy. Also I don't understand why Matsuyama Kenichi and Yasuda Ken would play in that movie...

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19 years - 110 Countries - 25,000 miles!

The cinematography and music was excellent in this movie!

The support cast worked great to support the main cast's performance.

I liked especially the majority movie showing the hazards, hardships and trials that befell Xuan Zang in his 25,000 mile-110 countries-19 year journey...

Instead of giving you my own opinion of this movie, I am letting others tell you 'their' opinion of this movie:

Smith Watson
2 months ago
As an Indian we are only taught about Hiuen Tsang as a Chinese traveler who visited India but we never knew how much sacrifices he made to reach India and that he was a Buddhist monk who spread Buddhism in China via the texts. Great man, Salute to him. He has written 'Si-Yu-Ki' i.e Buddhist records of the western world.

I love the scenery!

I love the attempt at making this seem to have been filmed in the time period in which the character lived.

I love the interaction on a respectful, human level which seems to be so lacking in society today.

I love the historical accuracy since I reported on this person as part of a Religious Studies class in college.

And I love being able to escape into a time where things were simpler...

Bill Amos
1 year ago
I came upon this movie totally by accident, and I'm so glad I did! It has spurred me to read more about Buddhism, the Silk Road, and Tang-era China.

Jaydeep Ghosh
8 months ago
Beautiful , love from India. Yes, Hiuen Tsang is part of Indian school syllabus in 7-8th grade history. Great to get some glimpses of ancient India and China. Love and respect!

FT- Anjana PV
5 months ago
Omg... Such a beautiful movie.. kudos to actor portrayed Xuan.. i m so glad hearing a Chinese speaking hindi and Indian actors to be a part of Chinese movie.. i really hope India and China to be friends forever. No war no hatred. Peace only. I hope people will understand this

anandita adhikary
7 months ago (edited)
Thank you China for such a beautiful film. I absolutely loved it. Have read about Xuansang as a part of history syllabus in school but to see a movie depicting his eventful and inspirational life was an experience in itself. The present relationship between the two countries is far from what it happened to be or what it should have been. The two great civilizations would have benefitted a lot from one another ;had the evil forces of destiny didn't intervene !
I have visited ruins of Nalanda University, Mahabodhi temple and the banyan tree where Lord Buddha got enlightenment personally and have great reverence for Him 🙏🌹❤️

Rose Lover
1 year ago
I am a Christian and I found this movie inspiring and moving. If a horse can have a kind and compassionate heart what excuses do we as humans have? We ought to love and treat each other better.

Ruchi in China
11 months ago
Love from India! A subscriber referred to this movie and I can’t believe I haven’t watched it. Every Indian should watch this beautiful movie to learn the historical significance of these events.

Zel L B.
9 months ago
Such a film! The sceneries and phases in this film translated so well. These magnificent landscapes surely lead us to our own inner journey. Kudos to Chinese and India filmmakers, happy to have stumbled upon this.

teve a
11 months ago
I was a tourist at the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, India, on the day they were filming this movie and got to watch them for a bit. This main Actor who played Xuanzang is very famous and well known in India and people were lined up to say hello to him after the filming. It was all surreal to see this ....Just like stepping back in time

Jason Watkin
11 months ago
What a devotional masterpiece. I would have watched it just to hear the monks chanting Om Mani Padme Hum, or the Mandarin version of the Heart Sutra. Even the precision of the difference between Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna - Hīnayāna seeing the universe as material and perception as illusory and mutable, while Mahāyāna seeing “both” as illusory and mutable is very succinct and skillful. The cinematography and content are awe-inspiring!

triple terrific
5 months ago
As an Indian, I have great admiration for Hieuntsang about whom I learnt while at school. Thank you for writing about our history. At least through your books I learn about the golden times of my Bharatha

Any questions? A whole page full of like comments are at the English Subtitled version of this movie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulDzLjz0wdw

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A little endearing but mostly cringy and over-the-top

This is pretty much what I expected from a 2011 Taiwanese rom-com; it's a lot of ridiculousness and slapstick humor, and a lot of the main female lead just bumbling around, being clumsy, overreacting, and making questionable decisions.

Something about this is a little endearing — I appreciate the absolute mundaneness of the male lead, and of the entire situation, despite many of the plot points being common tropes.

However, the weakness of this movie is really with its characters; the male lead is mundane but uninspiring, the female lead is dramatic to the point of being cookie-cutter. It's pretty unclear why they fell for each other, and the addition of a mean female second lead felt pretty unnecessary. The positives were the aunties, who were pretty much there for comedic relief and succeeded at doing exactly that.

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Good story

Good story. I bet the manga was better because they could fit more in. This understandably seemed squished given the short time frame it has to be portrayed in. Though the kissing and sometimes the acting was really awkward. Especially on the part of Yagii-san. I don't think the actors kissed at all. That's ok with me. I can understand how that must be uncomfortable, and we aren't progressive enough to be at a point where people of the same gender kissing is as normal and comfortable as people of different genders kissing. It just felt... homophobic. Not that the actors or the show itself was homophobic. Ok, since the literal meaning of Homophobic is scared of homosexual people, then yes, both are homophobic. But it feels invalidating to queer people. If you can't fully betray it, then get different actors? Do I feel that this representation is better than nothing? Yes, but does that have to be my standard in 2021? I don't think so.

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Hidden gem with a very heartwarming story

I accidentally found this hidden gem while I'm browsing through Netflix. I saw the reviews and it was mostly good so I decided, 'why not give it a try?' So far, it's one of the great decisions that I didn't  regret.

The storyline is definitely interesting specially when the story about the father has been revealed however I do believe that it was the wonderful acting that made this whole movie a success. The father and daughter's  chemistry is so amazing that it's already touching just seeing them together. They really made the character alive which is the reason why the audience will definitely be smitten by this movie.

I really recommend this movie because it's heartwarming and it's really worth the watch. I really love how they portayed good deeds as something that comes around one way or another. Also, prepare to wipe your tears as it will surely make you feel vulnerable  and just want to cry everything  out.

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Nice addition to The Untamed but doesn't work as a standalone

This is for fans of The Untamed--not in the sense that it is so bad that only die-hard fans will like it, but in the sense that those who have not watched The Untamed or know the story in some other way will not be able to appreciate it. It will seem like a random story with a perplexing ending to those who have no idea what The Untamed is about, so it's not a good standalone movie, At 80+ minutes, the movie isn't exactly long, and there is room for more scenes, especially at the end.

I suppose one difficulty of having more scenes if that it will inevitably involve more actors from The Untamed who may not be able or willing to commit to filming the movie, (Or maybe there simply isn't enough budget.) Also, even if there are more scenes added, there may be overlaps with the series (so is the solution then to re-film some scenes?).

The focus on Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue in this movie offers an interesting addendum of sorts to The Untamed. It gives insight into the character of Nie Huaisang and why he may be motivated to orchestrate the downfall of the villain in The Untamed. The ending of The Untamed does give the sense that it is to take revenge, but it remains ambivalent as to whether Nie Huaisang is another ambitious person trying to gain power or he simply wants to see the villain's downfall.

Some questions that one has after watching The Untamed remain though. For instance, how does Nie Huaisang know about the range of the villain's misdeeds? In this movie, he discovers that his brother's death is caused by the villain, buthow about all the other evil deeds? Of course, to reveal more will require the inclusion of characters like Wei Wuxian (is there enough budget to get Xiao Zhan into the movie for a role that isn't the focus?).

One may be happy enough with The Untamed's fifty episodes. We do have a strong hint that Nie Huaisang isn't really an evil person even though he has enough intelligence to be a frightening villain if he wants. (Contrast it with the anime version of the story in which Nie Huaisang may be the next villain rising to a position of power.)

Ultimately, perhaps a better story can be told about the Nie brothers. As it is, we have flashbacks to the past with the brothers as kids, showing how close they are. We also have Nie Huaisang being shown to be clearly uninterested in power--he is rather cowardly but he also has a strong sense of righteousness, so much so that he would admonish his brother for doing questionable things. Why not include how he discovers the way to bring Wei Wuxian back to life and why. Why not show whether he has ruthlessly made use of Mo Xuanyu (who sacrifices his life to resurrect Wei Wuxian) or whether Mo Xuanyu is a willing party? (He starts off being a really good person, but does the quest for vengeance change him?) Instead of protracted fight sequences that don't do that much for me, I wish there had been effort to make the story a good standalone movie that can even serve as a good introduction to The Untamed for those who still have not watched the series.

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This movie is a must watch

So I just ended up watching it because of my classmate, and I must say I feel sad that I watched it just this morning. This movie has a very good plot twist, unexpected ending and the actors are chosen just right. There aren't any scenes I will add or skip, the filmmakers did a great job.

The more I watched, the more I got excited about it. Also, it isn't that big comedy type, but I smiled a lot and was laughing as never at the videos during ending subtitles.

I recommend it to everyone who likes thrilling action movies with bad (and handsome) guys and doesn't mind a bit of blood or fights.

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A comedic heart-warmer

So "comedic heart-warmer/tearjerker" might sound like an oxymoron but that's exactly what this was — there were really funny and silly moments, but they were followed by just heart-warming and adorable scenes between the father and daughter. Those were undoubtedly the best out of the entire movie, and I also loved how the side characters were also given personality. They all felt like one big happy family.

This drama reminded me a lot of Prison Playbook (not the parent dynamic but the cellmates dynamic) and it just made me feel really cozy and at home.

The only thing that I didn't love was the "future" scenes — it was a little predictable and though I've got nothing against Park Shin Hye, I felt like she just didn't feel right; I didn't buy into her character.

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Another girl ready to worship a guy and forget that she exists because he acted like a decent human

I feel like i saw this movie a 1000000 times over the years (some better than others) and as time goes by it gets harder to get it pass down my troath. I get so frustrated with the brainless nonsense passivity and stupid acting (or lack of it for that matter) and decision making...
And it's specially problematic when they write girl characters, it gets to my last nerve. It's not being shy or afraid of being bullied, it's just acting like they are 5 (i kinda know that some japanese guys like that girls act that way, stupid and immature so they fill their ego so i know why they write them that way, very problematic) a passivity to a level of being a blank paper that you can do anything with and leaving their entire selves to hopefully being ``saved´´ by a guy that will become their god just because they acted like any basic decent human would do.

I know shit about her but she had a freaking notebook asking every little thing about him or even his taste in hairstyles. He was the one that matter, she doesn't. She is almost empty to us.

And they act inconsistent and change their minds on and off without propper sense!! I cannot haha so frustrating.

I enjoy certain aspects of the tenderness of japanese romance, that's why i still come to watch time to time hopping for better, but please, get it together and stop with this characters that are brainless and have 0 personality other than following their love interest and throwing absurd pitty parties for themselves because is way too much to handle.

And lord, if you hear me, teach 99% of japanese live actions how to kiss, because the stamp is for the papers not the lips. Quite sure that the steamy kiss tag was a joke from someone, i refuse to believe otherwise.

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Fun and endearing

This was a really nice no-brain watch; there were moments that were quite endearing and yet had harsh and realistic implications for the larger policing system. At the same time, because of the humor, I found it hard to feel invested because there never felt like there were high stakes. You always knew things would work out in the end, and even at the most harrowing parts the movie never felt serious.

Even so, this movie worked well as a comedy — KHN and PSJ have really great chemistry together and the bromance scenes in this have become so iconic it was fun to see.

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