 "Great movie, a wonderful story & a social commentary" | 2009-08-21 |
| - Reviewed By M. Sue from New York, NY |
This is a wonderful movie with a straight-forward story line that is well-acted, & serves as a social commentary on China's extreme preference for boys over girls. Even now, this preference is prevalent as it leads to a severe shortage of girls in China! But this little story is told simply: The old master, King of Masks, desperately wants a male heir to pass down his trade secrets, & this desire to have a boy at all cost leads to disaster. The movie has great touches: a visually appealing & authentic town setting in 1930's China, a solid performance by the gap-toothed actor who plays the master, & the acrobatic feats of Doggie, the young girl.
There are a lot of dichotomies in China related to the sexes that are on display in the film. For example, Liang is a popular, highly-revered actor who portrays female characters. One of his famous characters, Guangyin, is a female Buddha who has changed gender from male to female. All this put forth some interesting questions in the movie... Where is the demarcation line between the two sexes? Why is a man who impersonates a woman revered, while the reverse is true for the little girl who dresses up like a boy for survival?
All in all, this is a touching, well-crafted movie that raises some interesting questions about a culture that even today places too much value on one gender. |
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| "Absolutely Brilliant!!!!!!!" | 2009-03-06 |
| - Reviewed By Fairbanks Reader from Fairbanks, Alaska |
This is one of my favorite movies of all time.
It is about a Chinese man, an artist of mask-making. He creates beautiful and disturbing masks and then puts on a show for people using the masks as characters. He is recognized as a true king of an almost lost art in China. How he creates the masks and makes them seem alive is a mystery. He lives in relative poverty but is only wanting for one thing, a male heir to whom he can pass down the tradition of his art.
He decides to adopt a young male child to become his apprentice. He does this and the relationship between master and apprentice is explored. There are some life challenges, scenes of incredible closeness and amazing twists.
I give this film my very highest recommendation. |
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 "A very touching story" | 2008-09-06 |
| - Reviewed By jaroski from Colorado |
It's a touching story of an elderly man who overcomes the misogynistic prejudices of his society. He's an artist performing shows with masks which are actually quite amazing. He is accompanies by a small girl, but is always railing on her and is unhappy with her even though she's great to him and tries her hardest to please him. Yet in Chinese society, it's the son who takes care of the family and the girls get married off. So he's essentially unhappy that he doesn't have a son to take care of him. In the end he's ill and discouraged and it's the little girl who encourages him and cheers him up, doing a mask show for him to get his spirits up. It is then that he realizes that he's had someone to take care of him and look after him all along! He changes his attitude and finally accepts the girl and the two of them go on performing together having great fun and being happy.
I love this story for the simple fact that it points out the futility of wishing for what isn't rather than appreciating what is. How often do we do that, especially in today's consumer society. It also shows the harshness of life experienced by the many people of the world who don't really care for material things (not that they have any) and who just want to be loved, accepted and appreciated. It makes you ache for the children of the world who aren't even afforded this simple thing. |
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| "A Chinese Whale Rider" | 2008-07-14 |
| - Reviewed By Queequeg from Pittsburgh, PA |
| An excellent film that makes a signficant yet non-polemic statement about societal attitudes about human worth being based on gender. Although obviously more extreme and blatant in China, the cultural base of the West that prefers the voice and opinions of the male has residual consequences that make moments of this film as poignant for a Western audience. Even if a viewer ignores the gender politics (and doesn't notice the thematic similarity to "Whale Rider") the film is worth seeing, especially for the joy of watching these two actors and for the glimpses of China. Having seen "Farewell, My Concubine" will help with preparation and background in seeing the (fe)male operatic performances through Western sensibilities. |
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| "One of the greatest acting performance I've seen." | 2008-05-24 |
| - Reviewed By C. Xiao from United States |
Maybe I'm exaggerating after just seeing this movie, but the girl actor gave one of the greatest acting performance I've seen. On par with Deniro and Al Pacino.
It's ... incredible. Every emotion and movement is spot on. I could literally feel her apprehension, terror, hunger, guilt and remorse. I could sense what she was thinking.
Before people get bent out of shape about the child black market, you have to realize that civil war and flooding can put many poor families on the brink of starvation. Because of this they resorted to selling their sons or giving away their daughters (so the daughters won't starve).
Also remember that back then there was no contraception (so more kids), and no social safety net that at least assured your family wouldn't starve to death.
There are several biting criticisms of society in this movie:
1) Pervasive cultural sexism against women (even by other women).
2) No help for the poor or hungry.
3) The corruption of police, who often rather finish a case because it's convenient then really solve it. Who use torture to extract confessions.
The indictment on sexism is the most effective and biting. It's a shameful part of many cultures. Though in China, at least in the cities, severe sexism has been significantly reduced.
The idea here is that not every tradition is morally right or worth keeping. I believe the old man is in spirit the same as Huckleberry Finn. |
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| "King of Masks" | 2008-03-15 |
| - Reviewed By prweill |
| This is that rare jewel of a film that lives up to, more than lives up to, expectations. Set in China during the 1930's, it unfolds the story of an elderly itinerant street performer, the inheritor of the secret craft of face change opera. The technique is traditionally passed down from father to son, but the protagonist has no heirs. Acting is poignant and masterful. Wonderful sets and costuming take one back to a bygone China. |
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