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| Millennium Mambo, dir. Hou Hsiao Hsien, 2001 |
Please read Michael Berry's interview with Hou and Zhu
before posting your response to Millennium
Mambo. Use insights from the reading to help frame your response. Always
cite sources (English or Chinese) with page numbers from readings and minutes
from films when you are quoting or paraphrasing others. Due Monday October 28
by 8 pm. Read others' responses carefully and your comments to two other
responses are due Monday October 28 by 10 pm. Your "talking points"
about readings assigned for each class are due at the beginning of classes as
usual. Enjoy reading and writing!
Millennium Mambo is a great movie, it talks about different relationships between a young traitorous girl whose name is Vicky with a young man Hao, and a midlife man Jie.
ReplyDeleteVicky first met Hao at a night club in Taipei. And Vicky started to live with Hao in his apartment, however, Hao does not have a job, and it seems that he does not even want one, so Vicky has to take the responsibility of everything, so she starts to work at a night club, so that they can afford the rent and other things, Hao does not trust her, so every night when she comes home, Hao would check her body to see if she had something going on with other man at work, and Hao also checks her stuff frequently, and any time that Hao thinks there is anything unusual about her, Hao gets very mad at her and yells at her.
Then she knows this midlife man called Jie, who is a member of mafia, however, it seems that Jie knows more than Hao about responsibility, and Jie also takes very good care of Vicky, then Vicky decides to leave Hao, and start going out with Jie a lot, however, the relationship between Vicky and Jie is a lot comfortable to Vicky, and it is also very simple. And they all later move to a town called Xizhang in Japan.
First of all, I would like to talk about the shooting technique in this movie, a lot of long shots, and the use of colors, these makes the movie a lot more real to me, it is more like a documentary to me.
And then, the different expressions of love between young men and midlife men is pretty interesting. We can see that Hao is such a child, he does not understand what privacy is, and he is not responsible for anything, he checks Vicky's stuff, doing drugs and DJ every day, and he makes his girl to go out and make money for them, these are nothing that helps the relationship going to end happily. Let us take a look at Jie, he takes really good care of Vicky, when Vicky falls asleep on the sofa, he put a blanket on her, and he does not ask about Vicky's life in the past. I think that the younger men are takers in the relationship, while the older men are givers.
And also, I found out that two people that have different understanding about life are not going to get alone with each other, or people with different lives are not going to get alone with each other, this is why did Vicky break up with Hao in the first half of the movie, and it is also why did Vicky not go look for Jie in Japan.
From the began of the film, we can found the Hao-Hao was not trust Vicky, he check her bag, and argue with Vicky because the Hao-Hao doubt the long time call.Finally we can realize the Hao-Hao can not be cotrol her already! So as supposed,she had given him the air at last! I'm very appreciate the brother Jie, I think he is really man in this film, he can take care of Vicky, but unfortunately the brother Jie was eventually escape to Japan in the end of the film.
DeleteIt is such a big difference between the youth and the middle age. I can see the characteristic among Taiwanese youth from Hao-hao and Vicky.
DeleteI agree with you that Hao is just like a big boy. He squander their love and reject to change. On the opposite, Jacket much more mature and really care about Vicky. I think all girl will choose Jacket in the end
DeleteYou did great job on analyzing the two main male characters, Hao and Jie. Women always want a mature and responsible guy rather than a childish young man.
DeleteThe film called Millennium Mambo was directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien in 2001. It was a complicated love story. It described a girl named Vicky winds up in a love triangle with Jack and Hao-Hao. Hao was her boyfriend. They had been together for a long time. Hao loved her so deep. He didn’t hope her leave him. So he check her for preventing her from cheating every day. Vicky also fed up with him. She thought Hao is a control freak. So she always left home for a long time. But she always back home finally. She knew she still has feelings for Hao. In the film, Vicky met Jack. Jack gave Vicky a lot that Hao can’t give her. Vicky began to feel kindly toward him. Of course, she didn’t know it’s love or friendship. In the end of film, Jack invited Vicky to go to Japan to accompany him. I think she still feel blank in the end of film.
ReplyDeleteThis film is really hard for me to understand. This film talks about a disorderly love story. The director put memories into the film. I don’t think this film has profound connotation. But I think the director wants to show a rhythm. I think this rhythm is about a kind of dance. This film called Millennium Mambo. Mambo is a name of dance. Why does the director use a name of dance for this film? I think Mambo also represents the rhythm of this film. Mambo has a fast rhythm. This film is made up of many stories about Vicky. She hovers around Jack and Hao. She doesn’t know what’s thing that she want. She feels blank. I think it’s a kind of film style. It’s disorderly and has a fast rhythm.
I think it is interesting that you bring up the film's title. In the interview with Hou, Chu T'ien Wen notes that the young generation has "their own inherent energy and rhythm." (31) I agree that the use of "mambo" captures the fast rhythm and speed that young people experience today.
DeleteAgree with Chia, the rhythm for the youth in Taiwan is fast during that period. And I guess that is the reason why teenagers in this blundering society did not want study,but just drunk in the bars.
DeleteHou Hsiao-hsien is a famous film director in Taiwan from 1980s. His childhood was colorful and lush so he can have a prolific thinking and mind in plenty. From the interview of Hou Hsiao-hsien, I can know his abundant experiences in his childhood. From Hou Hsiao-hsien’s life, we can see a very pure narrative story, which view the world with another point. People touched by his movies because through his movie, we can see our world and ourselves in truly.
ReplyDeleteMambo is kind of music, and when I was watching this film, this rhythm was always around me from the beginning to the end of the film, and even the film finished, the music is still in my mind and does not disappear with the end of film. This Mambo music has a lyrical feel around the whole movie and accompanied nicely by the atmospheric theme music.
Millennium Manbo told us a story of a normal city girl with her relationship in rough consideration. However, even the story of Vicky is disharmonious and her boyfriend Hao was a slacker and did nothing helpful their love, but Vicky is too young to control her life. Her life is mass but so much truly like our normal lives, which are the reason why lots of audiences would remember the mass screens in this film. The story is a little out of order and flows with the time. And lots of screens are disordered and irrelevant, like when Vicky is working in the club, when Hao is fighting with people, when policeman are walking into her home, when she goes to Japan, and when the story end in the snow screen. But as Hou Hsiao-hsien said, in our lives, there are lots of screens, unable to figure them, difficult to categorize them, and cannot constitute which of them are important, but these screens linger in his mind. Like, the snow screen is so nice and makes me feel calmness.
I'm agree with your opinio,the snow scree is also make me interesting about that.The Vicky indeed young, make us have a feeling,that is that is the love was extremely hard when was young, and also feeling it’s a consumption!
DeleteI also agree that the film has a lyrical tone. The film presents scenes and allows the viewers to make their own conclusions. I think the scenes you mentioned as irrelevant can relate to Hou's philosophy scenes in our lives are difficult to figure out, categorize, and determine which is important. Perhaps that is why he includes all these scenes and allows the audience to decide what they think.
DeleteI agree with your opinion. I also think the story is a little out of order with the time. This film is made up of many small stories. They are disordered but not irrelevant. Many stories are memories. The director put many memory scenes into the film. It makes the film look like disordered.
DeleteI think the snow scene is very briliant, because snow is white, and it makes the relationship between the two people so pure.
DeleteI am also confused by the movie as well, not just because the way it was filmed, but also the materials were presented in movie. I think the confusion started with how female protagonist fell in love love with Hao, who's totally a slacker and insecure of himself, which ultimately led to leaving of of Vicky. Though he has chased her back, however, she decided to go to Japan to find Jie, who's a lot more mature.
DeleteThe film “Millennium Mambo” yearns to capture the decadent lifestyles of young people in contemporary urban Taipei. Unlike Hou’s previous films, this subject is rather difficult since Hou has little historical distance and time to reflect. But, as noted by Chu T’ien-wen in the article, “all [young people] have to do is reveal themselves for what they are. They have their own inherent energy and rhythm.” (31) Indeed, Hou shoots the film from an onlooker’s perspective simply watching Vicky’s everyday life; thus, it not the dialogue that propels the film, but rather the essence, emotion, and perhaps lack of dialogue. For instance, scenes of Vicky at the club contain little plot propelling dialogue, but captures the music, rhythm, and atmosphere. The camera focuses on objects, such as alcohol, to perpetuate this generation’s decadence. Even the lack of dialogue reveals the superficial nature of Vicky’s friends and her aimless partying lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, the tumultuous relationship between Vicky and Hao-Hao is captured more through action than dialogue. In the beginning of the film, Vicky comes home after a night of partying. Hao-Hao then begins closely smelling Vicky, in what first seems sensual but becomes disturbing as he commands her to spread her legs, to find traces of other men. Her detached yet slightly resistant behavior depicts her familiarity and perhaps annoyance with this procedure. In addition, when Hao-Hao and Vicky are fighting in the bedroom, the camera only sees from the doorway’s perspective. Thus, viewers can only see partially what is occurring between Vicky and Hao-Hao. This angle further seems to reinforce the notion that the camera is simply an onlooker. While at times the film can seem lackluster and aimless, the film still manages to capture the plight of young generations.
I agree with you said this film is not like Hou’s previous films. I doubt it when I saw the beginning of this. Hou shoots the film from an onlooker’s perspective and let us easily see Vicky’s daily life.
DeleteThe lack of dialogue is an interesting observation; it is definitely an interesting approach that puts more emphasis on action and atmosphere. That said, the scenes without dialogue were often the most confusing for me. I actually had no idea Hao-Hao was sniffing for traces of other men until you brought it up, since it was not made clear he was the jealous type until later in the story. I thought he was sniffing for his share of cocaine or something, which sounds awfully presumptuous now that I think about it.
DeleteThe film "Millenium Mambo" directed by Taiwanese film maker Hou Hsiao-Hsien is a "documentary" film of a girl named Vicky. She is also the story teller in the background to explain her life and love in her youth. Her boyfriend, Hao-hao, has no job and is 2 years younger than Vicky. He wanted to control Vicky and detected everything of Vicky. If she was catched by him when she was together with someone else, he would got pretty angry. When Vicky worked in a trendy bar, she met Jack, who is more like her elder brother. It is hard to choose one from two men. Finally, after 10 years' abusing each other, Vicky chose to leave Hao-hao and end up with a journey in the winter of Hokkaido.
ReplyDeleteThis film is made in 2001, which is the next year after the Millenium. And the year of 2000 is quite interesting to me. It ends up the 1900s and went to a new centry, which seems entering a new door. People's attitudes toward 2001 are quite variety, like frustrated, nervous or expecting. For most of youth in Taiwan, it seems that people felt blank in that period. They did not want to to anything because things changing so fast, as claimed from the interview, "The casting director for Millennium Mambo, who is about the same age as the actors, told me that the pace of their lifestyle is so quick that there is really no way to catch them."(Berry, 706) It is hard to catch the period, so someone chose to gave up and did nothing, like Hao-hao. How can I describe this relationship between Vicky and Hao-hao? I've no idea. They do love each other, but they did not trust each other, either. They were too young to fit each other in love. So maybe that is the reason why Vicky chose Jack at last. This film tried to show daily life of the youth in 20 centry and do make it successfully.
I think she did not choose Jack at last. Their relationship is like between friends and lovers. She waits for him in Japan but he never show up. That really make people think a lot.
DeleteI also think, Vicky can't be together with Hao, because they can't trust each other, especially Hao's suspicion is too heavy, because he is too young and don't understand what love is.
DeleteFor her own good, I support she chase Jack. Hao's love is too heavy. She have her own advantage to chase her own happiness. Also, Hao addict in drug also bring lots of problems between them
DeleteI think Jie has more chance being together with Vicky... at least Vicky moved to Japan for him. I feel like Vicky still loved Hao, but she doesn't want her boyfriend always being childish and faineant. She wants a guy who could take care of her and protect her.
DeleteThe “Millennium Mambo” is directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien who is one of the most important representatives of Taiwan’s film. It is made by Taiwan and France and shown in 2001. Hou Hsiao-hisen describes modern urban themed film in a new way in this film. Manbo is a kind of a really fast meter and dancing. This rhythm was always around me when I was watching this film.
ReplyDeleteThis film describes the relationships between Vicky’s boyfriend and JieGe. One is like a child and another is more mature. I was attracted by the beginning of this film, I saw Vicky’s back, all the way forward with pleasure music that really make people feel good. I remember Vicky’s boyfriend sad “we are not in the same world, you are form your world and you fell down, fell into my world.” That surprises me and also when Vicky decided to farewell with her boyfriend when she spent five hundred thousand Yuan. I believe she should just break with him at the really early time. Her boyfriend does not trust her at all. He checked her bills, phone calls. He changed her life when he decided not to wake her up to attend the exam in 16 years old. He did not get a job and Vicky decided to stay with him for about 10 years which really touched me. Finally the end of the film, three young men under the snow on the streets walking, laughing, talking. I know the ending of this film would not be good, but it is good enough. I can fully feel different people find cities rules of survival, trying to touch the boundaries of adventure.
I also think the final outcome may be the best, because each person's life is different, so people can only pursue the good life by themselves.
DeleteI think it's interesting - and important - to talk about the relationship of the title to the film. It's curious that the film takes place in the future and flashes back to the present. Maybe this flashback mentality has something to do with the analogy to dancing (perhaps not, but it's interesting to consider). I also like that you talked about the ending being something in-between happy and sad or good and bad (just not 100% one way or the other).
DeleteYes, I like the music and it was around my mind the whole film. The Final snow screen was really interested and let me think about more even the film did not tell us the ending for Vicky.
DeleteThis movie “Millennium Mambo” directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. This movie was showing us the young people in Taipei. Shu qi is the heroine of the story as Vicky. In this story, Vicky is a young woman who was living in Taipei, and she had a boyfriend, his name is Hao. Hao did not have a job, but Vicky had a job. Hao loved Vicky, but he did not trust her. Hao always checks Vicky’s stuff, such as: Communication records, billing statement, and others. Vicky cannot stand what Hao’s doing, so she wanted to break up with him, but it did not work. They still live together. Then Vicky knew another guy Jie in the Pub, and she thought Jie was a mature man, Vicky like playing with Jie, but she did not if she love him or like him? At the end of this movie, Vicky chose to go to another place, and she wanted to leave Hao.
ReplyDeleteThis movie “Millennium Mambo” has the same plan shoots as another movie” Flowers of Shanghai”. Both of the movies used the technique of flashbacks. In the article “Hou Interview”, Page705, Hou Hsiao-hsien said” My god we are making a contemporary Flowers of Shanghai.” In fact, I think there is a simple idea in this movie, “how is love?” Some time, people think what “love” is, but maybe it is not good for everyone. In this movie, I am confused why Vicky did not leave Hao early? Because Hao’ love is too morbidity, but maybe it is why Vicky had to leave that country, because she loved Hao.
I like that you mentioned the correlations between Flowers of Shanghai and Millennium Mambo. I also found that interesting while I was reading the interview. Is one movie simply the modern incarnation of the other? Is one some kind of 'do-over' of the other? I thought it was interesting to think about the two films together.
DeleteLike Guo said, I think Vicky is too young to know clean the love, so she up and down between Hao. I guess Vicky did not sure she love Hao or not, so the director give us a opening end to think more.
DeleteI think it's very hard to say Vicky love Jack or Hao. You think Vicky went to Japan because she loved Hao. In the film, Jack invited Vicky to go to Japan alone. It's inkling. In fact, she also went to Japan. But she didn't find him. We just saw her walking in the snow in the end. We don't know what happened after that. That is the thing that the director gives us to imagine.
DeleteI like that you quoted the Hou interview, and your idea about how is love is great.
DeleteI thought the interview with Hou Hsiao-hsien and Chu T'ien-wen was fascinating for numerous reasons, not the least of them being the fact that this is the first time we've read an interview that featured a director and screenwriter at the same time, both talking honestly (and critically) about the work of the other. One tidbit stuck out to me, from page 693: Hou states, of his film Flowers of Shanghai, "There are only thirty-nine shots in the entire film. It basically comes down to one shot per scene." When we watch movies like The Killer, where the action moves as quickly as the camera, we tend to think less about each shot because we physically have less time to do so. In a film with only thirty-nine shots - or one perspective per scene - the importance of the shot and everything comprising it becomes much more prevalent.
ReplyDeleteIn Millennium Mambo, the very first scene is one shot that lasts over three minutes. It is accompanied by voiceover, but otherwise is extremely simple. There is no conversation, there is no rapid cutting from shot to shot. You simply see what you see, as if you are the person walking behind Qi Shu's character. In my opinion, it's very bold to start a movie this way, because it's hard to hold the audience's interest with a sustained shot like this. The director uses the long walkway, the low light, and the narration to give you the impression that you are moving in one direction, but doing so in a fixed space. Once you reach the end of the walkway, the actress disappears and you are left to remain behind with your limited perspective. Hou controls exactly what you see in a very technically precise manner.
I found this interesting too! compared to action movies, that isn't a lot of shots. And I didn't realize that there are fewer shots than others in Millennium Mambo until now. This makes it very true that "You simply see what you see"
DeleteOne thing I did notice about the shots were that a lot of times, they were dark and vague. It was like the characters' faces were blocked by smoke, darkness, or just blurred out by the camera. I was wondering why there many vague scenes like this (especially in the beginning with the scene in the club).
You're point about the Spartan style of the film lends Hou more control over what we experience. As you say, his technical mastery really has a strong effect on the film.
DeleteComplete agree with you about how it was bold to start the movie with silence. It was definitely hard for me to stay with the movie as not much goes on in the scenes.
DeleteI like the description of the first shot. It is so simple, yet so powerful
DeleteThe films Millennium Mambo set the 2000 years as a important time period background. This is a complicated and slow romantic film. The love story between Vicky and Hao is very common on that time. Hao lose his job and stay at home. Vicky have to take responsible everything. This is a normal city love story that happened in every city. Hou Hsiao-hsien just use a typical sample to reflect the confusion between younth at that period.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in the interview that Hou Hsiao-hesien mention how Japanese film influence him when he was a child (P678). He mentioned the film "Five Petaled Camellia"leave a deep impression on him , and he start to interested in Japanese film. It is not hard to find out that Millennium Mambo looks like a Japanese film in some degree. The slow music , the method Hou used to describe all reflect a Japanese love film. Even, in the end of film. ShuQi decide to go to Japan to find her own happiness. That all imply how important the Japan film in Hou's film maker life.
I agree with you point that the director uses this film to reflect the confusion of youth not just their love and romance, but also their attitudes toward life. Young adults are easily to get confused and addicted to bad behaviors. Some of them try to escape from reality by addicting to certain things.
DeleteDark, brooding and triumphant. Millennium Mambo captured raw emotion with sight, sound, and even silence. What I found most interesting about the movie was the scenes where no one talked. Perhaps the characters would walk back and forth, not saying a word, causing the tension to mount so high, only to break with a shout (particularly the scene in which the boyfriend rummaged through her purse).
ReplyDeleteThe interview was helpful in seeing where the director's influence came from. He says in the beginning, "When I was little, I was always causing trouble, and my interest in films really began with my mischievous nature" (676). I feel like this lead to his dark, almost brooding young adult style. All in all the movie was very different while still maintaining an entertaining aspect. I quite enjoyed it, especially since it was in such a different style than all the other movies we watched.
I found this film interesting. One of the things that caught my attention with this film was the lack of dialogue. The relationship between Vicky and Hao is formed by their actions, reactions, and facial expressions while around one another. This is much different because films usually use a lot of dialogue to show this. A good example of this is the few times throughout the film when Hao is kissing on Vicky's neck, and she seems to not be enjoying it, and even movies around as if to get him off. This tells us that she is uncomfortable around him, and that their whole relationship isn't of love. It's awkward and lacking love. When we finally do see dialogue, they are usually arguing. He calls her names and threatens her, and she screams back at him. In the end, it's how they act around one another that tells the audience what their relationship is like.
DeleteIn the interview, I found it interesting how the director found it difficult to make a film like this because it dealt with younger people, when himself and Hou are in their forties and fifties. I think it's interesting that two older men would decide to make a film about contemporary young adults. (Page 704).
The portions where neither character talked was definitely artistic, but it quickly caused me to lose focus. It's interesting how one characteristic from a film can have different effects for different members of the audience.
DeleteI think it is interesting that you pointed out his childhood being the influence of the style of his movies, as I didnt really think much about what he said when I first read the interview.
Deletegahh stole my quote! i agree, i also think that his inspirations as a child showed in his work
DeleteThe movie “Millennium Mambo” is talking about the complicated relationship between Vicky, and her two men, Hao and Jie. At the first half of the movie, Vicky lives with Hao, a young man without a job, only doing drugs and playing loud DJ music at home. He loves Vicky but doesn’t want to trust her, he always checking her stuff, phone calls and even be mad about an unnamed receipt. Hao’s behaviors like a child and that make Vicky feels cannot breath. Until one day, Vicky met a middle-aged man, named Jie, a member of gangster. He can take care everything of Vicky, and Vicky feels comfortable being together with him. That is the reason why she decided to leave Hao, but it also seems like the relationship between her and Jie is not just simple enough. After 10 years struggling between two men, she finally figured out what is she want. She left Hao and moved to Hokkaido with Jie.
ReplyDeleteThe story in this movie happened during millennium, which is an old century ends and a brand new century starts. This movie is more documentary than describing, direct used more long shoots to show audiences more touchable and emotional feelings. And also I think the narrator in this movie is also the heroine in the movie that brings more directly emotions to audiences. In Hou’s interview, on page 705, Berry asked, “Both Flowers of Shanghai and Millennium Mambo reflect a kind of decadently romantic fin-de-siècle aesthetic. Is there an intentional connection between these two films which portray the Qing courtesan houses of the late nineteenth century and cosmopolitan Taipei at the end of the twentieth century?” Hou answered: “there are all kinds of complex emotional feelings, especially when it comes to romantic relationships, that are really difficult to capture—and virtually impossible for nonprofessional actors to portray in any kind of a convincing manner.”
I hadn't noticed until you mentioned this, but the film definitely had a lot of long, continuous shots and this really made the film feel more like a documentary. It's an interesting approach that adds to the atmosphere; the downside is that it sometimes feels like a scene will drag on and on.
DeleteI like how you talk about the movie kind of being about a transition into the new century. And I also agree with your point about the narrator. Not only does she make the film more emotional for the audience, but she seems to clarify scenes that have happened previously, or scenes that are about to happen. This organizes the movie more and makes it easier for the audience to follow along.
ReplyDeleteHave to admit this is my first time to see this movie name of “Millennium Mambo”. When the DVD put into the computer, we can see the back shadow of Vicky, she is all the way forward and occasionally looking back, and she as if on the memory or the beat of music, the tunnel is so long and she was slowly soliloquizes: “That year is the millennium, after separate from Hao-Hao, he always has a way to find her, call her back, she can't escape, all this like a mantra, like hypnosis” .(From movie name of “Millennium Mambo” 02:10-04:30) Hsu Chi's voice seemed to be filtered, like a person speaking in silence snow, it is the voice of the memory. At age of 16 she started make a living, every weekend she with XuanXuan from Keelung to Taipei by train. When the graduation tests is coming, she was live in a hotel and the Hao-Hao deliberately not wake her up, so she didn't take the exam, no graduation. The Hao-Hao did not allow her to leave him (The “Millennium Mambo” 14:48-16:17). But I think it also have some warm memories in this film, when she take a shower the water heater is broken, she wrapped in a white towel and go out the bathroom, the Hao-Hao was listen to music on a high voice, she pulled out his headphones, told him the water heater is broken, and he wear the slipper, the figure is very strange, he checked the water device, perhaps no electricity, he put on his coat and said to go to buy batteries, let her to open the door for him. Beyond that he didn't trust her, the Hao-Hao check her bag, doubt the long time call. They are quarrel, Vicky was tidy up thing to go back to Keelung, the door was slamming; her words didn't finish saying, and the Hao-Hao shut the door, after that we can realize he can’t control her already.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand the brother Jie, make me remind the other actor star name of Anthony Wong. The line of lip is very clear and hard, make the people convince and have sense of security, in addition he is different with Hao-Hao, the Hao-Hao still a children, the Hao-Hao was persistent and hopeless confrontation, he know to lose also refuse to let she (Vicky) leave, so he give us a feel, that is the love was extremely hard when was young, and also feeling it’s a consumption, in my opinion the brother Jie can take care of Vicky. That have a scene is so interesting, it same like peeking out from camera, the Vicky rang doorbell, and someone open the door, we only can see one hand and the whole picture is black and white with a little sad taste, however, through the door, the color become strong, the brother Jie’s home there seems to be a very old furniture, I couldn’t see clearly, but I like the heavy feeling. Get alone with the brother Jie, we can found more detail, such as the cigarette, wine, noodles, all of the pictures is quietly, although people have been walking. The brother Jie said a normal standard, like the migrant children in his coffee shop, one hour and eighty buck, but the heart is full, this is normal. Relative to Vicky, maybe she life was folded a corner when she no graduated, the dialogue between them was very calm, said a word, but also to pause, or silence, just a few words, make the image of brother Jie is very clearly. (From the movie Millennium Mambo “66:20-77:00) But unfortunately the brother Jie was eventually escape to Japan, the Vicky did not wait for his call, and also did not meet him again, as for the brother Jie where to go and what happen about him, nobody know that. After watching this movie, my heart is long time can not be clam, as far as I’m concerned the entangle love maybe is we most like and be most willing to it. Actually from began this is doomed to undone, relying on the love is often their own peace of mind, also the heart needs, in fact we began knows, maybe one day it will fail, but for this will give the inner strength of emotion, bravely, and independent walking. In effect, do is just make us love our self more in the heart, let we no longer so helpless.
In the Michael Barry Interview Hou says: "I have read so many works of martial arts fiction that in some way I feel I'm already past that ... I simply always felt that I needed something fresh and modern." (711) When it comes to Millenium Mambo and Hou Hsiao-Hsien, a director from the New Wave generation in Taiwan, holds to his word. The subject matter and the camerawork alone were enough to give me difficulty parsing the film away into a neat category.
ReplyDeleteMillenium Mambo is definitely unlike other titles we've screened this year, especially when it is compared to the likes of a John Woo film. I squirmed as the main character underwent a life bringing up issues that made me feel uncomfortable. I suspect that the director's style was meant to give us a feeling of ambiguity and insecurity just as the protagonist was experiencing. During one scene she argues with her (current) lover over some kind of illicit substances. The whole scene made me unsure whether she wanted it for herself, whether she wanted to take it from her boyfriend or if she even knew what she wanted at the time. The movie took twists and turns, and it was difficult for me to feel satisfied even at the end of the film.
I agree with what you say about having a difficult time parsing the movie. And I also squirmed a few times as well haha!
DeleteThe ambiguity you mention could certainly be taken as another part of the presentation, but it feels so undirected, so detracting from the content of the film that I hesitate to say that it was intended to give the viewer a similar experience as the character.
DeleteI like the fact that you brought up the smoking scene that happened towards the beginning. I too was having difficulty interpreting the scene. In the end, I think she knew she was never going to smoke it, and she felt scared that he was taking a turn down an even darker path than they were already on.
DeleteWhat can I say about this movie besides the fact that I didn’t really enjoy it? The storyline is not interesting, and my main man Ben even asked us if we were bored by the movie during the screening, and I concurred. The storyline revolves around a girl named Vicky and how she could not choose between the two men in her life. Hao-Hao, a drug addict with no job, who is Vicky’s on-and-off boyfriend, and Jack is a gang leader that Vicky meets later on in her life. She struggles staying in love with Hao-Hao because of his drug addiction which leads to his erratic behavior such as checking her purse, yelling at her for no reason (weird neck smelling/kissing). Vicky choose to be with Jack later on in the movie, much like Li Qiao did in “Comrades, Almost a Love Story”, as both men they choose to be with are gang leaders, and couldn’t be with them for different reasons.
ReplyDeleteIn the interview with Hou Hsiao-hsien and Chu T’ien-wen by Michael Berry, Chu T’ien-wen mentioned that Hou Hsiao-hsien has difficulty “finding the right perspective to capture his story” when it comes to contemporary Taiwan, and that he “always he had an easier time filming subject matter in which there is a historical distance” (Page 31). Chu T’ien-wen said that he has trouble understanding the attitude and lifestyle of the younger generation, which is essential what this movie is trying to capture, and Hou Hsiao-hsien being 10 years older than himself makes this project even more difficult. I think that this is interesting because I can certainly tell that Hou Hsiao-hsien tried to film this movie with a different approach than other movies. Scenes are often shot in isolated settings with awkward angles, and they are always very long. Many times one shot can go on for 8 or 9 meanings without switch camera or angles. It makes the movie easier to engage for me because it was kind of like I was watching the character’s interaction in a first person’s view. But that makes it hard to follow because the camera has to be moving constantly and there are times when no one spoke so it gets boring. Shi Qi’s narration makes the movie a bit more entertainment, but some of her dialogues are uninteresting at times. Overall, a very different experience than I have with most movies, and I must say it was not a pleasant experience.
I have already posted two about other students' response, but I got to say that I enjoy reading yours every time!!!
DeleteI agree, the film lost me about halfway through, and though the long shots were visually interesting, the content was lacking, and that is very different from my expectations for movies.
DeleteMillennium Mambo is a film released in 2001 by director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. It is a decade-long narrative by the central character, Vicky, a then young girl with troubles in her life and no sense of direction. The story begins at the start of the new millennium, year 2001 (hence the title). During the course of the film, we get acquainted with the supporting character, Hao-Hao, Vicky’s manipulative boyfriend. Hao-Hao, jobless with a drug addiction, is desperate to keep Vicky by his side; Vicky retells of a time when Hao-Hao went as far as stopping her from taking the high school exam, fearing that she would eventually move on. It is mentioned that she never graduated high school. He would keep tabs on her long distance calls and rummage through her belongings, obsessed with the possibility of Vicky cheating on him. She works as a hostess to support the two, until she meets Jack, who treats her with kindness and respect.
ReplyDeleteI am probably in the minority when I say that I did not enjoy this film very much. The story felt loosely tied and amounted to very little meaning. The transitions are difficult to follow and I could not, for the most part, put any scene on a timeline in order to make sense of the plot. I believe she visits a snowy town in Japan, right after talking to a bartender? Vicky and Hao-Hao seem like caricatures written for melodramatic effect, designed to elicit emotion from the audience with each loaded interaction. They seem to be portrayed as victims of their own insensible decisions, which makes the characters all the more difficult to relate to. The film would have benefited from better organization and transition, but then again this lack of flow may be part of its charm. Director Hsiao-Hsien is an older gentlemen, whose views are often at odds with those of the younger generation of people portrayed in the film (Hou and Chu interview, pg. 706); it is respectable that he manages to direct and capture the emotions of youth that he did, despite the generational gap.
I totally agree with you that the plot was very hard to follow and the organization was also hard to follow. I think that it would have been a much better film had it followed some order or at least told the audience by showing a date each time they changed locations.
DeleteBasically, I think, there is not an obvious subject in this film, if I have to say it, I think love is a really subject. Hsu Chi still has an instinctive temperament, and it always fascinated me. In the film, there is an important characteristic, which is the narration of Hsu Chi of the aside. Her voice is my favorite type. A little lazy and sexy in waking, which like she has natural sexy look without make-up.
ReplyDeleteThe film is set in Taipei and aims its attention on Vicky, a young woman living in a cramped apartment with her druggie boyfriend Hao-Hao. Their relationship is slowly destructive, thanks to Hao-Hao’s paranoia and jealousy (he keeps tabs by filtering through her handbag to check her receipts and phone card billing) and Vicky’s lack of self-respect (she winds up being hauled into a police station when Hao-Hao is collared for stealing his father’s Rolex). Their landlord, who has little love for the couple, arranges for Vicky to get work as a bar hostess. During the course of her employment, she begins a relationship with Jack, a friendly middle-aged gangster who takes an immediate shine to Vicky. While Jack’s interest with Vicky is more as a buddy than a lover, Vicky is able to use Jack as a stabilizing force to break up with Hao-Hao. Yet Hao-Hao is not willing to let go and he proceeds to stalk her at her bar. Complicating matters are Jack’s gangster staff, whose surplus muscle and deficient brainpower creates problems which he is unable to handle.
Actually, I like the latter part of the film. There is not appearance for Hao-Hao. There is only love and protection from JieGe to Vicky. The Vicky is hurt in love with Hao, but she is lucky, she still have shoulders and chest of JieGe. I think the love between Hao-Hao and Vicky, the kind of love just between the child, too pure too naïve, this is must be hurt. That is to say that, in the love, two people may not always consistent , children don’t know how given and taken, especially afterward reflection, just like a small animal, when they love, they will be more hopelessly ,if he doubt her, even if a punch card in the wallet he doesn’t let go.
Looking back at her earlier life from the vantage point of 2010, a woman remembers her dreary relationship with a fiercely jealous boyfriend and the friendship with a small-time mobster that encouraged her to seek more freedom, resulting in creepy conflict between the two men. Hou combines his celebrated minutes-long shots with a brilliant use of exquisitely detailed close-ups, frustrating viewers looking for action and melodrama but deeply moving those interested in film's ability to capture the subtlest, most ephemeral human feelings. This is a great companion piece to Hou's masterly "Flowers of Shanghai" and fresh evidence of his status as Taiwan's greatest filmmaker.
“Millennium Mambo” is a film directed by Xiaoxian Hou in 2001. The movie used life story a group of young adults in Taipei. The female protagonist Vicky in the movie met one of the male protagonists Hao in a night club. And then they started to live together at Hao’s apartment. Hao turned out to be an immature young man who always tried to escape from reality buy not working and addicted to drugs. Hao is also an unsecure man. He checks Vicky’s cellphone and everything he could to find out if Vicky is cheating on him although Vicky went to working at a night club because Hao didn’t want to work at all. Doubtlessly, Hao does love Vicky. However, his immature and inappropriate action conducted Vicky’s leaving. Affection is like sands in the hand, the harder you grasp, the quicker it flow away. Then, Vicky met a man, who named Jie, is lot more mature and knows how to take care of Vicky. In the end of the movie, Vicky went to Japan to find Jie. However, she did not find him and Tokyo had a heavy snow.
ReplyDeleteI think the director wants to show us how contemporary young adults’ lives were in the 2000s through the movie. Young adults are most vulnerable to negative lures in the society. Drugs, alcohols, and gambling are easily to be addicted within this age group. Some of the young adults get “lost” easily in the early stage of their life. For instance, addicting to video games is a form of escaping from reality. Some of the gamers do not do well in their real life, so they spend a lot time in that virtually world, which they are good at, to make themselves feel better. I wouldn’t say it is totally wrong, but, people should face the reality not just asking their parents or anyone else for help due to their own foolish problem.
I think that the film bleeds with 21st century aspects of how people before the 21st century viewed it, however, I don't think that the 21st century is actually like this. I also see that the 21st century aspects were very dramatic in that the clubs (erotic,loud music...) vs. the home life (full of drugs) all shows how everyone thought the 21st century would be.
DeleteI thought the film did a fantastic job portraying early 21st century youth. Even today, some of the kids I witnessed in Asia lived this exact same lifestyle. The house music is still present, as is rampant drug usage and tobacco smoking.
DeleteMillennium Mambo was an interestingly different movie in my opinion. I found that the plot was basically nonexistent. I guess they wanted to just show this girls life and her inability to cope with change and how she always went back to the awful boy, and how she always relied on men to take care of her, no matter how awful they were to her. I learned a lot from the reading actually and it brought lots of clarity to the film even in the aspect of literature writing, because now that I think about it, that is what the movie seemed to be about, a book, or literature coming to life. “Writing serves a way out, a way to release all the crazy experiences you may go through in life. Slowly, writing no longer feels like a mission—it is simply the only path you have left to take” (Berry, 681). Like I said this makes more sense when you think about the film in this context.
ReplyDeleteI also found interesting the use of sound in the film. I remember thinking this a lot through the film, because you hear some traditional sounding music to really loud booming music to no music at all. So this contrast was fascinating. I think that aspect really pulls the audience in to pay more attention and helps set the stage a little more than a silent film would. Also the contrast was sometimes shown within one minute, so that also played with the audience’s emotions throughout the film.
the movie Millennium Mambo is about a girl named Vicky who meets a kinda creepy dude named Hao-hao who is an abusive, paranoid, druggie boyfriend that thinks his girlfriend is cheating on him. Vicky eventually has enough of him and meets jack who is a member of a mafia.
ReplyDeleteIn the interview, he talks about how he got into film making by sneaking into puppet shows, and going to see that last 5 minutes of the show because it is free(676). You can see that translated into the film wher Haohao was always sneaking into Vicky's stuff. thought the overall movie was kind of bad. The story moved along a little slow and it was not very exciting to watch.
I felt like Millennium Mambo was trying to dance with two left feet. With flat characters, thin plot and disjointed transitions, this film felt almost like a dream, except with no content. Constantly prevented from seeing the action clearly by purposefully foregrounded objects, we feel frustrated trying to piece scenes together, despite their long, inclusive nature. In addition, poor lighting, flat acting, and a sense of disconnection abound.
ReplyDeleteAs they mentioned in the interview, when discussing the film in question, they were working with a younger set of actors. "Moreover, kids today change so fast. The casting director for "Millennium Mambo", who is about the same age as the actors, told me that the pace of their lifestyle is so quick that there is really no way to catch them." (pg 706) Indeed, the actors feel distant, beyond the cinematography, their characters barely interact, and attempt to use facial expressions along the line of Maggic Cheung, but simply fall far short in terms of conveying emotion. However, the director is aware of these problems, as he says later in the same interview, "We are now finally finished shooting Millennium Mambo, but over the course of the editing process you always discover that all of those problems you assumed that you had already resolved suddenly reappear." (pg 707)
I really like your interpretation of the film's title. I honestly could not figure out why the film was titled as it was, except for the possibility that the word millennium signified the start of a new millennium. I too share your opinion about the flat characters and weak plot line.
DeleteThe comments that the casting director made in terms of the fast-paced lifestyle of the youth seems like a valid observation, but I don't understand the underlying message behind an entire film illustrating this type of lifestyle...
Millennium Mambo was a very interesting film. I'm not quite sure what the main point or message Hou Hsiao-hsen was trying to get across, but I did feel that he very accurately portrayed young people and their hectic lifestyle. Chu T'ien-wen spoke about how difficult it was to capture this lifestyle on film, when younger people were "living so fast they don't even realize they're living in a certain period of time. (704)."
ReplyDeleteThe dark blue lighting and the deep, bass-filled techno music reminded me of many different night clubs in Beijing/Asia, all with the same gritty feel, packed with directionless youth. In the film, we see constant drinking, rampant chain-smoking, and drug-usage, all staples in the diet of young party-goers.
The film itself, was a tad boring for me. The emotions of the actors were very subtle, but unlike Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, I felt the characters were empty. There is a scene in particular, at the 1 hour and 12 minute mark, where Hao Hao follows Vicky into a club to talk to her. This scene was about 10 minutes long, with extremely low lighting, and a few unknown characters scattered throughout, that was honestly a bit unbearable. Each character was bumping in front of the camera constantly, and it was impossible to discern who was talking to whom, and the lighting made it even more difficult. Moreover, the conversation led to nothing (I think Hao Hao beat her but it's impossible to tell), and led to more scenes in which nothing happened at Jack's apartment. All in all, I'm not quite sure what happened during the entire film. Another tidbit I took away from the interview was Hou Hsiao-hsen talking about his mischievous youth (676). I believe this contributed to his skill in portraying the reckless abandonment that the young so often possess.
I too had difficulty identifying the main message that Hou was trying to communicate. I'll be interested to hear people's interpretations tomorrow in class. I also found the characters empty. I think this emptiness contributed to the difficulty in identifying the moral of the whole story. We really don't know a lot about any of the characters in terms of their background and upbringing. The director only gives us information about events in the present or fairly recent past. This makes it hard to interpret the events because we don't have any contextual evidence to base our interpretations on.
DeleteMy biggest concern with this film is that I had extreme difficulty identifying any sort of definitive plot line. This lack of "purpose" made it difficult for me to keep interest in the film, and I can imagine that it had this same effect on others.
ReplyDeleteIn reflecting back on the main character's overall attitude and also on the interview, I can see similarities in the director and the main character. The director notes in the interview on page 677 how he used to sneak into the movie theater in middle school without paying. I wonder if the main character of this film was inspired by Hou's mischievous attitude as she too participated in many illegal activities such as taking drugs and concealing the truth about her boyfriend's stealing of his father's watch. Hou further emphasizes his mischievous nature as a child when he notes in the interview, "Early on I was a naughty kid, and going to films was just something to do; but it slowly turned into kind of a habit" (678). This could be compared to the evolution of the main character's involvement with drugs and alcohol. She probably was just bored and started doing drugs to try something new, but that led to a new habit. In Hou's case, his new habit turned out to be a good thing, but for the main character, it turned out to be a bad thing.