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Reviews
Somersault (2004)
I don't wanna be alone
Somersault underlines a girl's desire of not wanting to be alone. The main character, Heidi, may appear to be flirtatious toward guys; yet what she wants is really to have a company. I guess her characteristics are derived from her mother, Nicole. Thus this is one interesting point of view to look at: about the parallelism of stories between the mother and the daughter. From the short appearance of Nicole, I believe she has her own story of not wanting to be alone. Else, where would Heidi come from? In terms of storyline, I see the simple third act form; beginning, middle, end. Heidi has a journey, and after all the troubles, she manages to resolve with her problems. Heidi's diary might help the audience to know Heidi's back-story. I like how clever the dialog between Heidi and her 'boyfriend' is constructed. In terms of technicalities, the use of landscape and natural elements helps the audience to engage with the story. The snow, the "tears" caused by using hot water to crack the snow on the car's windscreen, the red color
(I am not going to spoil the film here =) ). The mood of the film is very blue from the very beginning; we even see a blue laundry basket! When the resolution is made, though, the light brightens
very nice indeed. "It's good that we met", Somersault.
2046 (2004)
A drama about how love comes and goes away
I haven't seen "In the Mood for Love" or "Days of Being Wild", which is referred to be the prequels of 2046. Thus I began my journey of watching this film without having any assumption of what's going on. I find the plot quite simple. It may be a tandem narrative or sequential narrative, but the red string is clear. The film brings us to see how love comes and goes away. It's all in your hands, as Chow said it, "When you don't take 'no' for an answer, there is still a chance you'll get what you want". I can connect to Bai Ling, when she hopes to be together with Chow again. But a chance is a chance, there's no guarantee you'll get what you want. As with the audience, the Asian audience/audience which has Asian background would probably can relate to this film better. The crying scenes are 'silent' and not full of limbs movement. One westerner in the same cinema with me did say that this film was dead boring and dreadful. In terms of technicalities, the soundtrack is marvelous! Shigeru really did a good job. I like the graphics, too. So Wong Kar Wai, well done!
Biarkan Bintang Menari (2003)
A musical which tells about true love.
This film has a clear storyline, which is quite unusual to the musical genre. "Cats", "Phantom of the Opera", and other Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals can be considered metaphorical, as they use literary works as their framework. "Biarkan Bintang Menari" (BBM)'s storyline touches the very core of human relationships, especially that of Indonesian people. Despite the fact the film was based on a "supposedly" fairytale, it's actually a fantasy of the 'child' in Indonesian adults. The dance sequences are not perfect, yet the songs represent how Indonesians express themselves. I reckon the choreographer should explore Indonesian way of dancing, by not dismaying the fact that Indonesia's dance development tends to be more westernized. The dance sequences seem awkward in some ways and not synchronized with the songs and/or music. Yet, I still love this movie and regard it as a new wave of Indonesian film genre which I hope to improve in the future.