2013年11月26日星期二

makeup for The Great Gatsby

If you ask what is the most popular movie right now, many people would choose the great Gatsby. It is also the reason why I read it at first, and I will never regret this choice. It became my favorite movie now.
The story starts with mystery, ends in tragedy. Gatsby is a rich guy, his mystery is just like his money, nobody knows the truth behind rumour. No one knows who he is, where he comes from. But everyone has been to his house, the fabulous castle, where holds parties every week. People from everywhere, every position hang on together, with the endless wines, foods and happiness, everything is too good to be true. But on one has ever seen Gatsby, the owner, except our writer. 
It turned out that Gatsby was born in a very poor family, and grew up in hanger. He earned his money by selling wines secretly. The only reason why he held those parties was because he wanted to see the girl he loved. They were in love for five years but lost contact after he joined the army. The girl married a rich guy and never looked back. Gatsby tried everything, anything that can get her back. However, the girl let him down at the very last moment. In the end, Gatsby was killed because he was the escape goat in a traffic accident for that girl.
When I read this novel, I thought it is a normal love story. But after I watched the movie, I found out it is much more complicated than I expect. Five days after I watch the movie till now, some of questions still confused me. Why Gatsby trying to hide his back? Why is the girl didn't choose to run away with him? Why the writer consider Gatsby the great guy? I try to guess many times, but none satisfied me.
This movie makes me think more about the realistic human being. Tom's mistress, the woman who cheated on her husband, loved him so much, she died for for him, while it was her husband who revenged the criminal and died with her. Tom didn't admit he knew her even after she died. Daisy, the girl caught the two guys heart, broke Gatsby's heart again and again. Gatsby was killed for her while she live happily with Tom. She didn't even show up at his funeral. Gatsby held the great parties for everyone, they are all so proud to know him, but no one was in his funeral. Gatsby was all alone after he died, except Nick felt sad for him, even though they've only hang out several times. The movie showed me the dark side of humanity, showed me how week people are and how selfish they can be. But after all of that, they still have the bright side, the side that support Gatsby to go through the tough time, the side that is kept in Nick's heart.
I love the movie the Great Gatsby, their words are so beautiful, I was touched immediately at the very beginning. In the meanwhile, I'm also frustrated that I can't express my feelings in English exactly. However, I will buy this book some day later, and read it carefully, looking for the answers. My story with Gatsby hasn't end yet.

2013年11月16日星期六

A tale of two cities

I love A Tale of Two Cities since I was very young. I love it the very moment I saw it, when I read the beginning of the first chapter, and after long time, those words still give me a chill.

It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times,
It was the age of wisdom,
It was the age of foolishness,
It was the epoch of belief,
It was the epoch of incredulity,
It was the season of light,
It was the season of darkness,
It was the spring of hope,
It was the winter of despair.

The story starts before ant during the French Revolution, when people of France was extremely frustrated  with the king and all noblemen. People were living in hell for long, and a war would be triggered ant any moment. Does love still exist in this situation? Dickens told us it does. The love between Lucie and Charles proved everything.
It was not a new story about two young people fell in love within their family's enmity since Romeo and Juliet, but Dickens made it different. It not only expresses how beautiful love is, but also how powerful it is. No wonder what happens, love is still there, it makes old Manette hide the horrible time that Charles' family led to, it let Steney gave up his life for others happiness, it breaks the boundary between common people and noblemen, it pushes the poor to fight for their own right. That's probably is the reason why human being overcame so many disasters and never been defeated, Love makes us who we are.
Every time when I see how people fight for their happiness, I'm deeply touched. It shows me that never give up in whatever situation, everything is gonna be ok eventually, because love always leads us to the right way.

2013年11月4日星期一

the phantom of opera

The phantom of opera is my favorite opera since I was really young. Coming to America, watching it in the Broadway is kinda like a dream for me. So when I saw this book, I picked it up immediately, and watched the movie after reading it.
It's a pity that the book is an elementary level book, most of the details are skipped. But even so,  those up and down plots still gave me a chill.
The phantom of Opera talks about a mystery man and his unusual life. The man has a incredibly ugly face, and because of this face, he had been ridiculed since he was really young. After he punched those who laugh at him, he hided himself in a mask, and stayed in the opera for the rest of his life. The face made him a phantom. But things changed when he fell in love with a girl. He was too afraid of the girl seeing his face, so he talked to her in a secret way, taught her singing, made her a real star in that opera. However, the girl didn't understand his love, she loved another boy and that hurt him deeply. He tried to kill that boy, but the girl's good overbalanced the evil, he gave up and let her go. He didn't get the girl's love eventually.
I hate to say the world is unfair, but it truly is. I always think, if the phantom isn't that ugly, what will his life gonna be? He might will live a normal life, and meet the one, living with her happily in the rest of his life. The face destroyed his childhood, warped his character, and made him who he was. However, he won't be such a genius if so. The most important thing is, he can still feel love and didn't let his anger beat him. He choice to give back the girl's love.
If say the book is Ok, then the movie is really amazing.All songs are so classic and fabulous that I was immediately attracted when they started. Besides, I understood the story much better after watching it.
I love the phaeton of opera for real, I will definitely watch it in the Broadway after this fall quarter.


PS: Dear instructor, I saw your reply for the last blog, but I tried many ways and still don't know how to reply it, Maybe we can figure it out tomorrow, hehe~