Spider Lilies (2008 US Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Spider Lilies (2008 US Edition)
Movie Review: Very thought provoking.
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie intrigued me so much that I purchased it after renting it through Netflix. It is a story of a young woman (Takeko) who survives a horrible earthquake because she is sleeping over at her girlfriend's house that is much better built and sturdier than her own. Her father dies saving her younger brother from the collapse of the house. She gets a tatoo all along her left arm identical to her father's so her brother (being traumatized by the earthquake) will recognize her as someone he can trust. In her early teens, she meets a young girl (Jade) who develops a crush on her. Jade at the time is nine years old. Takeko moves away but returns to the town as a twenty-something woman. Jade has started a career as a webcam call girl for internet sex, she entices the viewer's to watch her because she is going to get a tatoo. She goes in search of a tatoo and discover's the girl of her childhood crush has returned and is a tatoo artist. Jade sets out to seduce her because Jade still feels that she is in love with Takeko. Jade wants a tatoo exactly like Takeko's but Takeko will not give it to her but draws a beautiful Jasmin flower to tatoo on Jade. Takeko begins the tatoo and Jade completes her seduction and they make love. Takeko forgets her brother and he wanders from his school for the mentally challenged. Along the side of the road, he spots a spider lillie and memories come rushing back into his mind. He falls and is in a comma. Takeko realizes that she has forgotten her brother and hurries to the school where he spends his days. A police officer approaches her and tells her where her brother is. Takeko texts Jade and tell her that she can never see her again. Takeko's brother awakes from his coma with his memory in tack. Takeko is so happy, she sends a voices mail to Jade saying that she was sorry and would be waiting at the tatoo parlor for her.Movie Review: A Perfect Film
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVED THIS FILM! Zero Chou has to be one of the most exciting new film makers out there. This film has it all: interesting story line, good writing, great cinematography and direction, and superb acting. A PERFECT film! Can't wait for Chou's next film "Drifting Flowers"!Movie Review: Disjointed at Best, Confusing at Worst, Poor Subtitles
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a fan of independent cinema. I understand nuance and subtlety. There's a big difference, however, between nuance and lack of clarity. Unfortunately, this film is all about lack of clarity.
The story played here involves a tattoo artist, a "web-girl", a semi-catatonic brother, a stuttering and pining cop, a possibly senile grandmother and a wanna-be tattoo'd tough guy. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Well, it's not. Mostly, this film is disjointed and confusing, at least twice introducing unresolved plot points. The script uses non-linear storytelling and flashbacks to excess. The only problem is, since the plot is played out poorly, it's very difficult to tell exactly where you are in the storyline at times.
Our two main characters, Jade the "web-girl" (think online sex worker) and Takeko, the tattoo artist, seem vague with their own history, and though Jade is overwhelmed and thrilled to have discovered her first love working in the local tattoo salon, Takeko has other things on her mind and mostly comes off as detatched.
While I can appreciate the attempt made here, ultimately the film fails on a very basic storytelling level. You never become attached to, or really care about, the characters.
A Technical Note : While the subtitles are easy to read ( a big plus ), they are lacking in the actual translation. For example, "it is mere a tattoo". Also, the subtitles have a kind of grammatical error where every word that uses an apostrophe has an extending spacing to it. While this might not seem an issue, when you're reading subtitles, it slows you down significantly as words seem split in unfamiliar places.
This US edition is NOT-RATED but had it gone through the MPAA rating criteria, I'd say it's a PG-13 at best ( for one quick shot of a dismembered body part ).
I would suggest passing on this film. Rent it if you have interest, but think twice about making it a permanent part of your collection.
Movie Review: An okay movie
Summary: 2 Stars
I went to see the movie when it first coming out, I was so excited about this movie because it looks good (and usually, what looks good is good). But it turns out not like what I hope, so don't get your hope up too high.
This movie is very boring, the main producer (which is a lesbian herself, I think) added too much storyline for the movie (from earthquake, an abnormal brother to a web-cam girl involves with polices), which helps to bring down the movie. Sometimes, I just wish the producers had written more about the relationship between the two characters rather than focus on everything else. Also, some of the characters in the movie are very annoying.
Overall, it's not really a good movie, but may be quite enjoyable by some people.
Movie Review: Beautiful Inked Flowers
Summary: 4 Stars
On September 21, 1999 a devastating earthquake rocked Taiwan killing over 2,000 individuals and injuring more than 10,000. Also more than 10,000 buildings were destroyed or irreplaceably damaged. It is right before this destruction that a young Takeko, her dad is Japanese and her mom Taiwanese is experiencing her first romantic encounter with a pretty female classmate of hers. Unfortunately for Takeko, the earthquake kills her father and leaves her younger brother in a near catatonic state. It seems that the only thing that he can remember is his father's lily and skull manjusaka tattoo. Devastated by the death of her father and the condition of her brother, Takeko has the same tattoo inked on her own left arm and eventually becomes a highly skilled tattoo artist herself in Taipei where she continues to look after her brother and tell him stories about the individuals who comes to her shop, including a young hoodlum named Adong who begs Takeko constantly for more tattoos.
One day, a pretty girl wanders into Takeko's shop and requests the manjusaka tattoo that Takeko sports after seeing the illustration on the shop's wall. Takeko refuses, but the young woman, whose name is Jade, won't be put off because she says that the first one she fell in love with sported that same tattoo. Takeko believes that Jade's memory is a bit fuzzy because she met her supposed first love at the age of nine. However, Jade insists and gives Takeko her business card and as Takeko soon learns, Jade is a webcam girl who strips for money online. However, her memory is also piqued because of a lime green wig. It seems that Takeko knew Jade long before, and that she is the girl's first love.
Spider Lilies does not follow a linear storytelling pattern. The story constantly jumps between the past and the present thereby filling in the details of the story without spoon feeding it to the film viewer. At some points the film is quite interesting because of the creation of other "worlds" through the internet, but the subplot of Takeko and her brother and even the beginning of Takeko and Jade's relationship is quite hackneyed with the only difference being that they are both women. In the erotica department, Spider Lilies is quite a subdued film, so those looking for girl on girl action, instead of a moderately well-crafted story and likeable characters, will most likely be disappointed.