Recap: This is the story about Vicky. Or not so much the story of, but the life of Vicky. We get to see a few episodes of her life, how she starts out with an abusive and jealous boyfriend and how she manages to leave him for Jack, a criminal that offers stability.
Comments: This, as stated, is not a story. This is more of a picture, or a few pictures from Vicky's life. There is no real beginning, no real end, and hence no real story in between. We just get to see moments from her life. Moments from home, moments from work, and moments from nightlife.
The pace is very slow, and it did not do very much to keep me interested. But something caught my eye. And that was that director Hou often chooses to place the camera in a way that I got the feeling it wasn't supposed to be there. It was not natural, it was almost like the camera was intruding. Many shots were from odd angles and shot through flowers, or through holes in the furniture. The actors were not naturally centered in the picture, and stuff happened both on and off camera. By doing so, to me, Hou really cemented that this was not a movie about a story, but more a look into Vicky's life.
Interesting and as well done as that was, I still didn't enjoy it very much. Yes, beautiful in its own way, but much to slow-paced for me. To little to really keep me interested through the entire 100 minutes. But still nice to have seen once, as this is a typical award-winning movie.
5/10
Comments: This, as stated, is not a story. This is more of a picture, or a few pictures from Vicky's life. There is no real beginning, no real end, and hence no real story in between. We just get to see moments from her life. Moments from home, moments from work, and moments from nightlife.
The pace is very slow, and it did not do very much to keep me interested. But something caught my eye. And that was that director Hou often chooses to place the camera in a way that I got the feeling it wasn't supposed to be there. It was not natural, it was almost like the camera was intruding. Many shots were from odd angles and shot through flowers, or through holes in the furniture. The actors were not naturally centered in the picture, and stuff happened both on and off camera. By doing so, to me, Hou really cemented that this was not a movie about a story, but more a look into Vicky's life.
Interesting and as well done as that was, I still didn't enjoy it very much. Yes, beautiful in its own way, but much to slow-paced for me. To little to really keep me interested through the entire 100 minutes. But still nice to have seen once, as this is a typical award-winning movie.
5/10