Kong Fu Fighting

back to Hong Kong, the city was for decades the third largest motion picture industry in the world, after Bollywood and Hollywood. it developed into one of the three most important Chinese-speaking filmmaking centers of world (together with China and Taiwan), exporting movies and movie stars (Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan and Chow Yun Fat) worldwide. actually it would be better to define it as a Cantonese-speaking filmmaking center, which is quite different from the official language spoken in China - Mandarin. luckily, most of the Chinese diaspora, including the big Chinese communities in America, are decedents of Cantonese immigrants, which became a huge market for the Hong Kong cinema overseas.

Hong Kong movies are known primarily for its commercial action films, martial art fight scenes, motorcycle chases and sexy Asian women. The golden era of the industry was between the mid 80's (what else!) and the beginning of the 90's. In 1993, Hong Kong made a record 200 films.

my first experiences with the Hong Kong movies were somewhere in the late 70's (i was very young then, yes). one movie that i remember was a bizarre combination between King Kong and Tarzan - The Mighty Peking Man (1977) with a very 'convincing' Hong Kong downtown model as a set...

and of course there were the unforgettable Bruce Lee movies...

one recent movie is In The mood For Love (2000) that was nominated for the Palme d'Or in Cannes.

...and just to finish with the title theme...

September 1961

back after a long summer break and a great september in Berlin, here is something dedicated to that month... 'Come September' is a romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan in 1961, starring by Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida. the story about the American millionaire who arrives for his annual vacation at his luxurious Italian villa and has to face the love games of his long-time girlfriend, might not be so sophisticated but never the less it gives a chance to see Italy and Milan in its glorious times, the 60's...

Reality bites

these two movies 'Sommer vorm Balkon' (summer in Berlin) by Andreas Dresen, Germany 2007 and 'Tutta la vita davanti' by Paolo Virzì, Italy 2008, describe the life of the margins of society, which becomes more and more mainstream in their countries. it is interesting to compare, beyond the story, the current issues that emerge in each one of them and the specific problems that these countries deal with in these days: unemployment, social assistance, family ties, relationships and instability. i find that in both movies there is a very good study of the scenography and the characters with big attention to the details.

Architecture in the movies

especially for the Academy Award nomination tonight - the Oscar night, here is a link to a list of eight classic films (made almost a year ago) where the buildings are more than a backdrop, made by flavorwire.com.
i would include some other great movies like Star Wars or the Fifth Element, but for me, Blade Runner was definitely the most inspiring one.

Koyaanisqatsi

life in turmoil, life out of balance, life disintegrating or a way of life that calls for another way of living' (referring to the modern life). the film consists primarily of photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the US showing different aspects of the relationship between humans, nature, and technology. the film was followed by two others - Powaqqatsi (1988) and Nagoyqatsi (2002) creating the Qatsi trilogy. definitely something to see in Copenhagen, today.

Kill Macaluso

(a topic in common with the movie Divorzio all'Italiana)seems very contemporaryAcademy Award in 1968.

Divorzio all'Italiana

with a classic pattern of the the lack of a divorce law (which will come only in 1970) and the anachronistic article of the penal code that regulates 'crimes of honor' (which will be abolished only twenty years later). something to think about in these days when the Italian juridical system is in action again...
the film won the Academy Award for best story and screenplay and was nominated for best actor in leading role (Marcello Mastroianni) and best director.

Panic in Detroit!

Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex, a very good book that i usually read only during yom-kippur (because you need a lot of time and concentration) which is in a part, a saga of an immigrant greek family in Detroit with many references to historic events of the city. Madonna, also native of Detroit, just finished her worldwide tour, the crisis of the car industry and so on...
so, Detroit: at the beginning of the 20th Century, the city of Detroit developed rapidly thanks to the automobile industry, a home to the 'Big Three' companies, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. until the 50’s, its population rose to almost 2 million people and Detroit was the 4th most important city in the US. segregation and de-industrialization caused violent inter-racial riots in the late 60's (some say that the song of Bowie 'Panic in Detroit' is based on Iggy Pops's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known at that time). the following white middle-class exodus from the city together with the oil crises of 1973 (yom kippur war), that impacted the American auto industry, marked the beginning of the decline. firms and factories began to close or move to lower-wage states. slowly, but inexorably downtown high-rise buildings, theaters and historic monuments emptied. Since the 50’s, “Motor City” lost more than half of its population. source: alex|3d

Mio fratello è figlio unico

My Brother is an only Child is an Italian drama film (2007) directed by Danielle Luchetti. it is based on the novel of Antonio Pennacchi Il fasciocomunista who then disassociated himself from the film, claiming that his real intentions were modified. the film tries to describe the political tension between Communists and Fascists in Italy during the late 60's from a working class family point of view. very good parts of Elio Germano and Angela Finocchiaro
the title comes from a song by Rino Gaetano.

Rio

Rio de Janeiro, 80's, no global warming, no favelas (at least not in the movie...), no deforestation, only beautiful beaches and amazing topography. how nice would it be!

Thunderbirds Reloaded

a cult TV series that kept us busy in the afternoons and definitely re-evaluated the importance of the eyebrows. aircraft n.2 was my favourite. will be continued with 'team america'

The Teahouse of the August Moon

i love japan. well, at least i think. i've never been there but i was always fascinated by the culture of the rising sun country. i guess it's also because of these Hollywood productions i saw when we still had one TV channel.

The Teahouse of the August Moon. 1956 directed by Daniel Mann. with Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford and Machiko Kyo

Fellini's Roma - Catholic Church Fashion Show

A wonderful piece of Fellini. thanks to Riccardo