12.06.2008
Red Hot Docs: A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
http://www.sydneyfilmfestival.org/film_details.asp?id=71&...
Alright, I admit, the title of the film is a bit bizarre (or perhaps it’s the selling point itself?). But this feature length documentary from UK was included in this years’ Sydney Film Festival and was proven to be a very popular one. I know, I was there.
“A Complete History of My Sexual Failures” was also a hit in Sundance, introduced by one of the festival facilitators. I’ve copied the introduction from Sydney Film Festival’s page:
“Dumped by yet another girl after just three weeks, shabby (with no redeeming chic) and hapless thirtysomething Chris Waitt embarks on a mission to determine the 'why' behind his failed love life. Confused by his multitude of ex-girlfriends' decisive lack of interest in being interviewed for his new project, and yearning to reconnect with the only long-term love of his life (who is totally unavailable), he creates a MySpace page to attract new options and soon reveals an embarrassing performance problem. As the quest becomes more urgent, so the slapstick comedy escalates. Documentary-making as personal sex-therapy is hardly a new form, but this riotously funny film is less interested in the darker preoccupations of I Am a Sex Addict or The Good Woman of Bangkok, and more driven by a beguiling hopelessly romantic everydayness. CS”
Sounds interesting? Well yes. It was even more hysterical when you actually watch it. The audience sort of knew what to expect but the extreme length the director/film Chris Waitt went through was unbelievably painfully comically hilarious. We human being must be a very mean species – how we enjoy laughing at people’s misfortune!
Chris Waitt was there at the Beginning of the film to introduce his documentary. When he started speaking we knew he had a wicked sense of humour. Perhaps more like the Monty Python type of humour, or perhaps that’s really the only type of British humour I’ve encountered with. (then you count the Black Adder, Fawlty Towesr, Yes Minister…) Anyway in the end of the film he again presented himself there for audience to ask him questions. By that time we already felt that we’ve known Chris, in person, for many many years, after watching all the humiliating things he had gone through in the film. There was not a lot of questions relating to film/documentary making. People are more interested in the aftermath. The audience just loved this likeable loser, and an accidental filmmaker.
Apparently it took a very experienced editor to work on it from 400 hours of footage to form this documentary. No one in the production team, even the filmmaker himself, was sure about how it would turn out. But in the end it all worked out well. Because as it turned out, “A Complete History of My Sexual Failures” was not just about sex, it was about, as corny as it might sound, finding love.
08:31 Posted in 電影廊 FILMS | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: film, documentary, sex, love, relationship
25.05.2006
Discovery
I woke up around 7:30 in the morning and because I thought about work I was unable to go back to sleep. Then I turned the TV on. Discovery channel as usual. And this program was on.
It was a documentary about a female paper cutting artist; with a weathered face from a rural village in China, she must be in her 50s or 60s. She has this amazing ability to cut what ever she sees or experiences into paper cutting art. Since she's living in the rural village the paper art is mainly about the farm life. She lives with her family, very simple and nice people, in the village. Paper cutting is a way of life for her, she's a farmer and she cares more about the harvest than anything else.
As the documentary went on, her husband was sick, and sadly passed away. The family was so poor they couldn't afford anything "traditional" for the funeral. It was absolutely minimal. The sadness was shown on her face, and at one point she said in a most heart-breakingly casual way, "maybe it's good that he's gone, it's better than us being alive". She continued her paper art.
One day, someone from the "city" came to visit her and expressed an interest in hosting an exhibition for her paper cutting art. Life seemed to turn for the better. The whole family, the son, the daughter, the grandson, were all excited and accompanied her to the exhibition in the city. It was reasonably impressive, with a lot of art magazine editors and professors attending it, and it was a world apart from the farm life. But it wasn't all good. Those so-called "art experts", for example, hosted a panel to discuss her art. She was there, but her voice wasn’t heard. Instead, those experts were debating the “symbolic meaning of realism” and how it could apply to her art. She was praised, then she was crucified.
Even worse, a local business man came to her with a lot of nude pictures in hand. He asked her in a demanding way, "can you cut this?”. She frowned and asked, "What is this…?" He replied, "This is also a form of art. And by the way, I need this part (pointing to the breasts) a bit bigger."
She just chuckled, obviously amused by the absurdity of the conversation, shook her head lightly and said, "I can't do this".
At the end of the day, she returned to the hotel. She walked up alone to the roof and lit a cigarette (as every farmer does in China). She gazed into the distance and said, "Doesn't matter what happens, it's ok. Because, I still have my paper cutting. Everything I see and feel, I can cut, and it's mine. No one can take it away from me." "As long as I am still breathing, I will never give up my scissors." Her voice was firm and definite.
That's when I cried.
Have I got a passion about something that centers me in this way? Have I got something that is more valuable than myself like paper cutting is to her? I again wonder, what have I been doing, is it really worth the effort, or is it just in vain?
This artist, I don't even know if she fits the category of an artist that we know. She seems more of a farmer. She was busy harvesting the corn days before her own exhibition. "We have to finish this before we go" she said. She possesses an enormous amount of talent but she's living in a life that is materialistically poor. Being poor was a common thing that the whole family mentioned. "We are poor. We don't have money". But somehow when life went down she was still the same person, and when life seemed to go up, she was still the same person. Nothing changed her.
We have more material comfort than her. Our world, compared to hers, should be heaven. But why do I feel that she is stronger than me and, it might sound bizarre, happier than me?
This morning I discovered one thing. That is, we must have something in our life that we truly treasure and are truly passionate about. It's not even about a dream. Because a "dream" is about who or what we want to be.
It should be about who we are.
And at this point, I feel a thousand miles apart from myself. I've never felt so far.
00:35 Posted in 日記本 DIARY | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this | Tags: Life, documentary, inspiration