tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3070623657970000135.post1248540282655433944..comments2024-01-27T02:33:23.675-08:00Comments on Beverly in Movieland: The (Unlikely) Candidate, and How He GrewBeverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15515783219367479399noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3070623657970000135.post-10320273931853627172012-02-05T21:41:11.125-08:002012-02-05T21:41:11.125-08:00Thank you thank you thank you!Thank you thank you thank you!Beverlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15515783219367479399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3070623657970000135.post-82480566383355862352012-02-05T20:59:27.677-08:002012-02-05T20:59:27.677-08:00This is a fascinating post - this is one of those ...This is a fascinating post - this is one of those blogs where you never know what you'll find - and that's a total compliment!Craig Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06037542638067599437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3070623657970000135.post-36300499020909471042011-09-07T22:07:16.085-07:002011-09-07T22:07:16.085-07:00I have heard it and read it so much I chalked it u...I have heard it and read it so much I chalked it up to either intellectual pretentiousness or that these reviewers and critics were only masking their own closeted identities. I've never once thought the barely dressed musclebound characters of Roman gladiator and fantasy films were anything more than heroes akin to the likes of Superman. They didn't wear jeans and T shirts back then, of course. <br /><br />Also, critics have made these Freudian accusations towards Chang Cheh's movies with all the gory impalements stating it's a phallic symbol and a "clue" to his alleged homosexuality. I seriously doubt that was the intention considering the director was, among other things, greatly influenced by Peking Opera and the "art" of impaling was a frequent device featured in those stage plays--the dying hero, mortally stabbed, his intestines rolling out, continues to fight valiantly till his last dying breath. <br /><br />Speaking of the Kabuki theater connection, I've seen in a number of the HK films that sometimes males are playing female roles in scenes featuring traveling opera houses. Funnily enough, these males are depicted as homosexuals every time. Chinese cinema is rife with stereotypes, at least the old school pictures are.<br /><br />I agree, Beverly, it is a fascinating (and also can be a frustrating) subject!venoms5https://www.blogger.com/profile/13655919099947763891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3070623657970000135.post-37945825077138506642011-09-07T17:47:19.300-07:002011-09-07T17:47:19.300-07:00I'm fascinated by the speculation in your fina...I'm fascinated by the speculation in your final paragraph. This might be worth running by some gay friends who are film historians. Thanks!<br /><br />It's probably irrelevant, but in classical Japanese Kabuki theatre, female parts -- some of them extremely feminine -- have always been played by males. From what I'm told, some of these "onnagata" actors are completely masculine off stage, but others are not. It's a truly complex and interesting subject, I believe.)Beverlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15515783219367479399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3070623657970000135.post-56242275350809864562011-09-07T15:40:49.588-07:002011-09-07T15:40:49.588-07:00Thought provoking post as always, Beverly!
The re...Thought provoking post as always, Beverly!<br /><br />The revered and late HK filmmaker Chang Cheh (whom Roger Corman released one of his films, THE WATER MARGIN, here as 7 BLOWS OF THE DRAGON trimming it down from two hours to 79 minutes!) was constantly accused of being gay because of his depictions of males onscreen. <br /><br />For years women were the dominant force in HK cinema (even playing male roles!) and he sought to change all that when he unleashed the bloody vibrance of ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN in '67. For years he stated he portrayed homosexuals in some of his movies, but this was a different subject entirely when depicting male bonding ie male friendship. I must say, that I am a huge CC fan and from a small boy to now I never saw any overt gay connotations that pointed towards the directors alleged sexual orientation. It was a shame he spent his career denouncing such claims and yet his wife remained by his side through it all. If anything, judging by his memoirs, I'd say he was a chauvinist. <br /><br />John Woo was one of Cheh's acolyte's and Woo's style is almost verbatim of what Cheh was doing back in the day. I often wonder, though, if the critics that claim to see such things are actually hiding their own sexual preference by seeing things that weren't intended in the first place. Critics also said/say the same thing for Italian westerns (Sergio Leone's movies included) and Sword and Sandal epics.venoms5https://www.blogger.com/profile/13655919099947763891noreply@blogger.com