Christopher SoallSpringtime in a small town
March 4th 2009 13:52
Oh dear the days do pass too quickly already four days since my last post. It is just such a flurry of activity and then night blankness. Last night I was so awake but with not a thought in my head, Tonight I watched Springtime in a Small Town on SBS and I am both wide awake and inspired so obviously all I needed was to see a good film.
I started watching this film once before in a restless mood and didn't stay with it. You really need to be in the right mental state to tackle an artiistic chinese film, a mood of appreciation not agitation. Tonight I was agitated and so the early moments of getting into it again involved clawing my nails into the seat but the cinematography drew me in. Masterpieces take patience to savour and I'm so glad I kept myself there. I grew mesmerized by the scenery, the clever framing on and off screen space conveyed the relationships between the characters. Their pent up desire, their longing, their relationships are all written so well with the camera. The slowness becomes time to savour, contemplate and be more deeply effected by the narrative. There wasn't really a resolution, perhaps there was I'm not sure, The train brings hope in the form of an unhappy couples old friend. A best childhood friend of the man and former lover of the woman. They are all caught in this strangled situation of regret and longing and dejectedness. The marriage is dead because her heart still lies with the other man and his arrival brings them all back to life, but then he is also destroying them and himself and they all know it and struggle to hold back from the longings of their heart.The husband just longs to see his wife happy, he doesn't want his friend to leave despite knowing he is letting go of his marriage by keeping him there. I just loved watching how well it was all expressed so brilliantly. There was so much to be read in the images so much said without words just intricate use of pauses, silence and lighting. I really loved losing myself in the detail of this film and am definitely adding it alongside breakfast at tiffany's, chungking express and in the mood for love as one of my favourites.
I started watching this film once before in a restless mood and didn't stay with it. You really need to be in the right mental state to tackle an artiistic chinese film, a mood of appreciation not agitation. Tonight I was agitated and so the early moments of getting into it again involved clawing my nails into the seat but the cinematography drew me in. Masterpieces take patience to savour and I'm so glad I kept myself there. I grew mesmerized by the scenery, the clever framing on and off screen space conveyed the relationships between the characters. Their pent up desire, their longing, their relationships are all written so well with the camera. The slowness becomes time to savour, contemplate and be more deeply effected by the narrative. There wasn't really a resolution, perhaps there was I'm not sure, The train brings hope in the form of an unhappy couples old friend. A best childhood friend of the man and former lover of the woman. They are all caught in this strangled situation of regret and longing and dejectedness. The marriage is dead because her heart still lies with the other man and his arrival brings them all back to life, but then he is also destroying them and himself and they all know it and struggle to hold back from the longings of their heart.The husband just longs to see his wife happy, he doesn't want his friend to leave despite knowing he is letting go of his marriage by keeping him there. I just loved watching how well it was all expressed so brilliantly. There was so much to be read in the images so much said without words just intricate use of pauses, silence and lighting. I really loved losing myself in the detail of this film and am definitely adding it alongside breakfast at tiffany's, chungking express and in the mood for love as one of my favourites.
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