Story: A jumbled series of dramatised scenes, dream sequences and newsreel excerpts reveal the memories and present-day experiences of unseen protagonist-narrator Alexei. The traumas of Alexei’s rural childhood and experiences of war are mirrored in his urban adult life. His estranged relations with his ex-wife, Natalia, and son, Ignat, reflect the abandonment he suffered from…
Tag: Movies
Zemlya / Earth (1930 Movie) – Summary – Analysis
Summary: The film begins with the final moments of grandfather Semyon Opanas beneath a pear tree. Locals, including Arkhyp Bilokin, contemplate the process of collectivisation and declare their resistance to it, while elsewhere Semyon’s grandson Vasyl and his friends meet to discuss collectivisation. That night a dark figure attacks and kills Vasyl. At the cemetery,…
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum – Summary – Analysis
Summary: In late nineteenth-century Tokyo, young kabuki actor Kikunosuke meets Otoku, his baby brother’s wet nurse. Otoku candidly tells him how bad his acting is; her honesty impresses him, and love and trust develops between the two. Kikunosuke’s adoptive father and mentor, the great Kikugoro V, however, does not approve of their relationship, let alone…
Eat Drink Man Woman: Summary & Analysis
Summary: Mr Chu (Lung) is a retired hotel chef in Taipei, Taiwan, who still shares the family home with his three adult daughters. Jia-jen (Yang), the oldest, is a Christian chemistry teacher who falls in love with the new school coach, Ming-dao Chou (Lu). The next daughter, Jia-chien (Wu), whose relationship with her father is…
Yeelen (Movie) – Summary – Analysis
Summary: A young man, Nianankoro, embarks on a journey across ancient Mali to fulfil his destiny and challenge his tyrannical father Soma, a member of the Komo society which holds the secrets of a divine cosmic force. Nianankoro’s power matures with the help of the Peul and Dogon peoples, and after acquiring the sacred Wing…
Y tu mama tambien – Story – Analysis
Story: The film’s young male protagonists, Tenoch and Julio are just leaving high school and embarking on their adult life; they spend their time getting drunk, taking drugs, having sex and “whacking off”.Whenthey meet an attractive older woman, Luisa, at a family wedding they flirt with her and invite her to come on atripto the…
A Touch of Zen: Summary & Analysis
Summary: An artist, Ku, lives with his mother near an abandoned fort, reputed to be haunted. One night, investigating strange noises, he meets the beautiful Yang who is living there, and finds himself caught up in her struggle to survive attacks by agents of an imperial noble who murdered her family. Analysis: The Chinese wuxia…
Crows & Sparrows (1949 Movie): Summary & Analysis
Summary: The story takes place in Shanghai at the end of 1948. Hou, an official of the Republican government takes possession of Mr Kong’s property, a residential house, driving the old man into a tiny corner room downstairs, while he and his concubine occupy the top level. Two other families, the Huas and the Xiaos,…
Two Stage Sisters – Summary – Analysis
Summary: Against the backdrop of the evolution of Shanghai-based Yueju (aka Shaoxing opera), Two Stage Sisters unfolds around Chunhua, a child bride who runs away from her arranged marriage in 1935. Taking refuge with an itinerant Yueju company, Chunhua becomes an apprentice in that opera troupe and befriends the master’s daughter, Yuehong. On stage Chunhua…
The Wild Bunch (1969 Movie): Summary & Analysis
Summary: Set in 1913 during the Mexican Revolution, along the Mexican-Texan border, The Wild Bunch tells the story of an aging gang of outlaws led by Pike, and chased by bounty hunters led by a former gang member, Deke Thornton. They rob a bank, which turns out to be a set-up by the railroad company…