Avalon

Movie Break

Friday, February 27, 2009

Two movies.

The first is an unexpected watch: Valkyrie. An adaptation of a true story that happened during World War II, where a group of high-ranking officers in Hitler's Nazi Germany secretly plotted to assassinate Hitler and put an end to his tyrannical regime. The movie is quite long, (about 2 hours plus) although it does have its intense segments which are skillfully manoeuvred such that the riveting moments are brought out even when there is little action, although the downside will be the rather melodramatic bits like putting eerie background score and dimming the lights each time Hitler made an appearance on the set, which really punctures the credibility of the "true story reference".

The costume and set, however, deserves commendable mention. The costumes served as good indexes in distinguishing the differences in rank, department and ministries in the Nazi government, aiding the audience identification of the different parties involved.

"Suspect X" was great, a simple story with an elaborate, beautifully constructed plot. Having watched the Galileo series, the comedic pairing of Masaharu Fukuyama and Shibasaki Kou is no longer a refreshing surprise but I still like the camaraderie which more often than not, reflects a sense of wit and humour not unlike those commonly found in Japanese shows.

For those who don't know what the movie is about, it goes something like this: Genius mathematician and high school teacher Tetsuya Ishigami (Shinichi Tsutsumi) secretly holds the torch for his neighbour, Hanaoka Yasuko, a lady working at a bento store. When he learns that Yasuko and her daughter have killed a person, he then helps the two of them to construct the perfect alibi, through logic and precise calculations. The police investigation runs into difficulty and Detective Kaoru Utsumi (Kou Shibasaki) seeks the advice of her friend, the brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa (Masaharu Fukuyama). Ishigami is Yukawa's college friend. A fierce battle of wits ensues between the genius mathematician and genius physicist, but what is at stake here may not just be the uncovered truth, but the friendship between two formidable opponents in a game of chess.

What is particularly gripping is the manifestation of love in the show. Like Yukawa said, "How would you go so far to help the person you love?" But it is probably true that people do go to incredible lengths when there is a strong will to, driven by sentimentality than logic.

令人赞叹又唏嘘的，自然就是两大天才之间君子之交淡如水的友谊，同样都是沉默寡言个性，只能通过理论与学问互相了解、沟通，却比任何知己还要相知相惜。毕竟，对天才而言，话不投机半句多。所以一向理性的‘伽利略’也面临了情谊与正义的考验，怎不会叫人感伤？

But if the movie does inspire one thing, it is that trick questions always work in life, or maybe because life is full of trick questions. Such that a functions question is masked as a geometry question.. But sometimes, we are just too tired to think.

Envoy of the Stars @ 9:14 PM
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