Park Bench Society

In The Mood For Love

Chinese noodle place in a narrow alley walkway. Rainy days. It's Hong Kong in the 60's filled with retro feeling represented by big Siemens wall clock, Japanese rice cooker, vaselined slick hair and a sensual body - hugging Cheongsam/Qipao dress. To borrow a phrase from one of the film reviews this movie is a "Literary Vision" which to my interpretation is like a composition of beautiful sentences and old photographs combined together forming a moving visions which that is distinctively a Won Kar-Wai's cool, hip and artistic style of movie making. His composition of the retro icons mixed with  a list of soundtracks consisting a numbers of Nat King Cole's Spanish songs and an Indonesian classic masterpiece "Bengawan Solo" as the backdrop has succesfully transfered us back to the dream and nostalgic time.

The story is about a married man Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) and a married woman Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) who moved to an apartments next to each other on the same day. This mellow - drama between the two developed when they both discovered that their respective spouses were involved in a torrid affair with each other (this was hinted mostly off-screen as these characters were never really shown in the film). Leung and Cheung then fell in love with each other and formed a relationship of restrained love bounded by ethics and moral principles. This uncertain affair which seems to exist the fleeting moment in time has an air of sadness and consolation over the betrayal they felt from their spouses mixed with a lot of ambiguities about the extend of their plutonic relationship whether it was about the sharing of feelings, love, and sexual desires. Did they eventually slept together?. These are the abstractions of the plot which Wong Kar-Wai has build around a romantic athmosphere and characterization illustrated through a kind of mind - game narrative, settings, wardrobe and color.

It is a movie of "dream time" and melodrama mood. The acting of Tony Leung and the sensual Maggie Cheung in her Cheongsam provide a portrayal of restraint love from the fight between emotional desires and moral principles and society's norms. These mood of loves between them were shown like a painted canvas of wet alley street, steak dinner, a seedy hotel room, duck noodles vendor in Singapore, and an anti-climax ending in Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.

Filmography:
In The Mood For Love (Hua Yang Nian Hua). Written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. Block 2 Pictures, Inc (2000). Cannes 2000 Award.

têtê - bêche: A Wong Kar-Wai Project

Picture taken from a 300 pages of visual images from Wong Kar - Wai's movie In The Mood For Love (Block2 Pictures Inc, year 2000. Starring Tony Leung & Maggie Cheung. Directed and written by Wong Kar - Wai). Read also the movie review.

Picture source: http://www.wkw-inthemoodforlove.com/eng/livingRoom/bookPg6.asp

Caffeine & Nicotine

+ So what's new ?
- My crush....on and off, on and off, on and off
+ So is it on or off now?
- It's off right now.....damn that guy
+ Brutal.....
- Apanya ?
+The jungle of the single world
- Hahahahaha
+ Ngga se simple film Tarzan jaman dulu
- Gimana tuh?
+ Me Tarzan, you Jane....let's do bang-bang in my tree house
- Hahahahahahaha......
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+ Liat deh, you'll like it
- Terlalu drama gitu lho
+ Ngga lah, aku kan tau selera kamu
- Ok, I'll take a look at it
+ Meskipun plot nya romantisme biasa tapi setting nya keren abaz
- Like what ?
+ Hong Kong in the 60's and lots of rainy days
- Rain ?.....hmnnnnn. Menarik juga
+ Cerita nya keluar lebih dari setting dan angle-angle shot daripada dari dialog...really cool
- Metaphors ?
+ Ya gitu deh. There's this one scene where the guy is talking to a tree
- As long as there is rain it's ok by me. Wet street too ?
+ Yup. You know I love it too
- What ?
. I love rain
- Rain, where are you?. He loves you.....
+ Biarin aja, ga usah dipanggil. Kalo lagi di kangenin emang suka jaga jarak

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+ Dasar kambing...
- Hehehe kambing....dulu katanya bebek-bebek primadona ?
+ Udah pada ngerasa paling pinter gitu lho...
- "Out of the box thinking", they think.
+ Kampret lah, cuman bisa ngekor doang...apanya yang out of the box?
- Para katak dalam tempurung
+ Hehe...katak tak berotak
- Yoehh jeki, gimana mikir di luar kotak kalo otak aja ngga ada ?
+ Fuck them lah. It's all about "No box" thinking anyway now
- Siap !. Be fearless and just throw the damn fucking box away

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+ Want me to lend it to you or you want to buy it yourself?
- I'll borrow it from you
+ No problem....but when are we going to meet again?
- Anytime. I'm not busy and as long as you don't have to go off to remote places
  again for that damn shooting.
+ It's really good you know
- Yeah I know, I read the review before
+ I mean you can feel the vibes of the city even if you've never been there
- You know why I never really bother to see it before?
+ Why ?
- Too close for comfort. The damn story is too much like my life
- Hahahahaha...
+ But I guess it's time to face reality isn't it?
- What, you're facing your reality by deciding to watch this movie ?
+ Yeah...no that sounds stupid isn't ?
- People usually watch movies to momentarily escape from their dreaded reality
+ Yes, and I watch it to face my reality ? How do you figure that ?
- Well, to quote what the girl say in "Bewitched"... ".....there is no solution, we're  in Coffee Bean" ....hahahaha.
+ That's funny. I haven't seen that one either. By the way, why aren't we in Coffee Bean now?
- You're the one who wanted to meet here
+ That damn place is too mainstream anyway. It's kindda nice here though.......you could watch the rain outside
- Yeah, but the shades in the windows makes me a bit claustrophobic though
+ Just focus on me, gurl....
- Hahahahaha.....

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Inspired from the movie Coffee and Cigarettes. A film by Jim Jarmusch starring Roberto Benigni, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchet, Bill Murray, Steve Wright, Steve Coogan and many others.

Similar title post: Looking For Love  Over Nicotine And Caffeine by Silly Sushi on My Mundane Life

4 Days At Home

Monday everything was perfect.
The beautiful rainy days from the week before filled the house with fresh scent of wet grass. A breeze came through the big open windows bringing with it the cool ocean air flowing to every corners of this house on a cliff. The house felt like a home, from the first ray of light at dawn shinning through the windows on all sides of the house till the bright stars in the sky lighted the back wooden floored terrace built with a sturdy foundation over the edge of the cliff facing the sea.

The days went forward filled with comedy and sweet drama inside this cliff - top home. The casual bickering and laughter were captured by the ears of every interior walls and turning them into a decoration throughout the house. Unwatched to the eyes of others, life was happening again in this house.

Came Friday.
Comedy turned into tragedy. Laughter turned into tears. Casual bickering turned into emotional terrors. There were no more mornings filled with the smelled of fresh brewed coffee and the fresh sweet scent of orange skin marmalade over hot pancakes on the large wooden kitchen table. There were no more sounds of DVD played on the flat screen monitor showing a tearjerker movie on the calm star filled evenings. The grandfather clock in one corner of the house has stopped ticking with its pendulum in a standstill just as if life was no longer happening.

The cliff - top home has turned once again into just a house. The house looked in perfect order as usual. White sheets bed was turned neatly as always. The large black comfortable sofa looked neat and unseated with all the oversize pillows tucked in and a soft light wool blanket sometimes used during the late night movie watching was folded nicely over one of the sofa arm. But the rainy days have stopped and the house felt dry and hollow. Still unwatched by others in the neighborhood, life has left leaving only recent memories cemented into the walls along with other memories of the past.

For a brief moment of four days the house was a home once again. Life went by so fast sometimes leaving no time for understanding or forgiveness except unfulfilled happiness. Four days at home after a years of emptiness and past mistakes. Mistakes that could not be undone and all the while life was happening elsewhere and possibly the discovery of new homes.

Days slipped by until one day the front gate was opened and the sound of a car engine was heard coming into the driveway. The noise of the front door being unlocked and the sound of steps on the parquette floor marked the time to make today count again and not let life slipped by without embracing the important things. Windows were opened again letting in the sea breeze flowing inside the interior. With the sound of a flame in the gas stove being turned on to make a fresh brewed coffee, the house was again trying to feel like home. Alone by itself for now while waiting for the rainy days to come.

(Inspired by Irwin Winkler's movie "Life As A House" starring Kevin Kline and Hayden Christensen and the memories of tons of stupid mistakes)

A Love Letter

This is a story with original title Surat Cinta by Diki Satya posted at his blog di pelipir blog and is translated into English from Bahasa Indonesia.

My Darling,
How are you? It has been a month since I last heard from you. Are you eating well? Don't forget to wear your scarf which I have put in your bag. You always forget to wear it. Too dandy !, you always said. Please wear it. Winter is coming. There might be some storms too.

“You will receive the most beautifully written letter that you ever read” That is what you told me when you said good bye. I was not really listening to you. I was too busy kissing you. I kissed you again. I looked at you. The handsome face. I kissed and hug you over again. I know you will be gone for a long time. I was savouring my last moment with you. 

Don't go, I said. I must, you told me with your eyes. Your dreams come above everything else. Even me. I will wait for you. You'll see.....you will understand later.

So who is she?
The one that made you blushed and quiet. Someone that you keep to yourself. You won't share with anyone. Is she taking good care of you ? as well as I ? Do I have to compete with her ?. It's allright. I will still wait for you here. You can even bring her with you.

My Darling,
When are you coming home? The weather has been getting colder. The neighbors are staying indoor already. No one to talk to anymore. The street is empty except for the sound of wind. Not even a whisper heard. The leaves are changing its color. I am getting old.

Please come home, darling…

Mama

(Inspired by the film "The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de Motocicleta) directed by Walter Salles and starring Gael Garcia Bernal & Rodrigo de la Serna)" and memories of past love letters)