RIFLE RANGE BOY

Full River Red (China; 2023) Director:  Zhang Yimou 'Full River Red' is a patriotic poem written by Yue Fei, a Chinese general during the reign of the Southern Song Dynasty. There was a time when the Jin Dynasty overpowered the Northern Song Dynasty from the area now known as Manchuria. Yue Fei was assigned to recapture the northern capital from the intruders. Just as he was about to overpower the invader, he was told to retreat. The Southern King thought the released Northern King may have a claim to the throne. Yue Fei was called back to the southern capital, charged with trumped-up charges, and executed or died in prison. He was a victim of an internal political imbroglio. An established poet, Yue Fei wrote the poem to stir patriotic fervour among the people. It portrays his hatred towards the invading northern army and his frustration toward the peace accord with the Jin dynasty from the north. 'Full River Red' has become a masterpiece in the history of Chinese lite...

Under the guise of surveillance, imperial powers went to all four corners of the world. Their true intentions, as was eventually discovered by the locals, were reconnaissance work to ascertain terrains and landscapes for economic potentials and geopolitical purposes, not for the development of mankind. Neither was it to garner scientific facts to explore our civilisation. It was business. The icing on the cake was exploring how natives could eventually be 'civilised' via Western education and the introduction of The Book. From the 18th century onwards, the Western world was excited, discovering new exotic lands with wealth beyond belief. Pretty soon, no combative teams started scouting new lands in Africa, India, China and various other parts of Asia. Under the guise of doing land surveying, whites were seen around Afghanistan, Siberia, the Middle East and the Far East. When geopolitical turmoils embroiled in these regions, the armies of the imperial forces suddenly found their...

Born to Fly (Chinese, 2023) Written, Directed: Lin Xiaoshi The ending says it all. Anyone who invades Chinese airspace will be resolutely shut down. Some will label it as China's reply to Hollywood's 'Top Gun' and 'Maverick' while others would brush this movie as another of the CCP's propaganda projects. Thanks to the USA's brilliant plan to outsource, China has leapt by leaps and bounds. Trying to save on their budget, it appeared then that getting China to handle  military networks was a bright idea. In 21st-century China, she can send a rocket to the dark side of the Moon and match the US fighter and stealth planes. Hence, the silver screen is the best avenue to showcase their prowess in the sky. Hopefully, the offspring of the one-child policy families would be impressed to lose their sons to become fighter and test pilots. Surprisingly, after an initial screening, which drew record box office collection, CCP decided to withdraw the permit for its sc...

Shang-Chi and The Legend of Ten Rings (2021) Gone are the times when Hollywood made movies that overtly mocked cultures other than Western ones. Typically Indians and Chinese were portrayed as bumbling fools. Their cultures were made to look ridiculous, and their followers were mere bufoons. Perhaps they still  do that but, alas, in a more subtle way.  Just try to remember Amrish Puri as a Kaali worshipper enjoying human eyeballs as a delicacy and the faithful and spineless follower of Fu-Manchu plunging to their deaths in Hollywood's Fu-Manchu series. For that matter, even the Russians and German were made to look like headless chickens running aimlessly in espionage sagas and combat movies. Shang-Chi was a character introduced by Marvel in 1973 to spice up the series and satiate the appetite of comic fans the world over. Shang-Chi was presented as a long lost son of Fu-Manchu, who had been training in Tibet. In the earlier films, his daughter Lin Tang was characterised as hi...

The Face of Fu Manchu (1965) Director: Don Sharp A film like this, made in the 21st century, would be wrong by all accounts. Words like cultural appropriation and stereotyping would be hurled to shoot this film into oblivion. Many of its dialogue can be construed as offensive or downright racist. But then, in the 60s, when this film was released, it was pretty okay. In fact, it was such a hit that it earned four subsequent sequels. The character Fu-Manchu is the brainchild of an English novelist, Sax Rohmer (Arthur Henry "Sarfield' Ward 1883-1959). His first short story in 1912 with the character took such a liking on either side of the Atlantic that it spurred follow-up novels, plays and even a movie in 1923 titled The Mystery of Fu-Manchu. The average Englishman in the early 20th century UK had probably no contact with an Oriental person. They had probably read about the industrious Japanese and their effort towards modernisation via the Meiji Dynasty. This was perhaps not ...

2046 (Cantonese; 2004) Writer, Director: Wong Kar-Wai Our life is like a moving speed-train. We catch glimpses of experiences that excite us and poof, it is gone. We yearn to immortalise the pleasant encounter's memory, but unfortunately, it is not always possible. The journey itself is so unpredictable that the last delightful experience may not be the best, the best may yet be on the horizon. Or maybe, that was it! Oh, life is so uncertain.  Are all memories traces of tears and is nostalgia a bad thing? Does living in the memory of the past a wrong thing? Things that we learn in the past are the guiding lights for future battles, but somehow sometimes we still feel we accidentally let something slip by too prematurely or inadvertently. Regrets we may have a few.  For these, the writer creates a fictitious world/city/future where memories are permanent and can be re-captured. Nobody knew for sure if such a place existed but, nobody who went there ever returned. That is, excep...

In the Mood for Love (Cantonese; 2000) Director: Wong Kar-wai This film must surely be a fruit of a labour of love. It is such a joyful experience to watch as the viewers are cradled back to a Shanghainese community's claustrophobic surroundings in 1962 Hong Kong. It is a story of a close-knit group tenant, specifically of two couples, in an apartment building. Two spouses who are often left alone by their busy working partners end up developing feelings for each other. The busy partners in real fact are embroiled in an affair, between themselves. The scorned spouses discover a common interest, create a platonic relationship but soon realise it is romantic. They resist the temptations to be as low as their partners, despite the circumstances of time and the lure of their biological attractions. The theme of this story segues nicely into a discussion I had with my friends recently. What is this thing about marriage? Is it a mere a public declaration of a property much like when Vasc...

The Farewell (2019) I first heard this story as being narrated by Lulu Wang in the podcast 'American Life'. It tells Lulu's story of how her family dealt with the news of her paternal grandmother's diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. It describes how Lulu's parents, together with her uncle's (father's brother) family in Japan, gathered in China, where the grandmother lives, to bid her farewell. The twist is that the whole family decided not to tell the patient, Nai Nai as she is affectionately referred to. The family, from three countries, descended upon Nai Nai's house under the pretext of celebrating Lulu's Japanese cousin's wedding. Lulu's role is portrayed as an early 30s Chinese American student who goes to China in a soul-searching journey to rediscover her Chinese identity. She learns to appreciate the traditional family values. As their old values dictate that the happy mind would give a healthy body, the family thought that not...