Task Description:
Since both Shirley and I love watching movies, we decide to
introduce the movies we like to each other. By task 10, we can not only share
our feelings and opinions about movies, but also take task 10 as the final gift
of this semester. Dear Shirley, let’s have fun!
Blue Gate Crossing (藍色大門)
I can’t remember exactly what the time when I first watched this
movie was; maybe about 10 or 11? Anyway, I just love it at first sight. Three
elements consist of this film: youth, puppy love, and comedy. Kwai Lun-mei (桂綸鎂), the leading role of Blue Gate
Crossing, is my favorite actress. This movie was also her debut on the big
screen.
The soul of Blue Gate Crossing is the heroine: Meng Ke-rou (孟克柔). It is a story about her choice
and relationship when she was 17. There are two other characters: Chang
Shih-hao (張士豪) and Lin
Yue-jen (林月珍). The
relationship among these three teenagers is interesting: A-Meng likes Jen; Jen
likes Shih; and Shih likes A-Meng.
17 is a delicate age; full of secret. This movie was precisely about
A-Meng’s secret. At first, A-Meng pretended that she loves boys. She tried many
ways to persuade herself. For instance, she wrote down “I am a girl, I love
boys.” on the wall for over thousands of times; she also asked males around her
a question: would you like to kiss me? And it was Shih who kissed her. At that
moment, she realized she could never fall in love with Shih. And, she started
to write down her true heart: “I am a girl, I like girls.”
I don’t think the main idea of Blue Gate Crossing is about
homosexual. Actually, it’s a simple and relaxing story about a teenage girl’s
growth. Everyone has their own secret when studying in high school, so do
A-Meng. And sometimes they might feel blue while worrying about their little
secret. However, we all can find the answer during our lifetime. Like A-Meng,
she finally found her way out.
Original discussion: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/e0915951617/article?mid=468&prev=479&next=460&page=1&sc=1#yartcmt
"Yi-Yi” (一一) is one of my favorite films directed by Edward Yang who is famous for his “The Brighter Summer.” (怙嶺街少年殺人事件) Different from “The Brighter Summer,” “Yi-Yi” aims at telling the audience not to give up our hopes. The main characters are NJ and his family members. One day, NJ’s mother-in-law was suddenly paralyzed. However, since her hearing ability was still functional, the doctor asked them to take turns and speak to the grandma so as to keep her awake. But NJ’s wife Ming-Ming turned out to find that her life was a blank and she broke down for not knowing what to say to her own mother. Then, she decided to run away from her family and practice Buddhist rules in a temple.
ReplyDeleteLater on, NJ reconnected with his first love 30 years after he dumped her. NJ tried to recapture the old sweet memories with his first love and his best love as well, but their efforts were in vain. His teenage daughter Ting-Ting watched emotions roiled in their neighbors’ flat and experienced the first stirrings of love but was dumped eventually. What was worse was that her first love became a murderer and she couldn’t help but wondering “Why is the world so different from what we thought it was?” However, her 8-year-old brother Yang-Yang seemed to come up with the answer to her question through the observation of his life for he found that “We can only know half of the truth for we can only see what’s in front, not what’s behind.” Yang-Yang is my favorite character in this film for he was so laconic that he pursued truth with the help of a camera to take pictures of every one’s hindbrain.
In the end of the film, NJ and Ming-Ming both came back home and had a really touching conversation. After Ming-Ming went back from the temple, she said, “I’ve come to realize things aren’t so complicated.” And NJ admitted to Ming-Ming that he met his first love and he said, “My first thought was that I could make things turn out differently. But, they turned out the same, or not much different. I realize even if I was given a second chance, I wouldn’t need it.” I love “Yi-Yi” because it depicts all the quandaries that we will encounter in different stages of our life. In the present, we are just like Ting-Ting who is easy to feel confused about her life and future. Nevertheless, by NJ and Ming-Ming’s experiences, I realize that we can only live once and we should lead our life with ordinary heart and be as innocent as Yang-Yang no matter how old we are for every one will find their way out eventually (just like what you conclude in the above article).
Since I haven’t watched Yi-Yi before, I search for some information about it, and also for The Brighter Summer. I think both of the movies attract me very much. Therefore, I will take my time to watch them on PPS or somewhere else when this winter vacation starts. I always love to watch and appreciate the scenes and the techniques for movie shooting of Taiwan-made films. Yet, sometimes I can hardly enjoy Chinese movies. The metaphors of the issue those directors want to tell us are always difficult for me to understand, so there was a time that Chinese movies were downfallen and overwhelmed by Hollywood . Fortunately, after Cape No. 7 (海角七號) made a hit in 2008, many directors start to tell their story by an easier way. And now we have more and lucid Chinese films to watch.
DeleteIt seems that we are all finding the answer of life during our lifetime. No matter how old we are, from a child like Yang-Yang to Yang-Yang’s parents (or even Yang-Yang’s grandma), we all have to go through it. After reading your introduction to this movie, I like the character Yang-Yang, too. It is children who still have pure heart that can see things clearly. And I think the poster of Yi-Yi artfully point out the substance of this film－“We can only know half of the truth for we can only see what’s in front, not what’s behind.” I cannot agree with it more.
I’ve watched the film “Blue Gate Crossing” at quite an old age, maybe one or two years ago. Although the high school life was far away from me, I still couldn’t help but being obsessed with the old sweet memories which happened during the three years. I agree with you that the homosexual issue is only one of the elements that creates a climax in this film. I think that this film aims at depicting the hustle and bustle of our high school life. It’s a critical time when we’re easy to feel confused about the problem of sexual orientation and our future. What’s more, it’s a time that we used to struggle with the heavy studies and the relationships between friends, boyfriend/girlfriend and family.
ReplyDeleteThe wonderful filming technique is what makes me admire the non-mainstream films so much. As what you’ve mentioned, directors take great pleasure in conveying their messages through all kinds of metaphors hidden in the films. Let’s take “Yi-Yi” as an example. The audience can only see the characters through surveillance camera which conveys the idea of lack of communication and indifference of modern people. Also, glass window appears frequently in the film to emphasize the characters confusion and emotional emptiness through their self-reflection and city lights. I strongly recommend you to watch this film on PPS and it won’t let you down!
I think one of the reasons I love Blue Gate Crossing is that this film doesn’t contain too much metaphors. I am not mature enough to figure out the hidden meaning in the non-mainstream films by myself. I think in the end of the movie, hippish A-Meng became a sanguine girl. It’s all because of Shih that she realized being a lesbian was not a shame. Shih was a childish boy; he always saw things with pure heart. Maybe A-Meng was affected by his frankness, so she bravely decided to be herself.
DeleteI will watch this film after finishing all my final exams. Since Shirley you have told me some metaphors in this film, it will be easier for me to understand this film. Thank you for introducing me this movie!