Shower
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Movie Reviews of Shower
Movie Review: Wonderfully dramatized conflict of Modern China vs Tradit.
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a straightforward comedy about relationships, human feelings and human spirit. It is set in a city in modern day northern China. An older man (Zhu Xu, who starred in The King of Masks) owns a bathhouse. His son, Er Ming (second son) assists him, who is retarded. Er Ming is the delight of his father's life. They both love the bathhouse and all its customers. For Er Ming, especially, it is his whole world. Er Ming sends a post card to his brother Da Ming (big brother) who is a businessman is Shenzen, the economic heart of China, in the south. Da Ming has been estranged from his father for many years. On the post card, Er Ming, in his primitive way, seemed to indicate to his older brother that their father had passed away. Da Ming returns, but he discovers that his father is alive.The reason Da Ming is estranged from his father is because he is ashamed of him and the business he runs. He is ashamed of his father's traditional ways. Da Ming only respects greed and ruthless capitalism. The bathhouse is a haven for traditional ways and relationships. Da Ming is married but did not bring his wife along because he is ashamed of his retarded bother. One of the interesting contrasts is that although Da Ming is ashamed of his brother Er Ming, the father is ashamed of Da Ming and takes such joy in Er Ming. And none of the bathhouse customers stigmatize Er Ming.
The film is not a downer; it is full of comedy. There is a bathhouse customer who sings, "O Solo Mio," (in heavy Mandarin accent) every time he takes a bath. Later, he teaches the song to Er Ming. The older customers raise and train crickets for cricket fights, which are held in the bathhouse. There is constant serious boasting and bragging over who has the toughest cricket.
I don't want to give away too much. Another critic believes that, in the end, Da Ming learns some respect for the old ways. I did not feel that way. In the final scene, Er Ming sings, "O Solo Mio," in the batch house, and I feel it is like a funeral eulogy for tradition. The capitalist barbarians win. China has thrown out the baby with the bath water.
Although the movie is in Mandarin with subtitles, it can be found in the regular movie racks at the video store. Lindy liked the movie much, much more than I did. I think to really appreciate it, one need Chinese cultural roots. And of course, if you don't know Mandarin Chinese, you have to read the subtitles, which means you can't focus on the pictorial.
Movie Review: Wow!
Summary: 1 Stars
THis movie for lack of a better word BORING! The charecters in this movie have no depth. The plot is about a guy who runs a shower house. WHO CARES! The movie feels like it's 10 hours long. Buy it for foreign taste, but not for a movie that makes you think.