My departure for China is less than a day and a half away. I still don't really know what I'm going to be doing there, but I find I'm cool with that. I've done ok with parachutings into other countries in the past (England, Japan, France, Australia) but I think my lack of panic also marks something else, since those were all countries to which I had affective ties, while I was until recently almost culpably cold to China. No longer, I feel I've become quite the Sinophile!
A big part of that has been the time I've spent with the language, literally adjusting my body to its contours. But another part has been - thanks to Netflix - the extensive diet of Chinese films I've been watching (building on my foundation in animation): films in every genre but romcom, some very good, others not so much; mainland, Hong Kong, exile, diaspora; big box office hits, flops, banned movies; historical and contemporary, supernatural and documentary, art...
“Aftershock 唐山大地震”
“Sacrifice 赵氏孤儿”
“Confucius 孔子”
“Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 西遊·降魔篇”
“Not One Less 一个都不能少”
“Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles 千里走单骑”
“Uproar in Heaven 阿闹天宫”
“Dreams of Jinsha 梦回金沙城”
“Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”
“Ocean Heaven 海洋天堂”
“Life on a String 边走边唱”
“Farewell my Concubine 霸王别姬”
“Lan Yu 蓝宇”
“City of Life and Death 南京! 南京!”
“Detective Dee & Mystery of the Phantom Flame 狄仁杰之通天帝国”
“Last Train Home 归途列车”
“Everlasting Regret 長恨歌”
“24 City 二十四城记” (source of picture above)
I know, I know - for better and worse, life isn't like the movies. Working that out will be one of my discoveries in China!
A big part of that has been the time I've spent with the language, literally adjusting my body to its contours. But another part has been - thanks to Netflix - the extensive diet of Chinese films I've been watching (building on my foundation in animation): films in every genre but romcom, some very good, others not so much; mainland, Hong Kong, exile, diaspora; big box office hits, flops, banned movies; historical and contemporary, supernatural and documentary, art...“Aftershock 唐山大地震”
“Sacrifice 赵氏孤儿”
“Confucius 孔子”
“Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 西遊·降魔篇”
“Not One Less 一个都不能少”
“Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles 千里走单骑”
“Uproar in Heaven 阿闹天宫”
“Dreams of Jinsha 梦回金沙城”
“Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”
“Ocean Heaven 海洋天堂”
“Life on a String 边走边唱”
“Farewell my Concubine 霸王别姬”
“Lan Yu 蓝宇”
“City of Life and Death 南京! 南京!”
“Detective Dee & Mystery of the Phantom Flame 狄仁杰之通天帝国”
“Last Train Home 归途列车”
“Everlasting Regret 長恨歌”
“24 City 二十四城记” (source of picture above)
I know, I know - for better and worse, life isn't like the movies. Working that out will be one of my discoveries in China!
