[Writing Meme] Day 2: Your Favorite Movie
When I’m really into something, I tend to babble. I try not to babble in this wordpress, but I’ll take exception to that now.
‘In the Mood for Love’ is a cinematic masterpiece for me. I love Kar-wai’s lush visuals, I love vintage China, I love Maggie Cheung, I love Tony Leung. I love how the story of their relationship is told through different scenes. I love that I often went “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!” the first time I showed it. It’s not the greatest love story ever told, if anything they demonstrated too much too soon, but that’s what adds to its richness and complexity. It was what kept me glued to the screen and blew me away.
For those who aren’t used to the non-linear storyline, the Criterion Collection edition of ‘In the Mood for Love’ has the deleted scenes that made their relationship clearer. It wouldn’t have had the same punch-in-the face effect for me if they included it, but hey, different strokes for different folks.
Kar-wai makes me sad that Shanghai has become a modern megacity. I wish they found a way to conserve the elegance of way back then*.
I loved ‘In the Mood for Love’ so much, I was so disappointed by ‘2046’ when it first came out. Treating ‘2046’ as a sequel to ‘In the Mood’ was like trying to rekindle the old flame of a high school sweetheart twenty years later. It felt awkward and strange, and I saw some spark of the old film, but for the most part I kept second-guessing if it was going to work. I felt deeply disturbed as the end credits rolled. I liked ‘2046’ much better after I distanced it from ‘In the Mood for Love’, and took it in as a movie about non-commitment, and treated Tony Leung’s character as an entirely separate entity.
Part of the 30 Day Meme. Next is Day 3: Your Favorite Television Program.
*Erratum: All this time I thought this movie was set in Shanghai, so much so that when I watched it with a Taiwanese friend, she and I talked about Shanghainese and Maggie Cheung. Kae and wikipedia just corrected me, minutes after I published this entry.
[Writing Meme] Day 01: Your Favorite Song
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6E2Mooz_LA]
Don’t Rain On My Parade by Barbra Streisand
I first caught ‘Funny Girl’ on the old classic movie channel when I was much younger, but I just viewed it as a Barbra Streisand vehicle. I have heard the Streisand jokes and the horror stories, but I still admired her for being able to produce-direct-write-sing-dance. I watched ‘Funny Girl’ again after my first college heartbreak as a form of emotional masochism. ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ was always this song that stuck out, and I ended up playing the clip over and over again.
In 2009, which friends declared to be one of the worst years of their lives, the song was revived in the popular musical dramedy, ‘Glee’.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL0dsvaW3Lc]
That same year I survived the end of my longest relationship, a falling out with a good friend, the end of my first steady job, and the worst storm to hit the country in years. I wasn’t in great shape, but I could have been worse. There were also happier moments had over the year, like new friends and prospects, and I grew more accepting of myself. I wasn’t going to let the worst of 2009 take that away from me.
The finale of ‘Glee’, which featured the song, premiered the same week I was confined to home because I didn’t have any money. I was mulling over my own personal travesties and sang out, “At least I didn’t fake it, hat, sir”. It has been my anthem ever since.
Part of the 30 Day Meme. Next is Day 2: Your Favorite Movie.