Category: Films

The Big Short

by liyangsthoughts, posted in Films

Screen Shot 2016-01-22 at 12.08.28 PM.png

Last night M suggested we watch a movie about the 2008 financial crisis, I was a bit hesitate as I am a big fan of thrillers and horror movies. I don’t understand much about the finance world, I have one friend who works in the financial business , she told me its all about lies. I like money but I am not rich enough to have someone manage my assets, so I thought this movie probably going to bore me after 20 minutes.

Turns out as you may already guessed this is officially the best movie I have watched in 2016 !! It is a story about four individuals who saw the whole US finance system was a fraud, they bet against the big banks and rolled in lots of money after the market collapsed.  Their prediction was spot on and they trusted their research, had the guts to go for it despite everyone laughed at their decision. The best part of this film is how they find interesting ways to explain some financial jargons. Finance is not just about numbers, it is still a human invented game, unfortunately some of the worst human natures determine the outcome of it. The biggest take out for me is once again it confirms my belief that those rich and powerful in the higher place of the social ladder do not necessarily know what they are doing.

Look at what is happening around us, our environment is in a mess, terrorism attacks happening in an increasing rate, kids go starving and eating leaves in Syria, our whole food chain is corrupted by big corporation’s greed.  Good seed and water will be the most valued resources in the near future .  I told M we should buy a pot of land up north grow our own vegetables. There is no one to trust, not the government, not the system, not the authorities. We were taught to listen to the ones higher up in the society, look up to the rich and the powerful, they are successful and have their life sorted out. I think that’s all bullshit. No one knows better than another. Its about finding a way to look after yourself and your family. Coz this whole world is getting sick. We just do not want to face the truth. The truth sucks and it is scary.

Thoughts after True Detective

by liyangsthoughts, posted in Films

true-detective

Its just the one story, the oldest, light versus dark.  –  Rust Cohle

The older I get the more I agree with what Rust said at the ending of the True Detective season 1.

In the end its about making a choice between light and dark. Rust’s theory of pessimism is also quite fascinating. I especially like how he addressed the insignificance of each individual, why do we think we are so important?

Life is a big illusion. in the end “Puff” it is all over. Game end. We struggle so much during this process of living. I wonder after someone has passed, does he ever wonder why not let go earlier to end the misery? That is if thought still exist after life.

With the recent events  we see so much hate round us, to the Jews, to the Christians to the Muslim, to the West , to the East. Does it really matter what we our beliefs are? Do we really need to defend it by costing other people’s lives? I am not so sure.

A Touch of Sin – 天注定

by liyangsthoughts, posted in Films

ATouchofSin

(Image from http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/movie-poster-of-the-week-the-posters-of-the-2013-cannes-competition )

Chinese director Jia Zhangke’s new film A Touch of Sin is a powerful one. It was in this year’s Cannes film competition and won  the best screen play.

The films runs over 2 hours long, and I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout the whole time. The story includes four main characters.

A man lives in the village who seeks justice after the land has been taken for mining, and the profit was kept  only by few.

A young man from a little village goes to the big city carries out merciless armed robbery .

A woman who works in a massage parlor as an receptionist, being humiliated by two male clients who want her to provide other services.

A young factory worker’s last few months before he ends his life.

These four character do not have direct links to one another. One thing they have in common is that life has not been easy on them and they decide to take the matter into their own hands.

I asked a friend who watched the film what she thinks of it, she replied “I don’t want to go to China anymore after watching it.”

My reaction was almost identical. The film make you think of China’s lower class are powerless so they act rules-less. The characters featured in this film in everyday life are faceless in the society.  Jia Zhangke’s movie give these people a face, an identity, a voice on the international stage. For that, I salute Jia !

Recently I attended a full day symposium talk about the gateway of doing business in China. Overseas investors are more eager than ever to play a part in the biggest consumer market in the world.  Being a Chinese living overseas sometime I do feel a sense of pride when the motherland being praised as the power house.However, when I read daily news about farmers being beaten up, or street vendors being pushed over, people who are not rich and powerful being treated unfairly, its not easy to keep the head up and still be cheerful about the bright future ahead.

I wont go into human rights issues , these are big topics discussed by many greater minds constantly. The bottom line I hope one day the motherland can achieve is for all to have an equal opportunity for pursuing a better life.

Whoever is reading this may chuckle after reading my words above. I know its naive to think that a big nation can provide equal opportunity to everyone. Also what does it mean a better life? It covers so many layers and aspects of life.

My point is that we all need to have a point, make a stand. If we don’t ask for something, we get nothing.  Just asking is not enough either. What can I do to get closer to that goal?

To be honest , I have no clue. Just like the movie, it does not tell you the solution, it opens a window for you to see the mess in the house. Sometime its more important to face the reality than  seeking a solution blindly.

That’s what good documentaries, film and books can do. Education comes first, solution hopefully follows not that far behind.

Related articles

Resistance of Change

by liyangsthoughts, posted in Films

Image

(Image taken from http://villageattheendoftheworld.com/about.php)

Every winter, this film festival showcase over a hundred films from all around the world. The first one I watched this year is Village at the End of the World.

The documentary is about this village called Niaqornat in North West Greenland has a population of only 59. People who lived there carry on their way of life for generations. Due to lack of jobs, the population is declining rapidly. The residents need to gather funds to co-operate the fishing factory to secure jobs and attract people to move back to the village.

It sounds like a very simple plot and the only special thing about this place is probably the remote location, their tradition of hunting and close relationship with nature. many scenes from the film revoke the memories of my departure from my hometown. When the young teenager in the village looking for an escape from the boredom of village life, I was cheering for him . But when his grandma said life could be happier for him outside the village, I really had my doubts about that.

I moved from a place which is the furthest from any sea in the world to an island country at the bottom of the earth. The outside world has its thrills and excitements, but it definitely does not guarantee you happiness. On the one hand I deeply feel the need for the younger generation to stay on and learn about their roots from the older generations and carry on the way of life. On the other hand, the world is constantly changing, if they want to have a better life they need to adapt to changes and sometime it means to leave the familiar behind.

The similar struggle is happening throughout the world and human history. We encourage innovation and welcome changes, but the same time we feel sad about losing our tradition and become someone we are not. My question is, what make us who we are? How does one experience different things in life but yet maintain the core of one’s being?

The perfect ending of this scenario would be  this little village does not get affected by the greed and pollution of the outside world, the young people in the village get the freedom to travel to the outside world, but one day they all come back home carry on the culture of the village and bring new knowledge and skills to make their hometown a better place.

Relate to my own situation, many times I think about going back home, to contribute the things I learnt to my birth place, also continue learning about my roots and find the core values and the culture that shaped who I am. But with whats happening in my hometown, I fear that when I return, the most valuable things are no longer there. The way of life, the best part of our tradition and culture are GONE, or RUINED,. Then is it still worth to go back?

The ending of the movie is a pleasant one, people in the village find a way to continue make a living. One scene from the movie stuck with me for a long time, its when the old ladies in the village talk about their childhood. With no electricity,  during the dark and long winter time the Shaman will come to the village tell stories. The whole village will  gather together around the fire place and listen to the stories . Stories about the spirits, ancestors, nature and the sea. Don’t we all miss those days when we were close to one another, having that strong sense of belonging . I am lucky to be able to relate myself to those experiences, will the future generation  still have the chance to experience that?

Modern technology changed so much of our lives, we don’t need story-man visiting us anymore, tv, films and internet take care of the storytelling.  We sit in cars drive to shopping malls instead of walk miles together to a market. We don’t even need to talk to anyone to buy our grocery, automatic checkout takes care of that. We can move from one place to another faster than ever, but does that mean we are closer to each other?

Here is hoping, with more and more people become conscious of supporting local produce and smaller food growers, we return to the market, we eat food locally made by people we know. There will be a global movement to encourage us to reach out to people around us, make an little extra effort get out of cars and walk to places, meet people face to face and have a conversation.

If we don’t change the way we live now, I seriously doubt how many of us can live with joy in a cold technology driven society for generations to come.

More on this movie: http://villageattheendoftheworld.com/filmmakers.php

To Mr Hitch

by liyangsthoughts, posted in Films

Dear Mr Hitchcock,

Over the weekend I watched the latest film based on you and Alma’s life during the making of Psycho – Hitchcock. After watching that, I thought it might be a good idea to write a letter to you.

The world today is way more diverse than your days, there is a thing called globalization going on. Back in your time, you can get away with just having white people and blondes in the stories, I don’t think that would represent the face of today’s society. Also you probably never expected a Chinese girl and her little brother would be glued to the TV set and fascinated by your television series titled Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

The first time my brother and I watched your TV shows was in our 30 square meter flat in a city footed at the north west part of China. Our local TV station from time to time selected some of the best films and TV series. 20 years later when I think back, I thank the person who chose your series to broadcast. It was a favorite by my family.

I remember my brother and I would rush home from schools during lunch break, my mum would prepare us a delicious lunch. We sat in our little living room in front of the old TV set. We waited patiently for a dark figure to appear on the screen and speak slowly about the story we were about to see. That time I didn’t know your name, but my brother and I know that when the fat Englishman appear on TV  (excuse my rudeness), we are guaranteed to have a good hour of SUSPENSE.

For some reason, I dont remember if the TV series was subtitled in Chinese or dubbed . Never the less, we get the whole story quite well. It was the time when our imagination ran wild, watched people who dressed completely different from us, looked different, lived differently. What a great gateway to another world, full of thrills, suspense and excitements. When the age of VCD arrived, we also rented your films to watch. I have a fear of birds and when I watched the film “Bird”, all my horrors came alive on that little TV screen.

In the movie “Hitchcock”, it seems you were worried people did not like your films.It is curious that even the geniuses experience the fear of failure, fear their work and effort not being noticed and appreciated. How interesting ! It reassured me again that being fearful is normal, the most brave are the ones carry on with fear, charging forward.

Thanks for making so many great stories, it makes this world a more interesting place to be. In your stories, people can be horrible and twisted. It makes me wonder the darkness inside each  of us. The world today have all sorts of problems, you have lived through World War one and two. Things are not much better today.  Just like the characters in your films, we all have our crosses to bear. Its a struggle in each day to choose between good and evil. It reflects to the world we live in .

I wonder the place you are at now, do you still make lots of wonderful stories to entertain and shock others around you? I bet you are ! Lucky them ….

Yours faithfully

A fan