The Puppetmaster
by Hsiao-hsien Hou
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Giong Lim, Hung Liou, Lai-Yin Yang, Tianlu Li, Wenbing LiDirector: Hsiao-hsien Hou
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Cantonese (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 142 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-09-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Fox Lorber
Movie Reviews of The Puppetmaster
Movie Review: Worth watching only for Li Tianlu
Summary: 2 Stars
I was profoundly disappointed and have no clue why Hou Hsiao-Hsien is so acclaimed. This film suggested a filmmaker competent enough to make good establishing shots, but little competent enough to do anything else. Li Tienlu was fascinating, and I would have rather had a steady shot of him talking the entire film rather than what Hou gives us. His characters wander in and out of the shots and without Li it would take a lot of cognition to assemble what's going on on his pretty canvases. Maybe he should start making films like Bill Viola. Whatever Village Voice reporter called him "the world's greatest narrative filmmaker" ought to have been fired--he's only good at pretty pictures. The only reason he gets respect is because of his choice of subject matter, not his competence in dealing with it. Another quote on the box referred to the film as "pure cinema," obviously having no concept of what the term means, since there is nothing cinematic in his choices whatsoever. Minimal editing, minimal camera movement, average-quality acting. Long takes in whcih nothing much happens. I guess it makes sense that it was released by a company that didn't bother to subtitle some of the conversations, or the opening credits. I honestly think Li Tianlu is the only reason to watch it.I'm not inclined to sit through other films by this so-called "master." This filmmaker has no technique. There's more to making a film than choosing historically important subject matter. It's a shame Li died without a better version of his story filmed. While it doesn't help that the film, shot at approximately 1.66, often cuts characters out of the picture while talking while one can see an edge of them. Hou has characters wander out of the frame entirely, as one can tell by the sound. He does so many shots where everything that's going on is hidden, and there doesn't appear to be a reason why. He just does. It's Ed Wood with a pictorial sense and social importance. Hardly a master filmmaker. Watch some Godard or Kurosawa instead.
Summary of The Puppetmaster
Based on the actual memoirs of Li Tien-lu, Taiwan's most celebrated puppeteer, The Puppetmaster tells the epic tale of one man's sturgle against seemingly insurmountable adversary. Spanning the years from Li's birth in 1909 to the end of Janpan's 50-yr occupation of Taiwan in 1945, this remarkable true story captures the puppetmaster's hardships as well as the tragic sweep of this war-torn era. The portrait that emerges reflects the complex nature of Chinese culture under Japanese rule during the first half of the 20th Century.Art House & International DVD Video
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