 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 | 🎙️ EPISODE 293: 08.21.2020 I feel somewhat conflicted. The only reason I had this on the ole watchlist was because Mr. Italiano aka Marty aka Sir Martin Scorsese had it as the #3 film of the decade (Hey it's the 90s!). But. That's. Not. At. All. That piqued my interest certainly, or what does Leo say in Django? Anyway, this little (not little, long as shit actually) Taiwanese picture is essentially a "lost film" at this point, not available for purchase on DVD (or any medium) and not streaming ANYWHERE. We always want what we can't have, folks. And so... Did I love it? Not exactly, But given the pedigree of that rec-o-mend-ation, it's weird that it hasn't received the restoration treatment via Criterion, etc. The only way to watch this is via fairly bad VHS transfer. And as far as I can tell the bad copy floating around on YouTube in plain sight is the exact same shit that you'll find on torrent sites1. |
Here is the entirely of A Borrowed Life's Wikipedia page (highlighted portions = my own doing)...
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| I feel like Marty's appreciation for this, specifically, is as important to its continuance in the collective psyche as anything? |
And, speaking of aesthetics, as it were, watching any film via bad VHS transfer adds a layer to the experience that is clearly outside and not a part of the filmmaker's intentions. This is a lovely bit of art, imo, in its own right, but not because it has anything to do with the movie. There is a mystery in the missing pixels...
...and in trying to make sense of English subtitles over hard-coded Japanese/Mandarin ones...
What is the plot of the movie indeed? What is the plot of any movie besides kissing and crying?
This film is of the epic autobiographical subgenre insomuch as it tells a story from cradle (we begin with a small boy, our narrator) to grave (the death of his father several decades later). These films, by their very nature, can be boring (just like life!). But they can also relay the pain of living; we relate to the frustration and horror...
At its core, A Borrowed Life is the story of a son's relationship to his father. Whose life is borrowed? How important is it seeing ourselves in our children and vice versa? When Dad opines about "raising sons for other's use," he's really talking about his lot in life. And when he screams the only thing he's "afraid of is being poor," his anger is a deflection. They're already there. It's a tough, rotten life, and it's not sugar-coated in the slightest...
The film is full of slice of life anecdotes like this, a credit to director Wu Nien-Jen who got his start strictly as a writer and it shows. This is a very writerly film, a visual novel almost.
The cultural differences are also on full display. For all their many hardships, the family sticks together. Whereas an American story might see a fracture and a drift, here we have a reconnecting, even if there's more pain in that than a divide. The son grows up to have a boy of his own. Even more of the father is gone with this iteration; there's barely anything there at all, not even the same language. And yet, this is the family...
Scorsese's admiration for this isn't at all surprising; many of the same themes are explored. I'm not sure it fully earns its almost three-hour run-time–some shots are too flat, too still, though this might partly be the fault of the shitty file transfer–but it nevertheless encompasses the all-too-familiar dread that often accompanies life with your family.
From there, the movie descends deeper into sadness and ultimately death, with some truly brutal hospital scenes I won't share here. This is the cinema of literature, and so it's fitting that it ends with some poignant voiceover and a postscript...
We, the audience, don't get to see Mt. Fuji either (with our eyes anyway). So much of life is imagined, BORROWED (if you will). And what transpires in the ultimate imagination (death) is anyone's guess. Mt. Fuji it is.
FOOTNOTES:
1. Although, admittedly, this is a good time for me to admit that I am not 'in the know' as far as the super cool, closed doors torrent communities are concerned, though I hear whispers that they still exist and are, pardon my French, thriving? I am sad middle-aged man and technology can still be burden for me and bring great shame to my village? WTF do you want?- [BACK]
CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 292B - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 293B ⫸
⫷ EPISODE 292B - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 293B ⫸
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