Women in Love

Women are built differently from men, both physically and psychologically. Women are evolved with love to take care of the offsprings. Men are evolved with lust to leave behind the offsprings.

In two movies Women in Love we watched Saturday, March 16th, Sakuran (2006) directed by Ninagawa Mika and Q (2011) directed by Laurent Bouhnik, both leading female protagonists knew how to use their bodies to control men, and found their true love in the end.

Sakuran is a Geisha story, the growth of a poor little girl into an Oiran. Anna Tsuchiya is stunning in the role of Kiyoha. The movie has very beautiful vibrant colors, beautiful geisha, on top of that Shiina Ringo's music highlights the matching scenes in the movie.

As a natori of traditional Japanese dance, I enjoy all geisha movies. I can watch the graceful movements of geisha and appreciate the colorful and luxurious kimonos and accessories. I can hear the dialogue of geisha in Kyoto accent, peek into the life and the interior design of Okiya--Geisha House. Last but not least, I can see the most spectacular cherry blossom in Japan.

In-between movies, the dinner gathering was a treat. Wendy bought fried meat bums, I made honey pumpkin, Mary made fried vegetables, Joy provided dumplings. For desserts, we had cheesecake, green tea cake, strawberries, and oranges!

After dinner, we watched Q (2011). To be honest, at the first 30 minutes, I thought the film was nothing but a pornography. I saw a bunch of young women nude in a shower, a lot of chitchatting and many scenes of Cécile (Déborah Révy) making fun of men, young and old.

Being a French-speaking person with many visits to France, I can imagine the social context deteriorated by a countrywide economic crisis. After the interpretation of movie critic Mr. Hung and background information of unemployment and a shipyard strike, I took another look at the movie. I understand better the life of people being turned upside down after they meet Cecile, a character who symbolizes desire.

The director never shows anything above the waist of the nude women in the shower chattering away about sex and men. All characters are missing each other needs and hence at odds and frustrated. Everyone is somehow self-absorbed. In the beginning, the movie starts with a message that love is possible. At the end, Cecile finds her true love.

After watching Q, we all agreed that the movie was soothing in a way. Cecile demonstrated the lines between love and lust. She helped people around her find their true love and she found hers in the end. Somehow, I feel Cecile must be a sexually abused kid. She used he body as a tool to let go and to get rid of her nightmares eventually!