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Category:    Home > Reviews > Personals (foreign/comedy)

The Personals

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Film: B-

 

 

When most people think of foreign films they commonly make the mistake of thinking about dramas, but comedies are just as universal in the world of cinema.  Just as some American comedies reflect modern life the 1998 Taiwanese film, The Personals, reflects that culture as well with a humorous touch. 

 

The film introduces us to a single woman played by Rene Liu.  She is a highly successful individual looking for a companion, so she placed an ad in the newspaper.  Most of the film is then devoted to the many suitors that answer the ad.  Who wouldn’t want a highly successful woman?  The comedy enters when we see some really funny clips of just a few of the individuals looking to hook up with her. 

 

Since woman have been given more freedoms in the later half of the 20th Century, not just in America but all over, there has been a subsidence in the workplace.  Since both men and women have equal opportunities in school and work, there is a shift in the family life.  A modern workplace offers little time for romance for those that are single, so what occurs is depression.  People become desperate in an attempt to find their true love, especially once they begin reaching the age of 30. 

 

The Personals came out before the present state of the Internet, which has become the new place for the dating world.  Before it was newspaper ads or telephone hotline numbers.  The world is now even more linked since everyone is at the touch of a keyboard away.  

 

Americans often think about how different other cultures are, but films like this prove that underneath, we are all quite similar.  We all search for love, we all lose love, we all move on.  There is a certain sadness that comes forth when we think about these issues, but life is a constant and we must always be prepared to change the equation in order to fit our needs.

 

First Run Features has brought The Personals to DVD as they have with other foreign titles.  Although there are no supplements the film says enough without them.  The 1.85 X 1 image looks more like 1.78 X 1 and yields average results.  Detail is not fully sharp and colors bleed occasionally.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack is nothing spectacular, but since most will be reading subtitles it is hardly distracting. 

 

Although this is not the most powerful film, it does have its highlights and would be an excellent film for a compare and contrast with certain American titles that reflect modern society.  Sometimes our best understanding of other cultures is through movies like this, luckily they are more realistic than some of the over-the-top dramas/comedies we get in the states.

 

 

-   Nate Goss


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