A drop of water can be the difference between the ridiculous and the sublime in a kung fu movie, especially if the film’s backers are counting on overseas interest.
Li Feng, screenwriter of the blockbuster, Hero, says this prospect weighed on the mind of director Zhang Yimou as he tried to piece together an elaborate duel on a lake between Nameless and Broken Sword. In the scene, the two adversaries volley a drop of water between them before the droplet falls on the face of an inert Flying Snow, Broken Sword’s lover. Broken Sword stops to wipe away the drop and Nameless is so moved by the gesture, he calls off his attack. It’s the kind of moment that can provoke sentiment or sentimentality, or worse still, ambivalence.
“[So] a lot of effort went into filming that drop of water,” Li says.
“The object of the scene is not to show who wins but to portray the beauty in the fight. Chinese artists try to find beauty in an apparently fierce fight.
“The water scene (ended up) short. Zhang Yimou said westerners might find water travelling between two swords ridiculous. He wanted to convey the correct sense of the drop of water so he made the scene shorter. A westerner might feel that moves against physical laws but I didn’t think that mattered. You can see it as a Chinese Star Wars. A lot of Chinese were moved by this scene and forgot it was a kung fu film.
Li Feng interview continued at http://diggingtochina.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/field-of-dreams/
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The first Louis C left Italy for the newer world with a bucket of goldfish and an icecream recipe. Or was that a goldfish recipe and a bucket of icecream? In any case, it was the start of a reptile and pond fish business empire with a sideline in gelati.
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The Siberian winds have abated in Beijing and there is less than a month to go until the central heating is turned off. So it is worth taking a moment to say farewell to dog winter fashion for another season.
ready for action
has cable knit ever been put to better use?
not a hair out of place
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Gemma of Mt Pleasant is a woman of substance and glamour whose advice on personal grooming are words to live by but she truly comes into her own with her counsel on how to travel well.
In the pre-discount flight era, Gemma gently suggested to her friend embarking on her first overseas trip to always dress well enough to deserve an upgrade and always have the confidence to walk in and use the toilets in a five-star hotel.
Those were the days when holidaymakers still took time out in Hong Kong to get a suit made and Singapore meant Gin Slings, not logistics. But her advice is no less applicable today.
So too are the offerings from Rebecca of Dongzhimen who recalls being told by a US Navy Seal to sit in the aircraft seats closest to an exit and to stay with a sinking boat. He also ingrained in her the significance of sitting on rather than wearing a bullet-proof vest if she ever chanced upon a war zone and had to be evacuated by helicopter. The enemy is more likely to be firing from below, he said.
Dave from Duncraig is also on intimate terms with aircraft. He insists that nobody has ever been killed from flying. Landing, yes. To him, every landing is a controlled crash – it’s a matter of degree that determines the effect. Should the degree of control be less than effective and your helicopter lands in the water, remember the words on the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and don’t panic. Try to hold your breath long enough to be the last one out – that way you won’t get somebody’s boot in your face in the scramble for an opening.
Lorraine of East Perth never leaves for foreign shores without factoring $400 of rip-off money into her travel budget. That is the amount she prepared to concede to the avaricious without feeling troubled. If she returns home with at least some of the stash, fortune has smiled on her.
Dr David of Sheffield has had to draw on the Wisdom of Solomon in his overseas sojourns. On one trip to distant climes, he was confronted at the airport with not one but two people holding up placards with his name. One person was his hotel’s designated driver while the other was an interloper scouting for a fare. But how to tell them apart? Assuming the designated driver could not return to the hotel empty-handed, Dr David repaired to the airport bar for an hour and waited for the impostor to lose interest.
For Louise of Morley, time is of the essence and it is important to be at the airport early while Maria of Athens washes down any suspect meal with a can of Coke. Bob, also of East Perth, deploys colloidal silver for insect bites on the road and Marg of Augusta has been known to roll instead of fold her clothes. And, as for this correspondent, never underestimate the curative powers of a can of Pocari Sweat and a couple of Panadol.
