心動 - Tempting Heart

I have almost forgotten about this great chinese movie, one of my favourites of all times, until I watched a chinese documentary film on Sylvia Chang (the scriptwriter, producer and director of this movie) earlier tonight. She also happens to be one of my favourite chinese directors. In fact, I love almost all the movies that she produces.

The story of this movie, 心動 (known as Tempting Heart in english), is about how a pair of young lovers were forced to seperate due to parental objections. They led their seperate lives and had their own marriages but both remained in each other minds for many years. As fate would have it, they bumped into each other again and despite wanting to reunite, several events in life got in their way and they never got back together. In the final scene, the male lead sent a parcel to the female lead. It was box containing many random photographs that he had taken over the years whenever he thought of her. Sounds a little cliche but the story is all about love, pain, life and regrets. A painfully beautiful movie.

Lyrics

有多久沒見你以為你在那裡
原來你就住在我的心底
陪伴著我的呼吸
有多遠的距離以為聞不到你氣息
誰知道你背影這麼長
回頭就看到你

過去讓它過去來不及
從頭喜歡你
白雲纏繞著藍天

如果不能夠永遠走在一起
也至少給我們
懷念的勇氣
擁抱的權利
好讓你明白我心動的痕跡

過去讓它過去 來不及
從頭喜歡你
白雲纏繞著藍天
如果不能夠永遠走在一起
也至少給我們
懷念的勇氣
擁抱的權利
好讓你明白我心動的痕跡

總是想再見你
還試著打探你的消息
原來 你就住在我的身體
守護我的回憶

La vita e bella (Life is Beautiful)

La Vita e Bella (aka Life is Beautiful) is one of my all time favourite classic movie. The story is about a man who won the heart of a lady with his funny and charismatic character and built a beautiful family together when they produced a son.

Guido (the male lead) loved his family more than anything else in the world. He was a young, poor guy when he met Dora (the femal lead who is also his wife in real life) who came from a wealthy family. Despite the differences in their class status, Dora fell in love with Guido who has a very kind heart. Between the couple, there were always lots of laughter and admiration for each other. Their love story seemed even more like a fairy tale when they got married and had an adorable son. Their lives, however, changed overnight when World War II broke out.

Guido (who happened to be a Jew) and his son were caught and taken to the nazi camp. Dora wasn't jewish but she insisted on following and was taken to the women camp. During the entire time they were in camp, Guido managed his 4 year old son by coming up with the idea that they were playing a game with the Nazis. The rules were that the boy should not cry, complain about hunger, or ask for the mother. If he broke the rules, points would be deducted. And the final prize of the game was a ride in a Tank. With this, Guido continued to create fun for his son amidst the chaotic living situation in the Nazi camp. At the end of the movie, Guido died but not before he made his son laughed one more time by pretending to march like the Nazis.

I strongly encourage anyone who has not watched this movie to give it a chance. The entire film is in italian but there are english subtitles. This story will bring you tears of laughter and sadness at the same time. The love that Guido and Dora had for each other, Guido's determination in staying positive for his child as a father in a life threatening situation, his ability to find pleasure and humour in everything that he did right till the end of his life, and his commitment to protect his family in all aspects. If you are not moved by this beautiful story after watching the movie, you must not be human!
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Breakfast at Tiffany´s

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – another favourite old movie of mine. Audrey Hepburn played the role of Holly Golightly, the kooky character who earned a living as a call girl in the big city of New York while looking out for a rich man that she could marry. Beneath the glamorous party girl image was a lonely soul who was so afraid of commitment that she did not even want to give her cat (that she picked up somewhere) a name, simply calling it “Cat”.

A friend introduced me to the movie when I was 20 and I was very much captivated by the exquisite beauty of Audrey Hepburn. I love the literature element in the movie and the intriguing character of Holly Golightly. Oh, and the fashion too. All the dresses worn by Audrey Hepburn in the movie were specially designed by Givenchy. In fact, it was this movie that started the trend of women wearing the little black dress as a classic wardrobe staple. In the opening scene, Holly Golightly wore a long black gown by Givenchy and walked along the Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the early hours of the morning (after a night of partying apparently). She stopped infront of the Tiffany store and ogled at the jewellery while eating a pastry. That gown reportedly fetched a price of USD1 million in an auction in 2006.

The theme song “Moon River” was specially written for Audrey Hepburn to sing in the movie. Since then, many versions of the song have been sung by various artistes over the years. Until today, the song, along with the movie, continue to be a classic enjoyed by many people. I have chosen this particular youtube clip of the scene in the movie where Audrey Hepburn sat by the window and sang the song while playing her guitar. Love her casual ensemble of an old sweater with skinny jeans. Very very chic.

Somewhere In Time

I love a good old movie. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Gone with the Wind and Somewhere in Time are a few of my favourites. The funny thing is, I actually don't enjoy most of the current romance movies and rarely have the patience to watch one over 180 minutes. But there is something nostalgic about old movies that I really like. Perhaps I'm quite an old fashioned at heart.

I can't remember when I first watched Somewhere in Time. I read the original novel Bid Time Return that was written by Richard Matheson in 1975. Five years later, the film Somewhere in Time (adapted from the book) was released. Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour were the lead actor and actress. In a nutshell, the story was about Reeve who was attracted to Seymour when he saw a photo of her at the Grand Hotel and travelled back in time to 1912 to search for her. They fell in love of course. A little corny but I highly recommend everyone to go watch the movie. And how can anyone not like the theme song written by John Barry?