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Unique of its kind
By Su Wei



To be a good stepmother is not easy: it will take her painstaking efforts to win the trust of her children and become a member of their family. Such efforts can be found every minute in the movie Stepmom, a blockbuster(大片) directed by Chris Columbus in 1998.

The movie is mainly about how Isabel (played by Julia Roberts), with her love and patience, is gradually accepted by a divorced family as a stepmother. Admittedly similar stories are repeatedly played on the screen, and the heroine is routinely a success as a stepmother. What then makes Columbus' Stepmom unique of its kind?



The first interesting point lies in its screenplay. In addition to the two children's (Anna and Ben) hostility towards Isabel, their mother, Jackie (played by Susan Sarandon), is reluctant to have her children reared by a new woman, fearing that Isabel will replace her position in the children's hearts. Indeed, Jackie's rich experience in nurturing kids is something the young Isabel can hardly compete with. No wonder Anna and Ben feel so uneasy with Isabel in the beginning.

Nevertheless, Isabel has her own way to cater to the kids: the twenty something fashion photographer can show Anna a new, untraditional way of drawing, encourage Anna to dump her bad boyfriend in public and teach her new dance steps. As a result the energetic, fashionable Isabel forms a sharp contrast to the considerate Jackie, and viewers can find such a peculiar contrast woven from the beginning to the end, which makes the movie extraordinarily interesting.



Also noteworthy in this movie is the impressive acting skill Julia Roberts shows as the heroine. Her bewilderment with Anna's antagonism(对抗性), her outwardly frustration with the kids' mistrust and her visible joy at being accepted into the family makes the character Julia plays a vivid and full role. By fulfilling the role in the movie, Julia has conveyed a clear message: She is more than a pretty face.

Stepmom turned out to be quite a hit in the box office. Viewers enjoy the two distinctive mothers being loved by the kids at the same time. Their approaches may differ but not their affection for the kids and that is virtually what the movie is all about.

 

 

Passion of a mother
By Tetet Abonales



I watched Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ and I recommend you watch it whether you are a devout(虔诚的) Christian or not.

There have been other movies about Jesus' suffering. I have seen Zefirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth" over a hundred times, I think. (God knows how many times it has been shown on Philippine television every Holy Thursday and Good Friday, together with Cecil B. De Mille's "Ten Commandments".) Maybe it's because I have seen that movie too many times or that I have memorized every scene but it just no longer has any effect on me. Until I finally decided sometime in college to just stop watching it.

But, reading the reviews on Gibson's movie from Newsweek, I thought this would be one interesting movie to watch, especially because they were pointing to what was fact and what was fiction in the movie. Added to that was the Jewish community's reaction that it could encourage anti-Semitism.

But I truly like the movie, even though it was a little too violent for my taste. But we all know that Jesus indeed experienced that violence. And at one point, I almost screamed in front of my TV, "Enough!"
The thing that I liked most about the movie and what made me cry each time, was the thought of the "passion" of Jesus' mother. In Zefirelli's movie, I think Mary's suffering was downplayed to put emphasis on Jesus' suffering. But in "The Passion", Gibson, I should say, was also paying tribute(礼物) to the woman who gave birth to and buried Jesus.

Maybe Gibson being Roman Catholic (and we Roman Catholics have deep respect and love for Mary) is one reason that this movie shows not only the passion of Jesus but also that of his mother.
I am not a mother but I felt Mary's pain. This movie could also be a tribute to all mothers in the world.

 

 

Message Board

Soul of Finnish People
"芬兰民族之魂"交响音乐会
Conductor:Zhang Guoyong
指挥:张国勇(留俄杰出指挥家, 上海歌剧院院长, 艺术总监)
Time:19:30, July 10
时间:19:30, 7月10日
Venue: Music Island Philharmonic Hall, Wan Shou Lu at 67 Wen Yuan Lu
地点:音乐岛-爱乐厅(万寿路口-文园路67号原电力礼堂)
Program曲目:
Symphonic poem "Finlandia"
音诗<芬兰颂>op.26
Symphonic Suite"Snowstorm"
交响插画<暴风雪>
Symphony No.1 in E Minor
第一交响曲 e小调

Painting Exhibition
中外画家画展
Time: July 9-12
时间:7月9日至12日
Venue: Xiamen Library
地点:厦门图书馆

 

 

Photo by Yao Fan
On the evening of June 29, a performance sponsored by the Siming District in celebration of the 83rd anniversary of CPC was held at the Bailuzhou Music Fountain Square. Here is a scene from the dance "Sunshine·Xiamen" by the dance troupe of the district.


Photo by Yao Fan
Jin Li(金力), a talented violinist from the Singapore National Symphony Orchestra known for his "daunting playing techniques", made his debut here in the concert "Russian Warriors" in accompaniment of the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra on July 2.