Kekexili at the DC Film Festival

[Artist7]

I just saw Kekexili at the DC Film Fest. It is a great movie. I highly recommend it. Though I was surprised to see so few Chinese people in the movie theater (there were about 3 asians.) I would like to see this film get the Audience Award, but not if the turn out is so low....

[skylee]

I saw Kekexili at the HK Film Festival last month. I suppose it is a good film, though not my type of films (my very personal and non-pc view - it does not seem particularly meaningful to die for the protection of endangered antelopes).

An earlier thread on this film -> http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/2995-%e5%8f%af%e5%8f%af%e8%a5%bf%e9%87%8c-kekexili

[laolee]

I just saw Kekexili at the DC Film Fest. It is a great movie. I highly recommend it. Though I was surprised to see so few Chinese people in the movie theater (there were about 3 asians.) I would like to see this film get the Audience Award' date=' but not if the turn out is so low....

[/quote']

Well, last night I was over at Wisconsin Ave watching Peacock instead! Maybe about 100 people, some Chinese. Tonight, I finally see Cell/Cellphone. Last weekend, I caught Shanghai Story (Meili shanghai) (Joey Wang's return to the big screen!) and The World.

I saw Kekexili on DVD so I took a pass at the theatrical screening. In my mind, people are probably put off by the description thinking it'll be a boring hug-a-tree story. To me, the film plays more as an action/adventure film and the save the deer subject could easily have been transposed to something else, like a Hollywood western rancher vs herdsmen, for instance.

Wondering if Green Hat is worth a watch? I didn't pre-order tickets for it and am tempted to buy one at the box office Friday night.

[gato]

"The Greet Hat" is not bad, but not super, either. It's kind of Quentin Tarrantino-esque, but not quite as fun. I'd say go see it to see where Chinese mainstream films are headed. I had a little write-up about it earlier:

http://chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/41-short-courses-in-china73

[laolee]

Thanks, gato. Everything I've read says something similar, giving it a mixed review: interesting...but just not quite. I'm guessing it won't appear on video anytime soon, so that's why I'm tempted to catch it while I can. If I go, I'll certainly enter with lowered expectations. Last year, I missed the Chinese indie/underground film Uniform (Zhi Fu) and it's never been available anywhere that I know of.

BTW, the programmer for the Chinese series at Filmfest DC is Chi-Wei Yang, SFIAAFF's festival director. So, big ups, to SF!

[skylee]

I would not recommend Green Hat. A waste of time IMHO.

[Artist7]

I saw Peacock on Thursday night. Another good movie, but a lot slower and at times too painstakingly submerged in nuance, comparing to Kekexili. Although I enjoyed the slow take and the details of the movie, my only complain is about using DiDi as the first-peron narrator for the story.

The story was well told. But I didn't feel it was HIS, DiDi's, story. It seemed as if it was told by a third person, rather than DiDi himself. I didn't feel the connection of the story about his siblings to HIM TELLING IT. I almost forgot that he was the one who was giving us the ironic observations of life in this movie. The observation was powerful, but I didn't feel it was HIS personal observation. I felt DiDi somehow a remote third-person and minor participant, rather than a first-person narrator, taking us through the ups and downs of HIS journey.

This is in comparison to Kekexili. The success of the story telling there is that, although the Journalist from Beijing was a third-person observer, it felt as if he was a first-person narrator in the movie. I followed HIS journey, felt His emotions and was taken completely by HIS story and... He wasn't even narrating it.

Overall, Peacock is a good movie and deserves 4 star out of 5. (My 2 cents...)

Thanks to the information on Green Hat. I think I will skip the movie and wait for DVD this time...

[laolee]

The story was well told. But I didn't feel it was HIS, DiDi's, story. It seemed as if it was told by a third person, rather than DiDi himself. I didn't feel the connection of the story about his siblings to HIM TELLING IT. I almost forgot that he was the one who was giving us the ironic observations of life in this movie. The observation was powerful, but I didn't feel it was HIS personal observation. I felt DiDi somehow a remote third-person and minor participant, rather than a first-person narrator, taking us through the ups and downs of HIS journey.

I agree with you. The narration seems irrelevant, though supposedly in the longer version there are more scenes regarding the younger brother.

Of the four films I saw at the fest, the others being Shanghai Story,The World and Cell Phone, I liked Peacock the best. There's a whole underlying feeling of unsettledness/creepiness that is understated enough to make it very compelling viewing. The daughter, especially, has a strange, mesmerizing quality to her. Right now I am rewatching the Zoke disc as I write this (but there are no English subs, after all! Drat.)

I also missed Green Hat, mainly because I was just too tired to go see it after two late nights viewing Peacock and Cell Phone. Wonder if it will appear on DVD anytime soon, though.

[Vivien]

The narration seems irrelevant, though supposedly in the longer version there are more scenes regarding the younger brother.

That's what I heard as well. I heard from a friend that the long version had a much more complex life for the younger brother and he seemed turn to be a gay or bisexual when he was travel.

I think Kekexili is interesting but not “great” as a lot of people mentioned to me. Maybe it was because my expectation was too high when I watched that movie.

I think the World is good too, but the cartoon scenes in it seemed a little weird. Also, when every time I finished watching Jia Zhangke's movie ( I also watched Xiao Wu and Ren Xiao Yao), I always feel "that's it?" It seems there should be something more about the ending but I couldn't think of anything better for it .

[laolee]

I also watched Xiao Wu and Ren Xiao Yao), I always feel "that's it?" It seems there should be something more about the ending but I couldn't think of anything better for it

I haven't seen either one but I want to pick up the UK DVDs. However, with the exchange rate, it's pretty pricey right now.