a great beauty in the North

[jchrisobrien]

I watched the House of Flying Daggers (at last) last night.  I enjoyed this a little more than hero.  I didn't get Hero the first time around, and felt it was a little long.  Flying Daggers was more straight forward, and very pretty.  I recognized the director's use of colors, and he filled the screen with pretty things to look at.  Did I mention that it was pretty? 

I thought it was a shame that American movies can't be this good, but they can.  Foreign films look so much better because their style is new to you, not necessarily because they are better.  Generally, you usually see the cream of the crop of foreign films too, so they would be good by any standards.  House of Flying Daggers certainly was that.

Tuesday was a tasty dinner celebrating the birthday of SilentQ.  Before hand, while shopping for a gift, I listened to New Order blaring from a widescreen television, videos from a new compilation DVD.  Cris would love it (if he doesn't have most of it already).  I really liked some of the new (to me) songs from it.  It turns out most of the songs were from Republic and Get Ready.

As you can see, I'm well behind the curve when it comes to pop culture.

Comments

[cris.livejournal.com]

actually, I have yet to buy that comp. My collection of music anthology DVDs has gotten a wee bit large, and I need to slough off some excess before allowing myself to pick up more.

that said, the video for "Round & Round" will always have a special place in my memories; and I'm curious about the alternate version that's supposed to be on the supplementals.

[silas7.livejournal.com]

that DVD completely resurrected my interest in New Order! I had pretty much forgotten about them after Technique.

[spacymonki.livejournal.com]

House of Flying Daggers was purty indeed.
It seems to me that American movies, or at least the ones that I end up encountering, concentrate less on saying something with color or shape or combinations of the two. Sometimes they try, and it seems over the top. House of Flying Daggers and Hero were simply gorgeous, and the shots flowed, something that's been lost in a frenzy to make the quickest and most affecting cuts in a lot of action movies.
Soooooo.... purty.

[silas7.livejournal.com]

That's part of the difference. There's a lot less jumping and cutting in the cinematography (as opposed to the jumping and cutting that's onscreen!), there's more stillness. At least with this director.

[sinspired.livejournal.com]

You're ahead of me on that learning curve... What is this New Order? :)

[silas7.livejournal.com]

They are what was left of Joy Division after Ian Curtis killed himself, over 20 years ago. They were one of my favorite bands growing up in the 80's and produced stellar music. They are still around, and just released a new album this year.

[sinspired.livejournal.com]

Ahhh...

oh yeah ...

[cris.livejournal.com]

there have been American action movies that experimented with thematic color usage.

one of them was Pitch Black. ;p

though, to your point about the cream of the crop, keep in mind that one of the reasons why Hero and House of the Flying Daggers have been so exceptional is not that they're merely foreign martial arts films, but that they're foreign martial arts films directed by Zhang Yimou. The man knows his color palettes, and prior to his entry most of the cinematography in martial arts films had been relatively mediocre. They were known for great stunts and flashy fights, but not gorgeous visuals. For that, you'd look to folks like Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh or David Fincher.

If anything, what's been exceptional about Yimou's works is that, for once, Asian cinema has proven that it can go toe-to-toe with the best of the Western action canon across all levels -- stunts, effects and cinematography. But it's still a bit of a stretch to say that the genre as a whole visually outclasses the likes of Fight Club or Blackhawk Down.

Re: oh yeah ...

[silas7.livejournal.com]

wouldn't another American action movie be Sin City? ;)

Zhang Yimou really is awfully good at what he does, especially his use of color, and his emphasis on characters as the heart of his stories (along with the great fighting). Tak Fujimoto also did a great job with colors in Silence of the Lambs (he was the cinematographer, as opposed to the director, which was Johnathan Demme).

There are a lot of good visuals in American cinena. Again, I think it's a matter of the Newness of it, as well as the beauty and overall quality of Yimou's work.