33 Postcards (2013)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Too much of everything

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I was willing to give this film a chance. I like Australian films, Guy Pearce, the accent, etc.,but when it started with a sequence showing the happy, singing orphans in China, grinning and swaying as they sing their way through their day's work at the clean, sunny state orphanage with private rooms, I knew I was in for trouble. It's not exactly propaganda, it's just freakin' unbelievable. But, then, eventually you can ignore the preposterous orphanage and watch the story unfold in the backstreets of Sydney. It turns out that the orphan's Australian sponsor is not in a good position to take her in, in spite of the fact that he somehow managed to funnel money to the orphanage for her upkeep for-what-ten years? Guy Pearce is a good actor, but his roll here is so downbeat that he's hard to watch. How did this guy last this long with so little resilience in his character? I guess it has to be that way so that all the resilience and determination can be larded onto the Chinese orphan. At any rate, she stands by him and is there at the end to nurse him back to health, although she seems to wind up doing it from some picturesque, beautifully-shot part of China. If you can accept that he can pluck her out of an orphanage 2,000 miles away, then she can support him from mainland China? Oh well. I guess the story doesn't have to make sense to be entertaining.

Australia certainly has a knack for producing depressing films, and this is one of their finest efforts. If I want to be depressed I'll turn on the news. I don't see any reason to bring more sadness into the world.Initially the story looks promising and indeed could have become moving and uplifting. However, much like the unfortunate characters portrayed, it plunges into an inescapable spiral of gloom and misfortune.Pearce is certainly on top form here, but his character is so pathetic and easily manipulated that it is difficult not to despise those around him - basically everyone else in the movie.Technically good films don't work unless there is an inspirational or entertaining story to tell. This one perhaps was intended to be uplifting but misses the mark by a mile. Poor effort indeed.

It is incredible how hard it is to write a good story and yet this film takes the simple premise of an orphaned Chinese girl sponsored into schooling by a benefactor she has never met except via postcards and letters and turns it into an achingly good two hours of entertainment.Mei Mei, Little Sister (Zhu Lin), is a sixteen year old whose life in a Chinese Orphanage has been supported by regular payments made by Dean Randall (Guy Pearce). Mei Mei is training to be the conductor of a children's choir who are to tour in Australia which is where the bulk of this film takes place.The plot and screenplay are developed with such simple brushstrokes you know there is a masterpiece being painted before our eyes. And this film doesn't let you down through all its wonderful and deft touches. Even the violent scenes are made to fit the delicate canvass the whole is painted upon, and we are never driven to the need for explicit artistic license.The soundtrack too is so finely tuned to the images, with some breathtaking choral singing at appropriate moments. The acting is strong, brilliant from Zhu Lin and Guy Pearce, and only occasionally overstated by the support. The script is just wonderful but then the message from this film is wonderful too.Recommended viewing. Nine out of ten.

I hadn't planned on watching a film but I stumbled across this when channel surfing. Obviously this isn't a blockbuster but it's a movie I recommend watching if you get the chance. Why? well because it's something different. It has an unusual story and plenty of emotion. We follow Mei Mei (a sponsored orphan) and her search for her dream family but her dream and the reality are completely different. However, her good caring nature shines through as she tries to make the best of what she discovers. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and each main character has an interesting and unique story.I couldn't decide between a 6 or 7 for this movie so a 6.5 it is. Obviously with this not being a mega funded blockbuster there are going to be one or two things wrong with it but I'm not going to point out faults as I feel the positives far more out weight the negatives. If you get a chance, watch this movie!