
Famous dancer and film actress Fong Nan (Mao Mei) desires both a career and a family after marrying an eminent doctor (Guan Shan), who, however, wants her to be a stay-at-home wife. They are on the brink of divorce when he finds out she secretly rehearses for her dance and movie…Taking inspirations from Hollywood musical films, the movie is beautifully directed and meticulously produced by Yuen Yang-an and his Sun Sun Film Enterprises. While most films at the time usually depict how grassroots people rise above adversity, this one tells the story of a famed actress who thrives for success and never gives up on her artistic ambition. This reflects that women's liberation and employment was a dominating theme in left-wing movies. The finale was shot in Eastman colour negative film, which was rare before mid-60s given the limited technical resources in Hong Kong film industry, and thus a valuable record in the city's cinematic history.
The film's storylines read as allegories for the queer experience and that's a source of solace for LGBTQIA+ fans!
The Gates, John Burr’s new thriller film, is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of three Black twenty-somethings - Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith), and Tyon (Keith Powers), as they accidentally take a wrong turn into a gated community that’s more like a modern-day sundown town. The three friends witness a variety of crimes in their new surroundings, including an attempted homicide and an attempted rape. As they attempt to alert the authorities and do the right thing, they are thwarted at every turn by the worst horror stories of American conservatism - racist white suburbanites, reckless gun violence, corrupt police, religious mania, and a megalomaniacal pastor.
I’m still trying to comprehend the psychological and moral implications of their fascination with each other, or why their almost written-in-the-stars depth of connection makes so much sense.
How closely should film adaptations follow their source material? Let's take a deep dive into "Norma Rae", and find out.
We are incredibly blessed that this movie is available for us to see, and we should take advantage of the opportunity we’ve been given.