Routine Poutine
Apr. 13th, 2008 11:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddThis past week saw me settling deeper into my routine* with the little darlings demons kids, and also the longer commute, so my usual at-home schedule of tv-watching, if you could even call it that, was sort of thrown off. But I bought rainboots! :D
Only two reviews, this week!
The Bondmaid (Catherine Lim):
The blurb says this takes place in Singapore in the 1950s, and without that hint, it would have been very hard to tell the where and the when, at least for me. Since the main character, Han, is a poor bondmaid working in the rich House of Wu, her world is small and the scope is limited, so it's only natural that there be hardly any mention of the world outside the great house. There is a mention of a relative being killed by the Japanese, and China being "overseas", but that's about it.
On one hand, this is a heartbreaking and depressing book about being a woman in a completely male-dominated society, in which each woman is forced to keep the others down in order to rise as much as she can herself. On the other hand, it's a love story, albeit a tragic one, and I couldn't decide whether or not to root for Han. I wanted her to be happy, but I wanted her to call down divine retribution on everyone else more.
I must deduct points for the proofreading and editing job on this one, because "alright" is not a word I care to see in print, and there were some pretty strangely punctuated sentences.
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Marie Antoinette:
It seems an odd way to describe a film about a period and a figure respresenting such excess, but low-key it is. Not in the sets or the costumes, but in the story. Maybe it's because I'd heard so much about the film before seeing it myself, but I wasn't at all put off by the meandering, episodic nature of it. Indeed, I wish more "life of" movies did that, as it gives a much better feel for the era and the people portrayed. Another thing I liked was how the people actually looked like real people, i.e. not Hollywood-pretty. Though I object to the fact that whoever it was playing Fersen was an insipid not-even-all-that-prettyboy -- you'd think that the man who captivated Marie Antoinette would have some charisma, at least!
As for historical accuracy, nothing struck me as being really wrong (except I don't think they would have been drinking champagne, since it was considered to be a wine of inferior quality until the late 19th century, wasn't it?) apart from the fact that Kristen Dunst's hair looked much too clean at all times. Then again, her teeth were too good and her skin was too clear and her make-up was too subtle, especially compared to everyone else's.
Final verdict: 8/10
* Totally random aside, but whenever I write this word, I always think of something I read once: a Canadian (from Montreal, I believe), had written a book of poetry that was published in the U.S. One of his poems included something about "hospital poutine" (I think the point was that it was bad poutine) but of course the American publishers had no idea what he was on about, so it was "corrected" and printed as "routine".
Damn, I miss poutine.
Only two reviews, this week!
The Bondmaid (Catherine Lim):
The blurb says this takes place in Singapore in the 1950s, and without that hint, it would have been very hard to tell the where and the when, at least for me. Since the main character, Han, is a poor bondmaid working in the rich House of Wu, her world is small and the scope is limited, so it's only natural that there be hardly any mention of the world outside the great house. There is a mention of a relative being killed by the Japanese, and China being "overseas", but that's about it.
On one hand, this is a heartbreaking and depressing book about being a woman in a completely male-dominated society, in which each woman is forced to keep the others down in order to rise as much as she can herself. On the other hand, it's a love story, albeit a tragic one, and I couldn't decide whether or not to root for Han. I wanted her to be happy, but I wanted her to call down divine retribution on everyone else more.
I must deduct points for the proofreading and editing job on this one, because "alright" is not a word I care to see in print, and there were some pretty strangely punctuated sentences.
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Marie Antoinette:
It seems an odd way to describe a film about a period and a figure respresenting such excess, but low-key it is. Not in the sets or the costumes, but in the story. Maybe it's because I'd heard so much about the film before seeing it myself, but I wasn't at all put off by the meandering, episodic nature of it. Indeed, I wish more "life of" movies did that, as it gives a much better feel for the era and the people portrayed. Another thing I liked was how the people actually looked like real people, i.e. not Hollywood-pretty. Though I object to the fact that whoever it was playing Fersen was an insipid not-even-all-that-prettyboy -- you'd think that the man who captivated Marie Antoinette would have some charisma, at least!
As for historical accuracy, nothing struck me as being really wrong (except I don't think they would have been drinking champagne, since it was considered to be a wine of inferior quality until the late 19th century, wasn't it?) apart from the fact that Kristen Dunst's hair looked much too clean at all times. Then again, her teeth were too good and her skin was too clear and her make-up was too subtle, especially compared to everyone else's.
Final verdict: 8/10
* Totally random aside, but whenever I write this word, I always think of something I read once: a Canadian (from Montreal, I believe), had written a book of poetry that was published in the U.S. One of his poems included something about "hospital poutine" (I think the point was that it was bad poutine) but of course the American publishers had no idea what he was on about, so it was "corrected" and printed as "routine".
Damn, I miss poutine.
