posted on July 23, 2004 05:50:36 AM
OMG, I forgot Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That's the only movie I could sit through with subtitles. I saw both the voice over version in English and the Japanese version. I prefered the latter. Great, great movie!
Also, if you can find it, the Chinese book Dream of Red Mansion is a masterpiece. It's the Hamlet of China, so to speak. From what I understand, it loses something in the translation, but it's worth the read. I don't know what it loses because I cannot read Chinese. A great summer read for a lazy day. Here's a short explanation of the book:
This book is like Anna Karenina in the following ways: Both are masterpieces of epic proportions. Both are considered contenders for being the greatest works of fiction in their respective languages. Both deal with large, upper class families and the lifestyle and intrigue involved. Both are works of realism and paint a complete picture of a society.
A Dream of Red Mansions focuses on the love between Baoyu, an unusual child in his early teens who is temperamental and spends most of his time with the girls in the family mansion and Daiyu, a delicate, sensitive and yet witty and extremely clever girl. The two grow up as children and live in the same mansion but the family does not hurry to marry them off as they have other plans for Baoyu.
This is the main thread that runs through the novels amazing 120 chapters. The other sublots are very numerous - there are hundreds - but none of them are sustained for the whole book. The main part of the book is the set of characters. Again there are hundreds but a few main ones which become the most interesting in this drama. Theres the conniving Xifeng, Baoyus strict father, Baoyus assertive "other love" Baochai and the like.
Unlike Anna Karenina, this book is full of humour, jokes and poems (which was where I think the translation failed the most as Chinese poetry rendered into English seems to lose the plot!). It contains moments of great sadness but also wit and quirkiness.
Cheryl
God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: This is my country. - Benjamin Franklin
posted on July 23, 2004 06:26:52 AM
Only movie "person" I ever met was Walter Shenson, the producer of some Peter Sellers' movies &, of course, both BEATLES' FLICKS!
During the 60's, I worked summers at a very famous Jewish Boys Camp in Maine called Camp Kennebec (founded in 1904) & his kid was a camper that I worked at lot with as both the CampCraft Counselor (I was a TOTAL incompetant!) and as the StageCraft Counselor (I knew my stuff in that area).
Summer of '66 (or maybe 67?), he brought Hard Days Night along from the UK for Parent's Weekend & we watched it in the woods -- next summer, it was HELP
Although, come to think of it, my Cub Scout Den did appear on Chief Halftown's Show (all ye Philly kids of da 50's REMEMBER: Sally Starr (& her glass of "cold medicine?" + Uncle Pete Boyle? + Gene London? + Kukla,Fran & Ollie?)
posted on July 23, 2004 06:30:06 AM
cheryl,
is that novel better known as red chamber dreams??
The heroine has tuberculosis!
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
).
+ Uncle Pete Boyle? + Gene London? + Kukla,Fran & Ollie?)