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Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

Chinese film from the director of Farewell my Concubine The Emperor and the Assassin. A peasant father has a child who is a violin prodigy depsite few lessons. He has won all the local competitions in his village, so father decides that they must move to Beijing. Father brings his life savings with him. Upon arriving in Beijing, he hires a tutor, who is a depressed musician. When it is apparent that the child has outgrown his teacher, his father seeks to have a local professor of the University tutor him. During the course of the film, you see the conflict within the child. He loves his father, wants to please him, but doing so means that he must leave the life that he has grown with. Then there is the issue of whether this internal issue will affect his music. During the course of his life in Beijing, the child meets a woman whose occupation is vague, to say the least. She is either a prostitute, or a money grubber. Either way, there is no sex, so her occupation is not germane. His love for her causes him to sacrifice a lot.
This is another of those films which shows old and new China co-existing, somewhat uneasily. There is a family revelation 2/3 of the way through the film that is better left unstated, though it is not totally unexpected.
A tender, emotional film. The ending is illogical from a logic viewpoint, but totally believable in that the film has earned a somewhat emotional ending.
This is a very strong recommendation for lovers of classical music, as there is much of it played throughout the film. Not only snippets, but entire pieces, both with a full symphony orchestra, but also solo violin. It is also recommended for people who have not become so jaded that they cannot enjoy a film where people care for one another, and are willing to make sacrifices for one another.

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Amplified Parts

Topic - Together - jamesgarvin 08:30:40 04/04/05 (1)

I also like this film.... - BJordan 19:39:34 04/05/05 (0)

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