【Film Review】The Secret Life of Walter Mitty／白日夢冒險王

I wanted to watch this film when I saw the preview at the theater. The day-dream sequence, the scenery of Greenland and Iceland, and the backpacking part were very attractive to me. When I finally had the chance to watch it, I found the concept of this film too intentional.

I cannot deny that this film is very encouraging, with Life Magazine’s motto hanging on the wall of the office, which goes like “To see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to, to draw closer, to see and be amazed.” Yet it is very similar to recent films like Eat, Pray, Love, telling people to embrace the world. I found that in recent years, Hollywood has continuously released this type of films, and they have started to become a genre. It is like urban people needs someone to tell them every year to get out of the place they live, to travel around, and to see things in the world. The idea of embracing the world is right (we should embrace the world every now and then, as a living entity), but saying it out loud too many times may sound nagging and too intentional. I started to wonder if the film company has cooperated with travel agencies to sell flight tickets.

However, apart from the seemingly obvious intention and some surreal plots (Walter rides a bike or skateboards to chase photojournalist Sean O’Connell, or jumps off a helicopter into the sea), there are still some parts of the film I like: day-dream sequences and natural scenery. When Walter “zones off", the film actually turns into different genres of film for the audience. It can be Matrix or Scott Pilgrim vs the World (when he fights with his boss on the road), Superman (when he jumps into the apartment and rescues a dog), and Romance movie (when he talks with Cheryl in the park), adding variety to the film. In addition, the zoning off sequence also paves the way for the comparison between the the real experience and the day dreams. Natural scenery is also a huge attraction for the audience in this film. Greenland, Iceland, and Himalaya may not be the travel spots constantly chosen by tourists, but the beautiful natural scenery the film captures in these places are very fascinating.

I find the main character Walter very comical and surreal: beside his zoning out sequences, the cost of the trip does not affect his life so much, and he can adapt to any kind of conditions, which in real life almost no one could do that without hesitation and practice. But except from all these, I think lots of viewers can relate to Walter very much as working for a firm for many years and the efforts are quite important but least appreciated. I will give this film 4 stars out of 5.

2014-01-262014-01-27 由Maurice Lee撰寫

[Book Review] J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace

J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, the 1999 Booker Prize winning novel, guides readers through the states of humiliation of the main characters, David Lurie, Lucy, and those dogs in the animal clinic, and shows us how they will react when they are insulted or attacked. David Lurie is a 50 something professor teaching western literature in an university. When he is found sleeping with his student Melanie, he does not defend himself against school board, but chooses to flee the city instead. His reaction towards his own state of disgrace is to escape from the scene of the crime. Similarly, when his daughter Lucy and him encounter the attack and rape, he strongly recommends Lucy to leave the countryside and starts a life somewhere else; however, Lucy determines to stay at the farm and face the humiliation because she feels that she will never return if she decides to go away. Though David attempts to persuade her several times, Lucy does not give in. This would probably result in David’s later visit to Melanie’s home and her theatre play. It is like Lucy shows David the spirit of standing firmly in front of the state of being disgraceful instead of running away from it. This also changes David’s idea towards his favorite dog in the clinic. So at the end, we can see that instead of prolonging the dog’s life for another week, David brings the dog into the clinic for the needle of death.

2014-01-132016-12-15 由Maurice Lee撰寫