Berta's Motives

The story is about a young girl's coming of age when she became friends with a neighbour who claimed to be a widow.

This reminded me of Edward Yang’s “Expectation” episode in “In Our Time” made one year prior to this film. Wonder if the director was influenced by it?

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Rango

This is an animation about how a chameleon became a hero for a small town in the desert by accident.

Liked the action sequences and how the protagonist searched for his purpose in life! A little disappointed that they didn't really put the water into good use in the end though.

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A Brighter Summer Day

The story is loosely based on the first juvenile murder case in Taiwan that happened in 1961. Students joined gangs to have a sense of belonging and the secret police were arresting people who were suspected to be communists.

Liked the nice songs, the detailed depiction of the life in Taiwan back in the early sixties and the theme of finding one's identity and purpose in life! The three sisters of Zhang Zhen all looked quite pretty!

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Taipei Story

The story is about how a couple who knew each other from young slowly drifted apart.

Liked the scenes that showcased the cityscape of Taiwan and how Ah Lung treated his old friends and his father-in-law! The Japanese advertisements and the historical footage of Taiwan playing baseball in America were also interesting!

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The Winter of 1905

The story is about a Chinese student, Li Shutong, who studied art, music and drama in Japan in 1905. His friend was a revolutionary who wanted to overthrow the Qing dynasty.

The Japanese girlfriend of the Chinese student looked very pretty but his acting was a bit wooden.

In Our Time

The film consists of four short stories: "Little Dragon Head" about a young boy with a toy dragon, "Expectation" about a young girl's yearning for love, "The Jumping Frog" about college life and "Say Your Name" about one day in the life of a couple.

Liked the dream sequences and the song in "Little Dragon Head"! The teenage girl in "Expectation" acted very well, the competition was exciting in "The Jumping Frog" and "Say Your Name" was funny!

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Black Swan

The story is about how a ballet dancer's strive for perfection caused her to lose herself as she prepared for two contrasting roles in a new adaptation of "Swan Lake".

Liked how the film depicted the psychological transformation of Natalie Portman! Great special effects that merged dream and reality! Also liked the pretty costumes and the nice music!

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Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly

The story follows several characters on how they lead their lives in Indonesia. There are two students, a national badminton player, an old billiards player and a blind dentist among others.

Liked the scene with the pig! Thought the film showed the identity crisis faced by Indonesian Chinese quite nicely! Nice song too!

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The Private Life of Henry VIII

The story is about the relationship between King Henry VIII and his six wives.

Liked the King's optimistic attitude despite his many past failed relationships! Learnt a bit about the history of England through this film!

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It's A Great Great World

The film consists of four short stories about the Great World Amusement Park in Singapore that was established in 1929 and closed down in 1978.

Liked how the director covered several parts of the amusement park across different eras! Henry Thia's photo shoot in the first segment was innovative, the ghost ride in the second segment was scary, the songs were nice in the third segment and the dialect jokes in the final segment were funny!

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Made In U.S.A.

The story is about a female reporter investigating about her boyfriend's death.

Didn't really like this as it was very hard to follow without having any background knowledge on the obscure political and literary references that the director was making. The songs sang by the Japanese girl and the French girl were very nice though!

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When Hainan Meets Teochew

The story is about how two neighbors, Hainan and Teochew, met and fell in love with each other. Hainan is a manly woman who used to share her flat with her ex-girlfriend. Teochew is a man who wished that he was a woman and whose dead brother would appear from nowhere to give him advice.

The relationship among the characters was too complex for me to comprehend but I liked the scene where Hainan was teaching her siblings how to pronounce the Hainan dialect properly! Her younger sister looked quite cute!

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Invasion

The story is about how a small group of resistance fighters plotted against a totalitarian state.

Liked the interesting sound effects that incorporated tango music and the grand invasion sequence with many lorries, planes and ships!

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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

The story is about the past lives of a middle aged man with a kidney problem. His son transformed to a giant ape and his dead wife came back as a ghost to take care of him. His sister-in-law and two other friends were also featured in the film.

Liked the interesting catfish episode and the nice leisurely walks through the countryside!

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A Brand New Life

The story is about a little girl who was left by her father in an orphanage during the mid seventies as he hoped that she would have a better life.

Liked the scene where the father cycled with the little girl at his back! Great acting by the little girl but I enjoyed "Treeless Mountain" slightly more than this.

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The Zero Years

The story is about the friendship among four women under very harsh conditions.

Liked the black and white sequence of the four children climbing out of the drain as well as the depiction of the banal day to day events in the house! Great acting by the actresses!

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Rembrandt

This is a biography of Rembrandt who was a famous Dutch painter in the 17th century.

Liked the interesting anecdotes shared by the painter! Would have liked the film to showcase more of his paintings though.

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The Shop on Main Street

The story is about what happened after a Czech peasant took over an old Jewish woman's shop during the second World War.

Liked the nice little story! Great acting by the lead actor and actress!

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The Magician

The story is about the battle of wits between a magician and a skeptical medical adviser who believed that science could explain everything.

Quite surprised to learn that Bergman made comedies too! Liked the humor, the flirting maids and the suspense towards the end!

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The Suspended Vocation

The story is about a priest who had doubts about the purpose of his job seen from two perspectives.

Didn't really like this film as it was too abstract. The special effects of splicing two films together was pretty well executed in my opinion though.

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