The film follows a half-dozen young members of a theater and music troupe, starting in the post-Mao era. They begin performing pro-Mao propaganda songs and change with the times adopting a pop image to go with their new freedom. It begins with a performance by a troupe of "arts workers" called the Peasant culture Group from Fenyang. After the show, they gather for a self-criticism session in the school bus that takes them from town to town.
It follows in the period after the death of Mao in 1976 and how under its new leader Deng reinvented itself following the Cultural Revolution. The newly privatized group renames itself the All-Star Rock and Breakdance Electronic Band. It performs in the same towns ,but the male members display electric guitars and sport long rock star tresses ,while the women strut around in lively outfits like the solid gold dancers. This film explores the period between 1980 and 1990 ,when China moved from the final shadows of life under Chairman Mao to the Cultural Revolution and Westernized consumer capitalism. Director points out when his country was still in the grip of "Mao Zedong thought," the young people preferred listening to illegal broadcasts on radio and did it despite the risk of being caught by the authorities.
But during Deng's era ,western writings from the likes of Nietzche and Freud became available , and one had many more choices than just reading Mao or Marx. But old friendships become strained and there are new psychological problems to deal with in modern China. The film takes its title from a Chinese song popular throughout the '80s: "The long and empty platform, the wait seems never-ending, the long wagons are carrying my short-lived love."
The first film by director Colin Trevorrow is a whimsical product of both the Sundance's brand of independent cinema and the low-budget film genre known as mumblecore. One of the leading roles in Safety Not Guaranteed is played by the writer-director Mark Duplass ,who with his brother pioneered mumblecore.
Darius Britt (Aubrey Plaza) is a college graduate who lives at home with her widower father and interns at a Seattle magazine. One of the magazine's writer Jeff suggests to investigate a newspaper classified ad where a man is asking for a companion to time travel with him. Darius, who at first seems disinterested in the whole situation , ends up being the one who has to pretend like she wants to time travel. They travel to the seaside community of the Ocean View to find the person behind the ad. Darius discovers that the person behind the ad is Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass), a stock clerk at a local grocery store. She expects him to be a total nutjob , but instead she finds that the man is insightful, sweet and softhearted person. Jeff reveals that he mainly took this assignment to find his ex-girlfriend Liz .
The film has a clear and poignant focus that drives an oddly moving story. It is a great blend of comedy and drama as it tells a very nice story on a very human level. It's well-acted , funny in a troubling, low-key way and offers insights into the world of people who can't cope with modern society.
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 drama-film noir based on the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain. "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) displays all the characteristics of the noir film, including the femme fatale, a deadly female who draws the hero into a web of mystery and intrigue. The fans weren't pleased with the changes the filmmaker made to the author's famous book. The film features the tough guy John Garfield as a drifter who picks up a job at a lunch room and gas station located on a side road outside the town. Frank and Cora (Lana Turner) start to have an affair soon after they meet.
She is tired of her situation, married to a man she does not love, and working at a cafe that she wishes to own. Frank becomes her catalyst to change her situation. The film works well mainly because of the great chemistry between the leads John Garfield and Lana Turner . Star of the film is Lana turner who gives a fine performance here. Turner shows us the different shades of her character Cora Smith who is sometimes weak and vulnerable and other times persistent and stubborn , and yet oozing with unrealised sexuality. Garfield's character, Frank Chambers, is a decent sort of guy, but he's not above the occasional con game. He at first rejects the idea of murdering her husband but later he changes his mindset.
Garfield does good job but he gets overshadowed by Turner's presence. A fine example of 1940's film-noir with every series of scenes leaving us guessing as to what will happen next. However, the film suffers slightly because of the stringent ethics codes that started to be imposed on films of that time.
