Thursday 30 June 2011

One Fine Day in new context!


Grace Chang (Ge Lan) sings Un bel di Vedremo in Mandarin. But what makes it a really big deal is the context. The clip is from the film Wild, Wild Rose  (described in detail here). Rose is obviously extremely well educated through she went on the streets aged 14. But that was during the Japanese invasion and Chinese civil war. Millions of tragedies like that, which is the point of the film.  She's become a popular nightclub suinger whose forte is western opera arias. Not a crooner. Read the whole story on the link for context. At this point in the story, she's forced to go back to work after having tried a stretch as a "nice girl" but everything's gone wrong and she's broke. So it's deeply ironic that she has to play at being a subservient geisha. The words are poignant because ex pimp came back from prison and her lover went to jail for knifing him. Rose's friends know the story, which is why they're proud of her comeback.  She ends up dead, like Carmen, but this Madama Butterfly isn't a passive victim. The pianist looks weedy but even he has a story to tell. (read the synopsis)

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