Reviews of The Puppetmaster
Displaying all 2 reviews
Kim Packard
9Dec09
The Puppetmaster (Chinese: 戲夢人生) achieves a rare artistic balance (between a straightforward narrative, captivating confessionary monologues of the main character in the documentary style and striking visuals marked by beautiful chiaroscuros and aesthetic camerawork) over 142 minutes. It doesn’t disappoint in giving a personal Taiwanese perspective on modernization of Taiwan and the wartime period and the film remains surprisingly down-to-earth and deeply humane despite its exoticism and an exceptional scope suggested by the original title.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
apursansar
21Jun09
Hou Hsiao-Hsien´s masterpiece from the 1990s called Hsimeng Rensheng (The Puppetmaster, 1993) centers around the life and career of Li Tienlu, a Taiwanese puppeteer, and combines his personal life with the history of Taiwan from 1909 until the end of Japanese domination of the island in 1945, very similar to his earlier film of the trilogy Bei quing cheng shi (A City of Sadness, 1989) which showed Taiwan´s 1940s history while focussing on the destiny of a family. Hou Hsiao-Hsien manages to masterfully demonstrate the individual human being as well as the collective of history, his ruminant shots and beautiful camera angles often let The Puppetmaster appear like a canvas, and the director himself acknowledged his influences by classical Chinese paintings. The film is a quiet meditation seldomly found in modern cinema, and a rare aestetic delight.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.