WS X EDGE
NOSTALGIC NEWS 15 YEARS AGO
10YEARS AGO
Callum Nelmes
Morgan McMillan
Sympathy for Lady Venegance was released
The final entry in Park Chan-Wook’s masterful ‘Vengeance Trilogy’, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is perhaps the most introspective, tragic and beautiful film of the trilogy. Exactingly paced and gorgeously lensed, Lady Vengeance weaves surreal, dream-like aesthetics and affecting cinematic lyricism into an elegant, intoxicating swirl of uncompromisingly brutal, traumatic violence and moral ambiguity never truly explored to the same passion as the previous two. The vivid motifs of snow and blood, conjoined with the astonishing central performance of Lee Young-ae as Lee Geum-ja and the stirring juxtaposition of classical music, lead the way towards a riveting, chaotic noir-esque narrative strung together in a maze of discordant memories and empty retribution, without forgoing a slight, but consistently efficacious humour, as dark and macabre as it is.
Stromae’s Cheese was released
Belgium is home to the best electronic dance music out there and Stromae’s Cheese further highlights the best of Belgian electronic. The lead single, ‘Alors on danse’, reached number one across Europe and is arguably one of Stromae’s most well-known songs to date. ‘Alors on danse’ on the surface sounds like a happy dance track, however, the song is about surviving daily life by dancing, with its melancholic atmosphere surrounded by rave synths, something that’s a staple of all tracks on Cheese. Stromae paints a world of grey and depression throughout Cheese, on ‘Rail de Musqiue’ Stromae goes into the detail on the drugs needed to get him through life “ma weed, ma coke, mon speed, mon crack, mon musique”. Though the album is fully in French, the pain and anguish are understood transnationally. Stromae put his heart into this record and we are able to understand the artist behind the upbeat bass. It may be called Cheese though but there’s nothing cheesy about it and is definitely worth a listen to everyone who enjoys crying on the dancefloor.
20 YEARS AGO
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released Katie Evans
Ang Lee’s Millenial classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) turns 20 this year. The wuxia martial arts film that transcended borders with its co-production agreements became the highest-grossing international film in the United States making it a record-breaking achievement for pan-Asian cinema and beyond. The action-adventure masterpiece, fronted by the brilliant Chow Yun-fat as protagonist Master Li, is a tale of excitement. With its portrayal of multiple female characters with strong roles and important parts to play in the narrative, the film always feels like a somewhat feminist piece and will remain a masterpiece to this day. The visual effects and choreographed fight scenes were new for Western audiences, opening viewpoints and blending cultural boundaries in more ways than one. Lee, who has since become an acclaimed Hollywood director with hits such as Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012), stunned with his piece which will remain an important piece of cinematic history.
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Images courtesy of CJ ENTERTAINMENT and MERCURY
