HK Protest Documentary Wins Golden Horse

A still from Chow's Revolution of Our Times documentary

Tonight the Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-speaking world's equivalent of the Oscars was held tonight and the Hong Kong documentary on the 2019 protests was named Best Documentary.

When the film Revolution of Our Times was announced as the winner, it prompted a long round of applause and shouts of support for Hong Kong from the audience in Taipei.

Director Kiwi Chow sent a pre-recorded message from Hong Kong. He expressed thanks for the award, dedicated the film to Hong Kong people, saying he hoped it would bring them some comfort.

Chow speaking via a recorded message in HK

"I cried a lot when I produced this film; several times I comforted myself with this film, to express my anger, hatred, to face my fear and trauma," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

The 152-minute documentary follows several protesters and documents their clashes with police in the 2019 anti-government protests. 

Revolution of Our Times was a last-minute addition to the Cannes Film Festival lineup in July, but it will never be shown in Hong Kong because of the national security law which prohibits any hint of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.

As a result those in the arts and culture fields are worried about work being misconstrued as contravening the national security law. Most recently the opening of M+ contemporary art museum resulted in photographs by dissident artist Ai Weiwei not being displayed even though they are part of a collection donated by well-known Swiss collector Uli Sigg.

This big win for the documentary comes days after the second anniversary of the District Council elections where 71 percent of registered voters turned the city's electoral map yellow except for one district. It was an unprecedented win for the pro-democrats, but the victory was short lived, again because of the national security law.

A poster of the documentary

Since then the city's institutions are being dismantled from the district councillors themselves to grassroots organisations and unions, as well as a pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily.

Chow's film is a reminder of what happened and to never forget.

Review: Parasite

South Korean film Parasite has reverberated among critics and viewers

I finally saw the highly acclaimed Korean film Parasite by Bong Joon-ho with much trepidation. It was the first South Korean film to win a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

It's not an easy film to watch and leaves you thinking about how this story is any different from how people in reality function: Are we all parasites in one way or another?

Director Bong Joon-ho winning the Palme d'Or for Parasite

The story starts off showing the Kim family in dire living conditions, in a sub-basement and trying to use the wifi from the upstairs occupants. They eke out a living folding cardboard pizza boxes, but even this simple task they can't do well and their pay is docked. How will they ever survive?

Luckily the adult son Ki-Woo (played by Choi Woo-shik) gets a recommendation from a friend to tutor the daughter of a rich and successful couple, Mr Park (Lee Sun-kyun) and his pretty wife Yeon-kyo (Cho Yeo-jeong).

Ki-Woo proves to be a good tutor and discovers the Parks' younger son needs an art tutor and recommends his sister (Park So-dam), but of course doesn't say they are related. Soon they con their way into getting the chauffeur job for their father (Song Kang-ho), but replacing the Parks' longtime housekeeper with the Kim matriarch Chang Hyde-jin) takes ingenious planning.

The Kims' ability to seamlessly slide into the Parks' lives and take advantage of this wealthy family shows not only the immense gap between the rich and the poor, but also how desperate people can be to get ahead.

The Kim family survives by folding cardboard pizza boxes

It is an amusing, but also pointed observation that turns to a shocking and sad ending. The reality is, becoming rich can only be a dream for most of us.

Bong explained to the New York Times that father Kim (Song) is a very famous actor in South Korea, while the son Choi is an up-and-coming actor. And so the scene where the son rehearses with the father about what to say to Mrs Park is amusing for South Koreans to watch -- like watching a young novice telling someone like Robert De Niro how to act.

But what also got a lot of buzz in South Korea about Parasite was how the wealth gap was portrayed in the movie. Remember in 2014, Air Korea CEO Cho Yang-ho's daughter Heather Cho Hyun-ah and vice president of the airline flew into a rage when nuts were not served to her on a plate on a flight from New York to Seoul.

The Park family holds a lavish birthday party for their child

The "nut rage" incident also echoes another one that was more tragic that year -- the Sewol ferry disaster in which 304 people drowned, of which 250 were students on a field trip. The ship was owned by the Yoo family, which investigators later found had siphoned off millions of dollars while encouraging its managers to cut corners and flout safety rules.

While Parasite does not directly refer to these incidents, they came to mind afterwards while analyzing the film, in that it mirrors reality, though with a macabre twist.

Another way to emphasize the rich-poor gap is through the excellent cinematography by Hong Kyung-pyo. Notice the Kim family is always together in the frame to emphasize not only their cramped conditions, but they are a close-knit group, while the Park family members are hardly together in the same shot, their home on the hill so large and spacious.

Bong (in grey suit) with the cast of Parasite at Cannes

Parasite is a film that makes observations about how money affects human nature, and is this the kind of world we want to live in?

Parasite (2019)
Directed by Bong Joon-ho
Screenplay by Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won

From Provence to Nice

The picturesque town of Gordes in Provence

Our visit to Provence ended today, with a quick visit to Gordes, considered the most picturesque town in France, and the stone villas look simultaneously rustic and luxurious.

Spotted Marilyn Monroe on the wall of a hotel

They are scattered over the hills, some with swimming pools to keep cool. We happened to pass by during a farmer's market where fresh vegetables and fruits were sold, along with clothing and espadrilles.

We were particularly impressed by the walls, made of individual rough plate-like stones that were assembled with a bit of mortar in between to hold them together, or with time, as there were even plants growing in the dirt that had accumulated between the cracks.

Another quick tour of Cannes was made, where the film festival began in 1946, where And God Created Woman which made Brigitte Bardot a star. Nine years later the Palm d'Or was established to award the best film of the event by a jury made up of actors and directors.

The "organ", where scents are mixed to create a perfume

And how can we pass through the area without going to Grasse, home of where perfume is made? Our tour (like many other groups) went to Fragonard, named after the painter and printmaker Jean-Honore Fragonard who was born in Grasse in 1732.

In the 16th century it was fashionable to wear perfume to mask the smell of leather. Fragonard the perfumery was started in 1926 and our guide hinted the company made perfumes for other companies.

The "nose", or the person who creates the scents is highly sought after. It takes nine years to study to become one -- if they have the talent for it.

A ceremony marking the deaths of two resistance members

In general it takes 10,000 flowers to make 1kg of essence, and lavender will be cut in the next few days, of which takes 600kg for 1kg of essence of the purple flower.

We arrived in Nice late in the afternoon and temperatures cooled down quickly in early evening. After dinner we walked along the street and heard La Marseillaise, or the French anthem being played.

When we got closer, we saw older men with medals on their shirts carrying French flags, as well as a few women, while a military band played. The ceremony was quickly over after that and many people dispersed.

Remembering those fighting against Hitler

Some people explained to us that it was on this day in 1944 that two members of the resistance were caught by the Nazis and were hung on the lamp post on the two adjacent corners and made people in the town parade past them to show they were an example.

White flowers with ribbons in blue, red and white were laid on the ground, while others placed red carnations at the two spots. The plaques gave the names of the two men who died, and paintings of their portraits were placed there for the ceremony.

It was interesting to see that though two people died here, they were remembered even to this day. It also shows how much people here hated Hitler, as the plaque says his name and not the Nazis.

Soon after we heard jazz playing further down the street to find the Nice Jazz Festival has just gotten underway today until July 12. The line up includes people like Jamie Cullum, Lauryn Hill, Jason Moran, and Kool and the Gang.

Children have fun playing in the water park near the square

Across the street is a water park and children had a great time playing with the mist and water fountains that spewed out of the black slate. We may head there tomorrow to beat the heat!