Strange experiences

Strange experiences

Yesterday I met up with another Australian expat girl... Afterwards, I went to Chaterhouse Books in Times Square. I must be a glutton for punishment (after my last experience). Anyway I decided to try my luck. I had a list of about 50 books and on that list, 10 I really wanted. I also wanted to see if they had Lonely Planet Taiwan.

Well I was very disappointed. If you like fiction you're in luck. If you don't, the selection is dismal to say the least. Or maybe it's my electic taste. Who knows? But NONE of the non-fiction topics that I am interested in were there. I couldn't believe it. None at all. To give you an example: The 'health' section consisted of one narrow self that had books on: dieting and weight loss, caring for babies and children. That's it! Nothing of substance at all for those who are not looking to lose weight and don't have kids (ie me). The business and computer section was highly disappointing too. Humph.

Apparently they are not legally allowed to import any book relating to Taiwan. I said so I can't find it in another bookstore in Shanghai? And the lady said she didn't know but they didn't want to do it for fear of getting into trouble with the authorities.

Anyway, while I was there there was a girl (about 10 years of age) with her mother. I could not believe my ears when she swapped effortlessly between Shanghainese - Mandarin - English, back and forth. She spoke Mandarin with a perfect Beijing accent and English with a perfect American accent. Unbelievable! It's unbelievable how easy it is for kids to learn languages. When my sister and I were growing up one of my mother's friends had some young kids we used to play with. The mother was Vietnamese Chinese and the father was a white South African. From the moment they could talk the father forced them to only talk Chinese (Mandarin) with their mother and English with him. As a result they swapped back and forth so easily, so effortlessly. I was probably around 10 at the time and remember this so clearly. If only it were that easy for adults - d'oh!

Today, I was doing some last minute shopping for relatives in Taiwan. Both my parents had rung me with a 'shopping list' of things to buy and gifts for people. While I was doing this I accidently found a really great DVD store that had heaps of English/foreign DVDs. I finally got Ang Lee's Lust Caution (after my father reminded me I was supposed to get this for him!). I made them play it (two copies - one for me and one for dad) in the store to make sure 1) it was working fine and not dodgy, 2) the deleted scenes were intact. It was copied from the "Taiwan version" so yeah it was all there. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Here I was watching some R-rated sexually explicit scenes (in fast forward motion) with a guy in a little DVD store. So so strange! I almost felt guilty. I felt like a pimply 16-year-old boy sniggering. Haha. The thing is, the cut scenes don't really affect the movie that much but still, it does play a role in the script so who wouldn't want a complete movie if they can get one? Unfortunately for hubby there are no English sub-titles so he'd better learn Mandarin quick smart if he wants to watch it (not that I can talk, ha!)

Also, I saw they had the Simpsons Movie too so I nabbed that one. In English this time!

Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (Se, Jie) 色，戒

I remember seeing posters up for this a couple of months ago and commented to hubby that I wanted to see this. I had no idea what it was about but since it was directed by Ang Lee I wanted to see it.

I'm a big fan of his work having seen most of his prior films. It's funny because my father is so boring and doesns't appreciate anything to do with arts and entertainment by loves Ang Lee films (because he is Taiwanese and he supports anyone Taiwanese!) He took my sister and I to see "Eat Drink Man Woman" in Sydney many many years ago and ever since then I've been following his work. "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" (wo hu cang long) 臥虎藏龍/卧虎藏龙 was and still is one of my all-time favourite movies and I almost cried when I heard it won best foreign language film in 2001 at the Oscars. I also loved loved loved Tan Dun's musical talents in the film and saw him perform at the Sydney Opera House. (Coincidently, while I was there with hubby (then boyfriend) I bumped into my stepmum and we each had no idea we were both going to see it on exactly the same night. And knowing how many people the Opera House seats, it would've been a slim chance we bumped into each other too...)

Anyway back to "Lust Caution" I still haven't seen it yet, even though my local DVD store already sells it. The store owner told me the uncut version (from Hong Kong or the US) is not currently available but will be out later. The reason I haven't seen it yet is because my father told me that in China they cut out a part of the film. My first reaction was that they cut it because of political tensions/historical issues between China and Taiwan (I have no idea about the storyline remember?) but no, he said it was cut because it was too 'sexy'. Uh huh. OK. Great...

So I went searching on Google just now about some info on this...

http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/4896/

China does not have a classification system and predictably enough, "Lust, Caution" has prompted a major row over what is suitable viewing and how to control access to movies with adult content.

And this - a bizarre, weird, news story about a Beijing PhD student suing and seeking apologies for the trauma caused by watching the film without the censored part. Haha!

...Dong Yanbin, a Ph.D student at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, had filed a suit against the nation's film censor, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), for infringing upon his "consumer rights," the Beijing Times said.

"I felt greatly disappointed after seeing the movie," the paper quoted Dong as saying.

"Compared to Eileen Chang's original, the incomplete structure of 'Lust, Caution' and fragmented portrayal of the female lead's psyche makes it hard for the audience to appreciate the movie's art," Dong said.

Dong was seeking apologies and 500 yuan ($67) in "psychological damages" from both SARFT and UME, the cinema chain showing the movie, the paper said.

The court had yet to accept the case, it added.

UME had violated the audience's "fair trade rights," while SARFT had infringed upon "society's public interest" by failing to implement a rating system that would allow adults to see the film, it quoted Dong as saying.

"Lust, Caution" is open to children and adults alike in China, where academics and film-goers have been calling on authorities to implement a rating system for several years.

Despite the cuts, the movie has proved popular in China, reaping 90 million yuan ($12 million) in its first two weeks and being tipped by some to be the year's biggest box office success.

But some filmgoers in the southern province of Guangdong have opted to cross the border into Hong Kong to watch the full, uncut version, local media have reported.

Still, he has a point. China really has a hide censoring the internet as it is, and film as well. ARGH - it cheeses me off!



"Lust Caution" just won 7 awards in the 44th annual Golden Horse film awards in Taiwan.

The list of winners at the 44th Golden Horse Awards was announced Saturday in Taipei.

"Lust, Caution" won the Best Film award, as well as Best director, Best Actor and four other awards. Following is the list of the awards:

Best film: "Lust, Caution"

Best director: Ang Lee, "Lust, Caution"

Best actor: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, "Lust, Caution"

Best screenplay adaptation: James Schamus, Wang Hui-ling, "Lust, Caution"

Best film score: Alexandre Desplat, "Lust, Caution"

Best makeup and costume design: Pan Lai, Olympic Lau, "Lust, Caution"

Outstanding filmmaker of the year in Taiwan: Ang Lee

Best new performer: Tang Wei, "Lust, Caution"


Yay for Ang Lee! I can't wait to see the film in its entirety Thanks! :)

PS just found this on imdb. I generally try to avoid reading too much about tv shows or movies (that I haven't seen yet) on the 'net because I always inadvertently find spoilers...but... Woah that sux. I didn't know that every single person working on the film had to be 'foreign'? What is foreign anyway? (Would I be considered foreign?) That's kinda crap...

‘Lust, Caution’ was submitted as Taiwan's entry to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008), but it was rejected on 17 October 2007 by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences because many of the film's personnel were not Taiwanese. Taiwan substituted ‘Lust, Caution’ with Huai-en Chen's Lian xi qu (2006).