Shower
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Movie Reviews of Shower
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
Movie Review: A GREAT MOVIE
Summary: 5 Stars
Shower is simply an amazing movie. It is about an old man who runs a bathhouse with his mentally retarded son, in a run-down neighborood in China. His eldest son, who has been swept up into a commercial and materialistic lifestyle, comes back to see his estranged father. Shower conveys the message to live a simple life and to do what makes you happy in life to find peace. shower perfectly sets up the theme of "The Modern, The Technological, The Impersonal" VS "The Old Fashioned, The Traditional, The Human Touch". I was captured into the world that this movie creates. The atmosphere is very light and the movie has a smoothness and a non-threatening quality to it that adds to its realism. The director does a great job of not making Shower overly sentimental, which would take away from its stark human realism. The subpots and the sub characters in the film do a masterful job of complimenting the main themes in the movie and are also hilarious and unique. Not only does Shower have funny and interesting characters in it, but the emotions that the poeple experience can really be felt because of the film's simplistic realism. The relationship between the father and his sons are extremely compelling. Watching their relationships change and develop in relation to the bathhouse was solidly done. No doubt, a well crafted and directed film.BOTTOMLINE: Shower is a pleasant and often times heart-warming movie, a definite MUST SEE!
Movie Review: Seduction works in reverse
Summary: 5 Stars
This subtitled Chinese movie tells a story of collision between technological progress and old-times. The story begins when a prodigal son returns from the city to his home town - a place that barely changed since he was a boy - to see his aging father. During the course of his stay, the son began to accept and finally embrace the very things he had once detested as the "modern, progressive" man. This story is one we can all relate to, regardless of where we are and who we are. The world is changing quickly, and we have learned to take everything at face value and for granted. We make our lives complicated in hopes that we can concoct contentment within ourselves and in our lives. Then we become dependent on the technology we created and wonder why we feel tired/stressed/rushed all the time. "Shower" is a movie that made me wonder if seduction works in reverse - if the modern man can be seduced by a "kinder, more simple" lifestyle. I wonder whether many of us will be interested in living as a large extended family of neighbors who are customers and friends - people you talk about impotence and marriage problems with, people you would entrust your mentally handicapped child with. Most of the stories I hear are "success stories" of how someone "made it big" or "struck it rich". But I suppose, for a few, like the prodigal son, seduction works in reverse.Movie Review: Yes.... you can go home again
Summary: 5 Stars
They say you can't go home again, but big city executive Da Ming goes back to his father's place of business, a bathhouse. He believes his father is dying, but is surprised to see father is well. Da Ming also sees his mentally challenged brother Erming who works at the communal bathhouse. According to the father, Da Ming left home for the corporate world, and Erming is left and the relationship between Erming and his father is one to appreciate.
The major setting is an old bathouse and you will learn a lot about the operation of a bathhouse, where you see that it is a place of social gatherings, cricket fighting, and a place of human relationships of bickering and friendships. However, the building is set soon for demolition.
When Da Ming arrives, he is not familiar with the bathhouse, but he is enlightened by the relationship his father has with his mentally challenged brother. Seeing this special relationship is unique and endearing to watch the bond, fun and love they share, and in the name of work also. And now, Da Ming is torn between a bond to care for his brother and a wife who seems to not understand a close brotherly relationship or the need and love to care about the mentally challenged brother.
The 1999 Chinese film is sad, humorous, entertaining, enlightening. ....Rizzo
Movie Review: Great Movie! Moving!
Summary: 5 Stars
Da Ming is the elder son of a bath house owner, who has escaped the drudgery of small town life for the life of a modern executive in Shenzhen. Or has he? When he receives a postcard with a drawing on it which looks like his father has passed on, he returns to his home town believing his father has died.
Instead, Da Ming finds his father in good health, and is himself the proverbial "heart" of the small town. Da Ming's father doubles as match maker, therapist, and friend to the troubled people who come to his bathhouse to bathe and relieve the stress of day-to-day life. While at first Da Ming resents his father, and is ashamed of his slow brother, he eventually finds himself lured into the family business, albeit unintentionally. After a tragedy strikes, will Da Ming have the courage to remain true to his father's wishes and care for his brother? Or will he buckle under the stresses of modern life and societal expectations?
I really loved Shower. The Interactions between Er Ming and his elderly father was really charming. Da Ming's bafflement at his father's quaint ways and his embarrassment of his younger brother were realisticly portayed and well acted. Shower is a fascinating tale of redemption, renewal and growth set in an emerging China.