Shower
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Movie Reviews of Shower
Movie Review: A little corny but wonderful all the same
Summary: 5 Stars
This delighted audiences at a number of film festivals, and it is not hard to see why. Director Yang Zhang, with the help of some very nice work by the three principle actors, Xu Zhu as the father, Master Liu; Quanxin Pu as the elder son, Da Ming; and especially Wu Jiang as the irrepressible and lovable younger son, Er Ming, spins a tale that will warm the coldest heart.
The film starts with a man taking a shower in an automated booth in the middle of Beijing. He puts some money in a slot, opens the door, takes off his clothes and puts some of them on a conveyer belt to be cleaned, steps into the shower and gets cleaned with brushes and squirts of water and soap as though he's a car at the car wash. This is the future symbolically speaking, and the old bathhouse we will see in the next scene is the past. Agrarian China is giving way to industrial China.
Pollution? Cultural revolution hang-over? Industrialization blues? No way. What we have here is a celebration of people and their kindness and love for one another, a celebration of goodness in the hearts of men. Yet I wonder how the Chinese government views this film. On the one hand, it clearly presents a pleasant view of China and its people. It is stringently nonpolitical without criticism of the present regime expressed or implied. Yet there is the slightest sense that the good old ways are going to be replaced by something that may not be as good. I think Yang Zhang had the wisdom to just let that be as it may. Tell a story about old men at the bathhouse where they get back rubs and massages, where they tell tall tales and reminisce about the good old days, where they can relax and play Chinese chess and stage cricket fights, where the Master is a spry and wise old guy and his assistant is his son, who may be retarded or autistic, but who does his job with glee and an infectious spirit of fun and good will.
Enter back on the scene the older son, Da Ming, who is polished, well groomed and taciturn. He is uncomfortable with what he sees as the unsophisticated behavior of his father and brother. He represents modern China with his tie and his briefcase, his cell phone and his education. He has only returned because he thought his father was dying. When he sees that this is not true, he packs his bags and is set to return to his wife and his career. But then a crisis ensues and it is during this crisis that Da Ming sees the value of the natural, people-centered life that his father and his brother have been living.
And so Yang Zhang reconciles the old and the new, and does so in such a charming manner that I will not object, especially since his style is so neat and so carefully expressed. One of the nice things he does that I miss in most movies is the way he dovetails the subplots within the larger story so that they are resolved before the picture ends. The bathhouse regular who sings "O sole mio" in the bathhouse as the water showers down upon him, much to the delight of Er Ming, finds that he can't sing in public because of stage fright. Near the end of the film he loses his stage fright and sings thanks to some inspired help from Er Ming. And the bathhouse regular who is losing his wife because...well, he tells a tale to Master Liu before he confesses the real reason. But Liu understands and again before the movie is over, husband and wife are reconciled.
This kind of "happy ending" movie-making is unusual in today artistic and international films, or in almost any film directed at adults. Some happy endings are so contrived as to embarrass not only their contrivers but their audiences. And some are so blatantly condescending that the audience is offended. Here however the audience is delighted.
See this especially for the comedic performance by Wu Jiang whose warm effervescence overcomes any handicap his character may have.
Movie Review: A great movie that tells you about today's China
Summary: 5 Stars
I often felt troubled when people asked me to recommend some Chinese movies, not because there weren't any good ones, but because those good ones did not depict today's China. Some of Yimou Zhang's and Kaige Chen's movies are not only good, but also, in my opinion, among the greatest ones that the world has produced. However, the stories in those movies happened many years ago; and these years are the ones that have seen the most dramatic changes of a country in history.My trouble ended with the introduction of Xizao (Shower) in North America.
The humors are Chinese styled, but the emotions are, as someone has said in his comment, universal. The values on intimate family relationships, genuine friendships, and concerns for the general public are exemplified in a society that is trying to find a balance between modernization and tradition. When economic development and new technologies menace thousand-year-old lifestyles, people, especially the elderlies, become ambivalent towards them.
A country with an extraordinary history and tradition experiencing the most rapid development in the world, today's China can be a perfect set for many more good movies. I often wonder why there are so few movies like Xizao. As it has proved, you don't have to touch heavy politics to depict an authentic picture of today's China. (Kaige Chen's Together is disappointing.)
One of the commentators said the movie is uneven at some points. This is probably true, and unsurprising, given that the director is not as experienced as Zhang or Chen. However, I didn't notice the unevenness because I was captured by the actors' wonderful performances. You will be easily amused by Wu Jiang's performance as Er Ming; you would be more impressed by Xu Zhu's Master Liu and Cunxing Pu's Da Ming if you understand Chinese. These are the finest Chinese actors of their respective generations.
I noticed that some commentators thought the story happened in a small village. This is a misunderstanding. The set is actually Beijing. Although bathhouses like the one in the movie exist in many Chinese cities, you feel more amazed by the changes that China is experiencing when you know this story happened in a metropolis, right?
If you want to understand today's China, watch this movie. If you want to understand the China before and during the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976), you should check out Huozhe (To Live) and Ba Wang Bie Ji (Farewell My Concubine). Artistically, Xizao may not be a masterpiece compared to the latter two, but it is definitely worth watching. In today's world, movies as warm as this one remind us of the beauty of life.
Movie Review: Squeaky clean grumpy old men
Summary: 5 Stars
The title above is in fact a compliment to this absolutely wonderful movie. I will not say more about the plot as its been mention in all the wonderful reviews here. BUT I have to mention that I am becoming more and more fascinated with the old actor Xu Zhu. I first saw him in King Of Mask and I think he is fantastic. He always have a stern, grouchy grandpapa look that will burst into a heartwarming smile in a split second.Watch out for some of the wackiest characters too. The two sons are good, but the retarted one is both funny, and at the same time made me feel really sad for him.
Some other really cute characters are a gentle spoken guy with a domineering, bullying wife, two old men always quibbling about their pet crickets like overgrown kids and a fat "o sole Mio" guy that is comical and yet annoying and irritating , and one of their friend who always dream of striking it rich :) Wonderful.
one of my favourite quote from the movie: "Its time to stop dreaming - get a real job! " wow
Some of the most mesmerizing scenes in the movie are in the flash-backs told by the aging father about the importance of water and the sacrifice people take in olden days to obtain water for usage, ceremonies and spiritual uses.
These scenes are so dream like with gorgeous cinematography. That cant help but reminds you of those excellent landscapes used by Zhang Yimou , Xie Fei and He Ping. (These 3 directors are known for their lush visuals)
Watching these scenes of water searching from the deserts of Northwest China to the arid plateau of the Tibetan Highlands are rich & beautiful with the haunting music and the singing of the Chinese folk song, will absolutely reminds you of great movies like Red Sorghum, A Mongolian Tale, The Road Home and Xiu Xiu, Tian Yu.
This movie's message is world wide. Basically the difference in generation gap of the young and old, the modern and the traditional, technology and hand made.
As to the question of Ms, Jane Chin about the seduction in reverse...I whole heartedly agree with her. I was seduced way before this movie was made and I am much happier and prouder with a simple humble lifestyle and this movie had confirmed that decision.
Living here in a tightly packed Asia continent, with her 20 or more nations moving into modernization , this movie is too real.
Genghiz Tanghe
Movie Review: Unique, amazing and heartwarming. I loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
This 1999 import from China has a unique setting - an old fashioned men's bathhouse. It's run by an old man and his retarded son and is the place where men spend most of their days soaking in the hot tubs, getting their backs scrubbed and generally socializing. There's another son too. He lives in the big city and is a successful businessman. When he takes a shower, as we see in the opening segment, it's in a coin operated high tech compartment where mechanical brushes scrub his body and hot air blows him dry. He hasn't seen his father in many years, but he receives a drawing from his brother and assumes the father is dying and so he returns home.
Once home, he is drawn into the simple and pleasant life of his father and brother. And he also learns to enjoy his brother's company, accepting the retardation and feeling the love in the small family. We see him gradually changing as he keeps calling his wife on his cell phone promising to come back in just a few days more. Then his father dies. He's left with a bathhouse and a brother to take care of. To top this all off, the City is about to knock down the bathhouse and build a shopping mall.
The ending is inevitable of course. We see the family love and acceptance. And we know that the brother will always be loved and taken care of. It's a good story.
One of the things I liked about it best was that the retarded brother is accepted in the community for what he is. He works in the bathhouse and contributes to the world around him. He is always smiling and his simple joys in life are a pleasure to see.
All the actors are excellent. I forgot they were acting and felt I was transformed right into this small town in China. I got a feeling of what life must be like to run a bathhouse. And there are also some very moving parts about how lucky this town is to have an abundance of water compared to some other places in China where it is so dry that people do not bathe except on their wedding day or when they make a long pilgrimage to bathe in the river. It made me realize how important the abundance of water is.
This is simple film. Yet, I was very moved by it. And felt good at the end. Recommended.
Movie Review: China Loses Its Soul Along with the Rest of Us
Summary: 5 Stars
Many Chinese movies understandably focus on the tragic era of the Cultural Revolution. This movie, on the contrary, presents us with the dark side of the "new" China. Though particular to China, it coincidentally describes a more global picture of a world that pursues money to the detriment of happiness.
We immediately get a look at a metaphor for the new China. A man takes a shower in an efficient public shower, which looks like a mix between a porto-potty and a robo car-wash. It gets the job done in a short amount of time so that the user can get on with his life as producer and consumer.
We then meet the businessman behind the efficient shower. He is a Chinese yuppie, now living in Shenzhen, but who is presently returning to his hometown because he believes his father, whom he had not visited in a long time, is dead.
As it turns out, his father is not dead. At this point we get a juxtaposition of two worlds. The new, the yuppies' world which is humorless, lacks warmth and sensuality and the world of his father who runs a public bathouse. The bathouse, as it turns out, is not only a place where people can ENJOY a bath (and not just get clean) but it serves as a social center where people gather, problems get resolved, and people really care about one another.
Alas, the efficient "new" world wins out as a modernization plan
calls for the bathhouse to be torn down...and with it the soul of the community. O sole mio, indeed...but the sun will go down and not rise again any time soon. We are headed towards a joyless efficient world.
This is a brilliant movie and I would give it ten stars if possible.
Thomas