lasttimeisaw
Ye Lou's ninth feature BLIND MASSAGE is the winner of BEST FEATURE FILM in Golden Horse Awards last year, and yes, it you are a sucker for pan-Chinese cinema scenes, it is a big deal. And before that it won a Silver Berlin Bear for its innovative cinematography for its DP Jian Zeng. Why innovative? Since the film is an ensemble piece revolves around a group of blind people who work in a massage parlour (no hidden agenda intended, it is a bona- fide service for massages only) in Nanjing, China, thus the film creates a distinct subjective angle when it conveys from the perspective of the blind, altering luminosity, frosting the shots and adjusting the coloration, particularly in a pivotal sequence when an equivocal miracle transpires, it is certainly a novelty to meet the eyes, but not essentially a groundbreaking stunt to be visually paradigm-shifting.Among the cluster of the cast, Lou mixes professional actors with real-life blind (or half- blind) people, therefore, it is quite challenging for the actors who are acting their blindness with authentic samples. Also, blindness has nuances between inborn and acquired, so judging from the cover, Qin has done a convincing job as the inborn blind co-owner of the parlour, Fuming Sha, whose first name literally means "regain sight" in Chinese, and he exerts great physical endeavour to feign his blindness with great verisimilitude; Xuan Huang plays Xiao Ma, whose blindness is caused by a car accident and now a tenderfoot in the line of work, brilliantly grabs the centre stage with his searing engagement of a young boy who is constantly plagued by his sexual urge and finds solace in a working girl Xiao Man (Lu Huang) at a massage parlour in a different kind (yes, this time, it is a shady cat-house), apart from his non-blinking mastery in portraying blindness. Meanwhile veteran actor Xiaodong Guo and Ting Mei's blindness is pretty inferior in contrast, the former merely squints all the time and the latter is undermined by her big, beautiful eyes, not a blessing for a blind girl. Lei Zhang, who is half-blind in the reality, refreshingly contributes a whiff of intimacy and simplicity in her acting debut, she is Xiao Kong, the fiancée of Wang (Guo), their marriage is not blessed by the girl's family, since stingingly hierarchy also exists in this disadvantaged group, complete-blind doesn't merit half-blind, this is the nitty-gritty philosophy in modern Chinese society, everything is meticulously measured by its utility and material value. Adapted by a rather popular novel of Feiyu Bi, Lou's film version doesn't steer clear of the violence of its source, from the opening Xiao Ma's suicidal attempt with a gory neck gash to an appalling self-mutilated act to pay the debts, Lou continues his acclaimed streak of operating his sharp scalpel to dissect the scourges of humanity in our society, which is something of a curio in contemporary Chinese cinematic outputs. Then regarding of his subjects, Lou relents to build a mostly harmonious rapport among the blind, whereas the sighted is fully responsible for all the trivial strife among the close-knit clique, more less the end is much less blight than one might anticipate in his work. To shoot a movie about blind people, is a quite self-contradictory premise, since film is a superlatively sight-contingent type of media, one wonders how many blind audience can actually get the whole picture of it, nevertheless, it doesn't stop Lou from deploying his gambit, introducing the film with an emotionless female voice-over as a guide for the blind, to articulate the opening credits and painstakingly verbalise the script as much as the film allows. Yet it does induce distraction for the sighted audience, the voice-over is so bland, as if it is directly grafted from a state-ordered documentary, it is a good gesture to show respect to the neglected group, but due to its default setting, it is not expedient at all, a legit "lip service". Anyway, it is enlivening to see films like this as diversity and rationality is something desperately wanting in Chinese film soils. Unlike the blind unostentatiously but unpromisingly seek their own places in the mainstream society, BLIND MASSAGE does flaunt a bit to acquire its niche footing in the mainstream market, next time, maybe Ye Lou will be more equanimous, or not, for better or worse, sensationalising could be his brand as in SUMMER PALACE (2006, 9/10), Lou's controversial but inflammable love tangle happened under the backdrop of an unspeakable event in recent Chinese history.
sitenoise
Where to begin with this one? I was tempted half-way through it to log on here and add it to the "100 greatest Chinese films" thread but thought 'Nah, it's too young'. I thought it was a film made by someone with a blind spouse who wanted to depict what it's like to be blind. You know, one of those kinda films. But the people in this film are not shiny happy people. And, btw, it has little to do with the fact that they are all professional massagers.Here's how I judge this is a good film: I often throw something on around midnight, knowing I will fall asleep soon, just to get a feel for what it's like. I couldn't look away from this thing. In fact, I immediately started watching it a second time--a further test of how good I think a film is: how soon do I start wanting a re-watch? If I think about it before I've finished the first viewing, the film is kicking butt.The film has a few "sighted" actors who do a good job of acting blind, but they kind of stand out because they are better looking than the blind non-actors. (The film goes meta on that point, too).It starts off like it's going to be about some kid who loses his sight in a car accident and is told it's only temporary. He eventually learns he was being lied to and won't get his sight back. He tries, unsuccessfully, to kill himself. This part is narrated in voice-over by a (non-character) woman who also reads the opening credit roll and returns throughout. Usually films resort to voice-over as a last resort, but it works here. The guy takes a job at a massage establishment run by two blind men and staffed by all blind or partially blind people. The film then morphs into an ensemble piece about several of them: their loves and lusts, not so much their blindness. So it's a film about 'standard' things that go on in the lives of people who happen to be blind. A couple of the blind women steal the show.The amazing (and perhaps frustrating to some) thing about the film is how it does give you an idea of what it's like to be blind. You really get a sense that things are just swirling around rather than being observed. The film's notion of focus is genius. There are lots of truly emotional moments in the film (only slightly off-center from what we're used to because the characters are blind) but they aren't maudlin or melodramatic at all. They are more darkish and almost creepy. This is no after-school special. There are scenes where the central dialog takes place off camera, or, right when a scene screams out for some resolve it's simply dropped. That happens a lot. Very weird. There's scenes where you feel the discomfort for the characters who, during a moment of drama, can't read body language or facial expressions. It punches. Whoever shot this film should win an award. The direction, editing, and cinematography are wildly inventive.I didn't get the ending of the film but the last shot is a truly beautiful smile.I was all psyched up to find a new director I could look forward to seeing more from. Turns out Ye Lou (of Suzhou River and Summer Palace fame) directed this thing. Everything makes sense now-- and by that I mean this is a masterful, difficult, frustrating, beautiful film. It has a few big blunders, but ALL great films do.
Kicino
A movie on a group of minority who deserves the same love and care like all of us. It helps us to look at life from a different perspective. With lots of sincerity and excellent use of camera to mimic their world. Before I went I thought it would talk about massage but it is a group drama to tell the love and lust of blind people. It cleverly uses some scenes to tell the advantage and/or disadvantages of being blind while basically telling us what life is like for a blind masseur – which is probably the same as a seeing person.Since I have not read the original novel, I would not know the detailed background of each character. But for a movie, it seems there are a lot of story lines going on and the only thing that links them together is that they all work for a massage parlor in Nanjing. It would have been nice if more time would dedicate deeply into the main characters and their relations with each other. I am glad I went to Dialogue in the Dark and experienced what it would be like to be blind – once your vision is lost, your other senses such as hearing, smelling, touching and tasting become sharper. You will probably have better memory and you may even "look" at the world more clearly. Hence what the main stream considers beautiful may not matter much to a blind person. On the contrary, self-respect, is more important. The director cleverly uses the flirting scene and crying alone scene which highlights the shortcomings in the world of the visually impaired. However, during a black out, it is the blind who helps the others to safety.Similar to the mainstream world, blind people love, have desires and dignity. They also deserve to be treated as such.
