20100129

TWO FILMS


音樂人生 (click on to view the video)

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We watched this film with iza 2 weeks ago. The conversations, sounds and images of the film are still so vivid in my mind. I'm not able to write about it until my heightened sentiments settled, my stirred heart rested.

It's a documentary of a highly talented boy who won the Best Pianist price at the age of 11 and went to Czech to perform with a professional orchestra. The director’s 6-year-conversations (from 11 to 17) with the boy reveal his passion and ideal on music, his feelings of out of place, his question on life ... it is not about the victory of a genius, but how he strikes to be a "human being". I'm overwhelmed by his pure heart and arrogance, naiveness and sophistication, charm and insanity ... he suffers. He is a real person.
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This documentary has won
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2009 Taipei Golden Horse Awards Best Documentary, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effect
2009 Hong Kong International Film Festival
2009 Yun Nam Documentary Festival
2008 CNEX Documentary Festival
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More here.
Image via here.
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...
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音樂人生 was the second independent film we watched with iza. Boses 聲.音 was the first one. We watched this in the summer of 2009. (All cartoons and big movies like Avatar do not fall into this category.)
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Boses is directed by Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, Philippines. It's about a child, Onyok, he left mute after suffering traumatizing physical abuse by his father. He's then sent to a shelter where he meets friends and bullies who share his fate. Ariel, a musican who is grieving the death of her girlfriend, discovers Onyok's immense musical talent hidden behind a veneer of silence. Ariel teaches Onyok violin, in the process, their wounds begin to heal. The silent boy eventually overcomes a descensitized existence to find his voice in music.
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BOSES (click on to view the video)+
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7 comments:

Yoli said...

I would love to see this, it sounds like something that would touch anyone's soul.

Karumen said...

it's always sad to see geniuses gone "wasted" after becoming famous too soon n got lost in life -- on the flip side, it's always very very encouraging to see someone figuring their ways out and not get stuck by their own talent :))

n perhaps thus the phrase of "平凡是福"

Kenza said...

oh! I could only understand a bit from the bits of English, his facial expression, his body language. What a master of music! And your comments were helpful. Yes very human and I like the part where he says "this is paper, I am a human being - much more interesting." Thank you so much for this and have a lovely week end. Kenza.

Maia said...

Alliot, I am always struck by your sensitivity to the human spirit.

I probably need to see this film. My beloved great-aunt Jacqueline was a concert pianist who began as a child prodigy. She gained fame in pre-war Europe even before puberty. She went on to tour Europe as accompanist to Yehudi Menuhin prior to WWII. Once the war reached France, she was able to escape to the US with the rest of her family, and went on to tour the US as a concert pianist for many years. I was at one time her student, before I gave up the piano.

Fei An said...

我只看了一个音乐人生的预告片,浑身都起鸡皮疙瘩了。。。不好意思,这么来形容这种震撼。准备马上去买个dvd回来看。孩子的世界,视野,和角度是真挚而清澈的,而大人的很容易会被蒙昧了世俗的尘埃。该做个什么样的人。感谢分享。Alliot,你的这个博客起码对我和安雅,和安耐会有很大的影响。再次感谢。

Yanyan said...

Would love to see this. Thanks for sharing, have a great weekend. Yanyan

Evelyne said...

I try to see it in France.
It's seem beautiful. Thanks Aliott and beautiful Week-end .