| SYNOPSIS:
Dragon
Eye Congee is a touching story of love that transcends time
and space, based on a short story of the same name written
by the Taiwanese democracy activist Bo Yang. Since childhood,
Chen Shih-Ming (Shaun Tam) has been dreaming about a woman,
Ho Shin-Yuen (Fann Wong), beckoning him to enjoy a fragrant
bowl of congee. Intrigued, he follows the haunting erhu melody
and stumbles upon an old house and the woman in his dreams...
MOVIE
REVIEW :
The perks
of a film reviewer are the abundant free movies to watch and
of course, the chicks. The downside of the job is stay through
a horrible two-hour long abomination, persevere with a thin
strand of professional ethic. My first ten minutes into this
suspense ridden Taiwanese production of romance was frustrating
enough for me to start whining. Before you question my faith
towards Taiwanese films or my patience, bear in mind that
one of my favorite movies of all time is Tsai Ming-Liang’s
‘Wayward Cloud’ (2005), and that film alone can
verify my patience. Casting silly idol serial drama asides,
I always deemed Taiwan and Korea as countries capable of intelligent
art-house producers, paralleled with the Europeans. Unlike
the major players like America or Hong Kong film industry,
their films are not motivated commercially and strive to make
movies with substance and depth. Because they are not monetary
motivated, the success of their productions are not tied to
the box office. The integrity of their films often requires
a potent mix of patience and rationalization to appreciate,
and that often deters people from trying. In short, like the
Europeans, Taiwan film-makers are a branch of selfish artists
shooting a film entirely for themselves, ignoring the masses’
appeal. How charming!
Back
to Dragon Eye Congee. After this review, I will pen my letter
to its director Mr Allen Chang, demanding him to return a
hundred minutes of my time. I’m serious. I’m also
serious about the part of bailing this trash and request a
stand-in for this review. But then I realized that I’m
a man with mission, and that in M. Night Shyamalan’s
tradition, coincidences are invalid. I must warn the good
people out there of this congee of boredom!
The plot
was thinner than a tissue paper, the dialogues were lame and
it’s base acting nailed what was necessary to sink the
boat completely. Shuan Tam did assimilate his good looks from
his father Ti Lung, the veteran action hero. But if only he
knows how to act. Fann Wong was not that bad; in fact she
was the only one holding the show together. But requiring
the thirty-something her to play coy as a teenager student
can be unbearable to watch, regardless of how youthful she
looked. The film stretched with flashbacks and dreams with
beautiful illustrations of scenery and soothing background
music, then I realized that I’m in fact, is watching
a hundred-minute MTV.
Dragon
Eye Congee is what you get by stirring the concept of idol
romance (complete with bad actors maybe excluding Fann Wong)
while trying to stew an artsy taste. Enough said.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD does not contain any special features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Breathtaking scenery between the contrast
of the blue cloudy skies and the green grass. And that was
all there is to look out for in the film. Some parts of the
picture when reacting with certain colors give a grainy image.
Subtitles include both Chinese and English.
MOVIE
RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Ang Wei Kiat
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