Where Is "Comrades"???

What's up with Tai Seng Video??

Where is the DVD of "Comrades, Almost A Love Story"???

I'm really surprised that flick wasn't picked up for wider art-house
distribution in The States.

(Yeah I know it's not an art flick but when it debuted in the early
'90s anything Chinese was artsy and chic.)

NYC XYZ

Um, what's the problem? I got it either from my library or video store.
Excellent film .. at least the first 3/4 of it (up to the point where the
ship sails from the dock). The part in New York seems like it was tacked on
to please a focus group. And yeah, I'd love to see actual film on a screen.

"NYC XYZ" <> wrote in message
news: ps.com...
> What's up with Tai Seng Video??
>
> Where is the DVD of "Comrades, Almost A Love Story"???
>
> I'm really surprised that flick wasn't picked up for wider art-house
> distribution in The States.
>
> (Yeah I know it's not an art flick but when it debuted in the early
> '90s anything Chinese was artsy and chic.)
>

ggull wrote:
> Um, what's the problem? I got it either from my library or video store.
> Excellent film .. at least the first 3/4 of it (up to the point where the
> ship sails from the dock). The part in New York seems like it was tacked on
> to please a focus group. And yeah, I'd love to see actual film on a screen.


Like, I want a copy! On DVD! And it's nowhere to be found!!

You're right about the last quarter of the film...a bit jarring,
ham-fisted...I don't think it was a focus-group thing; just that HK
anything-goes sensibility (I see this wackiness in Japanimation,
too)...deus ex machina all the way!

Hmm...okay, I guess, now that I've put it that way, it all smacks of
too much Harlequin for wider release outside of HK...but it's a great
Chinese chick flick....

"NYC XYZ" <> wrote
>
> Like, I want a copy! On DVD! And it's nowhere to be found!!

Out of print, you mean?
You should be able to rent it or get it from the library if you're in NYC.
While I would neither encourage nor condone illicit behavior, I do note that
it doesn't seem to be copy protected.

> You're right about the last quarter of the film...a bit jarring,
> ham-fisted...I don't think it was a focus-group thing; just that HK
> anything-goes sensibility (I see this wackiness in Japanimation,
> too)...deus ex machina all the way!
>
> Hmm...okay, I guess, now that I've put it that way, it all smacks of
> too much Harlequin for wider release outside of HK...but it's a great
> Chinese chick flick....

I didn't necessarily mean actual "focus group", just the bean-counters
deciding it needed a happy ending, a virtual focus group if you will. If I
understand your comment, I don't think the happy ending would be needed for
US/European distribution .. if anything, the opposite. It seemed me more
like reverting to some sappy, soap-opera'ish, HK flicks I've had in my DVD
player (names blessedly forgotten). Though I guess every nationality has
them, they just don't get around a lot.

ggull wrote:
>
>
> Out of print, you mean?

Well, a few sites list it, but none have actually been able to provide
a copy!

> You should be able to rent it or get it from the library if you're in NYC.

Nope, haven't seen it around!

> While I would neither encourage nor condone illicit behavior, I do note that
> it doesn't seem to be copy protected.

Well, now that X-Copy has been outlawed, I don't know what other
"fire-and-forget" program is available....

> I didn't necessarily mean actual "focus group", just the bean-counters
> deciding it needed a happy ending, a virtual focus group if you will. If I
> understand your comment, I don't think the happy ending would be needed for
> US/European distribution .. if anything, the opposite. It seemed me more
> like reverting to some sappy, soap-opera'ish, HK flicks I've had in my DVD
> player (names blessedly forgotten). Though I guess every nationality has
> them, they just don't get around a lot.

Hmm, interesting. I actually thought the sappy stuff worked! I mean,
it's a chick flick after all, but for some reason not as incredible,
though on paper it sounds corny enough and very unrealistic.

A real shame it never saw distribution outside HK and even worse that
it's now MIA.

"NYC XYZ" <> wrote ...
> Well, a few sites list it, but none have actually been able to provide
> a copy!
Bummer. I just checked amazon, and they had three for sale -- from
$90-100!!
So I guess it is oop.

>> You should be able to rent it or get it from the library if you're in
>> NYC.
> Nope, haven't seen it around!
It sounds like you've seen it.
Doesn't the NYPL have an audio visual section? I tried finding it online
without luck, could only get catalog of printed matter.

> Well, now that X-Copy has been outlawed, I don't know what other
> "fire-and-forget" program is available....
To a computer, it looks just like another data disc.

> Hmm, interesting. I actually thought the sappy stuff worked! I mean,
> it's a chick flick after all, but for some reason not as incredible,
Oh dear, "not as incredible" (I assume you mean "lacking credibility"
incredible) as others?? That last segment is pure coincidence, over and
over. And such a letdown after the hard moral choice at the end of the Hong
Kong segment.

> though on paper it sounds corny enough and very unrealistic.
>
> A real shame it never saw distribution outside HK and even worse that
> it's now MIA.

ggull wrote:
>
> Bummer. I just checked amazon, and they had three for sale -- from
> $90-100!!
> So I guess it is oop.

It's OOP, but I'm SOL! Damn, out of all the stupid Tai Seng titles
around, *this* has got to be OOP on me!!

> It sounds like you've seen it.
> Doesn't the NYPL have an audio visual section? I tried finding it online
> without luck, could only get catalog of printed matter.

They do, but, like I was saying, I'm not up on DVD-ripping....

> To a computer, it looks just like another data disc.

Yeah, and to me, it's just a bunch of zeros and ones! Even the newbie
sites on DVD-ripping are too technical. I feel like I should be
studying Latin for all that effort....

> Oh dear, "not as incredible" (I assume you mean "lacking credibility"
> incredible) as others?? That last segment is pure coincidence, over and
> over. And such a letdown after the hard moral choice at the end of the Hong
> Kong segment.

Now that's interesting -- I actually liked the ending! I thought it
was a very nice touch, and most fitting. I know the movie's full of
these coincidences -- but it all fits, given the "love-as-destiny"
theme, particularly with the South Chinese, you know.

"NYC XYZ" <> wrote in
>> It sounds like you've seen it.
>> Doesn't the NYPL have an audio visual section? .
>
> They do, but, like I was saying, I'm not up on DVD-ripping....
>
>> To a computer, it looks just like another data disc.
>
> Yeah, and to me, it's just a bunch of zeros and ones! Even the newbie
> sites on DVD-ripping are too technical. I feel like I should be
> studying Latin for all that effort....

You're making too big a deal of it. No need to "rip". If you have a DVD
burner, internal or external, it almost certainly came with utility software
such as Nero. Even the most emasculated version lets you make a copy of a
data DVD, copy the 'zeros and ones'. [If they don't have some special copy
protection, video DVDs are really just data discs with directory structures
and everything. Many Chinese and HK DVDs seem to be made this way.] Be
naive, try it, and the computer gods may hear your plea!

>> Oh dear, "not as incredible" (I assume you mean "lacking credibility"
>> incredible) as others?? That last segment is pure coincidence, over and
>> over. And such a letdown after the hard moral choice at the end of the
>> Hong
>> Kong segment.
>
> Now that's interesting -- I actually liked the ending! I thought it
> was a very nice touch, and most fitting. I know the movie's full of
> these coincidences -- but it all fits, given the "love-as-destiny"
> theme, particularly with the South Chinese, you know.

I could go with the one final coincidence where they're brought together
again by Teresa Teng, but the whole New York segment is just a bit too far
fetched. Even more, it really dilutes what had been a well done film with
serious themes and realistic character development -- it feels tacked on,
almost as if written and directed by someone else, when the beancounters
decided the original ending was too 'tragic' (a very Chinese original
ending, it seemed to me). So maybe it was done for some imagined foreign
market, or for an HK audience just wanting a feel-good damp hankie ending.
Of course, YMMV.