The Bird People in China

I've just finished watching The Bird People in China and have skimmed the other reviews on IMDb. Like most of the others, I do enjoy Miike's work, though not to the level of unconditional love that seems to be common here. In my limited experience, around nine Miike films so far, none have been a waste of time and several are fairly amazing. Notably Audition, though definitely not for the faint of heart.

This film left me with mixed emotions. It truly has touching moments, but it also suffers from common issues with Miike films... disjointed structure, unmotivated action (particularly from the Yakuza character), a bit of excessive violence, a kitchen sink approach to ideas... every possibility explored, even when simple would have been more effective, and finally a liberal borrowing from other films. In fact I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned in other reviews. Miike clearly took much of the premise and emotional content from the movie Local Hero. A corporate drone begrudgingly travels to a remote village and, to his amazement, is touched by the locals and the lifestyle. There's more to the similarities but I don't want to give away too much. Though I will note that he pays homage to his source material by throwing in a Scottish song as a major motif. I also didn't buy into the ending... it seemed to detract from the more realistic aspects of the film.

All of this aside, the film is worth seeing. The scenery is amazing and fairly unique, the photography handsome (considering the budget), Masahiro Motoki as Wada is quite good (as he was in Okuribito/Departures), many of the secondary characters are wonderfully drawn (another Miike specialty), it's genuine and funny at times, and it takes you on an unusual journey, an actual adventure... rarely a dull moment.

This mans versatility is overwhelming. "Bird People of China" is nothing less than a humanistic drama filled with humor and warmth, from the man who brought us such violence-masterpieces as Ichi and Fudoh. I have no idea how he does it, but apparently this guy can make all types of movies equally well. Whats more is that the more of his films you see, the more recognisable they become, even though they're all totally different. In this film he really uses his (great) sense of humor, and allows for his characters to grow on you, and the result is a fantastic movie, and actually feels very chinese in style and theme. Greatly recommended for fans who think they know Miike...

9/10

Another gorgeous film from Miike (is it the filters, film stock, or the Chinese landscape that makes it all so visually engrossing?) that trades in incessant, sensationalistic violence for light-hearted (relatively speaking) fantasy. Which is not to say that Chûgoku no chôjin avoids heavy social topics while maintaining its calm demeanor: the inevitable encroachment of civilization, and the assimilation/annihilation of traditional rituals and beliefs in the sweep of modern culture are issues thoughtfully explored along with arresting images of unspoiled Chinese vistas by frequent Miike collaborator Hideo Yamamoto. An unusually pensive yet rewarding experiment from Miike, and one that continues to prove there is much to his oeuvre besides global destruction, excruciating torture scenes, and zombie dance numbers.

I got hold of this film simply because I spent some time travelling in Yunnan last year. Seeing it today was magical, so evocative of the people, this lush country, the amazing sense of isolation and belonging. Made me want to throw down this job and go straight back again. This is an enjoyable, thoughtful, well made film; the star really has to be the setting though, that feeling of all the time in the world, being with the aged mountains to watch the days go by. You can really understand what drives Ujiie near the end of the film. The sense of impending loss, as even now China marches its wilderness towards modernity, balanced with the benefits its people hope for. The phenomenon of the global tourist has to now decide how it accepts the replacement of the way of life for the self-determining people they go to visit.

I've seen this Japanese movie on the 48th Melbourne International Film Festival. It is such one of the great films I have seen. I think the novel should be a good starting point of this film. It is the story about Japanese business, development, money and high technology to a far far away village in Yunnan, China. Certainly, some people argue that pure nature would be destroy and they can do anything to against the project of development. The researcher team difficultly get there. When they finally are in the village, people there are very nice. The villagers believe that their ancestor could fly. What is the truth that the team discover? Go to watch this movie. You are going to know then.

Anyway, I wouldn't love this film if the end wasn't like this. You need to see this perfect end by yourself. There is no word to explain. As well, you need to go to listen to the theme song. It makes me mad about the sadness of the character.