Open thread

Post on other matters related to the week here.

Comments

[Amy Elder]

After reading about In the Mood for Love I am excited to see the movie. It will be interesting to see what 60's China looked like. I have not studied much about China's history so I am excited to compare Wong's 60's China with his 90's China. I wonder if there will be as many American brands in this movie as there were in Chunking Express. I also wonder if Hong Kong was as crowded back then as it is now. Wong claims that this movie is a very real interpretation of 1960's China so it will be fun to watch.

[Lauren Hiland]

I agree with Amy, the overall scenery will be very interesting to see and compare to what we saw in Chungking express. I'm personally really intereted to see how they will use different camera angles and lighting when they camera going to be moving around so much! I wonder if any of these movies will ever be re-done into english, I don't really mind the suntitles, but I feel like I sometimes miss things when I'm having to read what the actors are saying instead of just being able to listen to it and keep my full attention on what is happening on screen.

[Hope Sneddon]

I also agree with Amy, after doing the reading for Mood for Love I am looking forward to seeing how the 60's is portrayed and shown in this film. It will be interesting to see if the slow shutter speed is used as much in this film as well. That was an element that I found to be useful and interesting.

[Lily Miller]

From the skim reading I most interested to see how the “…actors had to express themselves through their bodies, gestures, and glances rather than through the dialogue.” (Brunette, 2005, 94) I'm wondering if it going to be hard to read and/or distracting, or if it is going to be visually interesting and be and/or advantage.

[Lucas Ashland]

Did anyone else find Wong's music choices interesting in Chungking Express? There were several American songs like California Dreamin' and there was a Chinese cover of a popular song from the 90s I think. It was weird to hear American songs in a movie that was mainly in Chinese, and it is odd to see how much of an impact American music has had on other cultures. It would be pretty rare to hear a popular song from Hong-Kong in an American movie.

[Lisa King]

The quote Lily took from Brunette was something that I was thinking about as well. We already know, after watching Chungking Express, that Wong has a strong ability to use his filming style to tell the story, so it will be interesting to see how that filming style is connected to how the actors are going to express without much dialogue.

[Karl Amspacher]

I'm glad that Chungking Express didn't come dubbed, as dubbing reduces the emotional intonations of the original actors voices. While the subtitles might be difficult, they are true to the film. Dubbing can be problematic, with poor dubbing ruining a film experience.

[Melissa Werner]

Lucas, it's actually not unusual at all to hear American songs in other countries. In Japan, Beatles songs remain VERY popular. There is also usually a large selection of American music at karaoke places. Personally, I think it's too bad that we Americans don't pay very much attention to foreign music and movies, I believe there's a lot to be gained by doing so.
Lauren, I understand why you feel that it would be easier to follow if it were dubbed, but I have to agree with Karl in that often there's a lot lost in such a process...Of course, just because we can't understand Chinese, I'm sure we're missing out on a lot of cultural things anyway...