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Reviews
Tuya de hun shi (2006)
Tuya's condition for her marriage: he had to take care of her ex.
Just when the audience decided to sit back and relax to enjoy a plain, slow moving film shot in the Mogolian steppe, they found themselves grabbed by the unexpected twists and turns as the story unfolded.
Tuya was in great trouble. She hurt her back trying to save her neighbor. She had to look for a man to carry on with the work in the farm as her husband, Barter, was crippled. Suitors, including a high school secret admirer, flocked at her doorstep and she was not keen on any of them.
Tuya was about to resign to fate, when she found true love and solutions to her problems. The first scene was an exact duplicate of the last. Tuya shut herself up to weep, but then her new husband called her. She had to get out to face new challenges in her new life.
The exotic Mongolian music, both the singing and the instrumentals, and the shots of the grand steppe, distant mountains and the over hanging full moon added distinct flavor to the movie.
The plot somehow reminded me of Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd". The one was the one nearest to you and the one you had written off completely in the first place.
Wu Qingyuan (2006)
The go master of all times was illustrated as a person.
The director Tian deliberately portrayed the human side of the all conquering master of all masters in the history of the game, Wu Qingyuan. His victories and exploits were only briefly mentioned in the subtitles while his sufferings made up most parts of the film. His decision to apply for citizenship greatly tormented him. On the outbreak of the war, he sought refuge in religion. He was shattered when it turned out to be nothing but a hoax. His winning streak ended after a traffic accident and he took it very badly. But by then he was almost 50, way past his prime.
A delightful find was Sylvia Chang, playing Wu's mother.
The spirit of the game was most dramatically displayed: not even the atom bomb at Hiroshima could stop a championship game played right there in the city.
The greatness of Master Wu was subtly illustrated in the first and last game of go. In a game of go, the junior or lower ranking player always takes black and has the first move. In the first game, Wu, the young master played the first three stones in an unprecedented opening, especially the third, at the center of the board, a taboo shunned by any player but firmed established himself as an innovator. In the last, an exhibition game to celebrate Wu's retirement, his young pretender played the first stone at the center of the board, copying him and bringing Wu's game into the future.