I am a fan of the films of Zhang Yimou. Tonight I saw A Woman, A Gun, And A Noodle Shop (三槍拍案驚奇 Sānqiāng Pāi’àn Jīngqí). This is a surreal Chinese re-imagining of Blood Simple. Strange but intriguing. Like some of Yimou’s other work, it seems like farce but then it turns out to be not so farcical. He pokes a lot of fun at his own films, too, and it is beautiful to look at.
There was a moment, however, I thought I would share: the preparation of noodle soup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLJiLp_mMCU&feature=player_embedded
Alas, they cut it off before the hot oil was poured over the noodles and chilies.
Just for fun … or should I say mien.
A few of my favorite Zhang Yimou films are
The Road Home (我的父親母親 wǒde fùqin mǔqin)
The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司 Qiū Jú dǎ guān sī)
To Live ( 活著 Huózhe)
There are also, Not One Less, the spectacular Hero, Raise The Red Lantern, Red Sorghum, etc.
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This reminds me of a film I saw 30 and more years go. It was about a noodle shop. It was really beautiful but I can’t remember anything about it other than some of the visual’s. Late 1970s early 1980s. Would love to see and again.
Fr. Jim: A Chinese movie?
Ah, precisely how I make my own noodles at home! :O
I think you might enjoy Departures.
Something about this movie seemed implicitly Catholic. I guess anything with goodness is. Much reverence and dignity for those who have died, regardless of the lives they may have lead. Won an Academy Award for best foreign-language film.
Huh, interesting. I’d never heard of this before, but now I’m intrigued.
Wow… take THAT, pizza guys!
Congratulations, Fr. Z:
http://catholicism.about.com/od/Readers-Choice-Awards/ss/2013-About-Catholicism-Readers-Choice-Awards-Winners_3.htm
Love the little film!
Congrats, Father Z on your readers choice award!
I saw ‘To Live’ in my film studies class and enjoyed it; I now would like to see ‘The Flowers of War.’
Best video you have ever put on…..
They would have the most popular Chinese restaurant if they did that in the window, and they could make pizza on the side.
Could Father Jim be thinking of that wonderful 1985 Japanese film, Tampopo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XyoAZFREnY)?
Yes, hearty congratulations from the Tirol, Father Z., for winning the best Blog award!
Thank you, Andreas, I think that was it. Waiting for it on Netflix now! Thanks again!
Fr. Z., yes I really loved that movie!
Subtitles never bother me, after a minute or two I forget I’m reading.
(Don’t quite understand why people hate them so much.)
Fr. Jim: certainly agree with you about subtitles. A challenge to those who don’t like them: watch “The Lives of Others”, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s masterpiece from 2006 and then get back to me.
What an amazing scene! I’m not sure, Father Z, if in your post when you said “it is beautiful to look at” you were referring to the entire film or just this scene, but I can see beauty in the way that this scene was filmed. My wife, Ann, will occassionally watch Korean dramas where subtitles are supplied for the non-Korean speaking viewers. I have to admit that those dramas have something to offer that American dramas and films lack. Dare I say a degree of innocence that is missing in American television. Some of our favorite movies have been in subtitles: the Ip Man films, for instance, were great. I agree with Father Jim, after a while you forget that you are reading subtitles.
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I saw a great film with subtitles called Dark Blue World, about Czech pilots who joined the RAF when their country was invaded. I rented it around the time the Pearl Harbor movie came out, and I liked the foreign film better.
And Father, you have a lovely day too! ;)
To Live, was a good movie i saw many years ago, unfortunately the movie you embed does not show up for me?PAX
Father Z, you turned me on to Zhang Yimou about six years ago. I own To Live, Raise the Red Lantern, and House of Flying Daggers. I like to view them every now and then. To Live is one of the best films I’ve seen that shows living conditions in 20th century China before and during Mao. Someday I hope to own a few more of his films. Maybe the Noodle Shop will be one of them. This scene is fun to watch.
Nordic: To Live is a great movie. This Noodle Shop movie is nothing like To Live. It is a different genre and a re-imagining of a Cohen brothers’ movie.
Lucas: Beautiful to look at… Zhang Yimou started life as a cinematographer. His films are grand to view.
frjim4321: subtitles… When you know the language… the subtitles can be irritating.