Comments on: Ten Old, Ten New, One Awful, Ten for the Decade, and Modest Pinprick for a Red Balloon

By: ways to fall asleep

ways to fall asleep — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:49:54 +0000

great article. thank you for sharing. I've seen some of these.

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Christianne — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:06:30 +0000

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By: dogandpony

dogandpony — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:25:51 +0000

correction: “due” to the camera work…
and maybe: “relaxed my bias” rather than “changed my opinion”

sorry to edit in public like this. It's what happens when you get excited and post in a hurry: )

Hope the wedding was great fun!

By: dogandpony

dogandpony — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:21:03 +0000

The first two shots in 'Red Balloon' hit me really hard. How the balloon floats through and around structures (mostly) effortlessly- paired with the next shot which at first gives you the optical illusion that you are moving when in fact you are stuck in one place and the train full of people is passing you by. The connection with the characters is obvious and the physical settings and objects continue to echo this theme throughout the film. I saw 'Balloon' the same week as I saw a couple of experimental films and Hou has more art in his little finger…

By: dogandpony

dogandpony — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:14:19 +0000

Li is credited as co-cinematographer on “in the Mood For Love”. Maybe it's a case of WKW looking like Li and not like Hou looking like WKW. Anyone know how the “in the mood…” pie was sliced up by Doyle and Li? Was it a case of One of them shooting most of it and then the other one coming in and finishing? I have only seen one non-Doyle or Li WKW film and it seemed to be much less rich than the films they collaborated on. Ooh Wait! I almost forgot “My Blueberry Nights” so that makes two- though I think the camera work in 'Blueberry' consciously resembles Doyle's. I have often wondered how much of the look of a WKW film is die to the camera work.
At first I felt Three times was maybe Hou's most beautiful film but I have a sort of bias against films that are split into different stories, that they can't be as deep and rich as one solid work. Re-screening it changed my opinion though. I also think it does sort of the same 'revisit and ties together' job as 2046. Maybe a less literal job though. I still don't know what to make of 2046. It's like remarrying the same woman. Do I love it or love what I used to see?

By: alsolikelife

alsolikelife — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:31:30 +0000

“shudder of recognition” indeed (esp. as I'm attending a family wedding today).

I can't say for sure that Cafe Lumiere is best of the decade anymore… it's looking more like I need to revisit all of his '00s work to make a well-reasoned assessment of what this decade has meant for his artistry. I can definitely say though that it's hard to think of another filmmaker this decade whose work has been as consistently rewarding and challenging as his. It certainly helps to have a cameraman like Li as one's collaborator. I also feel that the opening of Three Times has something WKW-ish about it (as does the last act to some degree), probably because they're much more centered on bodies than his other work. But at the same time there's a “mapping” of space going on that fits squarely within a Hou aesthetic.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:35:09 +0000

Yi Yi is, for me, one of the rare inexhaustible movies. I think among '00 films it is in a class of its own and nothing since has matched it, let alone surpassed it. In fact, only a handful of very great films from any decade induce that shudder of recognition in me every time I watch them. And I'm glad you share my view that Cafe Lumiere is probably Hou's best of the decade. It's been a very interesting several years for him, and I think his recent work (not just Three Times, which is still gorgeous even though your comments are justified) is indeed more welcoming and inviting for the international audience. It's because of how lush and breathtaking and sensual Li's camerwork has become; when I saw Three Times, I couldn't help thinking he was copying the Wong Kar-wai brand of eroticism directly from In the Mood for Love and Eros which preceded it just a few years before.