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Reviews
Bunny (2000)
it appeals to the tim burton in me
chanced upon this low key film coz the other show i wanted to watch at the film festival was sold out. found BUNNY really weird. well, actually not as weird and bizarre as errol morris, but weird as in all the strange situations and motives were not explained. can anyone help me with these?
1) my chief concern is the background/purpose/objective/rationale for the company. is it a government-funded body? what exactly do the bunnies have to do? it seems like more than "offering solace to emtionally damaged to strangers". ("sales have dropped." are they running some kind of business?)
2) why are the bunnies not allowed to interact with the strangers? if their job is to pacify the strangers, won't a little consoling make things better for them? (think of the suicide guy who almost jumped after he got no response from the husband)
3) what happened to the nice (the unbitchy one) colleague, the one who was taken away together with the extra volatile stranger? (the bunny that was looking frightened while taken away in a white van)
my friend thinks that my questions are irrelevant because (he thinks) the director wasn't interested in WHY things happened this way but the fact that they just happened this way. Eg, it doesnt matter why the bunnies are doing this coz ultimately the film's focus is the state of the urbanites' emotional decay. but i thought that without understanding the background of the characters and the story, i find it difficult to understand the psyche of the couple and the bunny company, and hence, the couple's emotional upheavals and even their deterioation. (lurla petting the cat at the provision shop counter: why is the job so draining that they themselves are becoming like the strangers they comfort?)
strangely hynoptic. compelling essay on the brittleness of human emotions.
Lola rennt (1998)
sends my heart vibrating!
LOLA RENNT (RUN LOLA RUN)
if zouk is a filmmaker, run lola run would be it. like a stick of dynamite, its dynamic pacing sends my heart vibrating.
it's fun, funny, and has some pretty cool animation!
the game goes like this: lola must find $100,000 in 20 minutes time to save his boyfriend, or he will get into serious trouble. the film "suggests" several versions of endings, each triggered by the tiniest difference. the theme of chain reaction (slight difference evoking gigantic changes) has been explored before. comparisons to Sliding Doors, Go, Groundhog Day and Stephen Chow's Journey to the West 2 are inevitable. but strip away the veneer of mtv-stylistics, RLR is actually low on plot and high on execution. it all boils down to clever manipulation of the concept. and boy! the concept is indeed milked dry. granted, at the beginning of the third version, it did start to become slightly tired. but as a satisfying ending is eventually achieved, all is compensated for.
like any well-told tale, there is lots of empathy for the protagonist. as lola so breathlessly run and run, panting as hard as she is thinking of a solution, we also get caught up by her exasperation. but this exasperation is very cleverly translated into raw energy, and as a result this film is exploding with verve.
deliriously exhilarating. the perfect antidote for ennui.
Tian yu (1998)
sigh...
finally got around to watching this film, and what strikes me the most was the protagonist's naivete. many of my friends felt angry(!!!) that someone can actually be so dumb. but then again i thought it could be a voluntary choice into decadence, after her first time with the guy with the apple. it's rather heart wrenching to see her gradual transformation from chirpy lass into this wretched girl, crippled by helplessness and homesickness.
one big grouse is that there was insufficient build-up in the transition part of her loss of innocence. (Or was it because the film is censored somewhere???) As a result it appeared jarring.
still, the anguish is thick and palpable. i must say joan chen did a pretty good job, debut attempt or not. but better than hou hsiao hsein? rather dubious... (chen beat HHH to winning best director at the 32nd golden horse awards)
the score and song are deeply haunting. and they complement the mood rather nicely. but somehow i get the feeling that they will work better by themselves.
but all in all, recommended viewing.