Customer Reviews

Shower

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This subtitled Chinese movie tells a story of collision between technological progress and old-times. The story begins when a prodigal son returns from the city to his home town - a place that barely changed since he was a boy - to see his aging father. During the course of his stay, the son began to accept and finally embrace the very things he had once detested as the "modern, progressive" man. This story is one we can all relate to, regardless of where we are and who we are. The world is changing quickly, and we have learned to take everything at face value and for granted. We make our lives complicated in hopes that we can concoct contentment within ourselves and in our lives. Then we become dependent on the technology we created and wonder why we feel tired/stressed/rushed all the time. "Shower" is a movie that made me wonder if seduction works in reverse - if the modern man can be seduced by a "kinder, more simple" lifestyle. I wonder whether many of us will be interested in living as a large extended family of neighbors who are customers and friends - people you talk about impotence and marriage problems with, people you would entrust your mentally handicapped child with. Most of the stories I hear are "success stories" of how someone "made it big" or "struck it rich". But I suppose, for a few, like the prodigal son, seduction works in reverse.

Shower is simply an amazing movie. It is about an old man who runs a bathhouse with his mentally retarded son, in a run-down neighborood in China. His eldest son, who has been swept up into a commercial and materialistic lifestyle, comes back to see his estranged father. Shower conveys the message to live a simple life and to do what makes you happy in life to find peace. shower perfectly sets up the theme of "The Modern, The Technological, The Impersonal" VS "The Old Fashioned, The Traditional, The Human Touch". I was captured into the world that this movie creates. The atmosphere is very light and the movie has a smoothness and a non-threatening quality to it that adds to its realism. The director does a great job of not making Shower overly sentimental, which would take away from its stark human realism. The subpots and the sub characters in the film do a masterful job of complimenting the main themes in the movie and are also hilarious and unique. Not only does Shower have funny and interesting characters in it, but the emotions that the poeple experience can really be felt because of the film's simplistic realism. The relationship between the father and his sons are extremely compelling. Watching their relationships change and develop in relation to the bathhouse was solidly done. No doubt, a well crafted and directed film.

BOTTOMLINE: Shower is a pleasant and often times heart-warming movie, a definite MUST SEE!

Many Chinese movies understandably focus on the tragic era of
the Cultural Revolution. This movie, on the contrary, presents us with the dark side of the "new" China. Though particular to China, it coincidentally describes a more global picture of a world that pursues money to the detriment of happiness.

We immediately get a look at a metaphor for the new China. A man takes a shower in an efficient public shower, which looks like a mix between a porto-potty and a robo car-wash. It gets the job done in a short amount of time so that the user can get on with his life as producer and consumer.

We then meet the businessman behind the efficient shower. He is a Chinese yuppie, now living in Shenzhen, but who is presently returning to his hometown because he believes his father, whom he had not visited in a long time, is dead.

As it turns out, his father is not dead. At this point we get a juxtaposition of two worlds. The new, the yuppies' world which is humorless, lacks warmth and sensuality and the world of his father who runs a public bathouse. The bathouse, as it turns out, is not only a place where people can ENJOY a bath (and not just get clean) but it serves as a social center where people gather, problems get resolved, and people really care about one another.

Alas, the efficient "new" world wins out as a modernization plan
calls for the bathhouse to be torn down...and with it the soul of the community. O sole mio, indeed...but the sun will go down and not rise again any time soon. We are headed towards a joyless efficient world.

This is a brilliant movie and I would give it ten stars if possible.

Thomas

After renting this movie 3 times from Netflix, I decided that I should just buy it. It's one of those movies that I can watch over and over again because it's not just a plot; it's a reaffirmation of the important and pure things in life. It's simply "refreshing" every time I see it again (excuse the pun)!

The title above is in fact a compliment to this absolutely wonderful movie. I will not say more about the plot as its been mention in all the wonderful reviews here. BUT I have to mention that I am becoming more and more fascinated with the old actor Xu Zhu. I first saw him in King Of Mask and I think he is fantastic. He always have a stern, grouchy grandpapa look that will burst into a heartwarming smile in a split second.

Watch out for some of the wackiest characters too. The two sons are good, but the retarted one is both funny, and at the same time made me feel really sad for him.

Some other really cute characters are a gentle spoken guy with a domineering, bullying wife, two old men always quibbling about their pet crickets like overgrown kids and a fat "o sole Mio" guy that is comical and yet annoying and irritating , and one of their friend who always dream of striking it rich :) Wonderful.

one of my favourite quote from the movie: "Its time to stop dreaming - get a real job! " wow

Some of the most mesmerizing scenes in the movie are in the flash-backs told by the aging father about the importance of water and the sacrifice people take in olden days to obtain water for usage, ceremonies and spiritual uses.

These scenes are so dream like with gorgeous cinematography. That cant help but reminds you of those excellent landscapes used by Zhang Yimou , Xie Fei and He Ping. (These 3 directors are known for their lush visuals)

Watching these scenes of water searching from the deserts of Northwest China to the arid plateau of the Tibetan Highlands are rich & beautiful with the haunting music and the singing of the Chinese folk song, will absolutely reminds you of great movies like Red Sorghum, A Mongolian Tale, The Road Home and Xiu Xiu, Tian Yu.

This movie's message is world wide. Basically the difference in generation gap of the young and old, the modern and the traditional, technology and hand made.

As to the question of Ms, Jane Chin about the seduction in reverse...I whole heartedly agree with her. I was seduced way before this movie was made and I am much happier and prouder with a simple humble lifestyle and this movie had confirmed that decision.

Living here in a tightly packed Asia continent, with her 20 or more nations moving into modernization , this movie is too real.

Genghiz Tanghe

This is a really strange, captivating, Chinese movie about an old man and his retarded adult son who run a traditional, men's bathhouse in an old section of Beijing together. A short visit by the old man's other son, who had formerly wanted nothing to do with the business, becomes a longer stay than anyone expected due to circumstances beyond anyone's control.

We could say that this is a movie about the encroaching modernization of China and it's impact upon traditional culture, but I came away from my night with the DVD wondering how one goes about putting together a small stable of fighting crickets. If I can figure this out, I'm headed down to Chinatown, looking for a match.

This is an interesting, bittersweet movie that is comical in the way that Wertmuller's "Swept Away" is comical. The characters are very "human" and you will likely empathize with their situations, as I did. You may as well spring for the DVD as you will undoubtedly want to see it more than once in your life anyway.

Possibly, before the next East-West summit, the heads of State involved should swap a few good movies before getting together.

Da Ming is the elder son of a bath house owner, who has escaped the drudgery of small town life for the life of a modern executive in Shenzhen.

Or has he? When he receives a postcard with a drawing on it which looks like his father has passed on, he returns to his home town believing his father has died.
Instead, Da Ming finds his father in good health, and is himself the proverbial "heart" of the small town. Da Ming's father doubles as match maker, therapist, and friend to the troubled people who come to his bathhouse to bathe and relieve the stress of day-to-day life. While at first Da Ming resents his father, and is ashamed of his slow brother, he eventually finds himself lured into the family business, albeit unintentionally. After a tragedy strikes, will Da Ming have the courage to remain true to his father's wishes and care for his brother? Or will he buckle under the stresses of modern life and societal expectations?

I really loved Shower. The Interactions between Er Ming and his elderly father was really charming. Da Ming's bafflement at his father's quaint ways and his embarrassment of his younger brother were realisticly portayed and well acted. Shower is a fascinating tale of redemption, renewal and growth set in an emerging China.

What a heartwarming film from China!

The plot is delectably "fresh" yet universal -- a successful businessman from Shenzhen (in southern China, close to Hong Kong) visits his elderly father and younger brother after a long separation, upon a mistaken pictorial message that his father has expired. The old man and the (intellectually deprived) younger son run an old fashioned bathhouse in downtown Beijing. Upon finding out that the postcard he received was misleading and that the father is well and good, the elder brother wants to return back to his life. Will he? Can he?

The fluid narrative is laced with some subtle humor so as not to depress or bore the audience. The slice of real-life China is delectable, the scenes of the men's camaraderie and reverie in the bathhouse are alone interesting enough to grab a copy of this DVD. The chemistry between the actors is wonderful.

The bathhouse, it turns out, has a deeper presence in the movie than being simply the backdrop for the family. As the father told the son the story of his wife's family in the northern deserts of china, the element of water and bathing becomes an almost sacred ritual. Water was so scarce that a simple bath had profound depth and meaning.

Although some moments verge on over-done sweetness (even bordering on cloying during the final park recital scene when water makes an intridguing appearance), "Shower" is overall a very effective film with a simple yet touching message.

Highly recommended!

Somewhere I saw the opening scene of the movie Shower. I didn't know where the scene was from, but after a bit of research I was able to pinpoint it to this movie. It is a scene of an insiders view of a People-Wash (Car-Wash for people) on a street corner in China.

The DVD arrived, I asked my 11 year old daughter to come in to see the Poeple-Washer. We ended up watching the movie twice that sitting. I have seen it about three more times since, and my daughter has watched it at least twice more.

The movie is brilliant. I wish I understood the native language. The acting was trememndous while I was interpreting through sub-titles, I can imagine how much better it must be without the need for them.

By the way reviewer0800; I do like Schwarzenegger and I still like Shower too, is that OK?

Buy this movie and really enjoy ourself for a couple of hours.

greg

I was so surprised at how caught up I got in this movie! I loved the sincerity of the characters and the story was so charming. Rarely do you see a movie with strong relationships between fathers and sons and between brothers. Although not sugar coated, it is a joy to see a movie from China that does not involve politics, sex or violence.