Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12261188
Shanghai Triad - (1995)
With
Shanghai Triad (the 6th film in my Zhang Yimou/Gong Li boxed set) we return to the kind of filmmaking which makes use of florid and creative cinematography, and the film looks more beautiful than I really anticipated. The story is fairly conventional, and unfolds from the point of view of young Tang Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao), who has arrived in Shanghai from his home in the country to take up a post as Xiao Jinbao's (Gong Li) servant. Xiao Jinbao is the mistress of crime boss Tang (Li Baotian) - otherwise simply referred to as "The Boss". He's guided by his uncle, Liu (Li Xuejian) and chafes at all of the demeaning roles he has to take on serving Jinbao, who is cruel to all of those who work for her, and especially Shuisheng. The narrative feels familiar, but what's a little unusual is what we focus on - Tang's mistress and the servant/master relationship. As the film continues Jinbao evolves and becomes more sympathetic - we learn more about her, while at the same time we see that life in such an organisation as Tang's is cutthroat and there is plenty of blood spilled. The machinations between rival gangs leads to trouble for all the characters involved in this story. Gong Li sings in this one, and the music has a Chinese flavour that makes all of those interludes a lot of fun. It took me back to the beginning of
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which is set during the same period, and takes place in the same location - a Shanghai nightclub which crime bosses frequent. The big difference is the gravity and tone, along with Zhang Yimou's artistry.
7/10
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13401515
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance - (1994)
We're told at the outset our destination in
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance - a young man is going to shoot up a bank full of customers before turning the gun on himself. The film then focuses on the lives of those who will end up in the wrong place at the wrong time - and these various scenes are often interrupted by real-life news reports detailing violence around the world, along with Michael Jackson's child abuse-allegation ordeal (his first). As always, Michael Haneke probes at the ordinary person's propensity towards senseless violence, and also our ability to insulate ourselves from consciously acknowledging it or engaging with it. Despite that, and despite all our attempts to avoid it, the only thing separating us from experiencing it directly is pure chance. Haneke includes certain scenes where some young men mess around with a puzzle game where fitting pieces together form different shapes - and of course the first thing we think of are the fragments we're being provided with and the different ways we can piece them together to produce different results - all interpretations equally valid. The main aim is to piece together a crucifix - but whichever way you put this film together, there's a sense of our interconnectedness and the governing principle of the universe we live in : chaos.
7/10
Reply to Topic
Check out my podcast: 
