Across the Harbour, Towards the Sun

I must start of by saying that I might show a sense of bias towards this review, as firstly, I'm not very keen on medicinal stuff - I'm only interested in certain things, and Chinese medicine is not necessarily one of them, but something I've just thought about then and now. Secondly, a friend made this movie, so there will be a hint of bias, but nevertheless, I will be as objective as I can.

Across the Harbour, Towards the Sun is a documentary made by Christopher See Yew Hong (a 5th year medic, Trinity College student), which talks about Chinese medicine and it gives us an insight as to how it is slowly being acknowledged as a common practice and proven way of healing certain illnesses. The movie looks at certain aspects of Chinese medicine, for e.g. Acupuncture, 'Cupping', etc, and shows how it can be used for common illnesses that people suffer from everyday.

The documentary is fascinating and informative in some ways - it gives us a slight insight of the methods used in Chinese medicine. And when I say a slight, I mean only a slight insight. And this perhaps to me, is probably the shortfall of this movie. Yew Hong in some ways fails to gets into any detail about any of the methods used. We never really go any deeper than the surface of the water in this documentary, and I honestly felt that he could have either made the documentary longer, or he could have just focused on one aspect of Chinese medicine with such a short running time.

Another flaw with the movie would have to be the certain discontinuity in certain parts of the film. There is a part in the film, where he tries to show that because China is growing very strongly as an economic power, Chinese medicine is slowly becoming more and more recognised around the world. As a friend, I understand the point he's making, but I do fear to a neutral, they might not see any relation between those two aspects.

But aside from its shortfalls, this documentary has its good moments. It allows us to see Chinese medicine from a Westerner's point of view, rather than a Chinese one. It is very easy to make a documentary about Chinese medicine from a Chinese point of view - it is easy to say that they appreciate it, etc, but what is much harder, is to start the documentary from a point where we, like the narrator, doubt the usage of Chinese medicine, then eventually build our confidence in using these techniques. I, as a Chinese, definitely believe in the usage of Chinese medicine, but subconciously during this movie, I followed the feelings of the narrator. In some sense, the documentary made us feel rather enlightened.

Overall, the documentary is a decent attempt - more improvements can be made. I must however appreciate how hard it is to make a documentary of even this standard. As I sat there and watched it, I felt inclined to criticise some aspects of it, however, it is easier for me to empathise with my friend, and I realised that it is not easy to do what he has done with this movie. With that said, without criticisms, the human race will lack any improvement or progression at all.

Rating: 2.9/5

Written by Kevin Lau

Note: Copies of this documentary can be requested from Christopher See Yew Hong (Hermes e-mail: cyhs2)

Apocalypto

I liked this movie tremendously. I think I'll probably get a lot of flak from most people (especially girls), who will say I am sadistic, but I will tell you this - this movie is not about finding enjoyment in the brutalness of the whole movie, but rather the detail, and thought, and research put in it. Mel Gibson is starting to prove to many that he is the master of detail, and it really shows in this movie (though there have been criticisms that this movie is not necessarily culturally accurate), but its the little aspects of the village, the normal things that people do everyday that he gets so right in this movie. Admire the scene when the captives are walking through the Aztec city - you'll never probably ever get to see that again in any other movie. The detail is superb, its a wonder how he manages film a movie of this scale.

The story is extremely simple - its about a man, whose entire village is destroyed by a group of warriors, and the villagers are held captive and sold as slaves, or used as human sacrifices in the Aztec city. During the invasion, this man (Jaguar Paw, played by Rudy Youngblood) hides his family in a deep well, and he then promises his family that he'll return. He escapes from the warriors, and then goes a long chasing scene of where he manages to hold back each warrior in many inventive ways.

I was watching this movie with Thian Rui, who's a medic, and during the human sacrifices, I noticed that after the heart was taken out by the high priest, the body of the sacrifice still moved. (Please forgive my ignorance here) I asked Thian Rui if this was right, as in most movies I have watched, where people's hearts are taken out physically, they die straight away. Thian Rui said that the movie portrayed the whole sacrifice correctly, and it was after that, that I was extremely impressed by how even that small detail, is taken care of.

This movie is nowhere near for kids, its meant for adults, adults who can handle graphic detail. Its given a rating of 18, I have a feeling that that is probably a borderline rating. One more gory scene (like the human sacrifices), and it would have probably been banned.

Just on a last note, I do believe that Mel Gibson is going to be the Stanley Kubrick of our time. Kubrick was the master of detail - Mel Gibson is slowly becoming that, though perhaps not quite in the same genre. I would like to see Mel Gibson try something less gory the next time around, to test out his other skills, but the way I see it, I do feel we should get ready for another gore fest.

This movie is interesting to say the least, but I liked it tremendously. I will have no qualms about watching it again.

Rating: 4.4/5

Written by Kevin Lau

Best Movies of 2006: A Prairie Home Companion

This movie is not easy to appreciate. I'll accept that. It doesn't have a plot, hence it means there is no twist, no suprises, no happy endings. It doesn't have something obvious for people to pay attention to. This movie is about a radio show that is on its last show, and how each character reacts to it, and it emits a feeling of nostalgia.

A Prairie Home Companion was a radio show a decade or two back and it was an extremely popular show. This movie aims to make us remember the show (if any of us have actually heard it on the radio!), and it does more than that for me. I've never heard of the show, but that doesn't deter me from saying that movie was definitely one of the best I've seen this year.

What this movie does so well is to keep it simple. It doesn't try to over-complicate characters, it just allows the characters to talk about their moments, the things they remember about the show. Yolanda Johnson (played by Meryl Streep) and her sister Rhonda (played by Lily Tomlin), talk about the times they sang together, and about how their 'mama' was their inspiration. The conversation between them makes you feel as if you've lived their life before, and it gives you a very warm feeling in your heart.

To me, the biggest highlight of this movie has to be the performance of Garrison Keillor who plays himself. There's not much acting there, but he's entertaining, witty, charming. He is the host of the show, he personifies the whole show.

The 'Dangerous Woman' (played by Virginia Madsen) in this movie talks to everyone who is involved in the show, and to me, it is a brilliant technique used by Robert Altman to try to get to know how the characters feel about the show being closed down. She then makes a last minute appeal to the person responsible in putting the show to bed, the Axeman (played by Tommy Lee Jones):

Dangerous Woman: When I listened to these people it was like they were my family.
Axeman: But something else happened didn't it?
Dangerous Woman: Yes.
Axeman: I'm that something else.

This movie like I said is not the easiest to appreciate, because it lacks a distinctive plot. It is not easy to describe either, hence this review might be very choppy at parts. But to sum it up, the movie is witty, its charming, its smart. Its all about the show, and at the end of the day, you leave with a warm feeling in your heart, and it just makes you smile.

Oh yes, here's a nice quote, for you all:

Garrison Keillor: We come from people who brought us up to believe that life is a struggle, and if you should feel really happy, be patient: this will pass.

Rating: 4.5/5

Written by Kevin Lau