cinephilereview

Although I have seen many famous (well-known in North America) Asian films, I was never a big fan of Korean cinema until I saw Searching for the Elephant. This amazing independent film simply shocked me, washing away all the wrong stereotypes I previously had about Korean movies. This is a very realistic story of three young men and the women surrounding them. (No, there is no melodramatic bullshit or hard core revenge stories like many popular Korean films.) This movie is about people like you and me. Yet this multi-layered hybrid-genre gem has much more to offer. Rich in ingenious photography and audacious (almost schizophrenic) cuts, this movie examines that inexplicable emptiness that we all have felt at one time or another in our lives. The sharp, witty dialogues are full of black humor and aphorism, while the pace of storytelling sometimes overwhelms with speed, with numerous sequences that are very clever in execution. (I had to rewind it several times to pick up on certain scenes). The outrageous climax is original and quite thought-provoking. This film reminded me of early Wang Kar-Wai films as well as Last Year at Marienbad by Alain Resnais. I am definitely going to watch this again.

I was first introduced to this film in college.

The first viewing stunned me. I was literally hypnotized by the imagery and the aura.

Years passed, and I saw it again on DVD. It was as if I was inside the film again, repeating my life at Marienbad.

A couple of weeks ago, I was deeply saddened to hear the news of the passing of the great French director Alain Resnais. Among the numerous pieces I have of his, I picked this out and saw it again. It was magical, as it always was.

Too bad they don't make movies like this anymore. But still… Long live cinema!

This is definitely one of my all-time favorite movies. Before watching A City of Sadness, I subconsciously had this notion that somehow there were certain ways (or methods) feature narrative films should be made. Oh…how wrong I was. Experiencing this movie was like… the first time I saw Asian art, no more like the first time I tasted Chinese food as a kid. It was more than different. It was delightful! This film totally enlightened me! This poetic masterpiece changed the way I view cinema. This film which deals with modernity of Taiwan, feels more like a Confucian ritual, an ancestral rite of some sort. And at the same time like many of Hou Hsiao-hsien's other films, this movie deals with the theme of 'growth'. Hou seems to tell us over and over again that growth is learning to say goodbye to the things we love. One beautiful movie. I strongly recommend it to the cinephiles who haven't yet tasted this great cinematic treat.