Post by Username Too Long on Jul 15, 2015 4:20:58 GMT -6
More or less in the spirit of Lovefests, but not necessarily doing article, what are movies people feel need more love, either because no-one has seen them or because they are misunderstood?
My main pick would be China Behind, a 1974 movie from Hong Kong no one has seen which shot up to my top ten of all time when I saw it last year.
It follows five people from mainland China as they attempt to escape to Hong Kong. It is simply a masterpiece. The movie is set at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, where the totalitarian atmosphere is quickly and effectively set (my favourite detail was children insulting others with the words "reactionary").
Most of the movie actually follows the escape, and it is so masterfully directed that it is absolutely gripping. I completely forgot most of the time that I was just watching people walking in the forest. The unease is highlighted by an oppressing atonal score, the camera alternates between long takes and jerky hand-held shots whenever things get a bit worrying and/or violent, the movie occasionally switching to black and white whenever entering a situation where hope and humanity are disappearing. It's also one of the few movies I've seen where night is completely dark, I understand why it's rarely done, but when your protagonists are on the run from a formidable menace, it's quite effective communicating dread.
Their escape ends up being successful thanks to couple of lucky moments, but rather than being narratively convenient, these just highlighted how unlikely their success was in the first place. They do reach Hong Kong in end, but it turns out to hardly be the promised land.
Easily the best movie I've seen in quite a few years.
I guess part of the reason why it is so little seen is that it was buried for years and is still mostly unavailable (there is a shitty rip in Youtube though), and it's not even a movie that can easily be embraced for political reasons, for a start (and I say this as a massive leftie) as critical as it is of China, it was unlikely to be embraced by the left at a time when Maoism was considered a viable political ideology; and for right-wingers, the conclusion is still not quite positive for it to be shown as an example. Ultimately it is a truly artistic proposition, from a director that has since been forgotten, she is responsible for two masterpieces, and I'll hope they'll be restored and rediscovered, but I guess the time hasn't come yet.