a very touching, heartwarming, beautiful story<3 the story warmed my heart so much i cried. i felt a real connection with the characters. even though the story was good, i hated the ending. i hated it very much. i think machow and tieze should have found the little chinese seamstress. i think the little chinese seamstress should have had the child. i also think machow and the little chinese seamstress should have hit it off and have another child. the part that i found the most amusing was when four eyes was getting food poisoning. (^ _ ^)
Floats Timelessly Director Dai Sijie whose newest film is similarly titled "The Chinese Botanist's Daughters" directed this beautiful tale. Set against the context of the Cultural Revolution, it nevertheless presents it in a way that does not seem ominous or threatening, perhaps the opposite approach of Gao Xingjian's novel "One Man's Bible." Ziou Xun played the Chinese Seamstress in her 5th film, which included "Beijing Bicycle." Her performance as the naive rural girl whose mind is less concerned with political orthodoxy than having a good time. The two boys sent to the country for re-education are Luo&Ma. Both are played by actors in their first films. Chen Kun as the good looking dentist's son Luo has now also made "The Music Box" (2006). Liu Ye who played Ma, the violinist, has gone on to work with Lou Ye in "Purple Butterfly," "The Foliage," "Jasmine Woman," "The Promise,"&"Dark Matter." Both actors convey a range of emotions from loneliness at separation from their families to bonding with each other and falling in love with Ziou Xun. Wang Shurangbao does a nice job as the chief whose tooth gets filled by Luo. Chung Zhijun also does a nice job as the tailor, the Seamstress' grandfather. Fan Qing Yun fills his cameo as the doctor who performs an abortion and then buys Ma's violin. The film was nominated as best Foreign Language film by the Golden Globes in 2002&the National Board of Review in 2005. The cinematography is gorgeous as the mountain settings, the cave and streams are beautifully photographed. The end underwater sequence seems to let the experience float timelessly. This is an excellent film, not to be missed. Bravo!
A unique, lovely and inspiring movie I have seen this movie quite a few times now. It is like a temporary sanctuary shielding me from say the loud-mouthed so-called comedian on TV. No high drama, no yelling and screaming, it is not an epic about the Cultural Revolution (nor is "To Live", though "To Live" tried. You should hit the books or documentaries if you really want to learn about the Cultural Revolution.) With unpretentious acting, breathtaking cinematography, beautiful music and poetic dialogs, this movie is about how civilization's best creations can transcend life.
It is also one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. How often do you get to hear country bumpkins from backwater China quote Balzac, chant "Ursule Mirouet!", and discuss sagebrush branch as a better cure for malaria than willow branch (not to be administered the usual way medicines are, mind you)? The story unfolds like a fable, sometimes surreal, but there is such simplicity to the storytelling and sincerity in the acting, that it feels believable. (It IS semi-biographical after all.) It will make even an old cynic want to read Balzac, Dumas and Kipling, and yearn for something more from life. Truly wonderful.
