33 postcards is an 2011 feature film written and directed by pauline chan and starring guy pearce .

it is the first co-production between china and new south wales .

33 postcards

gabriele boretti . fundamentals postcards from the future . istanbul 2014 - 2064 ( 33 )
as a chinese - australian co - production , 33 postcards can automatically be released in china .
33 postcards is unrated but contains some violence . the running time is 1 hour and 37 minutes .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing 33 postcards near you .
as an official coproduction 33 postcards gets an automatic release in china , although such wide releases are not always guaranteed .
gabriele boretti . fundamentals postcards from the future . istanbul 2014 - 2064 ( 33 ) | a f a s i a
rare chance . . . 33 postcards , starring zhu lin and guy pearce , has automatic access to the massive chinese market .
33 postcards opens in select markets on friday , may 17 , and is available on demand on vudu and the itunes store .
1 . 33 postcards : china and australia lecture 3 australian cinema , rmit university , comm1033 dr steve gaunson stephen . gaunson @ urltoken
the sydney film festival opens tonight . the cast of 33 postcards will attend a red carpet world premiere at the dendy opera quays tomorrow night .
now , following the footprints of dragon pearl and 33 postcards , life by the sea is the latest project to culturally connect the two countries .
a bright performance by newcomer zhu lin can ' t prevent severe credibility gaps and abrasive tonal shifts from harpooning the heartwarming intentions of
33 postcards .
the australian - chinese co - production , 33 postcards , “will be released in every cinema in china , ” minister for the arts , george souris has announced .
since screening at the melbourne international film festival last month , “33 postcards” has been announced “in competition” for the asia pacific screen awards 2011 as well as being selected for other major international film festivals . “33 postcards”will be released theatrically in australia and new zealand towards the end of 2011 through titan view and is being represented for international sales by arclight films .
jason di rosso spoke with pauline chan about her dark vision of sydney in the new film 33 postcards , and the unprecedented co - production opportunities in a booming chinese film industry .
taken in the 19th century , these postcards of france were created using the photocrom process .
as a model of efficient collaboration , 33 postcards may be a portent of australia ' s filmmaking future . just as our businesses and entrepreneurs look to asia for opportunities , so too australian filmmakers .
sydney - - pauline chan ’s 33 postcards , an official chinese - australian co - production , will get the widest release possible for a feature film in china on 8 , 000 screens next month .
— it ' s official : ecv bordeaux , design residency 2017 – fl @ 33 workshops and lecture .
we were commissioned in early 2005 by paris - based pyramyd editions to prepare a book on fl @ 33 projects . when we finished our work back in february 2005 we magically managed to secure edition number 33 !
breaking news : extra week added . due to popular demand the fl @ 33 - designed and curated exhibition
chan has produced and directed 33 postcards , a chinese - australian co - production that will have its world premiere tomorrow night at the sydney film festival and will screen next saturday at the shanghai international film festival .
' s 10th anniversary – fl @ 33 ' s experimental playground and international platform – with a huge exhibition .
shot in new south wales and at the hengdian world studios in china , 33 postcards , was directed by pauline chan and produced by portal pictures and zhejiang hengdian film productions , in association with ifs capital limited and screen nsw .
march 2014 : two additional dfis joined the corporate governance development framework community to increase the number of signatories to 33 .
33 postcards is inspirational drivel . a co - production between china and australia it tells the story of an orphan girl who travels to australia and wants to meet her sponsor who has been sending her postcards for over ten years . however , the reality is very different to the postcards he sent and together the two lost people help each other out . no doubt this is supposed to be a heartwarming and emotional film but it is heavy handed , obvious and trite .
the main problem is the criminal subplot , full of aussie villains snarling “mate” at one another and landing bloodless punches on dean . “33 postcards” is what happens when someone grafts a prison angle onto “pollyanna” — the tough guys just get in the way .
in some alternate universe , 33 postcards is making a heartbreaking play for some major awards , but comes of as the sort of film you ' d only expect to find on guy pearce ' s resume in the
before they were famous
section .
hazara refugee sha sarwari with his floor - based installation silent conversation , featuring 1 , 975 blank postcards . photograph : michael cranfield
33 postcards had its world premiered at the sydney film festival in june , followed by its international premiere at the shanghai international film festival in the same month , where actress zhu lin received the shanghai international film festival asian new talent award for her debut performance .
33 postcards provokes little emotional or intellectual response other than active irritation with its dullness , which is so stifling it almost scans as an act of audience hostility . the canned moralizing , devoid of behavioral observation or common sense , is reminiscent of the christian genre films associated with studios like sherwood pictures . those films , though asinine , at least have a discernible point ( to sell you religious dogma with stories that would strike a toddler as naïve ) . 33 postcards , however , is a jumbled mixture of redemptive uplift and genre hijinks .
news of 33 postcards ’ chinese release comes as producers guild , the screen producers association of australia ( spaa ) , officially launches the australia - china screen alliance , this week . it will assist both australian and chinese film and television producers navigate co - productions between the countries .
the remaining 1 , 975 are represented by blank postcards in sarwari’s floor - based installation , the self - explanatory metaphor that underpins silent conversation .
_ _ _ the final image is a composition using two photographs – one taken by fred frei in france and the other by fl @ 33 .
previous official china - australia co - productions include kimble rendall’s guardians of the tomb , starring li bingbing , which is currently in post - production ; dog fight , which wrapped last year ; pauline chan’s 33 postcards ; mario andreacchio’s the dragon pearl ; and roger spottiswoode’s children of the silk road .
on friday 18 august 2011 , it was announced that official australia and china co - produced film “33 postcards” is about to enjoy the largest theatrical release of any australian film in china . the mandarin version of the film will be released into 2 , 000 cinemas in china when it opens on september 2 .
the windmills , canals , and cities in the netherlands are a sight to see . but looking through these postcards of holland in the late 1890s sheds some light on what life was like back then . the postcards use the photochrom process - a technique for applying lifelike color to black - and - white images .
now comes 33 postcards , which was part - funded by screen nsw and has a rare entree into the chinese market . ' ' in china , there is a quota for only 20 international films a year , ' ' says chan , who grew up in hong kong and moved to australia with her family in 1980 .
as instantly disposable as an unwanted postcard from a friend’s vacation , pauline chan ’s hybrid drama squanders the talents of guy pearce in its tale of the unlikely relationship between a young chinese orphan and an australian prison inmate . equal parts thriller and feel - good inspirational tale , 33 postcards succeeds mainly in provoking the viewer’s sense of disbelief .
a bright performance by newcomer zhu lin can’t prevent severe credibility gaps and abrasive tonal shifts from harpooning the heartwarming intentions of “33 postcards . ” centered on a chinese orphan who arrives in sydney to discover her “perfect aussie” sponsor is doing time for murder , pic is an awkward mishmash of components , ranging from family - friendly contempo [ … ]
33 postcards tells of 16 - year - old chinese orphan mei mei ( zhu lin ) who comes to australia to meet her sponsor , dean randall ( guy pearce ) whose life turns out to be less postcard - perfect than she had imagined . initially mismatched and disconnected – the two begin a journey in search of belonging and family .
graphic art label and online boutique stereohype launched a massive sale today – including 182 fl @ 33 products such as signed books , graphic art prints , button badges and t - shirts .
subscribe to trailers : urltoken subscribe to coming soon : urltoken subscribe to indie & film festivals : urltoken like us on facebook : urltoken follow us on twitter : urltoken 33 postcards trailer 1 ( 2013 ) - guy pearce movie hd dean randall has sponsored a young chinese orphan mei mei for many years , when she arrives in sydney out of the blue to thank him , their lives are changed forever .
rather than a migrant ' s tale , 33 postcards tells of a 16 - year - old chinese orphan who comes to australia to meet her sponsor , whose life turns out to be less postcard - perfect than she had imagined . ' ' it ' s not about her being chinese , ' ' chan says . ' ' she could have come from france , spain or afghanistan . it ' s about their relationship .
“these blank postcards are also a metaphor for the lives of refugees stuck in detention centres here in australia and offshore – that their lives are going nowhere , in limbo , they’re stuck , there’s nothing happening . ”
what came next was the basis for silent conservation , an installation artwork that has earned the 33 - year - old his first national art prize , awarded by the walker street gallery , an initiative of the city of greater dandenong in victoria .
fl @ 33 ' s tomi vollauschek is heading back to london tonight after an exciting week as designer in residence at the ecv lille , france , where he ran a 4 - day workshop and gave an evening lecture . see a documentation here .
inscribed in pencil on the inner , gray matte : “bo pointn to his niga . ” on the yellowed outer matte : “klan 4th joplin , mo . 33 . ” flattened between the glass and double mattes are locks of the victim’s hair . ”
but the film isn’t intended as farce , as we’re supposed to be authentically moved by mei mei and dean’s blossoming friendship . 33 postcards has a major narrative problem for a redemption film : the redemption we’re expected to invest in has already happened long before the story we’re watching begins . dean’s already atoned for his sins and has effectively transformed himself into a cipher with no temptations or significant internal conflicts ; he’s just a decent guy who mysteriously decided one day to invest in the happiness of an orphan .
chinese orphan mei - mei and her australian sponsor , dean randall , have communicated throughout postcards for years . when mei - mei visits australia with the children ' s choir she helps direct , she discovers the truth about her sponsor and even more about herself .
hazara refugee sha sarwari with his installation silent conversation . ‘these blank postcards are also a metaphor for the lives of refugees stuck in detention centres here in australia and offshore – that their lives are going nowhere , in limbo , they’re stuck . ’ photograph : mick richards
es gibt designstudios , die haben einfach das gewisse etwas . bei dem in london beheimateten studio fl @ 33 trifft das auf jeden fall zu , denn die arbeiten des französisch - österreichischen teams agathe jacquillat und tomi vollauschek zeichnen sich durch ihre innovative bildsprache und einen besonderen humor aus .
. . . , this is a perfectly formed volume showcasing the intriguing work of london - based franco - austrian duo agathe and tomi , aka fl @ 33 . its diminutive size means that the emphasis is on imagery rather than text , so copy is pretty much restricted to the captions and a preface by liz brown . it doesn ' t really matter too much , though , as the work is consistently engaging and presented in a fresh and appealing way . it ' s a great snapshot of what they ' ve achieved so far and bodes well for fl @ 33 ' s future .
the film is about chinese orphan mei mei ( zhu lin ) who for ten years dreams of meeting her australian sponsor – dean randall ( guy pearce ) . at 16 , when her orphanage travels to australia to attend a choir festival , mei mei takes the opportunity to find him but what she finds is far from the idyllic life he depicted in his postcards . mei mei however is determined to make a connection with dean .
repping vietnamese - born australian helmer pauline chan’s first feature since the 1999 crime thriller “ little white lies , ” pic pulls at the heartstrings from the opening flashback of adorable moppet mei mei ( loh chen - liu ) arriving at the dong ying orphanage in guangxi . now 16 and played by zhu , mei mei has for 10 years received financial assistance and postcards from dean randall ( pearce ) , a handsome aussie claiming to be a park ranger and family man .
for ten years , chinese orphan mei mei dreams of meeting her australian sponsor , dean randall , and his perfect family . at 16 , when her orphanage travels to australia to attend the australian choir festival , mei mei takes the opportunity to look him up . what she finds , however , is far from the idyllic life he depicted in his postcards . initially mismatched and disconnected , the two begin a journey in search of belonging , family , redemption , love and acceptance .
for 10 years mei mei ( zhu lin ) , a 16 yr old chinese orphan , dreams of meeting her australian sponsor dean randall ( guy pearce ) and his ‘perfect family’ . when her orphanage travels to australia to attend the australian choir festival mei mei takes the opportunity to look him up . what she finds , however , is far from the idyllic life he depicted in his postcards . initially mismatched and disconnected the two begin a journey in search of belonging , family , redemption , love and acceptance .
for 10 years , chinese orphan mei mei ( zhu lin ) dreams of meeting her australian sponsor – dean randall ( guy pearce ) – and his ' perfect family . ' when her orphanage travels to australia to attend the australian choir festival , mei mei takes the opportunity to look him up . what she finds , however , is far from the idyllic life he depicted in his postcards . initially mismatched and disconnected , the two begin a journey in search of belonging , family , redemption , love and acceptance .
sixteen - year - old mei mei ( zhu lin ) has dreamt of meeting her australian sponsor and pen - friend dean randal ( guy pearce ) l and his perfect family for ten years . when her orphanage travels to australia to attend a choir festival , mei mei disobeys the school leader and sets out to find him , navigating unfamiliar streets with the help of carl ( lincoln lewis ) , the charismatic son of a dodgy car dealer . when she discovers that the idyllic life dean depicted in his postcards is far from the truth , mei mei remains tenacious in her efforts to connect with him .
director pauline chan fuses together two reliable farce scenarios : the foreigner abroad and the gullible innocent who’s unknowingly helping bad guys perpetrate their criminal schemes . mei mei ( zhu lin ) is a chinese orphan preoccupied with her australian sponsor , dean randall ( guy pearce ) , who sends her postcards detailing his adventures with his loving family frolicking with the animals of the outback . for ludicrous reasons not worth detailing , mei mei soon finds herself in australia discovering that dean’s actually a career criminal serving a prison stretch . still ever grateful and devoted , mei mei sticks around and gets a job cleaning cars for an enterprise that’s ( laughably ) obviously illegal .
orphan mei - mei ( zhu lin ) thinks she ' s found the opportunity of a lifetime when she travels to sydney for a concert with the children ' s choir from her orphanage . for mei - mei , australia is more than just a foreign country that offers a chance to see something new and learn a little about the wider world . it ' s also the home of her long - time sponsor , dean randall ( guy pearce ) . though mei - mei and dean have never met , they ' ve exchanged dozens of postcards and letters over the course of a decade . mei - mei writes to mr . randall and tells him that she ' s eager to see him while visiting from china .
asian - australian co - productions are tapping into a vast new market , writes sacha molitorisz .
f or an australian filmmaker used to working with australian budgets , the scale was hard to fathom . at the sprawling hengdian film studios in eastern china ( nickname : chinawood ) , even the replica qin dynasty imperial palace doesn ' t dominate the landscape .
' ' they claim to be the biggest location studio in the world , ' ' says director pauline chan , who was shooting there last year . ' ' it ' s like an entire city . and they have mountains , rivers , everything . while we were filming , there were 20 other films being shot . there are apparently 20 , 000 people working in catering and the studio even owns its own hotels for crews . ' '
starring guy pearce , claudia karvan and zhu lin , the drama was part - financed by hengdian studios . it was filmed in sydney and at hengdian , where a staggering 50 films are shot a year .
' ' i get very wearied by the notion of australian films being made for australian audiences , ' ' says clare stewart , the outgoing director of the sydney film festival , which opens tonight .
' ' asia offers an important potential market . i ' ve been going to the hong kong festival and market for many years and have seen how vibrant that film industry is . we are so well positioned to be doing more co - productions with asia . ' '
fittingly , the jury president for the official competition at sydney ' s festival is chen kaige , the beijing - born director who won the palme d ' or at cannes with farewell my concubine ( 1993 ) .
in recent years , the australian film industry has taken determined steps towards asia , particularly china . in 2007 , australia and china signed a co - production agreement , which came into force in december 2008 . children of the silk road ( 2008 ) was made as the treaty was coming into effect ; the first feature made under the treaty was dragon pearl ( formerly the last dragon ) , starring sam neill . screen australia says the combined budget for both was $ 41 million .
' ' every year , all the big studios in the world are fighting for these slots , which means films like avatar and harry potter dominate . the small films from smaller distributors don ' t usually get a look in . ' '
it isn ' t just china tempting australian filmmakers . little thief , which is seeking a distributor , is an edgy $ 200 , 000 collaboration between talented sydney director christopher robin collins and korean producer bon won lee .
shot in glebe , marrickville and the inner city , it is a drama about a methodical korean man whose life is upended by a young bag - snatcher . ' ' one of the benefits of working with a korean producer is their different take on culture , ' ' collins says .
' ' their way of doing things is so disciplined and polite , whereas the australian way can be more relaxed and easy - going . that really tied into the premise of our story . ' '
previous examples of asian - australian films include clara law ' s floating life ( 1996 ) , tony ayres ' s the home song stories ( 2007 ) , khoa do ' s missing water ( 2009 ) and bruce beresford ' s mao ' s last dancer ( 2009 ) .
the australian - chinese co - production treaty will no doubt increase the number of australian - chinese stories on our screens ; it is also likely to broaden the range of stories being told .
' ' china is a country , more than possibly any other that i know of , going through a cultural transformation . there are so many ideas and ways to work . in australia , there has hardly been any private investment in filmmaking in recent years . clearly , that says to me that co - production is the way to support australian film .
' ' it feels natural that it should happen this way . and we ' re already talking to the same investors about further opportunities . ' '
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dean randall has sponsored a young chinese orphan mei mei for many years , when she arrives in sydney out of the blue to thank him , their lives are changed forever .
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mei mei ( zhu lin ) a 16 yr old chinese orphan dreams of nothing more than being part of the ' perfect ' family . when her orphanage travels to australia to par - take in the australian choir festival mei mei takes the opportunity to find her australian sponsor dean randall ( guy pearce ) . however what she finds is far from what he depicted . initially mismatched and disconnected the two begin a journey in search of belonging , family , redemption , love and acceptance .
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guy pearce stars in this drama about an australian prison inmate and his chinese foster child .
sixteen - year - old mei mei ( zhu lin ) has been receiving missives and financial support for ten years from dean randall ( pearce ) , an aussie who regales her with tales of his life as a park ranger and devoted family man . so when her orphanage choir travels to sydney to participate in a singing competition , she eagerly takes advantage of the opportunity to sneak off and thank her generous adoptive father in person .
unfortunately , she soon finds out that he’s actually a convict imprisoned on a manslaughter charge . left behind by her escorts , the plucky teenager somehow manages to become embroiled in a car theft ring whose ringleaders include randall’s brother ( rhys muldoon ) . desperate to save her from the criminals’ clutches , randall makes the possibly self - destructive decision to get himself sprung by testifying against one of the prison’s more viciously violent inmates .
how does a long incarcerated prisoner have the disposable income to provide support for a foster child ? why would a gang of hardened criminals recruit a hopelessly naïve teenager ? why would the choir’s organizers simply abandon one of their charges ? how is it that mei mei is immediately given legal permission to stay in australia despite her young age ? these are the among the myriad head - scratching questions that spring to mind while watching the tonally confused proceedings , which somehow manage to be dull despite the profusion of plot twists .
the normally reliable pearce here delivers a recessive , twitchy performance less suggestive of inner conflict than constipation , while the engaging lin is unable to make her character’s inconsistencies remotely credible .
true to its title , the film does at least provide picture - postcard views of its scenic locations ranging from the verdant mountains of rural china to sydney’s many tourist - friendly attractions .
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mei mei , though , is the film’s insurmountable problem . chan delivers one legitimate surprise about 30 minutes in , and it’s unintentional : mei mei’s supposed to be 16 years old , which will lead you to wonder if she’s mentally troubled or just plain deranged . the girl we’ve known up until this point , and continue to follow throughout the film—who favors pigtails and brightly colored overalls , obsesses over a man she’s never met , and blindly accepts everything she’s told at face value—would appear to possess the emotional development of a not - very - bright 10 - year - old .
that might be forgivable , or merely odd , but chan infuriatingly glorifies mei mei’s life - endangering stupidity as a testament to nobility in a fashion that resembles robert zemeckis’s treatment of his protagonist in forrest gump . we were meant to admire gump’s ability to maintain a stiff upper lip as he endured adversity , despite his inability to fully comprehend much of what was happening to him . mei mei is similarly applauded for stumbling through a variety of dangers , and she’s so sickeningly innocent , and so relentlessly celebrated by chan , that you may find yourself perversely rooting for the bad guys , who at the very least , share our irritation with this creepy and insufferable sprite .
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were it not for the staccato bursts of violence , this chinese - australian co - production about how an adorable orphan brings love into the life of a hardened convict would feel like a film from hayley mills’ heyday . mei - mei ( zhu lin ) , the teenage orphan , even sings .
that isn’t necessarily a deal - breaker , and for the first half - hour things work surprisingly well , largely due to the radiant sincerity of lin , as she breathes life into her character’s absolute innocence . mei - mei is abandoned to a chinese orphanage , but she’s able to attend school due to the sponsorship of australian dean randall ( guy pearce , as wiry and haunted - looking as he was in “l . a . confidential , ” 16 years ago ) .
the orphans’ choir that mei - mei conducts goes on tour to sydney , and the plucky girl seeks out her postcard papa . unfortunately , he’s in prison , and being menaced by a protection gang .
pauline chan’s direction is unobtrusively vanilla , save for a couple of rear - projection shots on a motorcycle so retro - bad they seem imported from an elvis movie . at times the sweetness is affecting , as in mei - mei’s first visits to see dean .
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urltoken
one of the basic facts about movies is that there ' s a big difference between intention and execution . a film can have its heart in the right place , yet still fail to achieve the impact it desires .
is a perfect example . it begins promisingly , setting up a story that seems as though it will be both sweet and emotional . then , about halfway through , the picture loses its way , never to get back on track .
, and while perhaps nothing terribly new , it does work . mei mei ' s confusion and dean ' s guilt are compelling . we get the sense that these two troubled characters are going to experience some form of personal healing from finally meeting . but then the film gets really bogged down in a ridiculous crime subplot , as mei mei falls in with a car thief and dean is trapped in an extortion plot that forces him to pay money to one of the car thief ' s prison flunkies in exchange for not getting shanked .
is merely the latest in a long line of films that throw in needless crime subplots as a way of shortcutting . i ' ve seen this sort of thing time and time again . director / co - writer pauline chan wants to tell a story about two damaged souls who heal each other , but she doesn ' t know how to get dean and mei mei there without resorting to these unconvincing and labored contrivances . zhu lin and guy pearce give solid , committed performances . we don ' t want to see them in shootouts or chases . we want to see them talk , open up , get vulnerable . chan can only take that so far , and then she essentially throws her hands up in the air .
despite the appealing leads and the promising start , the movie goes downhill quickly , betraying the human story it set up . too bad , because , had it stuck with the character - based material and forsaken the action ,
might have been a really beautiful , touching film . instead , it ' s just a disappointment .
is available on vod now , and will be released theatrically on may 17 .
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dean randall ( guy pearce ) has sponsored a young chinese orphan mei mei ( zhu lin ) for many years , but when , out of the blue , she arrives in sydney to thank him , their lives are changed forever . more
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despite the casting of guy pearce ( who does a decent job in a one - dimensional and cliche - filled role ) this has a strong whiff of a tv - movie in its poor production values , soap star cast and shitty story . newcomer zhu lin won…
yes there are some real issues with the script . that doesn ' t prevent it being fucking fabulous . i go out of my way to see australian films and i am rarely disappointed . if you haven ' t seen it do so .
it certainly did nothing to boast the profile of some gleaming teeth blonde kid off home & away . soon after this he went to play for the other side on neighbours .
directed by pauline chan this australian / chinese co - production stars zhu lin , guy pearce and claudia karvan . a young orphan from china looks up the man who has sponsored her education while her orphanage choir is on a trip to australia .
this film could easily have tipped into over sentimentality but manages to straddle the line fairly well . guy pearce has the best character in the piece as the lonely and haunted prisoner that really holds the film together . the plot does range away from the core relationship a little too much but this is still a film that is well worth a watch .
seemed a little too ' straight to tv ' for me - a little tame .
a . v . club review . saccharine , contrived global pudding features a career - worst performance from guy pearce , who apparently needs directors to rein him in when he ' s meant to be naturalistic .
a list of every australian film made between 2010 to the present day . slowly adding features , documentaries , short films and…
with : with : guy pearce , zhu lin , claudia karvan , elaine jin , rhys muldoon , lincoln lewis , terry serio , matt nable , kain o ' keefe , claire scott , clayton watson , loh chen - liu . ( english , mandarin dialogue )
with a dearth of background information that bedevils the entire movie , mei mei and her pals in the orphanage choir are suddenly whisked off to sydney for a competition . barely off the plane , mei mei sneaks away from supervisor miss chen ( taiwanese vet elaine jin ) and sets off to find randall and thank him for his support . following a couple of mildly amusing transportation - related misadventures , she arrives at long bay jail and is promptly dismissed by randall , who is sweating over a parole application .
while it’s easy enough to accept the start of mei mei’s awol expedition , many viewers are likely to question the plausibility of much that transpires when the plucky girl revisits randall over several days and inspires him to look at life anew .
all this time she is accompanied by randall’s brother , gary ( rhys muldoon ) , a petty crook who steals high - end cars for garage owner fletch ( terry serio ) and his son carl ( lincoln lewis ) , a young hunk with eyes for mei mei . although she’s being drawn into participating in a major crime , no one thinks to ask the extremely innocent teenager how she arrived in australia or where she’s supposed to be staying .
worse still , randall’s welfare officer barbara ( claudia karvan ) not only fails to ask the obvious questions but has no qualms about rushing through legal documents and declaring , incredibly , that mei mei can remain in australia .
with the addition of jarring scenes showing prison tough guy tommy ( matt nable ) brutally stabbing an inmate and smashing his fist into randall’s jaw , pic has only zhu’s bright smile and bubbly enthusiasm staving off total capitulation . karvan and pearce can do little with characters whose most intriguing attributes are only hinted at .
nice visuals of sydney tourist attractions and grungy inner - city streets stand out in a pro tech package .
production : a titan view ( in australia ) / zhejiang hengdian film prod . co . ( in china ) release of a portal pictures / zhejiang film prod . co . production , in association with ifs capital , screen nsw . ( international sales : arclight films , los angeles . ) produced by zhijiang liu , penny carl - nelson , pauline chan , lesley stevens . executive producers , yongan xu , lee soon kie , john sim , eddy chan ka do . directed by pauline chan . screenplay , martin edmond , chan , philip dalkin .
cast : with : guy pearce , zhu lin , claudia karvan , elaine jin , rhys muldoon , lincoln lewis , terry serio , matt nable , kain o ' keefe , claire scott , clayton watson , loh chen - liu . ( english , mandarin dialogue )
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waltzing matilda original music by christina mcpherson , revised music by marie cowan and lyrics by a . b . ' banjo ' paterson performed by the wenzhou children ' s choir published by carl fischer music , new york
inspiration struck sha sarwari as he pondered how his warm personal encounters as a refugee in australia belied the portrayal of asylum seekers in its politics and media .
“i wanted to know for myself , to see what people think , ” says the visual artist , an ethnic hazara from afghanistan who arrived on a boat from indonesia in 2000 as a teenager fleeing the persecution of the taliban .
thus came sarwari’s idea for his own “census on the issue of asylum seekers” , collecting private , unvarnished views through the suburbs of his adopted home city of brisbane on those at the centre of perhaps the australian government’s most internationally contentious policy : offshore detention .
“the way i wanted to do it is to give them their own time and space to think about this issue , not to confront them in the street , put them under pressure , ” he says .
each postcard bore the image of a boat made of “whitewashed” newspaper and cardboard , inscribed with sarwari’s own story .
the responses slowly began filling his postbox . his intention was to send them on to asylum seekers in detention centres , “no matter what the result , even if it was a negative or harsh view , so that the refugees will know the truth” .
in the end , there were just 15 responses , some also bearing letters .
“i am of the view that i am still engaged with them , the people who have received my postcard and haven’t returned them , ” sarwari says .
“maybe they’re still thinking or haven’t decided or they don’t want to decide . [ but ] the conversation is there , it may come back when they see news on asylum issues . it may come back into their memory , ‘there was a postcard i received and didn’t answer’ .
of the less than 1 % who responded , sarwari says “all were positive” .
but in these were a handful that saw asylum seeking as “running away” . these were the views of a “very courageous person who wanted to stay and fight , you know , which i respect” , sarwari says .
this provoked a rethinking by the artist of the very meaning of the act of seeking asylum , which he now conceives of as the rejection of violence .
“there was one or two that said , ‘we welcome them as refugees but they should stay in their home country and build their own country … it should not always be an option for us to leave , to run away’ .
“but i don’t call it ‘running away’ . by leaving , i say no to war , no to killing , no to destruction .
“i think violence and fighting and killing will get you nowhere . it will keep going and going , especially where i come from , where the basic infrastructure of life in terms of values and the fabric of society is broken .
“if i was back home , let’s say , to stay as that person said , to protect my life , i would be killed or kill someone . to me , not doing that is a contribution towards peace .
“by leaving the country , i think all refugees , they’re not only seeking peace and protection . they are contributing towards peace and freedom . ”
the home and art prize exhibition , which features comedian judith lucy as ambassador and celebrates the work of 14 artists from around australia who are refugees and asylum seekers , is now showing at the walker street gallery .
© 2018 guardian news and media limited or its affiliated companies . all rights reserved .
_ _ _ the play was directed by gísli örn gardarsson and performed by vesturport theatre in october 2005 at bite : 05 , barbican , london , as part of the young genius season .
_ _ _ the project turned out to be even more exciting for us than anticipated when some of our favourites – namely musicians nick cave and warren ellis ( of the bad seeds ) signed up – during the development of the campaign – to produce exclusive music for this must - see performance / theatre play .
“this icelandic version has overpowering visual and aural bravura , showing how büchner‘s masterpiece can be turned into an assault on contemporary capitalism . “
”the stage is full of eloquent visual images and sizzling coups the theatre , underpinning always by a sence of danger and by nick cave’s haunting , melancholic score . ”
a hostage to fortune , class and his sadistic superiors , woyzeck ' s fate is played out in a series of nightmarish encounters . he stumbles through a world of macabre carnival , sexual betrayal and cruel oppression , pursued by the demons of his own paranoid fantasies . pushed beyond breaking point , woyzeck ' s last love - crazed act tragically destroys the only thing he truly cares for .
iceland ' s vesturport use hair - raising , high spectacle , circus skills to electrifying effect . vesturport ' s production of romeo and juliet was a huge hit at london ' s young vic in 2003 , transferring to the west end in 2004 .
a celebration of brilliance , originality and spirit in the early works of some of the world ' s great playwrights and theatre artists . urltoken
, hochschule darmstadt , fachbereich gestaltung ( formerly known as fh darmstadt ) , university of applied sciences , faculty of design , darmstadt , germany , 22 may 2013 .
ifc ' s methodology for evaluating corporate governance risks and opportunities has been distilled into the
corporate governance development framework ,
a common approach which was adopted by 35 development finance institutions ( dfis ) for use in their investment processes .
the corporate governance development framework provides signatory institutions with a common platform for evaluating and improving governance practices of their investee companies .
the institutions that signed the corporate governance development framework cover most emerging markets around the world , including africa , latin america and the caribbean , asia , middle east , and europe and central asia and represent assets of more than $ 850 billion altogether .
the corporate governance development framework is the result of the extensive collaboration among members of the dfi corporate governance working group which consists of representatives of several international finance institutions .
the next meeting will be hosted by ifc and held in washington , d . c . in 2019 .
march 20 - 21 , 2018 : 12th annual dfi corporate governance conference took place in london and was hosted by ebrd .
march 2017 : the 11th annual development finance institutions corporate governance meeting was hosted in lima by caf and cofide . an additional dfi joined the corporate governance development framework , raising the number of signatories to 35 .
april 2016 : the 10th annual development finance institutions corporate governance meeting was hosted in paris by proparco .
march 2015 : the 9th annual development finance institutions corporate governance meeting took place in mexico city and was hosted by nacional financiera . an additional dfi joined the corporate governance development framework , raising the number of signatories to 34 .
february 2013 : two additional dfis joined the corporate governance development framework community to increase the number of signatories to 31 .
september 2011 : ifc and 28 other dfis signed the corporate governance development framework .
2010 - 2011 : the working group has developed the
corporate governance development framework
, a common methodology for assessing corporate governance in the dfis investment work , which is based on ifc ' s corporate governance tools .


gonin saga ( ｇｏｎｉｎ サーガ ) is a 2015 japanese drama film directed by takashi ishii .

it is a sequel to gonin and stars masahiro higashide and masanobu ando .

gonin saga

gonin saga is a 2015 japanese movie written and directed by takashi ishii as a followup to the two gonin films he directed in the mid - 1990s .
gonin saga is expected to be released in japan on september 26 , 2015 . until then , here’s the first trailer ( via fcs ) .
gonin saga is a 2015 japanese movie written and directed by takashi ishii as a followup to the two gonin films he directed in the mid - 1990s . seiji ( masanobu ando ) is a third generation
. . . see full summary »
movie is set 19 years after the original film
gonin
and is written as a sequel . movie
gonin 2
involved a different story with different characters .
higashide stars as hayato hisamatsu in this latest installation of the gonin film series , directed by ishii takashi .
according film business asia , gonin saga ( aka gonin 3 ) follows an investigative reporter who meets the sons of the gangsters involved in the aftermath of the original heist . the film stars masahiro higashide ( crows explode ) , kenta kiritani ( outrage beyond ) , anna tsuchiya ( kamui gaiden ) , tasuku emoto ( a story of yonosuke ) and masanobu ando ( battle royale ) .
while the crowds didn ' t reach the levels of insanity witnessed last year the world premiere of the vancouver asahi , sparked by the appearance of its j - pop stars , there was quite a turnout of japanese fans for the screening of gonin saga on september 30 .
usually this kind of movie will emphasize more in acting , story and shootout scenes . so do this gonin saga , it contains a bloody shooting and killing . gonin saga packed with a lot of drama twists . imo , the story itself is really interesting , a revenge but also a lot of point that connect each characters’ past story . i have to put extra attention to the story itself because i didn’t watch the previous movie , but they recapping it . it’s so hard to pin point from characters from the previous movie with the current movie but then it’s getting interesting with some suspense mood .
gonin saga , too , is seemingly of its time , the yakuza driven out of the nightclubs and from the streets into the backrooms of otherwise legitimate businesses . it is also and foremost a continuation of a story that should have ended 20 years ago . ishii clings to the original with flashbacks both from scenes lifted from the 1995 film and those that are supposed to fill the gap between then and today , thus breaking the focus from today , rather fleshing out characters that weren ' t…
gonin was 20 years ago , ishii ' s biggest film and in a way a yakuza story very much of its time . the desperation inside the economic bubble drove people to making poor decisions and ultimately paying for them .
rache ist ein gericht , das am besten chaotisch serviert wird : „mich hat er total umgebügelt ! “ sagt unser lieber gast michael schleeh vom schneeland - blog im podcast über „gonin saga“ . während hendrik und thomas als blutige anfänger in sachen takashi ishii und yakuza - film in der ersten hälfte des films nur bahnhof verstanden haben , hat michael die „midnight madness“ dieses genre - reißers längst durchschaut . aber alle drei sind sich einig : die zweite hälfte ist ein großer spaß und spätestens die hochzeitsszene versöhnt mit allem ! urltoken unsere podcast - episode eignet sich übrigens bestens als vorbereitung auf die lektüre der tiefblickenden filmkritik auf schneeland . urltoken
in the mood for more yakuza action ? well , so are we . takashi ishii ( freeze me ) is currently wrapping up the third entry to his violent gonin series . but before we talk about that , let’s take a look at the first two films :
i think i know why a lot of people didn ' t have a good impression from this movie . here is the most important thing , this gonin saga is an action movie that packaged in a classic action format , an old - fashioned editing . so if you’re not a fan of classic action movie , or can’t get the fun of watching it , then you’re not gonna enjoy this . i guess it’s because they want to keep the tone from the previous gonin . even thought i don’t think it’s a good idea to keep the old style editing for 20s movie , well it’s been said that this movie was directed by the same director . i can easily notice classic speedy zoom in , awkward dissolve interscene transition , stiff credit title plus city view as a background and intense classic instrumental as a backsound . so it does have a dark environment and some typical old action movies scene such as fighting under the rain , dramatic gun shooting and so on .
gonin 2 , which came out in 1996 , followed masamichi toyama ( ken ogata ) , a married man who gets into a bad gambling debt he cant pay back . as a result , yakuza gangsters track him down , beat him to a pulp and rape his wife . now , the only thing toyama will pay back is bloody revenge !
1995’s gonin revolved around a disco owner who convinces 4 other guys to go along with him in a planned heist of the local yakuza thugs for over 100 million yen . the heist is successful , however , the yakuza , obviously perturbed at the theft , send out 2 hit men ( one of which is played by beat takeshi ) to kill the five .
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hotel transylvania 3 : summer vacation stars plan their dream summer getaways to some memorable movie settings .
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five men plot to steal a large sum of money from the local yakuza , but everything does not go as planned and the men find themselves hunted down by contract killers .
thrown together by chance during the robbery of a jewelry store by a yakuza gang , five women take advantage of the situation to make off with the heist ' s loot , while a man hunts the same . . . see full summary »
ikko , the six year old daughter of a yakuza gang boss witnesses the brutal slaying of her parents and is only saved from sharing their fate by an underground hitwoman who goes by the . . . see full summary »
nami is a popular actress married to another actor . concerned about her husband cheating on her , she spends every night in town posing as a prostitute .
a frustrated writer has arranged his home for 5 mysterious women , who all pay him a million yen as rent . what is the story behind this unusual arrangement ?
a drama about a struggling young widow with a baby whose dead husband returns to the world of the living to help her .
three aliens travel to earth in preparation for a mass invasion , taking possession of human bodies .
assigned to kill a japanese crime boss , mayo miscalculates and kills an innocent man instead , and his widow pledges to avenge his death .
when naoko was a freshman in high school she was kidnapped and imprisoned by a man who lived next door . for one month , she went through hell . finally , she killed the man and escaped .
stranded at the side of the road after a tire blowout , a group of friends become targets for an enigmatic sniper .
a tokyo college student is attacked by a ghoul , a superpowered human who feeds on human flesh . he survives , but has become part ghoul and becomes a fugitive on the run .
nine pretty boys resist becoming ugly adults , building a robot with human intelligence to help them achieve world domination and kidnap a beautiful girl . as their robot learns what it means to be human , it ' s creators lose their humanity .
with jurassic world : fallen kingdom now in cinemas , we take a look at how imdb users rated the films of the franchise . plus , browse exclusive lego® jurassic world playsets , presented by lego .
explore popular and recently added tv series available to stream now with prime video .
seiji ( masanobu ando ) is a third generation
gosei kai
gang member . he works to build up the group ' s strength . meanwhile , a journalist ( tasuku emoto ) investigates a case that occurred 19 years ago . he meets hayato ( masahiro higashide ) , daisuke ( kenta kiritani ) and asami ( anna tsuchiya ) .
filming began june 1 , 2014 in yokohama , japan and finishes at the end of the month .
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the story revolve around hisamatsu , daisuke , asami and keichi who fight to avenged their fathers death .
the acting from the actors were absolutely great , i can feel the pain , the cringe & amp ; the horror , especially takenaka naoto . my personal reason to watch this is of course because the main casts itself , higashide masahiro and kiritani kenta . i thought they were gonna portrayed as cool fighter or something , but i was wrong . oh yeah they were fought a lot , but not in a hero style , still satisfying tho , watching them acted along in the same movie .
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for purposes such as criticism , comment , news reporting , teaching , scholarship and research . fair use is a use permitted by copyright statue that might otherwise be infringing . non - profit , education or personal use tops the balance in favor of fair use .
playhouse , september 28 ( 9 : 15 p . m . ) ; international village , september 30 ( 12 : 30 p . m . )
an open letter to attorney general david eby and investigator peter german on b . c . ' s dirty money report
this beautifully produced coffee - table book brings together over 100 of georgia straight ' s iconic covers , along with short essays , insider details and contributor reflections , putting each of these issues of the publication into its historical context .
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i saw you at the carnival del sol . you wore some orange shorts , beautiful legs . longe beautiful . . .
what kind of b . s . is this : if you live in canada , you can only enroll in post secondary studies . . .
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higashide , who towers over everyone at 6 - 2 , married internationally renowned star ken watanabe ' s daughter anne in january .
he walked the red carpet with ishii and participated in a q & a session at the screening at international village .
seiji ( masanobu ando ) is a third generation
gosei kai
gang member . he works to build up the group ' s strength . meanwhile , a journalist ( tasuku emoto ) investigates a case that occurred 19 years ago . he meets hayato ( masahiro higashide ) , daisuke ( kenta kiritani ) and asami ( anna tsuchiya ) .
nippon connection 2016 ~ # 6 : a brilliant and brutal yakuza - genre revival gem that keeps you tight in its nihilistic grip . fantastic !
turning this movie into a drinking game where you take a shot everytime there ' s an upskirt panty shot , might be the only way to make this movie somewhat watchable .
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