It was only in melbourne uni (last sem) that i had my first encounter with cinema-film theory studies, in Love Stories Film and Narrative Theory. Stuck in my mind till now is Hiroshima Mon Amour. The amazing way that the film was directed, black and white yet it was million times better then some hollywood blockbuster.
The horror of the Hiroshima bombing and the female lead Riva’s own personal love lost back in Nevers, the potrayal of a melancholic and how she got out of depression or supposedly so. I think it was pure genius how two seperate locations two seperate incidents were merged to tell the story. Boiling down to the sufferings of War, the tragedies and how it can never make sense no matter how many angles are explored.
Back home, in Singapore, it was the television station http://www.artscentral.sg/ that first exposed me or rather gave me a glimpse of film 
I guess it was/is still a cultural shock when i came to melboure (be it, on SBS or the film festivals selections or even dvd selections in stores).
Back home in the “sunny island/garden city” Singapore *note our film board of censors are STRICT! http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.www/index_flash.aspx they are TRYING to be more liberal i guess…so…yea…before this, the usual countries film that were made avaliable were, america, britain, italy, france, germany, china, hongkong, taiwan, thailand, korea, japan, singapore…
It is only in flim studies that i realize how categorized the film industry is…main stream, alternative, independent, and so on and not to mention the genres of movies. Cinema goers (including me) would seldom ponder over the whole invisible quilt that makes up the film. I mean back home, in the past, the only things people would talk about were Hollywood Block Busters and cute actors (not that we don’t do so now). No one would really bother to consider, the location of filming, funding, director of choice, casting and so on. Very seldom is the political implication of the film taken into consideration. The storyline and plot def, yes.
I have always and still often find myself in awe when i read journalistic reviews or movie reviewers piece of work in international magazines or newspapers. How they were well read, “watched”. But there have been times when the reviews and how i felt personally after watching the film did not tally. I guess it all boils to one’s own individual likes and dislikes (as talked about in tutorial) and aesthetics.
My friends or movie going buddies back home were very much into alternative films or as one of my guy friends evily terms “arty farty” films. The last film i watched while i was back home was ONE LAST DANCE (CHA WU).
http://www.stanford.edu/group/sfs/2006/01/one-last-dance-screening.html
On the surface, One Last Dance is a scintillating Singaporean crime film, but pay attention. What’s bubbling beneath is a puzzle whose pieces consist of images and dialogue that, when put together, lift the viewing experience from the enjoyable to the sublime. In a country of four million, it isn’t easy to hide, but in the darkest corner lurks an anonymous hit man known only as “T.” He is summoned from the shadows when a red envelope, carrying the name of a man who has betrayed the gangster code, is dropped into an unmarked mailbox on a side street close to hell. After a life filled with killing, T — a man with neither vices nor family — decides it’s time to retire after this job, to leave Singapore while there is still room to move. But in a world of darkness, shadows can play tricks on you. Things aren’t always what they seem to be, and getting out may cost a heavy price. Writer/director Max Makowski returns to Sundance (The Pigeon Egg Strategy) with another cinematic riddle that’s as fun to figure out as it is to watch. Featuring a fantastic ensemble collection of actors, creative cinematography, and brisk dialogue, One Last Dance merges Eastern and Western sensibilities into one dynamic film.
Honestly one of my friend actually fell asleep watching it!! But, i think it was great because they manage to transform everyday singapore sites to give it such a completely different ambience. The cinematography was a bit too “whizzy” for my friend but i think it was great because the switched from scene to scene without dragging on and on. However if you pop your head down to look for your mobile phone or take a look at how much popcorn is left, you may miss out and get lost. It was very fast pace and i think the way they made use of the recollection storytelling, switching from present to past was very titillating and the mystery was great (not that the ending was very believable).
Taking up this course was a challenge because i don’t really know much about film theory, cinematic skills, technical apparatus knowledge etc . That being said and done i guess i hope that i will be able in this blog to put together coherently in words and tie in with theories / philosophy / cinema studies (if possible) flim analysis and at the same time explore my own fav and biasness:) (and secretly fulfil my hidden wish to be a reviewer of films haha!)
