
Watches
February 12, 2022
I like a good anthology, but these more arthouse-oriented projects tend to disappoint. Beautiful 2012 managed to attract some interesting names, but the result is rather lackluster. None of the shorts really stand out and almost all of them felt rushed and underdeveloped, as if the directors sent in some leftovers.
The concept is supposed to show the directors' visions on "beauty", but I only know because I read the liner notes. The shorts themselves don't communicate that at all, instead they are quite downtrodden and glum. I guess that's just what you get when you go for more arthouse-loving directors.
Tsai started his Walker series here, his short is probably the best of the bunch. Kim's short is pretty decent too, with some nice shots here and there, Hui's entry is forgettable and Gu's one is the worst of the bunch. Relatively short and somewhat varied, but unless you are a completist like me there's not that much here.
More by the directors
Changwei Gu
Ann Hui

Swordsman

The Postmodern Life of My Aunt

Visible Secret

A Simple Life

Eighteen Springs

Goddess of Mercy

Our Time Will Come

July Rhapsody

Love After Love

Night and Fog

Starry Is the Night

Stunt Woman

The Golden Era

Zodiac Killers

God of Killers

Love in a Fallen City

My American Grandson

All about Love

As Time Goes By

Ordinary Heroes

Song of the Exile

Summer Snow

The Way We Are

Boat People

The Secret

The Spooky Bunch
Tae-yong Kim
Ming-liang Tsai

The Wayward Cloud

I Don't Want To Sleep Alone

The Hole

What Time Is It There?

Goodbye, Dragon Inn

Face

Sand

Stray Dogs

Chacun Son Cinéma

Days

Afternoon

Letters from the South

The River

Wandering

My Stinking Kid

Vive L'Amour

All the Corners of the World

Fish, Underground

Give Me a Home

Journey to the West

Li-hsiang's Heart Line

Sleeping on Dark Waters

Boys

Madame Butterfly

Rebels of the Neon God
