A Brand New Life (Yeo-haeng-ja)

There has been some excellent films to come out of Korea over the last few years and 'A Brand new Life" (Yeo-haeng-ja) is one them. Based on the early life of Korean - French filmmaker Ounie Lecomte, this film outlines the sense of outrage, rejection and hopelessness 7 year old Jinhee feels when given up for adoption by her father and step-mother. Left at a Catholic run orphanage outside of Seoul, we witness Jinhee's attempts to A Brand New Life to a life in limbo as she waits to be selected by new parents for a new life overseas. Sae-Ron Kim as Jinhee is startlingly real in this role and is surely destined for a very bright future indeed.

Viewing highlight: Watch the camera angles on the statue of the Madonna gauge Jinhee's circumstances.

Not One Less /

Not One Less is the engaging and delightful tale of a 13 year old emergency teacher's efforts to ensure that her class contains "not one less" student upon the return of their usual teacher from his annual holiday. Set in present day China, the film effectively portrays the economic divide between the country's rural and urban areas and also the lack of funding available to schools outside city boundaries.

A feature of the film was the use of non-professional actors. This lent a sense of authenticity and depth to the characters, something that is often missing from professional performances. A good demonstration of how maintining hope in the face of extreme difficulty can make a difference, I strongly recommend this imaginative and refreshing film.

To Live / Huozhe (1994)

If, like me you are a fan of Chinese Cultural Revolution family sagas or biography, this film will be for you. Having read both Falling leaves (Yen Mah, Adeline) and A Leaf in the Bitter Wind (Ye, Ting-xing), I was interested to see how the experiences of the Xu family (despite being totally fictional) compared. The film begins with Xu, Fugui (You, Ge)losing both his wife and the family mansion thanks to an uncontrollable gambling addiction and the unexpected repercussions that ensue.
The rest of the film focuses on the ingenuity employed and luck (both good and bad) experinced by Fugui and his wife Jiazhen (Li, Gong) as they try to raise their two children in the unstable confines of a new communist China.

At times poignant and joyful, this film provides another view of the Cultural Revolution and the way in which it impacted on the average family. Outstanding acting by both child actors adds to the realism of this film, although the true stars are the puppets.

See this website for more information.
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/to_live.htm

Nobody Knows / Dare Mo Shiranai (2003)

Made in 2003 and directed by Hirokazu Kore eda, this 141 minute drama is filled with the daily moments of discovery, pleasure and dispair that make up the lives of Akira, Kyoko, Shigeru and 5 year old Yuki as they attempt to survive following their mother's abandonment.

Starring J-Pop icon YOU as Keiko Fukushima and the remarkable acting talents of Yuya Yagira as 12 year old Akira, Nobody Knows is a quietly meandering river of dashed hopes for the four children left stranded by the one adult who should have given a damn.

Like a lot of Japanese movies, this film has that indefinable quality about it that manages to both subdue and highlight the misery and hoplessness our four main characters endure. It's this quality which draws me time and time again to non-western films and what makes this film a very heart-rending experience.

Brilliant casting and lots of floor level cinematography make this a film I strongly reccommend (but have a box of tissues handy!)

23 Things Final Task

Firstly, I must apologise if I haven't quite followed the instructions for this last question as I no longer have access to the Swinburne Wiki and thus haven't been able to find out what the last question actually is, so this is a guess. Hope you don't penalise me for this (my contract finished last year):).

Well, what a journey that was! Through the wonders of podcasting, blogs, RSS feeds, Facebook, social bookmarking and Second Life, I've seen a lot and learnt much. No surprise I'm exhausted! The things that have stuck with me and which I've taken with me to my new workplace (and home) are Del.icio.us, Blogger (there are actually people who read this!) Facebook (great communication tool!) Bloglines and Youtube. I've just requested access to a blog RMIT has created for their "GoogleSmart" training program and will enjoy contributing to this.

I guess at the end of the day, it's horses for courses and what I use won't necessarily be what others use. Sometimes there has to be a need before a new online web2.0 / library 2.0 service can be useful. Also some tools don't always have a good academic use either. Services such as FaceBook and MySpace were never intended to be educational tools, they were designed as ways to enable social contact between people and they do this very well. Blogs and Second Life are may be a bit different.

Whatever happens, I'll be going through this journey again from April when RMIT institutes it's own 23 Things project so I'll be well armed to get some RPL won't I?
23 Things is well worth it as it exposed me to a wide variety of web / library 2.0 services and allowed me to choose the most appropriate ones for my needs, which really is the point of the whole thing.

Thanks to those staff involved in 23 Things development and roll out and I hope those who had to go through 30+ blogs every week don't have square eyes! I hope your supervisors provide you with paracetamol and head massages to make it easier on you.

So long and thanks for all the fish (and thanks Douglas Adams!). Over, but definitely not out. Miss you Swinburne! TTB

All About Lily Chou Chou / Riri Shushu no Subete (2001)

Well all I can say is that Lily Chou-Chou has a lot to answer for! Hayato Ichihara plays Yuichi, an underacheiving, unnoticed and lonely 14 year old fanatical about J-Pop idoru Lily Chou-Chou. When Yuichi finds himself in the company of Shunsuke Hoshino apon entering Junior High School, his world is significantly changed and initially, all seems fun and exciting. However, Hoshino quickly reveals himself to be a bullying thug who takes extraodinary pleasure in the ritual victimisation and humiliation of anyone who opposes him. Yuichi, not being a strong character, is soon on the receiving end of Hoshino's sometimes quite violent abuse. Lacking the courage to oppose him, Yuichi soon becomes one of his gang of five supporters and proceeds to assist him in a reign of terror over their school and town.

Yuichi's escape however, is the online discussion group he moderates which, not surprisingly, is dedicated to the topic of Lily Chou-Chou. There he operates under the name of "Philia", a album title of Lily's and enjoys many intelligent and enlightening debates with "Blue Cat", a total stranger.

Eventually things become too much for Yuichi as the crimes he commits as part of Hoshino's gang, become more and more extreme. One day after leading an unpopular classmate to her rape and head-shaving at the hands of his voracious gang-leader, he finally decides that enough is enough and proceeds to avoid Hoshino at all costs. Unexpectedly, Yuichi meets Hoshino at the long-awaited Lily Chou-Chou concert. Hoshino expresses his anger at being ignored by demanding Yuichi's concert ticket and bullies him into buying him a coke. While Yuichi is waiting in a queue, Hoshino gets away from Yuichi and when he has Yuichi's full attention, proceeds to destroy the confiscated concert ticket. While Yuichi watches in despair, he is jostled by the crowd and consequently spills Hoshino's coke. He also takes a look at the green apple Hoshino thrust in his hands as he began to wend his way towards the concert hall door. Hoshino had planned to use Yuichi to meet a stranger for him and Yuichi is stunned to discover the email address written on the apple contains the name "Blue Cat".

The feelings of devastation this engenders in Yuichi (when he realises who "Blue Cat" is) compel him to meet Hoshino at the end of the concert to extract (with a deftness so expert it even defies that of Hoshino) the ultimate revenge. The end of the film sees Yuichi take the first tentative steps towards making a new life for himself based on authenticity and courage.

A study of bullying, social isolation and the miseries of adolescence generally, this film uses a number of familiar (to me) conventions to make it's point. The online discsuuion group is reminiscent of an episode of "Ghost in the Shell" and the deaths of teenagers towards the end of the film bring to mind the novels of Yukio Mishima and the film "Boy's Choir". An amalgam of a number of Japanese films, books and manga, "All About Lily Chou-Chou" either isn't that original or it reveals the fact that maybe I've been watching too much TV! Another mood masterpiece by Shunji Iwai.

Springtime in a Small Town / Xiao Cheng Zhi Chun (2002)

Zhuangzhuang Tian's quiet but powerful film tells the story of a reunion between old friends in postwar China (1946) while portraying the part that chance plays in the formation and destruction of relationships.

Zhang (Xin Bai Qing), a doctor based in the city, pays a visit to his old friend Liyan (Wu Jun) who lives in the crumbled remains of his childhood home, the days of his good health behind him. Zhang is overjoyed to discover that his good friend is now married, but is startled to discover that Liyan's wife is his former flame, Yuwen (Jingfan Hu). Unsure how or even if, he should inform Liyan of his former relationship, Zhang initially decides not to discuss it. Yuwen however, sees the opportunity to finally be with the man she loves and visits Zhang over the course of several nights. The two re-visit their former passion and remember how Yuwen's parents did not approve of Zhang, thus finalising his decision to study medicine. They entertain the possibility of running away together however in the end, they realise there is no acceptable way of resuming their relationship. Sadly, but with some relief, Zhang bids farewll to Liyan, Yuwen and Liyan's "Little sister" Dai Xiu (Lu Sisi). Liyan and Yuwen's empty and unfulfilled marriage then continues on as was before.

This film is a remake of an original which was first screened at the time the film was set and serves also to explore the misery of post-war poverty and destruction. The bombed-out home shared by Liyan and Yuwen not only offers a melancholoy metaphor for a battle-ravaged China, it also visually represents the state of their marriage, Liyan's poor health and the lack of hope either of them have for the future. Zhang's visit provides proof that life can offer excitement and variety and gives them both a momentary reprieve from the monotony and gloom of their life together. Zhang also offers them a break from the "On the Beach" style isolation they endure being the only surviving residents of their town.

An interesting and at times, agonising study in the cruelty of life's ironies, "Springtime in a Small Town" also reminds the viewer, that some people (and events) should remain in the past.