Although I'm always pretty skeptical about any art piece/film that is Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon-esque (a great movie on its own terms, but has since become equated with Chinese, along the lines of Kung Fu and General Tso), I saw this 9-screen installation by Isaac Julien entitled
Ten Thousand Waves recently at ShanghART (see my post on Mo Gan Shan road) and was fairly impressed. The stills below show off his photography skills- I like the colors and the depth and the fact that the beautiful Maggie Cheung joined the cast.
For me, the installation speaks about Chinese mythology in terms that are relevant today, like environmental sustainability. At one point, Maggie Cheung's goddess character overlooks the vastness of the seas, and it is implied that we, her children, are calling upon her.
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Two things:
ReplyDelete1. Maggie Cheung is great. Although I have to admit that I first came to know her when she played Jackie Chan's girlfriend in the Police Story films.
2. I remember seeing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the movies. People here were so unfamiliar with that style of movie that I people were laughing out loud during the first fight scene where Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi are running around on walls and roofs.
seriously. now I tell people to see In the Mood for Love, just to get a different picture of Chinese cinema than just running around on walls and roofs, haha.
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