I don't understand why people like it! *spoilers*
what is going on here? Everybody liked this film? there are people calling it even one of the best films he has ever seen! People asking for it's soundtrack(!!)!
I watched this film last night and it sucked. I was hopeful till the end, but it sucked. I even watched it in fast-forward. That boring was this film. Long empty scenes where you only see people walking around and acting in the most unnatural way. Now, don't get me wrong, I like neo-realism, but this is not neo-realism. This film is made by a bunch of people who wanted to make an "arty" film and filled it up with a lot of scenes where people don't say a singly word and react in an unnatural way (see any of the accidents that happen in the film, nobody, I mean no-body!!, reacts! the guy got hit with a brick, head is bleeding! and people are just staring in silence!); the whole bath house scene doesn't make sense. the guy is a DELIVERY guy, what does the girl do? send him to take a bath. He asks from Mr.Zhang. Well, it happens that one out of ten people is called Zhang in China. didn't it occur to her that it might be her manager, who also happens to be named Zhang? No she sends him to take a shower. They guy gets his bike stolen, and what does he do? he sits there till deep in the night waiting for the bike to come back. Should I feel sorry for him now? no, he's just plain stupid. Migrant workers are stupid. Is this what the maker is trying to tell me? The other kid, the spoiled brat who steals/buys (still unclear) the bike to impress his friends and the girl who has a crush on him (can anybody explain me why a hot pretty girl like her would fall for a little silly boy like him without any reason?);
Can anybody explain me who the spoiled brat and his stupid friends found out where the delivery guy worked, since he wasn't wearing anything of his company? and when they waited for him in front of the company, didn't the guys notice that ALL the employees of the company were having the SAME bike? no, they're too stupid to see that and the delivery guy is too stupid to tell them. Instead they all go up to some construction site where they harass the poor migrant worker till deep in the night. Worst is the final chase... probably they were trying to pay a homage to Blake Edwards, when the 2 guys run away in the alleys and kept meeting each other all the time (something plainly IMPOSSIBLE in Beijing hutongs/samll alleys);
Only interesting moment was when the brat's father found out the bike and his money were stolen by his own son. I wish he had beaten him harder, it would have given some sense to the film. But instead the film went back to long silent meaningless scenes. I don't even start about the maid's subplot.
Boring, boring and long. Nothing really happens. And some people call it the best film they've seen? must be some friend of the director, if not he himself. Fortunately I have seen worse films than this one.
Watch DeSica's Bicycle Thieves. Now that IS cinema. In this film, even when they don't talk they are telling me something, it's visually telling me something. Beijing Bicycle seems like somebody forgot to turn his camera off. And now I have to "guess" what it all means.
Or maybe I am wrong. Bicycle Thieves sucks and this is a masterpiece.
"What if there is no tomorrow? there wasn't one today...!"