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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
For love or money? That’s the underlying question
in Together, a fine musically oriented film
from Chen Kaige, famed director of Farewell My
Concubine. The story follows a mismatched father-son
team as they seek fame and fortune in the Beijing
music world. Liu Cheng (Liu Peiqi), a working class
cook hailing from a small provincial town, would like
nothing more than to see his thirteen-year-old son,
Xiaochun (Tang Yun) succeed as a violinist. But the
family’s lack of connections and wealth proves to
be a huge obstacle in accomplishing that goal. In
the early going, it seems that success depends mainly
on who you know and who you can pay off.
But things start to
turn around when Cheng convinces Jiang (Wang Zhiwen),
a cranky violin teacher, to take Xiaochun under his
wing. Remarkably, Xiaochun has a positive effect on
the reclusive, often disheveled Jiang, teaching his
mentor a thing or two about life, not to mention good
personal hygiene. Somewhere in between
all the music lessons, Xiaochun develops a crush on
an older neighbor, Lili (Chen Hong), a somewhat materialistic
twentysomething of dubious occupation (it's never
clearly spelled out in the film). Like all crushes,
Xiaochun's causes him to do something incredibly stupid,
an act that will have repercussions later in the film.
That event is set into
motion when Xiaochun's father decides to dump Jiang
as a teacher in favor of the more famous Professor
Yu Shifeng (Chen Kaige in a rare acting turn). The
transition proves rough for Xiaochun, but he eventually
makes the best of the situation. However, on the eve
of a concert performance that could make or break
Xiaochun's budding career, a stunning secret is revealed
that changes his life forever. In the end, Xiaochun
must evaluate just why he plays the violin in the
first place. For love or money? His answer isn't too
hard to figure out, but the obviousness in no way
mars the film's rousing climax.
Handled differently,
Together could have played out like a sappy,
overly sentimental tearjerker. But in the hands of
master director Chen Kaige, this tale of a father-son
relationship feels neither manipulative nor crass.
The film doesn't try to tug at the audience's heartstrings
from the get-go, but instead allows the story to simply
unfold, gradually investing the viewer in the lives
of its ragtag group of characters. Although Together is somewhat unspectacular when taken as a whole, its
final swell of emotion is such a cathartic experience
that one would be hard-pressed to find a more rousing
cinematic crescendo. (Calvin McMillin, 2004) |
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