Sandcastle, just a quick one...
Hm, I caught this today. There were plenty of very nice things about it: beautiful photography, effective performances. The mother, in particular, was terrific, really. I've not seen such a performance in quite a while*.
On a personal level, the attempted conversion of ah ma struck me. My parents effectively converted both sides of my extended family, and to this day I still wonder about the nature of my own grandparents' conversions. How can people discuss religious topics like one's eternal fate, the nature of evil etc so glibly and confidently, as my parents do? Aren't they conflicted? Don't they worry about how to 'deal' with older generations who've not had the same exposure or understanding to the faith? I think I've got to start getting back into the faith, but on my own terms. I wonder if I can even find a medium-sized cell group peopled by similarly conflicted (yet hopeful) individuals.
Ok well, to get back to the movie. Sandcastle suffers from a bewildering lack of purpose. I couldn't quite grasp Boo Junfeng's focus; for instance, in the final moments of the movie, the letter seems to wrest our attentions away from En, and on to his mother. Her sacrifices are the main point, the voice-over indicates. But prior to this we were chiefly absorbed by the question of En's loss, or his sense of dislocation. And even these issues aren't satisfactorily resolved.
One criticism needs to be deflected. The movie isn't stocked with arthouse shots, haha.
*controlled without being subdued
On a personal level, the attempted conversion of ah ma struck me. My parents effectively converted both sides of my extended family, and to this day I still wonder about the nature of my own grandparents' conversions. How can people discuss religious topics like one's eternal fate, the nature of evil etc so glibly and confidently, as my parents do? Aren't they conflicted? Don't they worry about how to 'deal' with older generations who've not had the same exposure or understanding to the faith? I think I've got to start getting back into the faith, but on my own terms. I wonder if I can even find a medium-sized cell group peopled by similarly conflicted (yet hopeful) individuals.
Ok well, to get back to the movie. Sandcastle suffers from a bewildering lack of purpose. I couldn't quite grasp Boo Junfeng's focus; for instance, in the final moments of the movie, the letter seems to wrest our attentions away from En, and on to his mother. Her sacrifices are the main point, the voice-over indicates. But prior to this we were chiefly absorbed by the question of En's loss, or his sense of dislocation. And even these issues aren't satisfactorily resolved.
One criticism needs to be deflected. The movie isn't stocked with arthouse shots, haha.
*controlled without being subdued