In a matter of two weeks, I have watched four movies (more than that actually, but I am only going to speak on the better ones), one musical and one ballet. What an "achievement"! It has been so long since my time is filled with consecutive activities like this.
The first show I watched was of course "Life Of Pi", the 3D version. I must say, Ang Lee really managed to capture most of the description in the book. The movie followed as closely to the book as possible, including the last part where the Bengal Tiger story overrules. Even though like the book, the movie also lets us question which story is more true and whether is Pi just blessed or he really had a guardian angel, these questions are still unanswered no matter how many times I read the book or have now watched the show. But the essence of the story is that, people all chose to believe the more implausible story, simply because it sounds more amazing than the other one.
The second movie I watched was "Back To 1942", another China war show. This time, it was about the Henan famine in 1930s before the war when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek was still in charge before he fled to Taiwan. It was a heart-wrenching story on how people escaped the famine, hoping for a better life, but yet it was nothing but an illusion. Many people died along the way. The government was not doing anything except pandering to the Japanese, they took the grain that was already scarce to the people just to feed the military, and when the people reached the border of the next province, they were turned away.
Mr Pianist himself was a war reporter who reported on the actual sitaution of the famine and how the local government was doing nothing or refusing to do anything. The article was published in Time magazine, and when it was translated by the Chinese press, Generalissimo Chiang suspended and closed down that particular Chinese publication and published another translated version that downplayed the actual famine situation.
When I watch biopics like these, it makes me feel so lucky to be born in this era. Yes, we may have no money and struggling to make a living, but at least we are not starving until we had to run away and die along the way, and eat anything, snakes, grass, cats, just to survive.
The third show was "Intouchables", a French show based on a true story about an invalid man in a wheelchair, and how he found his jolly life again after engaging a caregiver from the slums who let him view life from another angle, instead of the usual uptight aristocratic way. This is a really touching show which I hope would win Best Foreign Film for the Oscars next year.
The fourth show was of course "The Hobbit". The first part was on how the dwarves crashed into Bilbo Baggins' house, and how he followed them to try to retrieve back their kingdom. The movie followed the book closely, and Peter Jackson, again, showed his perfectionist streak by making all the sceneries and settings perfect. Many of the scenes look familiar as I visited the exact places and locations when I was in New Zealand a few years back.
The musical was "Jersey Boys", and it was above average at best. The story was on the beginnings of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and even though the songs are great and I enjoyed them, somehow I find this musical overhyped by winning several Tony Awards, because it is not in the calibre of other musicals like Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, which I am still waiting for the movie to be released!
The ballet was "Sleeping Beauty", a new version of the fairy tale. Even though it was a great ballet and this rendition was really good, I find the last part too draggy. The first part was on the three fairies, the witch and the curse on the new baby princess, and then the princess grew up and she was pricked and the whole palace fell into a deep sleep.
The second part was on a hundred years later, the prince heard about the legend of the castle and he went to hack his way in, saw the princess sleeping, kissed her and she awoke. The third part was actually on their wedding and their coronation as the new king and queen, but a lot of unnecessary details like the individual dances of all the "guests" at the wedding, could be totally cut out. It made the whole ballet too long. The cherographer(s) should have just done the ballroom ballet, the couples' dance, and a few twists and turns, instead of doing every individual dance.
Still it was a good rendition, although it was the longest ballet performance I have ever attended, longer than even Swan Lake. I believe the Dance Theatre was trying to showcase their performers' talents, but it kind of backfired because many people went off during and after the second interval and did not even come back for the final scene. I also saw many people going off during the final scene as it got too long.
All in all, I have had a great time seeing all these great films and performances! I think this is going to be a good Christmas ahead!
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