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Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category

Pride & Prejudice

Posted in Movies, tagged , , on December 30, 2005| 2 Comments »

Since I had a productive day and did considerable studies, I rewarded myself with a movie that I recently downloaded and have wanted to watch since it’s released, the recent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The movie’s nice. Both the actors and the interpretation of the novels are quite good, and there’re many beautiful scenery in it. But I still prefer the 1995 drama series played by Colin Firth more. But the drama’s about three times as long as the movie, so probably it’s unfair to compare them.  Nonetheless, it’s always nice to watched different version of a story I like, especially when it one is well make (I even watched the Indian version of it—Bride and Prejudice—but that’s more an accident than a conscious choice).

So what make me like this story so much? I like Austen’s portrayal of the different characters, their wits and use of words, and the style of the romance. I especially like the main character in her story. Darcy’s one of my favorite characters, so is Knightley, the main character in Emma (another novel by Austen). Her protagonists are men who I can identify with and admire. If I were to live in those times, I’d probably want and strive to become these kinds of men. Even for our time, I think there’re many admirable qualities to be found in those characters.

Lovely novels, I ought to read them again sometime.

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Be With You and Soul Mate

Posted in Movies, tagged , , , , , on December 23, 2005| 1 Comment »

I just watched the Japanese film いま、会いにゆきます(Be With You) with some friends. Although this is the second time I watched it, I still like it very much.  The story, the music, and the actors all suit my style (Yuko Takeuchi’s my favorite, and the kid’s cute). The story’s main theme is that people who’re meant for each other (soul mates) will be drawn together and will be able to fall in love all over again even if circumstances change. It’s very similar to another movie that I like—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—but develop the theme in a different way (it’s more warmth and family oriented with a bit of fantasy elements compare to the more serious and imaginative style of Eternal Sunshine).

The idea of having a soul mate’s beautiful. Perhaps because we live in an imperfect world with lots of artificiality and pretensions around that we long for things that happen naturally; or maybe we feel lost and powerless so we like to believe that some sorts of miracle or force exist that can make life more beautiful. I don’t know whether there’s such a thing as soul mate in this world. Even if it does exist, it would probably be different from those in the movies. And how close we come to it will probably depend on our definition of the term, expectation from our mate, and our personal disposition (our psychology can often make us experience things in ways different from reality). Since the concept itself paints a beautiful picture for me, whether it’s realistic or not doesn’t really matter. The possibility that there’s such a thing and its scarcity if it does exist help make the idea much more precious

Here’s my translation of the lyric from the main soundtrack—花–(Hana) by Orange Range (I took out the repeated part). It’s a nice song with beautiful lyric.

Flower

Just like the leave of the flower
flowing in the air,
Like a dream, the miracle of coming to know you
We loved, we fought
Different walls, Together we climb over
Even if I born again, I’ll become a flower beside you
Will it always be there? The sun above me
Will I always be able to protect you?

Tears, laughter, anger, all your emotions
If sooner or later it’ll be all gone, I’m still grateful for coming to know you
That day, that hour, the miracle of that place
A new track can probably still be born

Love makes me stronger, Believe makes me overcome everything
The things left by you is still in my heart, The brightness will not be lost,
It’s my blessing, to have met you, my smile, you bought back
‘Thank you’

Hugging this overflowing feeling, I continue to move forward
Just like the leave of the flower
flowing in the air,
Continue to move forward, embracing everything in this world
The things left to me, from you
The treasure called ‘Now’
That’s why I will do my best to live, let’s become a flower

How come flowers wither?
How come birds can fly?
How come the wind blows?
How come the moon can shine?

Why I am here?
Why you’re here?
Why I came to meet you?
Meeting you,

That’s destiny

Ascending rain, building rainbow, The light from the blue storm
The important thing that are here
I can feel it, the feeling ‘Love you’
We can still walk right?  Already can see
Overcoming the time of ‘Thinking’,

Forever ringing
Your joy, your pain, your everything
blooming, more, more and more

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Swing Girls and Passion

Posted in Movies, tagged , , , , on December 19, 2005| 2 Comments »

I just watched a nice Japanese movie called ‘Swing girls’. It talked about a group of teenage girl who initially lives a boring life without sustained interest in anything but later discovered their passion in jazz and work their way to form a successful band. Although the movie is unrealistic in many ways, like how quickly the girls learn to play the instruments, I enjoy the music in the movie, and it conveys how passion can arise naturally and how good it feels to be working hard in doing something one love. Watching the movie made me want to play my saxophone, but too bad I don’t have my instrument with me, or I’ll probably wake everyone in my dorm up (it’s midnight after I finished watching the movie).

I admire people who’re passionate in something and work hard to perfect what they do. It’s not just the beautiful end results that the artists or professionals achieved, but the hard work and struggles they’ve overcome, which most people don’t see, that make these people charming. It’s sad for me to admit that so far I haven’t been able to put my whole heart into anything yet. Sometimes I feel I’m too conscious or rational and consider too many things, which prevent me from listening to my heart, enjoying the moment, or being passionate at a thing. But I don’t want to live a life without any passion, and I hope to be able to find something that I can put my whole self in; a drive so strong that I don’t have to consider any potential risks or losses that may involved.

Although I’ve been using the word, but I guess I don’t really know what passion is? Does it really exist? If yes, where does it come from? How do people become passionate in something? Why some people are more into something than others, and why some can have sustained passion while others can’t? Does everyone have something that he or she can become passionate about? Or can passion be developed? All these questions are still a puzzle to me.

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