Early Hou Hsiao-hsien Cinema

Spotlight on the first four feature films of Hou Hsiao-hsien:

Cute Girl (1980)

Cheerful Wind (1981)

The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982)

The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

It has been 10 years since Hou Hsiao-hsien’s last film The Assassin (2015). While I await his new film (which I hope will still be made), I decided to address my cinematic gap by seeing his first four features.

Romance, music, mischief and laughter

If one didn’t see Hou Hsiao-hsien’s name on the credits, one would never know the master filmmaker has directed these films. The four films don’t bear his trademark of long takes nor are they contemplative dramas exploring historical / political episodes. Instead, the first three films, Cute Girl, Cheerful Wind, The Green, Green Grass of Home are playful lighthearted romantic films with songs featuring prominently in the first two films. All three films also highlight the innocence and calm countryside life unlike the city life depicted in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s later films. The Green, Green Grass of Home is also a coming-of-age film while The Boys from Fengkuei explores the life of teenagers/young adults and is an extension of a coming-of-age template. The Boys from Fengkuei is the first film out of this quartet that shows signs of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s directorial touch and can actually be considered a transition film leading to his subsequent auteur style.

Cute Girl is a romantic film, where the young couple’s romance is not approved by her family as they have plans for her to get married elsewhere. The film’s plot is much more commonplace of that was shown in numerous Hindi language films from the 1970-80s. In addition, the film’s execution with laidback scenarios with no villains and quiet simple countryside or city life recalls the style of Indian master directors Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee whose films featured middle-class Indians trying to navigate love and career. The presence of songs in Cute Girl also ties the film to that of those by Chatterjee and Mukherjee.

Cheerful Wind features the same acting duo of Kenny Bee and Fong Fei-fei as Cute Girl but in a slightly different setting. The plot isn’t far off from that seen in most Indian films of 1980-90s, where a couple’s love is tested after a character regains their vision. In the film, Fong Fei-fei plays a photographer (Hsing-hui) who takes a liking to Kenny Bee’s innocent blindman character (Chin-tai). Later in the film, after an operation, Chin-tai regains his sight and learns that Hsing-hui is already slated to be married off to someone else. Chin-tai doesn’t give up and tries to show his true worth to her, including rushing to the airport before she leaves off for Europe. The airport scene has been used countless times in many romantic films but it may not have been as common back in 1981 as it was post 1990s.

Kenny Bee also stars in The Green, Green Grass of Home but romance is only a small part of the film. Instead, the film is mostly a coming-of-age film where Bee’s character plays a teacher sent to teach at a school in the countryside. The overall sentiment of the film is still lighthearted with humour. Although, the songs are missing like the previous two films and the background music is much more limited than the earlier films.

The Boys from Fengkuei mutes the background score even more than The Green, Green Grass of Home and observes the characters in their moments of mischief, fights, joy, sadness without adding any emotional musical cues. The film even features a motorcycle tracking shot, a sequence found in many subsequent Hou Hsiao-hsien films. Although, there are no long takes in the film and events move at a brisk pace. The film came out in 1983 and the sequences of village life feel like those found in Jia Zhang-ke’s films from 1990s-early 2000s and that of Heng Yang's Binglang (2006).

Ranking all 4 films in order of preference:

1. The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

2. The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982)

3. Cute Girl (1980)

4. Cheerful Wind (1981)

DEFA's Sci-fi films

Spotlight on 4 DEFA Sci-Fi Films

The Silent Star (1960, Kurt Maetzig)

Signals (1970, Gottfried Kolditz)

Eolomea (1972, Herrmann Zschoche)

In the Dust of the Stars (1976, Gottfried Kolditz)

The recent release of these four sci-fi films produced by DEFA (Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft) , East Germany’s film studio, is a significant recalibration of sci-fi film lists. When it comes to sci-fi movies set in space, the lists are dominated by American studio productions with the few exceptions being Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972), the Czech Ikarie XB-1 (1963) and the French film Fantastic Planet (1973). These four films provide a significantly different viewpoint from the American entries and highlight the differing thought around space exploration race between East and West.

The Silent Star shows an international team of men and women from different parts of the world who travel to Venus to make sense of a message they uncovered on Earth. The crew features scientists from Europe, Africa, Asia (China, India) and includes an American, who joins the crew despite having no support from his American counterparts. The film is far more inclusive of different cultures than the average Hollywood film is even today. The Silent Star was released before Star Trek (1966), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and even Ikarie XB-1 (1963). Therefore, it deserves credit as showcasing the space deck and crews working on their stations long before Star Trek and Ikarie XB-1 made it commonplace. The film is based on Stanislaw Lem’s novel The Astronauts so like with many things associated in sci-fi, Lem set the stage for our perception of things. The special effects are impressive for what one would expect of a 1960 film, and especially at a time when alien monsters weren’t regularly depicted on screen. The only reference point for this film would have been Forbidden Planet (1956).

As the title indicates, Signals is about radio messages received from space. This film stands apart from others in this four-film set and is more focused on theory than action. It is akin to seeing a cinematic version of a Carl Sagan book bursting with ideas. Signals came out after 2001 and one can see the influence of Kubrick’s film on this.

Eolomea is about space expedition and some of the space travel sequences shown is echoed by Interstellar. The film features an exploration mission to determine the multiple spaceships that have gone missing. The film continues the theoretical debate about space travel, ethics that Signals featured, and even highlights a scientist’s efforts to fund projects in an unorthodox manner.

In the Dust of the Stars is more closely aligned to what we now expect from space films: battle between humans and aliens, although in the film the aliens are in human form. In the film, a crew goes to an alien planet to respond to a distress call they receive. When they arrive on the planet, the aliens that live there mention the call was likely a mistake as everything is fine and they don’t need any help. Instead, the crew is invited to a feast and alien dance party that Captain Kirk would have loved (the alluring female aliens clearly a nod to Kirk and Star Trek). However, the crew eventually realize something isn’t right. The core story features captured locals who are slaving away to mine rare minerals. The crew then has to decide to help the locals fight the aliens. The rare minerals and planetary struggle has echoes of Dune which was written in 1965. If Dune wasn’t the reference, then the other obvious inspiration could be the capitalist / imperialist model of exploiting locals for resources.

Vital Sci-fi films

The four films in this set aren’t going to change the top Sci-fi films canon lists nor will they change my Top10. However, the films are vital to the overall sci-fi films discussion not only in terms of content but also context. The film features far more theoretical discussion about space travel than Hollywood films do as Hollywood is more interested in explosions and fights with aliens. Aliens are featured in The Silent Star and In the Dust of Stars but in a much different manner than Hollywood cinema. In terms of context, the films highlight the space race between East (USSR) and West (America). The messaging in the film shows far more collaboration than what one expects from American films. The multi-national crew in The Silent Star have a sense of unity and working together to save the planet. Given the film’s origin in East Germany, such messages would be dismissed as socialist propaganda. However, in our current divisive world, such words are actually refreshing instead of the isolationist messages and hatred towards foreigners that is taking hold across the planet.

Soi Cheang Spotlight

Spotlight on the following 5 films of Soi Cheang:

Accident (2009)

Motorway (2012)

Kill Zone 2 (2015)

Limbo (2021)

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024)

I have to thank Filipe Furtado in inspiring me to finally do a spotlight on Soi Cheang. I often saw Filipe mention films of Soi Cheang in his end of the year film lists yet I hadn’t seen any of Soi Cheang’s films. I finally decided to address my cinematic gap after seeing both Filipe place Twilight of the Warriors #8 in his top 100 of 2024 and also seeing Srikanth place the same film at #2 in his list.

Hong Kong Nostalgia

Seeing Soi Cheang’s films reminded me of a time when Hong King cinema felt top of the world. This was two decades ago when I looked forward to seeing the newest crime, thriller or romantic comedies from Hong Kong. It wasn’t just the newest Johnnie To film (PTU, Breaking News, Election, Election 2, Exiled) or the Infernal Affairs Trilogy because there was plenty of discoveries to be had on a weekly/monthly basis. These discoveries happened shortly after I came across David Bordwell’s essential Planet Hong Kong book which emphasized the need to keep up with Hong Kong cinema.

My task to keep up with Hong Kong cinema was easier in those days. A local video shop carried the newest DVDs/VCDs of Hong Kong films. I just had to show on a weekly and bi-weekly basis and select what seemed to catch my eye. Once that video store closed, then my struggles to keep up with Hong Kong started and I was down to only seeing a few films from Hong Kong per year. The last decade has resulted in many blind spots for Hong Kong cinema for me and this is around the time when many of Soi Cheang’s films were released. Watching his films took me instantly back in time to when my regular viewing consisted of watching crime, gangster, police and action thrillers from Hong Kong.

Planning, Speeding, Chasing and Fighting

Hong Kong Cinema has shown many police procedural films but Accident shows planning and procedures from a group of criminals who make their murders look like accidents. The early stages of the film show them planning out their execution strategy and with a few trial runs. However, when things don’t go as per their plan, the leader begins to doubt if they were setup and starts questioning everything including the loyalty of his group. The film shows that wafer thin line between trust and paranoia, which isn’t surprising since the group goes to great lengths to make their plans look like chance. The surveillance and scenes of waiting echo Coppola’s The Conversation. Of interest is that this is the first Soi Cheang film produced by Johnnie To’s MilkyWay production.That makes sense as this film compliments the police films of Johnnie To such as PTU.

As the title indicates, Motorway involves fast cars. Fast police cars against those driven by criminals, or specifically one cop with an aching need for speed vs a criminal with similar need. The film echoes Fast and Furious films. Importantly, Motorway came out a few years after The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006). Tokyo Drift featured those remarkable drift sequences but Motorway has its own unique car movements, a near impossible side-way turn through a narrow street. The trick for such a turn? 8000 rpm, 2 km/hr and a steady hand as per the advice given out by veteran cop Lo Fung (Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, a regular in Johnnie To films) to the young Chan Cheung (Shawn Yue), mentor to trainee. The film also features a backstory which shows the chase for the speedy criminal goes back decades. On a separate note, the enhancing of the car to add more speed also foreshadows the recent Lost Bullet trilogy.

A cop’s missing gun is a big component of Johnnie To’s PTU (2003) but that missing gun plays a minor part in Limbo which is a serial killer hunt film. The black and white depiction of the film is an excellent choice as it enhances the darkness and filth of the surroundings. The film has a separate thread, featuring an experienced cop Cham Lau (Ka-Tung Lam), seeking revenge from the young girl who killed his wife in an accident. That separate thread is weaved into the main serial thread segment resulting in an emotional conclusion.

Emotions are also notched up near the end of Kill Zone 2 even though majority of the film focuses on fights in confined areas. Given the presence of Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak), one expects such fights and on that note, the film delivers. The story is not as refined and instead layered with plenty of melodrama, similar to that of 1980-90s Hindi language cinema. Still, Kill Zone 2 has some merit in showcasing fights that Soi Cheang would hone to perfection in Twilight of the Warriors.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is easily the most accomplished of the 5 films in this spotlight and a perfect distillation of what one expects from Hong Cinema: incredible choregraphed fights, larger than life characters, social relevant topic, a touch of supernatural and mythology. The film recreates the demolished Kowloon Walled City and has a strong story which matches the visual language. The success of the film means that Soi Cheang is working on both a prequel and sequel, both of which will be shot back-to-back.

Ranking of these 5 Soi Cheang films in order of preference:

1. Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024)

2. Motorway (2012)

3. Accident (2009)

4. Limbo (2021)

5. Kill Zone 2 (2015)

Best Films of the 1970s

After the rich global cinematic feast dished out by the 1960s, one would have expected that the 1970s would have increased that output. However, the 1970s pushed cinema in different directions. A few political events, some starting from the 1960s, easily played a part. To name a few global events: increasing American involvement in the Vietnam War from the mid 1960s, the May 1968 French protests, the toppling of Salvador Allende in Chile (Sept 11, 1973) violent military dictatorships in Brazil, Argentina and their disappearance of citizens, Emergency in India from 1975-77, Canada’s October crisis in 1970 and the OPEC Oil Embargo. This is not a comprehensive list but shows that cinema couldn’t have been top of people’s minds. Interestingly, this likely also played a part in the escapist summer blockbuster that came out in 1975: Jaws. This was followed 2 years later by Star Wars. Recently, Sight and Sound magazine labeled 1975 as the “year that changed cinema forever”. They picked Jaws in one corner and Jeanne Dielman in the other. One started the summer blockbuster trend, the other a path towards a new variation of artistic cinema. The 1970s also saw a handful of post-Vietnam American films and the war’s impact played a direct and indirect part in many violent and crime films. It wasn’t all doom and gloom violence in 1970s cinema. In India, the continued Parallel Cinema movement ushered in new socially charged films from the 1970s-1980s that examined rural life and also the plight of the growing middle class in urban areas.

It is tough to limit this list down to 30 films especially with the diverse range of cinematic genres and style.

Top 30 films of the 1970s:

1. Sholay (1975, India, Ramesh Sippy)

2. The Godfather (1972, USA, Francis Ford Coppola)

3. Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972, West Germany/Mexico/Peru, Werner Herzog)

4. Ankur (1974, India, Shyam Benegal)

5. Stalker (1979, Russia, Andrei Tarkovsky)

6. The Battle of Chile (1975, Venezuela/France/Cuba, Patricio Guzmán)

7. Network (1976, USA, Sidney Lumet)

8. Manila in the Claws of Light (1975, Philippines, Lino Brocka)

9. The Last Picture Show (1971, USA, Peter Bogdanovich)

10. Touki Bouki (1973, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty)

11. Scenes from a Marriage (1973, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)

12. Solaris (1972, Russia, Andrei Tarkovsky)

13. The Conversation (1974, USA, Francis Ford Coppola)

14. The Godfather Part II (1974, USA, Francis Ford Coppola)

15. Uski Roti (1970, India, Mani Kaul)

16. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974, West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

17. Les Orders (1974, Canada, Michel Brault)

18. Adoption (1975, Hungary, Márta Mészáros)

19. Montreal Main (1972, Canada, Frank Vitale)

20. Chess of the Wind (1976, Iran, Mohammad Reza Aslani)

21. Titas Ekti Nodir Naam (A River Called Titas, 1973, India, Ritwik Ghatak)

22. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Belgium, Chantal Akerman)

23. Insiang (1976, Philippines, Lino Brocka)

24. The Emigrants / The New Land (1971/1972, Sweden, Jan Troell)

25. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973, Spain, Victor Erice)

26. The Devil, Probably (1977, France, Robert Bresson)

27. Taxi Driver (1976, USA, Martin Scorsese)

28. Days of Heaven (1978, USA, Terrence Malick)

29. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, France/Italy/Spain, Luis Buñuel)

30. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, UK, Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones)

Honourable mentions (in no particular order):

Killer of Sheep (1977, USA, Charles Burnett)

Le Cercle Rouge (1970, France/Italy, Jean-Pierre Melville)

The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972, West Germany/Austria, Wim Wenders)

The Conspirators (1972, Brazil, Joaquim Pedro de Andrade)

Cuadecuc, vampir (1971, Spain, Pere Portebella)

Garm Hava (Hot Winds, 1974, India, M.S. Sathyu)

The Conformist (1970, Italy/France/Germany, Bernardo Bertolucci)

A Clockwork Orange (1971, UK, Stanley Kubrick)

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971, USA, Monte Hellman)

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976, USA, John Cassavetes)

A Woman Under the Influence (1974, USA, John Cassavetes)

Ek Din Pratidin (And Quiet Rolls the Dawn, 1979, India, Mrinal Sen)

Chronicles of the Years of Fire (1975, Algeria, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina)

The Mother and the Whore (1973, France, Jean Eustache)

Claire’s Knee (1970, France, Eric Rohmer)

Note: Fassbinder’s World on a Wire is a TV serial but if I considered it as a film, it would be on this list.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cloud

Cloud (2024, Japan, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

Cloud continues the multi-genre style associated with Kurosawa’s films and fits nicely within Kurosawa’s body of work. The style and themes identified in this earlier Spotlight still apply to Cloud. In addition, Cloud is a worthy extension to ideas first explored in Pulse.

Pulse (2001) was released just as the internet was becoming commonplace. The horror in the film is transmitted to anyone whose computer is connected to the internet via a dial-up modem. In Pulse, people are starting to form connections only virtually and losing face-to-face social connections. An observation from a character in the film is that everyone is sitting lifelessly in front of their computer and she notes that it is hard to tell if those people are already dead or still alive. In a way, Pulse was decades ahead of its time and came out long before smart phones, laptops and other devices allowed people to be constantly connected on the internet. The loneliness and erosion of community that Pulse raises has increased substantially over the last two decades and truly accelerated since 2020.

Cloud picks up from Pulse and continues exploration of the internet in our contemporary times when people order anything and everything over the internet. Rare items, every day items, illegal items, legal items, all are snapped up online especially if people can save a few dollars. Cloud looks at an internet reseller Yoshii (Masaki Suda) who earns a living by buying items on the cheap and selling them for a hefty profit. As the film shows, Yoshii is savvy in sniffing out deals and often buys well below the market price. He identifies situations where people are desperate and takes advantage of their needs. All is fine until Yoshii moves out of Tokyo into the countryside where his ways catch the attention of locals including the police. Meanwhile, angry online users want revenge for faulty purchases from Yoshii and band together to teach Yoshii a lesson.

The revenge unfolds in a manner reminiscent of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s style albeit with a few cinematic homages (a touch of Michael Haneke to name one). Cloud is a gripping thriller that seamlessly weaves horror, dark humour, gangsters and crime with a social commentary of our contemporary world. It is easily one of the best films of 2024!

David Cronenberg's Cinema

I have to thank Michael Guillen for helping me realize the importance of the human body in David Cronenberg’s films. Michael’s 2007 interview talked about the importance of skin in Cronenberg’s films. Expanding on his words, I started thinking about the human body in Cronenberg’s films. Since that article, I have lost count on how many articles/reviews I have come across which used “body horror” in reference to Cronenberg’s films.

Of course, horror films are driven by fear of the mind which eventually results in the physical body getting harmed. But Cronenberg has never made traditional horror films. His films have always scratched beneath the surface and in most cases, shattered the surface.

The human body:

Videodrome (1983): Evolution of the human body.
The Fly (1986): Physical transformation of the body.
Dead Ringers (1988): Two bodies sharing one emotional spirit.
M. Butterfly (1993): Hidden secrets of the human flesh.
Crash (1996): Torture of the body for pleasure.
eXistenZ (1999): Virtual mind games.
Crimes of the Future (2022): mutations/transformation of body and its organs, body as art form.

After eXistenZ Cronenberg started examining deep within the human psyche with his next 3 features.

The human mind:

Spider (2002): fragmented mind

A History of Violence (2007): darkness that exists within the human soul.

Note: The two sex scenes in A History of Violence examine the physical body; the first is a tender scene where the body is acceptable to love whereas the second scene is of a violent animal instinct which renders the female body (Maria Bello's character) lifeless.

A Dangerous Method (2011): psychoanalysis, theories of the mind.

Then a diversion from the body with Cosmopolis (2012) and Maps to the Stars (2014) before  Cronenberg returned back to the human body with Crimes of the Future.

Having explored the body and mind, now Cronenberg turns his attention to post-body.

The Shrouds (2024): decay of human body.

The Shrouds ticks off what one would expect from a Cronenberg film: sci-fi, horror, human body, technology, bursting with ideas.

Cronenberg has always been in touch with technology and found a way to weave them into his films. The Shrouds continues exploration of contemporary technology that started with Videodrome (TV, VHS) and eXistenZ (games, virtual reality). The Shrouds looks at our current usage of AI, social media, internet conspiracy theories, hacking and cellphone surveillance to ponder upon a future that may already be here.

It is exciting to see that even at the age of 82 (he was 81 when The Shrouds was released), Cronenberg is making relevant, thoughtful cinema. I look forward to his next film.