Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

I saw this image on television a few weeks ago and it really struck me. It’s a photo of North and South Korea at night. The complete lack of simple public utilities in the North is staggering. I find myself wondering why so many South Koreans are eager for reunification with the North. It reminds me of the reunification of East and West Germany. Perhaps it is most indicative of the impact of severing families; nations are willing to take on enormous financial and social challenges for the opportunity of its citizens to feel whole and complete once again. For more exciting images of, go to NASA’s Visible Earth.

Speaking of incompletions in Asia, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, a pivotal figure in one of the 20th century’s great epics—the struggle for control of post-imperial China waged between the Nationalists and the Communists during the Japanese invasion and the violent aftermath of World War II—died on Thursday in Manhattan, the Foreign Ministry of Taiwan reported yesterday. She was 105. The NY Times Obituary covered an entire page (that’s a lot of ink!). It had a summary of her early life, her political career and several paragraphs devoted to the Soong sisters. I had forgotten that Madam Chiang Kai-shek was the sister of Madame Sun Yat-sen. Madame Sun Yat-sen (who died in 1980) was named honorary leader of Communist China the year before she died.

I think this would be a GREAT movie. It seems like something that Yimou Zhang could do brilliantly. Perhaps he could persuade his former lover, Li Gong to take on the role. She has had such amazing performances (many in his films—e.g. Raise The Red Lantern, Ju Dou, and To Live). In 1996, I saw Temptress Moon at Sundance (the film was made toward the end of their relationship). It was a beautiful but depressing film. At one of the panel discussions, Yimou talked about the Technicolor film equipment that China had purchased decades earlier and was the reason for the deep reds and yellows he captured in film.

“Never complain. Never explain.”
    Katherine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003)
    American Actress