香港國際電影節網上筆記連線

《性工作者十日談》──仍可被質詢的兩點

（討論電影：性工作者十日談 Whispers and Moans － 邱禮濤，2007）

電影真切地道出了性工作者的生活。然而在言說稱許的背後，卻仍要仔細考量其中可能存在的矛盾，而不其然流露出對性工作者處境的猶疑處理──其中兩處可圈可點的地方，首先會是電影在述及「企街」招攬生意的時候，每每以長焦距鏡頭（long-focal-length lens）處理的曖昧；其二便是吳日言所扮演的社工角色，每每開口講及性工作者權益議題的時候，便遭到「歡場姊妹」們的喝倒采，令其在言說似乎合理性權的背後，多了一重似是而非的意識形態角力。（…閱讀全文）

作者：嘉銘
刊於：青光眼之暮．至銘

Add comment May 26th, 2007

My 2007 HKIFF viewing experiences (4)

Before the Flood (Mainland China, 2004) (淹沒)

Filmed, like Jia’s works, in the ancient walled town of Fengjie after orders had been passed for its evacuation and abandonment… it features a camera that was able to unflinchingly record a tremendous lot, including quite a bit of anger, frustration, hopelessness and misery on the part of more than one hapless member of the town’s community…
To say the least: This is not an easy film to watch…

The Go Master (Mainland China & Japan, 2006) (吳清源)

…what I found here was a quiet, austere work that has its compelling and sublime Zen moments. With the kind of camera work that’s hardly quick but makes up for it by successfully capturing and imparting a lot of interesting details, this viewer felt like she was given enough to mull, contemplate and appreciate…
Consequently, I have to admit that I generally was less impressed by this offering than I actually had expected to be; and this not least because Tian Zhuangzhuang may well be the Mainland Chinese director that I tend to rate the most highly…

Walk In (Hong Kong, 1997) (奪舍)

Especially for a work that starts off with what appears to be a serious suicide attempt, this cinematic effort — which also has its share of well filmed action — sure is capable of eliciting a whole lot of hearty laughter; much of which is due to the antics of stars Danny Lee, Dayo Wong and the truly cute Ada Choi…

(閱讀全文)

作者: YTSL
刊於: WEBS OF SIGNIFICANCE

Add comment April 17th, 2007

A many-splendored thing 9

電影學者談及多齣電影:

Paolo Gioli (保羅．治奧利)
Traces of traces (1969)
My Glass Eye (1971)
Anonimatograph (1972)

Paolo Gioli has been making experimental films since the 1960s. From one angle, his approach converges with the work of filmmakers like Ken Jacobs and Ernie Gehr. Gioli employs optical printing and other techniques to halt, fragment, and superimpose images, many of them from found footage…

Cold Blade (1970) (龍沐香) (楚原)

Cold Blade (1970) is a very different affair. This swordplay classic directed by the versatile Chor Yuen for Cathay has been fairly hard to see…
Cold Blade begins with a graceful title sequence showing our two heroes practicing their signature moves in slow motion and floating aerobatics. These maneuvers will of course prove important at the climax. The story was written for the screen, but it’s as full of twists and double-dealing as a martial-arts novel…

Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust (2007) - by Baba Yasuo (超時空泡泡女)

Here’s one Asian film that won’t be remade in Hollywood; it’s already an unembarrassed riff on Back to the Future…
Naturally, Bubble Fiction is filled with retro music, dances, fashions, and hair styles, with plenty of in-jokes about J-pop culture and references to its Hollywood source…
The director painstakingly reconstructed the Tokyo of the time, including elaborate desserts and hand-punched train tickets…

On the Edge (2006) (黑白道) (邱禮濤)

On the Edge (2006) from the Herman Yau retrospective here at the festival, is one of the very best…
Thanks to a flashback structure, we see Nick’s rise in the gang juxtaposed to his slump once he’s back in uniform. Without being heavy-handed, the film juxtaposes a scene of Nick trying to return to civilian life with a parallel moment in his Triad days. It isn’t easy to advance two stories at once, but Yau manages it easily…

(閱讀全文)

作者: David Bordwell
刊於: David Bordwell’s website on cinema: Observations on film art and Film Art

Add comment April 16th, 2007

A many-splendored thing 8 (電影”臥虎”, “天行者”及”給他們一個機會” )

談及電影”臥虎”

Watching the unexpectedly solid Wo Hu (2006). Wong Jing is widely known as the great vulgarian of Hong Kong cinema; nothing is too lowbrow to be tossed into his movies. I like some of his work, but I worried when the opening credits of a serious picture like this listed Wong as producer. Despite my concerns, this turned out to be a strong cops-and-triads pic. The presence of Eric Tsang, Francis Ng, and Jordan Chan helps a great deal, and Marco Mak’s direction is efficient enough. The real strength is the script, with a plot that is unusually taut for a Hong Kong movie…

電影”天行者”

Seeing James Yuen’s curious Heavenly Mission (2006)…
One of many crime movies screened in the Panorama section of the festival, this is neither the worst nor the best. The plot proceeds spasmodically, and our mysterious protagonist seems a little too passive. Nice to see Ti Lung again, though, playing an aging and pacific triad boss. Nice also to see for once Thailand treated not as hell but rather as purgatory…

電影”給他們一個機會”

Enjoying in an old-fashioned way Herman Yau’s Give Them a Chance (2003): The notion of a movie about how HK teenagers become breakdancing stars didn’t seem promising, but it turns out to be a sweet piece of work. Yau has always had sympathy for grassroots life here, and he makes his ensemble plausible and sympathetic.

At a time when most HK directors seem wall-eyed for the Mainland box-office, here is a movie that is utterly local. It even has two English titles, Give Them a Chance and Give Me a Chance, just going to show that it wasn’t made for us Anglos. Actually, though, it speaks to anybody…

還有與Athena Tsui去購物, 和Raymond Phathanavirangoon吃晚飯, 去了看舞獅…

(閱讀全文)

作者: David Bordwell
刊於: David Bordwell’s website on cinema: Observations on film art and Film Art

Add comment April 12th, 2007

HKIFF第三炮:《性工作者十日談》:我要做好呢份工!

（討論電影：性工作者十日談 Whispers and Moans（邱禮濤，2007））

含劇情描述

《性》片沒有將太多的視點放在她(他)們的最核心工作上，反而多著墨在她(他)們面將情感的困擾、尊嚴的喪失、工作和生活的壓力、以及人際關係的困難等，導演替這些性工作者發聲，也同時替你和我訴訴苦。片中以一間接近沒落的夜總會為中心，這行已淪為夕陽工業，本地性工作者更要和服務一流的北方性工競爭，竟與香港面對國內競爭，逐步被邊緣化的困窘處境不謀而合。（…閱讀全文）

作者：筆求仁
刊於：laputasky’s Blog

Add comment April 4th, 2007

毒校草 (Poison Friends) 明明 (MingMing) 性工作者十日談 (Whispers and Moans)

<<毒校草>> 法國
「Why do people write?」

「Because they are too weak not to.」

<<明明>>　中國，香港
一直看，一直覺得惹笑。電影的演員有周迅，有吳彥祖，有張信哲，有楊佑寧；他們的母語通通都不是廣東話，卻偏偏要他們以廣東話拍攝。幸好，還有一個陳寶轅，若不是還以為自己在看甚麼外星話電影…

<<性工作者十日談>>　香港
很久沒看過能令人這樣投入的港產片，起初覺得電影的主旨有點政治不正確，但後來想深一層──性不性工作者也好，為的，也不過是兩餐溫飽吧…

(閱讀全文)

作者: Caleb
刊於: balldim512’s Xanga Site

Add comment April 1st, 2007