Golden Age, Directed by: Xu Anhua, China, 2014 [Recommended by Ishikawa (China)]
Recommended reason: I appreciate the experimental style of "Golden Age", which makes the plot like a painted puzzle, reconstructing the imagination of Xiao Hong from the oral accounts of everyone's memories. This Rashomon-style multi-point of view narrative has a natural confrontation with the market's mass consumption habits, but it gives Chinese biopics a new form. But there are too many inserted passages in the documentary interview style, which destroys the integrity and unity of the plot and characters, and the 3-hour length makes the plot appear lengthy and scattered.
"Paradise in the Army", Director: Niu Chengze, 2014, Taiwan [Recommended by: Ishikawa (China)]
Recommended reason: "Paradise in the Army" writes the collective memory of Taiwan's 50-70s generation, deciphering the rare military prostitute life in Chinese military films. This kind of theme the mainland does not and cannot have, so the local nature of the most Taiwanese experience should be well developed. Unfortunately, the plot is not full enough, the character description is shallow, and there is a lack of in-depth excavation. Chen Jianbin's veteran acted very hard, but in addition to rendering his nostalgia, he could not see the disillusionment of his mental journey in life, so the plot of his final killing was abrupt and not enough. Other characters also basically tasted and stopped, writing about the fur but losing the bone marrow.
"Mai Du and My Mother", Directed by Xie Liwen and Li Junmin, 2014, China [Recommended by: Youling Demon (China)]
Reason for recommendation: The latest work of the McDougall animation series, through the divine detective Bobby to review everything about my mother, shows the stoicism and optimism of Hong Kong mothers, in addition to nostalgia for the poor but warm and watchful citizen life in Hong Kong in the 60s and 70s, but also connects the past with the modern, once again making the McDougall film series a Hong Kong film masterpiece that insists on free creation and is highly conscious in some aspects.
"Dear", Director: Chen Kexin, 2014, Chinese mainland, [Recommended by: Wu Liangyu (China)]
Recommended reasons: Although Zhao Wei, Huang Bo, and Zhang Yi cried red eyes several times, Chen Kexin was indeed restrained when considered in this kind of theme film. Compared with "China Partner", chen Kexin's view of the mainland environment is more basic and real, but there is still a suspicion of deliberate presentation. Fortunately, this deliberate is more consistent with the theme of abduction, which is easy to be accepted by mainland audiences. I always felt that Chen Kexin was very good at picking mainland themes, and his shooting was not bad, but it was this outsider's and clear appeal production method that made the quality of the film not much better.
Shin-obi,"哪啊 啊导茌 茌茌
Recommended reason: inspirational comedy, a lot of laughter, "watchability" is stronger than "The Chronicle of the Boat". There is no place for the hero of the waste wood in the big city, but the god went to the village and left him a card.
Gurudwara Teacher's Diary, Director: Netiwa? Taratun, 2014, Thailand [Recommended by: Blasphemy Movie (China)]
Recommended reason: Everyone is familiar with the kind of Thai love small fresh, can you imagine sending a [untouchable lover] to bid for the Olympic Games? Thailand this year is such a film, children's education in remote areas and the mission of teachers to educate people and the like is only as a point of the story background, the film focuses on the empty love strung together with a diary, with the emotional core of "you know me", the loneliness of modern urban people and the jokes of various Thai youth films.
Pride, directed by Matthew Warchus, 2014, UK
Reason for recommendation: Comrades and miners join hands to equalize power, a forgotten history in the British social movement in the 1980s. The film is lively and full of vitality, but it is not like the general gay movies that indulge in the sensory world, and the vision is broad and moving. The conservative atmosphere of British society at that time was portrayed in place, and the miners who thought they were full of masculinity abandoned their prejudices, accepted the help of this group of dissidents after a long period of time, and the vivid character group portraits made the whole movie viewing process full of fun. Character styling and movie soundtracks are a plus.
The Congress Futurology Conference, Directed by Ari Folman, 2013, Israel / Germany [Recommended by Jiang Xiaomao (China)]
Why: The film envisions an extremely dark future in an imaginative way. In this futuristic world, all reality can be whitewashed by animation, everywhere is colorful, and even people can become what they like at will. But the initial freshness of watching the film is quickly replaced by an urgent sense of escape, because the animated city shown in the film is not charming, and the process of Robin White's value being gradually squeezed dry is also unpleasant. When the animation effect suddenly disappears and we can look directly at the tragic situation of people, the impact of that moment is better than countless preaching about the future.
The Double Double Personality, Directed by Richard Ioard, 2013, UK
Recommended reason: The director of the fluffy head Richard Ioad is even better than his performance, a "submarine" has a sense of surprise, and this "double animal" is even more amazing. Stepping on the shoulders of Kafka, Terry Gilliam, George Orwell, Hitchcock, Kieslowski and other forefathers, he constructed a totalitarian labyrinth full of bureaucracy and fifties temperament, exquisite and eerie, and technical control is not to be missed.
The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, "Children of the Internet", directed by Brian Knappenberger, 2014, USA
Reason for recommendation: The Internet has in fact created one of the largest spaces in human history for the dissemination and exchange of information, posing a serious threat to both governments that regulate information in the name of stability and security, and enterprises that sell academic knowledge in the name of safeguarding intellectual property rights. In the process of implementing new technologies in the real environment, there are always different struggles. The documentary, which tells the life of Aaron Swartz, a young genius who sacrificed his life to democratize information, and like many American documentary feature films, combines individual narratives at the micro level with political and economic critiques at the macro level. Through this film, we can also deeply reflect on the information dissemination environment in our own countries.
Lärjungen The Apprentice, directed by Ulrika Bengts, 2013, Finland [Recommended by: Profanity Film (China)]
Recommended reason: Special era background, the lighthouse guardian on the isolated island, like this kind of isolated environment, for the uncle control, the Nordic uncle is simply staged the temptation of uniform. This is a film full of oppression, the screenwriter is like a deep Freud biography, the dominating parents, childhood castration anxiety and powerlessness and so on to the fullest, the patriarchal power of the moment with a sense of crisis, let the horror follow.
Manakamana Manakamana, directed by Pacho Velez / Stephanie Spray, 2013, Nepal/USA [Recommended by: Profanity Film (China)]
Reason for recommendation: This is an avant-garde experimental documentary without words, it seems to say nothing, but it has a Zen meaning, and it is inevitable to think of Andy Warhol in form, but conceptually much smarter. In this day and age, few people are willing to stop and think, to gaze at the ordinary ten minutes of life. I've always preferred these kinds of avant-garde, cleverly conceived films, and I admire such crazy and bold filmmakers.
Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan, The End of History, directed by Lav Diaz, 2013, Philippines
Reason for recommendation: Stretching the content of 2 hours to 4 hours is a bit intimidating, and the discussion of politics, justice and religion is just that the director borrows the mouth of the actor to carry the bootleg, and this kind of angry remarks is indeed more suitable for the film. In the face of system and poverty, in the face of the two protagonists, these two family tragedies have the same root causes and can represent the two extremes of the life of the people at the bottom of the nation.
"Woman Forty", Directed by: Xu Anhua, 1995 [Recommended by: Europa (China)]
Recommended reason: From the opening fish to die to the final life such as chaolu, the movie is about the woman forty, in fact, it is still about a "dead" word. People are defeated by time, aging and amnesia are extremely terrible, the few scenes of nursing homes and the big truths told by young people all tell the cruelty of life. In the face of fifty years of unchanged promises, it may be the hook of a child, but also the (old) young couple in the film
"Single Stick", Director: Yu Guangyi, Chinese mainland, 2011 [Recommended by: Wang Sui (Editor of Fan Film Network)]
Recommended reasons: Production conditions are difficult to hide in the broad sense of the depth of psychological excavation of the characters, the director spent a lot of effort on the follow-up, picking out the most typical and magical groups of shots so that the protagonist Sanliangzi's inner world was visualized by a more stylized expression, the first half of the silence gradually ushered in the emotional rise, especially the last Kusturica carnival and the subsequent lonely catharsis, thunderstorm and self-talking insults and bare sticks naked on the kang, isolated suppression broke out the tragic color of the characters.
"Peach Blossom with a Human Face", Director: Du Haibin, Chinese mainland, 2005 [Recommended by: Wang Sui (Editor of Fan Shadow Network)]
Reason for recommendation: The deliberate split screen creates a strong sense of isolation, and the director's observation of the marginal group of gay bar dress-up performers captures several aspects of work, life, family and other aspects to make annotations, with the intention of inserting them into Chengdu society 10 years ago. Ten years of re-screening of the director appeared, but the characters could not be contacted.
Чистилищ Purgatory, Directed by Alexander Nevzorov, 1998, Russia
Recommended reason: The choreography and images are very rough, but crooked, creating a very good sense of war presence, erasing all romance on the battlefield, leaving only horror and despair. The War in Eastern Ukraine is raging, and it is perfect to look at this work about the Battle of Grozny, the Chechen War.
Being John Malkovich "Become John Markovich", directed by Spike Jonze, USA, 1999
Reason for recommendation: Spike Jones is generally classified as a pioneer director, but his films are often only dressed as pioneers, and the core is actually quite traditional and humanistic. To some extent, "Becoming John Markovich" is a film that goes hand in hand with pessimism and optimism. Pessimistic, because even the top puppeteers can not completely manipulate the fate of others, we can not prevent others from controlling or even possessing their own lives; optimistic, because people with autonomous consciousness are not marionettes after all, there is always a moment when people can break free of the ropes and fight for the life they yearn for.
Capote Capote, directed by Bennett Miller, Canada / USA, 2005 [Recommended by Jiang Xiaomao (China)]
Reason for recommendation: This film intercepts a fragment of Capote's life and tells the creation process of the novel "Cold Blood". Although this is only a small part of Capote's life, the film still succeeds in showing Capote's multifaceted humanity, his sensitive fragility and cold-blooded complexity are cleverly woven together. Much of the film's success depends on the impeccable performances of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Clifton Collins Jr., which makes it even more lamentable that Hoffman's early death is an immeasurable loss to the film industry.
Epoch of Murder Madness, Director: Kihachi Okamoto, 1967, Japan, [Recommended by: Duan Jinyu (Editor)
Reason for recommendation: Now it seems that this film is not one of the national works of 007 in Japan? But I like it very much, especially the rarely seen Okamoto Kihachi Non Sword Blade. Tatsuya Nakadai's performance in the film is unexpectedly wonderful, the silly beast appearance at the beginning is completely unrecognizable, and his signature appearance and actions are really very pleasing. The perverted content mirrors the pathological state of Japan's worship of Germany, which seems to reveal the director's uneasiness about such extreme ideas.
La grande illusion, directed by Jean Renoir, France, 1937
Why: Zweig said that in the war that began in 1914, people did not know what to get from reality, it was simply in the service of a fantasy, that is, a dream of a better, just and peaceful world.
Puzzle of a Downfall Child, "A Statue of a Fallen Child", directed by Jerry Schatzberg, 1970, USA
Reason for recommendation: Jerry Schatzberg's debut, a blockbuster film. Fei Tang Nawei contributed a wonderful performance, portraying the process of a fashion celebrity from prosperity to decline in a way that is both crazy and sad. The style of the film is depressing, the images carry the director's fledgling boldness, flashbacks, sound and painting are not synchronized, and close-ups are used unscrupulously. The story is written but full of delicate care and sympathy for women, and at the end of the beach, a warm feeling full of hope suddenly rises. Three chapters in one song, with their respective priorities.
The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy, Directed by Peter Liechti, 2008.
Reason for recommendation: Document a man's hunger strike. He was determined to go on a hunger strike as a way to end his life. In his hunger strike diary, he recorded what he did every day, how his body felt, why he went on a hunger strike, and how he thought about his world. Despite countless opportunities to pull back, he eventually succeeded. The journey takes 72 days. The free will to die overwhelms the instinct to survive. Peter Liechti writes with his own prose images, inviting people to share the man's journey of death.
(Editor: Spock)