Mao’s Last Dancer

Bruce Beresford’s latest pic is a melodrama that will entertain you with the biopic of classic ballet dancer Li Cunxin who in 1979 defects to America from China, especially if you’re not familiar with the real-life story or haven’t read the autobiographical book. Not a masterpiece but is one of the best ballet films I have ever seen with jaw-dropping performances by Chi Cao playing Li Cunxin –as an adult- that will delight your senses thanks to great cinematography that shows whole dance sequences with beautiful dancing.

Li Cunxin’s real-life story is truly interesting and worth telling but unfortunately Beresford chosen storytelling style went more after viewers’ sympathy –and tears- and less to explore modern Chinese history or to less superficially tell motives that make someone to leave everything behind for new and unfamiliar surroundings. Thus making the story too melodramatic for my taste plus actors and non-actors performances weren’t able to save the film as most felt stiff, fragmented and/or disassociated to the story. My one exception is Joan Chen playing Cunxin’s mother and creating perhaps the only strong character from the whole movie.

Still the film is entertaining and yes, I shed a tear or two, which means that Beresford managed to create an old-fashioned tear-jerker that many will enjoy for the story but I’m sure that more will enjoy for the beautiful dancing and because of the later I do suggest to many that read the blog to not skip the film as dancing is truly worth-watching and story stops when is still a happy ending.

I had a contradictory experience with this film as I really loved the dancing but was very uncomfortable with actors’ performances, terrible storytelling style, and the lack of depth when telling very human non-pleasant life situations. Still the film was able to involve me up to the end and even to make me curious enough to find what happened to Li Cunxin after the film ends.

Enjoy!

Watch trailer @MOC

4.3.2.1

A Brit teen movie about 4 (girls), 3 (days), 2 (cities), 1 (chance) that basically looks and feels like four short stories about 3 days in the life of 4 girls even when filmmakers went (unsuccessfully) into great lengths to make the story one.

Film starts with the end but goes back to when the four girls meet at a coffee shop and when they part ways (point one), film proceeds to tell one by one what each girl did in the following three days. After telling first story, film fast-rewinds to ‘point-one’ and tells second girl story, and so on and so forth until after the last girl story rewinds to the beginning and concludes. Have to say that’s a good idea but was badly executed as not only story used a not-so-credible unifying storyline about stolen diamonds but also segments were uneven.

Opens with the story of Shannon that urgently needs the help of her friends but is unable to get their attention; she’s troubled because her mother left her and her father. This story is acceptable. Second tells the story of Cassandra who travels to New York City to meet a guy she fall in love via Internet. Not credible and uninteresting story but Tamsin Egerton is eye-candy. Third is Kerrys story which is the true reason I watched this film as she’s lesbian and (tries to) spend the three days with her girlfriend at Cassandra’s flat. Even when story is silly, in general, is acceptable for those that enjoy the lesbian interest genre as has all the necessary elements that genre audience enjoys. Last is Joanne story which is the worst of all, not only because is really non-interesting but also because actress performance is the worst of all four.

Labeled as crime and thriller be sure that this is No crime and nothing is thrilling in this hard to classify movie as Shannon segment is drama, Cassandra’s is silly drama, Kerrys is more comedy and Joanne’s is boring! Also I'm still wondering about the 1 chance (in the title) the girls had as unless is traveling abroad at the end, I have no idea.

I don’t recommend the movie as is a little bit more than a huge mess, but I know that Kerrys segment is must be seen for many that read the blog.

Enjoy.

Watch trailer @MOC

La Yuma

Not very often we have the opportunity to watch a Nicaraguan film (first film in 20 years) and much less one that is above the good threshold as this Florence Jaugey’s film is. This is Jaugey’s “work of love and persistence” as ‘only’ took her 10 years to have her screenplay (she co wrote final version) produced into a movie that was a box office success in Nicaragua and has been collecting honors while traveling the festival circuit.

The film is not flawless but has a good positive story told in a colorful way with non-actors that create characters that look and feel real, especially Alma Blanco’s good performance as La Yuma, the strong-willed young woman that reaches her goal no matter what she has to do. Blanco steals the film and just to watch her makes this film more than worth-watching.

Film tells about Yuma the strong willed young woman from a Managua’s gang-infested poor neighborhood that dreams of becoming a boxer and about finding a way to leave the neighborhood. This is not a drama like –for example- Million Dollar Baby, this is a drama that very credible portraits reality and no doubt that helps that story is based on a real-life story. Most interesting is that even when portraits reality the film does it in a very entertaining non-disturbing storytelling style which absolutely appeals to wider audiences.

I didn’t enjoyed the ‘different social-class’ romance especially because actor playing Ernesto had a not-good performance, but somehow I understand that was important to learn how Yuma for the first time was exposed to the world beyond her miserable surroundings. Excluding those moments I found the film and story quite enjoyable and surprisingly very entertaining.

I do recommend the movie as a good woman centered story and as an easy-to-watch entertaining film that portraits reality so well.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC