Based on Li's memoirs, the Australian film, directed ...
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Based on Li's memoirs, the Australian film, directed by Bruce Beresford, is a biopic of the inspirational variety that focuses on its hero's emotional and professional journey.
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This is an honest memoir with all the makings of a movie. But I dare you to read it to the end and to put the author's learning into practice. If you do, you will be part of the answer. Let it go!
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In a film so hard-hitting that the viewer actually feels battered by the time it reaches its conclusion, a Maori family with five children must deal with urban violence, poverty, drugs, alcoholism, unemployment, gang warfare, rape, physical and mental abuse, suicide, and a host of other horrific family problems, all shown graphically.

Beth and Jake Heke and their five children, along with numerous othr Maori families, live in an urban ghetto of government-supported housing, isolated from the rest of society and isolated, too, from their old rural culture, which once gave pride and a sense of identity to Maori families.  Here in the city, the prevailing "culture" centers around bars, rather than the ancient meeting houses.

Beth Heke (Rena Owen), the mother, loves her violent husband Jake (Temuera Morrison), despite his abuse of her when he is drunk, and she cares deeply about her children.  She is powerless, however, to protect them or herself from Jake's rages.  The oldest son (Julian Arahanga) is part of a street gang which covers their faces in traditional tattoos and uses their own violence for protection against others. Their sensitive second son Boogie (Taungaroa Emile) has been arrested for associating with car thieves.

Most touching, however, is Gracie (unforgettably played by Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell), a thirteen-year-old beauty who is trying to lead a good life without any good examples to follow.  Pathetically, she and the two youngest children are forced to "grow up early," accepting the horrors of their lives as "normal," while they try to survive any way they can.

The bold, raw language of Alan Duff's novel of the same name becomes part of Riwia Brown's script, and Lee Tamahori's direction brings this powerful, absorbing, and overwhelming story of human misery to life.  Tamahori uses contrasts throughout to emphasize the themes and the differences between contemporary Maori urban life and traditional Maori culture.

He uses haunting Maori music to begin the film, then switches to scenes of rap and rock.  He alternates quiet visions of a Maori village with loud bar activity, and he shows the sweetness of Gracie against the grim living conditions of the best friend Toot (Shannon Williams).  He illustrates Jake's v<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Once-Were-Warriors/dp/0679761810/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Once Were Warriors</a>iolence in contrast with the family's need for calmer, more focused lives.

The cinematography, too, emphasizes the contrasts, though many viewers may be too focused on the overwhelming emotionalism of the scenes to notice.  Though I loved the book (hard as it is to take), I found the film even better--the characters, as acted here, are much more heart-wrenching than I ever could have imagined.  Mary Whipple

<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Once-Were-Warriors/dp/0679761810/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Once Were Warriors</a>, Book by Alan Duff
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FLEEING BY NIGHT
[Ye Ben]

(China/Taiwan - 2000)

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Digital

Tianjin, the late 1930's: A young cellist (Huang Lei) returns home from studies abroad and makes preparations to marry his childhood sweetheart (Rene Liu Re-ying), the daughter of a wealthy businessman. But the relationship is soured when Huang meets and falls in love with a male Chinese opera singer (Yin Chao-te) who is being pimped by his mentor to a local gangster (Tai Li-jen). Tragedy ensues.

Several key personnel from CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON were reunited for this Chinese/Taiwanese co-production, including co-director Hsu Li-kong (longtime associate of director Tsai Ming-liang) and co-writer Wang Hui-ling. And while it's a pleasant surprise to find a government-sanctioned Chinese film addressing a number of previously taboo subjects (corruption and hypocrisy in high places, gay romance, etc.), the results are decidedly mixed. Set against the backdrop of sweeping changes which transformed Chinese society during the first half of the 20th century, FLEEING BY NIGHT invites predictable comparisons with Chen Kaige's superior FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE, but the resemblance is superficial at best.

Directors Hsu and Yin Chi employ the trappings of traditional Chinese melodrama - villainous gangsters, thwarted love, enduring loyalty, lifelong tragedy, etc. - though the film relies for much of its dramatic impact on a measured accumulation of intimate details, an approach which reaps dividends in the long run, despite the film's unsatisfying narrative structure. Huang's doomed relationship with Liu is allowed to dominate proceedings for a little longer than necessary, and the subsequent romance between Huang and Lin is thwarted at every turn, frustrating audience expectations and leading some critics to question the film's sexual politics. In fact, despite a lush orchestral score by Chris Babida, the movie lacks a formal visual grace, thanks to production design (by Sung Chun) which fails to generate an appropriate period ambience, and non-stylized cinematography by Tsai Cheng-hui (SWEET DEGENERATION, MURMUR OF YOUTH).

More a tragedy than a love story, the narrative builds to a genuinely heartbreaking conclusion: Few will be unmoved by a blunt, devastating sequence at the end of the movie in which Huang and Yin are 'reunited' after many years apart, all the more heartbreaking for the understated manner in which it is staged. Huang (LIFE ON A STRING, THE PHANTOM LOVER) makes an attractive and sympathetic protagonist, while Yin smoulders intensely in a difficult role, and Liu (who made an impressive debut five years earlier in the title role of SIAO YU) is quietly effective as the understanding wallflower laid low by her fiancee's deceit. Equally memorable is Tai, playing the nominal 'villain' as a sympathetic character hidebound by traditions and his place within Chinese society. Ultimately, some viewers will reject the film's deliberate pacing, while others will embrace its quiet dignity and grand romantic heart.
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The Joy Luck Club, based on Amy Tan's bestselling novel, is a powerful drama about four Chinese-American families that endures sorrow and painful moments. Ming-Na gives a great performance as June, the daughter of a deceased Chinese immigrant who found out she has twin sisters. Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom and Tamlyn Tomita were also great in their respective roles. The only part of the film that really got me emotionally, was the young girl drowned her infant son in a flashback. This movie should have won an Oscar for best picture.
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Aljaz Cosini, a Tasmanian, has signed on as lead guide on a rafting trip down the Franklin River in Tasmania.  Cosini has been away from his homeland for a decade and is not in the best of shape for such a grueling job, but he's broke and needs a job.  His co-guide, Cockroach, is young and strong but doesn't know the river at all.  Still, it's a week and they need the money.  They collect their group who are a typical group of tourists and set out.  But the river is in the mood for blood.  The weather turns and steady rain causes the river to rise precipitously  When one of the tourists makes a foolhardy move, Aljaz jumps into the river to save him.  Instead, he finds himself head down stuck between two rocks, slowly drowning.

As his last minutes tick away, Aljaz finds himself having a series of visions.  He sees his life rush past, with jobs from footballer to sailor to handyman.  His marriage to the only woman he has ever really loved flashes past with the reason it failed in the biggest tragedy of his life.  He not only sees his own life, but that of his ancestors.  That includes his parents.  Harry marries an Eastern European woman he finds and falls in love with in Italy in a misbegotten attempt to become a sewing machine salesman.  They return instead to Tasmania where they live out their lives, their closest friend the midwife who assists at Aljaz's birth.  But Aljaz sees even further back to ancestors such as Ned Quade, who comes to Tasmania as the result of transportation for a crime he doesn't even remember.  He also has visions of the Aboriginal woman whose place in his genetic background is never talked about.

Richard Flanagan is acknowledged as one of Australia's premier authors.  He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel, The Narrow Road To The Deep North, an exploration of the Australian experience during the second World War and the Japanese POW camps.  This was Richard Flanagan's second novel.  As always, he explores the history and lush environment of the land he lives in and loves.  He captures the beauty and the despair that is the characteristic of the people who live there.  He explores the exploitation of both Tasmania's natural resources and the native people who are supplanted there by those who come and conquer the land.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
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This is a love story set in China in the early 1960's. A man and woman are neighbours and discover that their spouses are having an affair. They meet to discuss, to commiserate, to comfort but finally fall in love. They don't want to be like their partners though. The movie is about passion, but also about restraint - how love can make us not act, rather than act. The scenes are beautifully shot, the costumes stunning and with the wet streets, the slow pacing and Nat King Cole singing Spanish in the background you are transported to another time. Often it felt more like an Italian film of the early 60's than a Chinese film made just last year. It is layered and rich in content and style. I have watched the DVD five or six times already and still discover more nuances with each viewing.
The Criterion Collection two-disc DVD is what DVD's are really meant to be. The making of featurette and the deleted scenes allow even deeper insights into an already intriguing film. I especially enjoyed the interviews with Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung at the Toronto Film Festival - you can really appreciate the charm of these two very talented actors.
This is a DVD to be enjoyed again and again.  It is the gem in my DVD library.
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Emily Watson is amazing as social worker Margaret Humphreys, the woman who exposes how Great Britain, primarily in the 1950s and into the late 1960s, deported over 150,000 young children to Australia, Canada and other countries.  The movie focuses on the children, now adults raised in Australia orphanages, who are searching for their family members in England.  Save time and buy the book, originally titled Empty Cradles, because you will want the rest of the story after viewing this movie.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Oranges-Sunshine/dp/055216335X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Oranges & Sunshine</a>
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From Dorothy clicking together the heels of her shiny red shoes in The Wizard of Oz, to an image of the shoemaker making the red ballet shoes dance in the final scene of The Red Shoes, movies are an integral part of Reel Life, the story of two sisters. Their childhood, teen years, and adult life are played out on a backdrop of contemporary and classic films such as Little Darlings, Blue Velvet, Vertigo, Kill Bill, and even Shrek.

Jackie Townsend, in her debut novel, has masterfully woven together these scenes as she also moves from one sister's point of view to the other's, and from one period of time to another. It's the story of a family that can't connect on the spoken level, and yet, as is true with most sisters, the lifelong sharing of events bind them together. The sisters, Betty and Jamie, may have had different feelings about their parents at times, but their shared experiences of simply being those parents' daughters means they can relate to each other in a way no one else can, not even their brother. He was outside the pairing of "My girls", as their mother liked to call them, as much by choice as gender. When you consider that your siblings represent the longest continual relationships in your life, it's no surprise that they are intense and complicated.

The story is not a light, easy read. In fact, in many places, it's quite dark as the sisters grapple with issues of fidelity, love, illness, motherhood and isolation. Ms. Townsend is able to give a strong sense of place and setting - not only the locales such as Thailand, Washington DC, and a small southern California beach town - but even in the varieties of movie theatres in which the movies are shown. However, despite the darkness, there are threads of hope. While many events divide the sisters physically and emotionally, their need for each other is something to which many readers will relate. I suspect this novel would provide some highly interesting discussion among book club members. I was not familiar with all the films mentioned, but they are described well enough for any reader to follow along, particularly in how they relate to the book's characters. An intriguing story, well told.
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Or is it? This is the question posed in this memoir by Alison Singh Gee. Alison is a Chinese-American woman raised in Los Angeles. Growing up her family constantly struggled with money and with a difficult and sometimes delusional father. After college she takes off to Hong Kong for a glam job as an entertainment journalist for Asiaweek publications. There she hobnobs with celebrities, eats in five star restaurants, takes weekend jaunts to Bali and shops 'til she drops or spends her last penny of disposable income. Until that is she meets Ajay Singh another Asiaweek journalist. Ajay is unassuming, Indian and stationed in Delhi. A romance blooms between the two and soon Alison is dumping her elite and wealthy British boyfriend and his magnificent condo with a view of Hong Kong harbor, and Ajay is moving into her tiny Hong Kong apartment. What is more desirable Alison ponders, Ajay or frequent high teas at the Peninsula Hotel and the latest designer shoes? But wait, Alison soon discovers that Ajay is an Indian prince of sorts whose ancestral home is a 100 room palace. Alison and Ajay soon fly off to India to see the palace called Mokimpur and meet Ajay's family.

Mokimpur turns out to be a ramshackle palace with no electricity or hot water. A morning shower is an ordeal with a plastic bucket and mugs of tepid water dumped over her head. The relatives are impoverished Indian royalty and Ajay's mother is, well, the soon-to-be mother-in-law from hell. Alison's constant internal debate about the benefits of money versus the benefits of the deep values of family and country can be wearing at times, but this memoir is sprinkled with enough interesting reflections on life in rural India, Indian cuisine and cultureshock, and whacky relatives to keep things interesting and moving at a rapid pace. An enjoyable read.
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My wife bought this book and read it a long time ago. Ive been meaning to read it but I guess the fact that it is almost 1,000 pages long contributed to it getting neglected on the shelf. But a few weeks ago a friend from work sent out an email recommending it, and as I take friends recommendations seriously (they almost always turn out to be spot on) I decided its time to read Shantaram.

This book is an autobiography of sorts. Gregory David Roberts is a convicted armed robber who escaped from prison in Australia and landed in Bombay (today Mumbai) with a fake New Zealand passport in the name of Lindsay (Lin) Ford. In this book, Mr. Roberts weaves a tumultuous tale based (loosely? closely?) on his experiences in India and, later, in Afghanistan.

As soon as he lands in India, Lin meets Prabaker (Prabu), a man who offers his services as a guide. Lin is charmed by Prabus smile and hires him, thus beginning a long  friendship that, sadly, ends in tragic circumstances. Lin travels with his new friend to Sunder, his home village, where he learns to speak Mahrati and is given a Maharashtrian name  Shantaram, meaning man of Gods peace. After Lin and Prabu are robbed, they end up living in a huge Bombay slum, where Lin runs the local clinic, administering first aid using illegal medicine procured from the citys leper colony.

There is also the local expat community  French, Italians, Germans, Nigerians  most of whom escaped a former life and are etching out a living in Bombay, mostly via illegal means. Lin falls in love with Swiss Karla and becomes friends with local gangsters and Bollywood producers. Slowly but surely he is drawn into a mafia operation run by an Afghan don, Khader Khan, who becomes a father figure to Lin. After a vicious spate at the local jail, Lin is rescued by Khan and becomes devoted to his organization and cause. This is how he ends up going to Afghanistan and joining arms with the rebels fighting the Russian invaders.

The story is interesting enough, but perhaps more interesting are the little anecdotes about life in India. Mr. Roberts is a keen watcher of people, and he manages to pack countless descriptions of daily activities. One of the most fascinating parts of the book is the story of his train journey to Prabus home village. When boarding the train, Prabu risks his life to secure a seat for his foreigner friend, by hiring a burly guy to escort Lin through the crowds and himself lying down on the seat to reserve it, despite being beaten repeatedly by angry passengers around him. But as soon as the train departs and fighting for seats is no longer a necessity, the passengers become friendly and courteous. Some of these passages in the book make you laugh out loud. Others make you sad.

Despite its length, this is an easy book to read. The tale is fascinating and the prose is engaging. It almost makes you forget that Mr. Roberts is a fugitive who engages in illegal activities that cause harm to many people. A classic antihero figure.
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I loved this book from Australia! My Taiwanese American girl friend from college gave it to me for my birthday. This is the only book from Australia I own. I have family in Sydney and Melbourne but have never visited.

The author, Kylie Kwong, writes about her travels to her family's ancestral home in China and her culinary and other cultural experiences in the country. This book is both travelogue and cookbook, though recipes are rather sparse compared to itinerary narrative. Her travels throughout China took her from the rural simplicity of her ancestral village in Chinas southwest to the wilds of the Tibetan plateau and the stylish modernity of Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Kwong's book provides insightful and poignant observations and reflection on food, culture, family, and life itself. For me, it is refreshing as it is told from the perspective of a Chinese Australian from Sydney. The author discusses her father's declining health from cancer and what his imminent death teaches her about family and the meaning of life.

Kwong found her visit to a traditional Shanghai-style tea house most moving, with its polished rosewood tables, complete with matching stools that fitted neatly under the tables like a jigsaw puzzle, resembling a exquisite lacquered box.

Kwong believes that our food choices should be ethical, sustainable and supportive of both the natural and human environment. "My China" (Lantern | Penguin, 2007) was named Best Chinese Cuisine Book in the World at the 2008 Gourmand Cookbook Awards and was also the Australian winner of the Best Culinary Travel Guide category. Kwong has authored a few other books featuring Chinese cuisine as well as the people responsible for provision of food in Australia: growers, farmers, fishermen, artisans.

Kwong opened her restaurant, Billy Kwong, in 2000, realizing her vision of a small, energetic and vibrant eating house serving fantastically fresh Chinese food, embodying celebration, collaboration and community. She is as genuine as she is passionate about food and its power to connect people and inspire celebration of life. I found Kylie Kwong to be a compassionate human being as well as a creative and distinguished chef.
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When I read news accounts that it was not until 2008 when the Austrian government got around to apologizing to the Aborigine culture for its policy of removing half-caste children from their families, I felt compelled to learn as much as I could about this atrocity.

Based on legislation that began in 1869, the Aboriginal Protection Act would expand into the 20th century, with more concise language to continue the horrendous practice of forceful and cruel child removal from half-caste families, and indict them into a racist and bigoted system whose sole aim was to bleed and breed the black out of them, and then 're-socialize' them into the culture of their guardian oppressors.  I can think of nothing more insidious and cruel.

My research led me to an article written by a woman who interviewed several of these children.  I read other documentation of 'the stolen generation', and this later led to the filming of the story of Molly Craig, her younger sister and cousin, Gracie, and Daisy who escaped entrapment at the missionary settlement where they were imprisoned.  And how, under Molly's strength and leadership, they began the arduous 1500 mile journey to return to their family.

This powerful and emotional packed film of courage, determination, and a deep sense of cultural faith is based on actual events, thanks to the book written by Molly's daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara.

I encourage you to see this heartbreaking film.  I am convince this will prompt you to learn more about the abusive and cruel policy by the British/Australian government, which 'stole' the human rights of countless children and their families by a contemptible practice of racial purification, which continued [in many places] through the 70's.

Maizie Lucille James
May 29, 2010
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By Valley Gay Press Book Reviewer Liz Bradbury (Author of Angel Food and Devil Dogs - A Maggie Gale Mystery)
The movie got dozens of poor reviews at Amazon, where readers of the book insisted the book was so much better. I happened to like the movie so I figured the book would be great. It was good, but I liked the movie better.

The book, an autobiographical work that describes Augusten Burroughs' bizarre adolescence, features a mother that is so dysfunctional, Joan Crawford seems like June Cleaver. Mom dumps Augusten at the home of her warped therapist whose family brings to mind a barely saner Addams family. Burroughs describes a series of incidents that colored his life, but the book also contains a definite understory of the boredom that comes from a life with no rules or obligations, including no school.

The movie has the extra intensity of an excellent cast, including Annette Benning, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Chenoweth, Jill Clayburgh, and Gwyneth Paltrow and lacks some of the grossness of the book which makes the movie easier to take. Still it's an interesting story, both funny and grim with a writing style that makes it compelling.
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With "Something To Tell You" Hanif Kureishi returns to the soul-searching of the British citizen of mixed, Pakistani-English, descent. While "The Buddha of Suburbia" tackled the problems of adolescence in an immigrant environment in the 1970s, here the main character, Jamal Khan, is a middle-aged, middle-class man who reveals his deepest secrets.

Jamal is a successful psychoanalyst, struggling with his relationships, his desires and  his past. The narrative is in form of his monologue, interchanging between present and memories, starting in Jamal's childhood.

Jamal provides background information about other main characters: his rebel sister, Miriam, his film director friend, Henry, his friends from college times - Val and Wolf, his soon-to-be ex-wife, Josephine, and his son, Rafi, and, most importantly, on his first love, Ajita, who haunts him and is a reason for his introspective. Ajita, a beautiful, but pained daughter of an Indian factory owner, reveals to Jamal her most intimate secrets - and after his intervention disappears from his life. Since then, Jamal dreams of meeting her again, at the same time dreading the thought of the encounter.

Kureishi's prose, although fresh and original, is dense, full of meaning, requiring attention - skimming through some paragraphs can result in losing track and getting discouraged. There are also sometimes sudden jumps of narrative changing focus from one paragraph to another, anchoring on one word, which leads to the reminiscences connected with it; his memories flow exactly like a monologue at the shrink (an interesting, purposefully devised stylistic maneuver). The story of Jamal's life is told directly, with his own words, but also with what he withholds (and what is still lurking in his unconscious, with sex at the central place), and with the language he uses - there is a lot of intellectual meandering, erudite references to Freud, Lacan and other titans of psychoanalysis. On the other hand, I liked his less bragging remarks of the life in London throughout the times he describes (the "present" is 2005, when the London bombings took place), which really give the picture of the variety of lifestyles and classes. There whole narrative is a little messy in a postmodern way - a lot of important, weighty subject are just touched and put on a big pile from which they are more or less randomly selected - maybe it is really like the unconscious? Jamal's character is interesting and very well constructed - I liked reading about him, but I am not sure if I liked him - he seems unpleasant, despite his efforts to please the people he likes. Maybe it is because he is so lost, but tries to appear self-confident and nonchalant. The whole novel is complex, I guess like anyone's life - outer and inner - and prompted me to think about myself in an analytical way, but because of this complexity it is difficult to describe all that is important there without rambling...

The novel is crafty, the introduction of crucial events is gradual, so there is always enough suspense to keep the reader excited and read till the end. Is Jamal really a murderer, like he claims in the opening paragraphs? Will he meet Ajita again, and if so, what will come out of it?

Of course, in such a novel, one sees traces of others - the obvious one is Woody Allen (because of psychoanalysis and type of humor). I found there also some echoes of Philip Roth and Saul Bellow, if you like those writers plus the Asian-immigrant flavor, this might be a good pick for you.
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Major question: why did this perfectly crafted, intelligently written and acted, touching little film not get nominated for an Oscar? It has all the ingredients of one of the finest films of the year - script based on the writer's own novel by the same name and directed by him, too - Stephen Chbosky - and a superb cast of young actors (and some excellent veteran actors such as Joan Cusack and Dylan McDermot and Paul Rudd, all playing against the slot roles into which others have stuck them), and makes many points about teenage angst and how the schism between teenagers and adults has become a chasm rarely navigable. But, as in current terminology, `go figure!'

Very briefly, the story set in the early 1990s in Pittsburgh is about 15-year-old Charlie (20 year old Logan Lerman), an endearing and nave outsider, coping with first love, the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs. The introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors, Sam (22 year old Emma Watson) and Patrick (19 year old Ezra Miller), who are step-siblings and welcome him to the real world. Into this mnage enter Brad (Johnny Simmons), the football hero who happens to be a deeply closeted gay boy in an affair with the openly gay Patrick, Charlie's sister Candace (Nina Dobrey) and her abusive boyfriend Ponytale Derek (Nicholas Braun), Charlie's parents (Dylan McDermott and Kate Walsh), the influential English teach Mr. Anderson (Paul Rudd) and the psychiatrist Dr. Burton (Joan Cusack).

The story is complex as Charlie writes to his `friend' and slowly reveals the secrets of his background that make him a loner `who finds loneliness unbearable, a friend who feels his friends deserve better than they get but cannot bring himself to feel that he does too. He can rise fiercely to the occasion when his friends are threatened but is as fragile as glass when the secrets he carries buried deep inside threaten to overwhelm him.' The manner in which each of the characters change in the course of this story manages to be at once credible as well as entertaining. This is a deeply touching film that deserves a very wide audience. One of the finest films of 2012.  Grady Harp, February 13
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I still think this stacks up as the best Australian movie ever to explain the cultural tensions between an ancient Aboriginal culture and a modern European one through the story of individuals in a small,outback community.  It illustrates the complexities and difficulties of finding common understandings - sometimes impossible even when participants want nothing else - unlike many films which deal in lazy generalizations about races and push a particular political position. This film is far more intelligent than that but consequently poses some difficult challenges for a viewer's preconceived attitudes, as most of us are not confronted by the problems explored in this film.