Film Review: China The Panda Adventure

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I started a Chinese Culture Club at the High School I work at. The members are students from 9th to 12th grade (14 years old an up) but all with diverse levels of maturity. Although most of the members have seen PG movies before, I have parents’ signatures allowing me to show films that are PG.

I found a film called “China, the Panda Adventure” by the Imax Corporation and Warner Home Video. Apparently this video has been show around the world at different Imax theaters, but the DVD version of it has not been authorized to be sold outside USA or Canada.

The story is based in the real life of a New York woman called Ruth Harkness who went to China to continue what her late husband had started: Save the Giant panda. The story starts in 1936. She is able to complete the mission and brings to the USA a baby panda. The film assures that this is what makes the world know about Pandas.

This film can help me teach students not only about Pandas and images of China, but also about becoming involved in issues about nature and being an activist and helping protect endangered species anywhere in the world.

This is a good site to learn more technical details of the film. I got mine at ebay.

http://www.imax.com/chinapanda/

[Anonymous]

During my winter brake I decided to catch up on some work. I went to the Los Angeles Central Library and checked out a Japanese film. The Hidden Blade came out in 2004 and the director is Yoji Yamada, it is a drama film with subtitles in English and Spanish.
I really liked the film because it deals with love, honor and the change that is happening during the 19th century.

It is interesting to see that Munezo a samurai that falls in love with a servant name Kie can’t marry her because of the difference in class. Everyone wants to marry him but his heart only belongs to Kie and will do anything to protect her. Kie is married of to a merchant that treats her bad and becomes very ill. Munezo comes and rescues her and takes her back to his house to be his servant- even thought he really wants to marry her but cant. Every body in the village starts talking bad about how this samurai took Kie from her husband ( he picked her up and took her on his back during the day to his house). He thinks that because people are talking about the incident it is bringing shame to her and sends her back to her dad’s farm after she is well. By the way Kie is in love with her master.

While all this is happening in Munezo’s private life, in his job he is being force the new and “improved” way of fighting. The use of artillery is introduced and the western way to fight in battle. All of this makes the samurais confused and they start to question how this new way of fighting can hold their honor. The plot is great and I hope that some of you can go and watch it. I think the movie has very interesting parts that can be shown in history and in English classes. It deals with the samurai honor and shame, Kara Hiri (please excused me if I spell it wrong) the honorable way a samurai can die, and classes and how love can change it. The movie had 12 Japanese Academy Award Nominations. If you have time you should see it.

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