Saturday, May 05, 2007

门徒 (The Protege) + Strains of Majesty + Tonari no Totoro

Hello

Today I watched 门徒. =D It stars Andy Lau, Daniel Wu (!!!), Louis Koo, Anita Yuen and this other girl I don't recognise.^_^" I rather liked the show actually, though it was pretty depressing and realistic.


Plot:
The show centers around 阿力 (or Nick, acted by Daniel Wu), 昆哥 (Quin, acted by Andy Lau) and 阿玢 (Fen, acted by that unknown HK actress). Fen is a drug addict, struggling to kick the habit and strive for a better life for her daughter [an adorable little girl] and herself. She's Nick's neighbour and thus forms an uncertain relationship with him as he attempts to help her. Things though, are thwarted by her useless husband (acted by Louis Koo). Quin is a drug dealer who produces heroin for sale on the streets and Nick is an undercover cop who is trying to dig out information on the heroin circuit through Quin. Nick is Quin's protege to take over the business, hence the title of the movie.=)

Setting:
Dodgy, dilapidated and seedy lanes and areas throughout Hong Kong, Kowloon and Burma dominate in this movie. The run-down apartment block that Fen and Nick reside in is case-in-point. They do have scenes in Chiang Mai and Burma though, with opium fields and such that are beautiful! =) They filmed the opium fields, and drug processing plants. It was all rather interesting to see how the poppy seeds can transform eventually into that white substance called Heroin, something that's addictive and deadly.


Characters:
The roles of Nick and Fen are pretty interesting and the ever so adorable daughter is always a welcome sight amidst the drudgery of their surroundings.=D You do see Daniel Wu throughout the whole show, so that's great eye candy.=D I also felt that he's not a bad actor. [Don't JUDGE me. I didn't even know how he looked like until um. Now.] He does seem rather um. Mature though.^_^" I felt Quin's family was pretty redundant apart from how they made Nick more attached to them thus showing some kind of emotional bond despite knowing his motives behind him pursuing their friendship.

Themes:
They do explore the issues of drug use, addiction, honour, betrayal, right and wrong. They also gave some thought to human relationships and such.=) They also show you the consequences of drug abuse, how it can drive someone to desperation and how it can change people's lives.


Story:
A rather over-used Hong Kong movie, The Protege doesn't really cover any new ground. Apart from it being about drugs this time, my brother claims The Protege is pretty similar to Infernal Affairs [which I am simply dying to watch]. To be positive though, the plot was quite well-woven without leaving major troubles behind. Still, I would love to see something more from a Hong Kong movie.. Confession of Pain is something different for example. ;) I must admit though, if you like the Hong Kong movie formula, this movie hits all the right spots.=)

Music:
Oh I love the music!!! ^_^ This is terrible. I like every OST of every movie I've seen so far. Apart from the very non-descript ones. Haha.=X Or the extremely boring/bad/unnoticeable ones. ^_^" But I liked the music in this very much. I thought they added pathos and a punch to every scene.


Overall impression:
I liked it though it didn't have a happy ending. Or rather.. I guess the good guys won but not fully? Nick's empty void in his life was, I suppose, filled by Fen's daughter but will guilt one day overtake him? Still, it was interesting to see the process of making drugs.=) That, plus demand, is probably why drugs are so damn expensive. Anyhow, the movie didn't make a seriously deep impression on me so I guess that while I rather liked it, it wasn't superb.

We went to Strains of Majesty, featuring Nina Kotova, cellist, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra at the Esplanade.=) It was conducted by Jahja Ling, a guest conductor who originates from Indonesia but is currently working in San Diego. They performed:

Antonin Dvorak
Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
- I felt that while Nina Kotova did sound good overall, she started off pretty shaky and I wasn't terribly impressed by her performance overall. I also wasn't wowed by the whole performance, including the orchestra though I generally like Dvorak pieces. They tend to be dramatic but melodious and nice to listen to.=) It started off on a dramatic note [which is usually a good thing], ending on another dramatic note [they all do] and according to the programme, this piece was influenced by Dvorak's stay in America for 2 years.

intermission

Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica'
- Ooh I really liked this piece! ^_^ It stayed nice and melodious throughout the whole symphony so I didn't get bored. [Usually in the middle, these long pieces tend to get a bit too slow and boring.] I thought the SSO also sounded pretty good playing this piece.^_^ I like Beethoven as well, generally so there wasn't much to complain about. This piece was at first inspired by Napoleon but was rewritten after Napoleon assumed the post of Emperor in France.

I love temperamental musicians. They make such funny stories! Changing an entire work because the inspiree decided to be ambitious? Haha.xD

Anyway, I FAIL at writing things for primary one students to understand.X__x I was trying to help my mom construct "simple" sentences for her to teach this student she's helping but everything I wrote was too "complicated". [Sense the irony here..]

Which led me to ask when I could start reading and everything! =D Haha. Apparently, I could read by the time I was 3 or 4? And that I learnt WORDS before the alphabet!!! So cool. Haha. No wonder I could never figure out what "verbs", "nouns" and such things were last time! =P I never did learn words through all these urmmmm, proper methods.^_^"


Haiyos Kekkaishi is taking SUCH a long time to download.-_____-" I have nothing to watch! NOTHING! (T_T) Time to finally watch my Studio Ghibli collection in its entirety.^_^" I just watched Tonari no Totoro the other day. It was SO CUTE! =D Haha.

Tonari no Totoro is a pretty simple, but fantastical movie that is typical of Studio Ghibli [as I've begun to notice]. I realised that Studio Ghibli creators are really able to see things from a child's perspective because although to me, it seemed quite DUH, I realised that the things the characters get excited about are very relevant to children.=)


The drawing style in 1988 [when Tonari no Totoro was released] is pretty similar to the present-day Studio Ghibli. Of course, the landscapes are much more refined, the colours more vibrant and the detail more in-depth.


It is a pretty short movie [about 1.5 hours] and is easily digestible.=) You get a whole great cast of characters! You've got the kindly father, the sickly mother, the inquisitive younger sister, the responsible elder sister, the friendly grandmother-neighbour, the shy boy-neighbour, the cute chibi Totoros, the fat huggable Totoro and the psychotic CatBus! =D

And the music is nice too.^_^ Joe Hisaishi really works very well with Studio Ghibli.=D

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Tonari no Totoro OST + Love Letter Gackt + Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica' Beethoven]
[mood : sleepy]
[food : steak sandwich!]

Labels: movie review, music, orchestra concert, Studio Ghibli, The Protege, Tonari no Totoro

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