Archive for Historical

Jet Li has released a new movie, and this time he forms a brotherhood with Takeshi Kaneshiro (Chunking Express, House of Flying Daggers) and Andy Lau (House Of Flying Daggers, Infernal Affairs) in The War Lords.

The Warlords is set during the corrupt rule of the Qing Dynasty in China. Because of oppression suffered by Chinese people due to corruption, a group of rebels formed the Taiping Rebellion to fight for the rights of the people. Jet Li (Brother Pang) is a defeated army general fighting the rebels when they were betrayed by their ally and left for dead. Brother Pang barely survived and was saved by a group of bandits, whom he convinces to join the Chinese army to be able to take care of his family. They agree, but he must join their brotherhood. They form a brotherhood and make a pact to free all Chinese people from oppression. However, as they succeed more and more, Brother Pang becomes hungry for more power and eventually puts their brotherhood in jeopardy.

As with any good action and war movie, the setting is very fast-paced and rarely gets boring. It was direct to the point and always exciting. It was an attempt by Peter Chan to make a beautiful movie about an ugly truth. And it did work. The movie was about two hours long, and there were times when I had to go back and wonder what had just happened. But otherwise, it was a good movie that touches on brotherhood, love and commitment. It’s not a movie that excels technically since everything was so simple, but it’s a movie that borders on good and excellent because it attempts to strike a chord in people’s hearts.

Watch The Warlords, not for the action it shows, but for the message it portrays.

Hotel Rwanda is a stunning film. It is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hero for the Tutsis of Rwanda. It is difficult to review a film that has real events. The director cannot do much to change the beginning, middle, or ending; history only happened one way. I applaud the director for his successful attempt to bring recognition to the genocide in Rwanda.

In order to understand the film, you must know a basic history of Rwanda. A few hundred years ago, the Tutsis and the Hutus were the groups that made up Rwanda. The Tutsis were the minority but held better jobs and power over the Hutus. In the early 1900s, Rwanda was annexed to Belgium. Belgium decided to give everybody in Rwanda identification cards. These cards distinguished the citizens of Rwanda as either Hutu or Tutsi. The truth was that the process for the selection was quite arbitrary. One would not really be able to tell if someone was Hutu or Tutsi just by looking at them. The Hutus, who ended up being the majority, overthrew the leading Tutsis on their way towards independence from Belgium. A civil war ensued.

The Interhamwe, a Hutu militia, created a plan to systematically wipe out all of the Tutsis. They called the Tutsis cockroaches, and tried to convince all of the Hutus that the Tutsis had no right to live. This is where Hotel Rwanda comes into play. Paul Rusesabagina is a Hutu hotel manager. When he hears of what is happening, he knows he must protect his wife and children –all Tutsis. They end up moving into the hotel where Paul works, but they are not alone. Paul is a trusted Hutu, and the Tutsi community flocks for refuge at his hotel.

It becomes Paul’s personal responsibility to provide safety for his new hotel guests. He must fight against all odds to keep the Interhamwe from destroying everyone. His story is heroic and unique. If you have not seen this movie yet, I say it is a Must-See. The movie is an intense thrill. It’s hard to keep reminding yourself that it portrays events that were real.