Diary (2006)

Wow! Such a good movie.

It is a performances centric movie

Great Film overall

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

"Diary" ("Mon Seung") initially had my hopes up for being something particularly interesting, as it is a Pang brothers movie. But I suppose I had my expectations up a little bit too high. The movie didn't deliver to the extend I had hoped.That being said, I am not saying that "Diary" is a bad or boring movie, not at all. It just wasn't what I had expected from the story summary I had read.The story is about a lonely and somewhat delusional woman named Winnie (played by Charlene Choi) who spends her time making marionette puppets and writing in her diary. She misses her boyfriend Seth a lot and keeps calling him and leaving him messages. Seth doesn't return these calls though, and she decides to meet him at his work place. There she runs into Ray, who bears a strong resemblance to Seth, and they start a relationship.Initially, then the story wasn't all that strong or powerful. There were aspects to it that seemed not really properly thought through or planned well. And as such, the movie had a tendency to become jumpy and a little bit incoherent at times.The DVD claims 'packed with mind-bending twists and turns, this riveting psychological thriller from the creators of The Eye is packed with eye-popping special effects and will keep you guessing until the final, shocking ending!'. Alright, did we watch the same movie here? Perhaps whomever wrote that had a special edition of the movie that I hadn't, because I couldn't really put that label on the movie.It was nice to see Charlene Choi in a movie such as this, and have her move away from those sugar-coated love romantic comedies that she usually works with. And she managed to step out into a darker universe with grace, because she really performed well in this movie.For an Asian horror movie, then "Diary" was a fairly mediocre result, and there are far better horror movies on the Asian movie market if you want to be properly scared. And definitely not one of the Pang brother's best movies.

The Pang Brothers really outdid themselves this time..what a powerful experience DIARY was. It's truly a tragic insider's look into the tormented mind and soul of a paranoid schizo woman(Isabella Leong)who sees horrors that haunt her, as well as reliving traumatic memories of a relationship that went sour, and a friendship that seems suspect. What makes DIARY so extraordinary is how the Pang Brothers ably create a disorienting nightmare we experience along with Leong. The twist at the end throws you for a loop because we come to a realization as to just how devastated Leong's state of mental well being really is. What we do know is that Leong is a good cook, writes her thoughts and actions in a diary, and crafts puppets she talks to. The characters of her life are Shawn Yue(..as both Seth, her long lost love who left her, and Ray, who looks identical to him)and Charlene Choi(..as Leong's influential pal, and the one who may've took Seth away from her). The Pang Brothers highlight examples of Leong's schizophrenia such as the moment a thundercloud moves through her window into the living room, a chair moves on it's own when Leong and Yue are eating supper, and how the whole house trembles as the floor cracks open. Reliving certain situations which truly never cease to remind her of the separation, Leong is incredible at conveying the confusion, sadness, loss, and fear confronting her conflicted and sick character. It's a kind of disturbing poetry, performance and direction deftly portraying a character in turmoil. Shades of REPULSION, as this woman often isolates herself from the world, participating in a delusion she considers real. The Pang Brothers really throw some curveballs our direction as well, as we often relive situations two, three times, in certain ways, challenging us to figure out what is real and what is a fictitious creation of a disturbed mind. You could say we are like puppets on a string, manipulated often.

***this comment does contain spoilers that shouldn't, but might spoil the film***Criticisms of the writing and screenplay aside, this is a thoroughly engaging film on the surface. I loved it even though I didn't get it. The creative camera angles, the mostly gray/green color palette accentuating a sense of disease or decay, the original music and sound design, and the beauty of the actors add up to a sensuous ninety minute delight. At times the film seemed adrift on a sea of music carried along by the score instead of leading it, while at other times the conspicuous absence of any sound almost embarrasses the viewer in moments of voyeuristic character study. Having said that, there isn't much depth or background to the characters in Diary, but the focus on their moments of here and now is sharp and clear.Charlene Choi is magnificent as the schizophrenic, sad and lonely Winnie. Her face has a beauty suited to smoldering evil or desperate sadness inside, and she presents this facade so convincingly that in her very few, very brief moments of happiness, the shy and hopeful smile that accompanies the change evokes the poetic innocence of a rescued child. It's captivating and magnetic. It draws the viewer into a collaborative dream of promise that when quickly and sadly broken the feeling of empathy is profound. That's good acting and directing.The ending very clearly presents a major twist. However, as someone writes in the message board here, "I know it was the same person but why had two different faces?" The cast credits list only three people, so one must conclude that the 'real' instigator was Winnie's neighbor but it sure didn't look like the same person to me. Her character was presented as a likely ne'er do well, but I'm not sure if it was her or if it was some alter ego, some schizophrenic other personality of Winnie. I think the ending twist was unnecessary and even though I didn't grasp the director's intent, it didn't bother me remotely enough to spoil the film.Another aspect of the sensuousness of this film concerns the language and subtitles. This is a Hong Kong film, the language is Cantonese. I understand about three words of Cantonese but find the language wonderfully lyrical. Even in the few instances where the characters scream at one another there is a musicality to it. Most of the film drifts along like the melody of a bedtime lullaby, perhaps a byproduct of Charlene Choi's other profession as a (rather famous in Hong Kong) canto-pop singer.Concerning the English subtitles—at least the set that accompanied the film I watched. Subtitles are often a spongey issue. I imagine that one of two things are usually expected: that they are translationally accurate or that they convey more accurately the mood and intent of the speaker. One phrase uttered several times in this film by Winnie is, "I like to make puppets as I always think they are able to share with me". I don't know what that means because it could mean so many thing. I can only hope the native language meaning is also as wonderfully ambiguous.Anyone familiar with someone learning English as a second language has experienced moments of questionable grammar that are crystal clear in meaning and intent. I'm glad the subtitles appear to have been done by someone whose English was a second language. There are many examples, but a few gems for me were: "I like to make puppets and write my diary", "Do you have an affair?" (for, Are you having an affair?), "She instigated me!", and my favorite, "Seth often complained of my cookery." (You'll have to see the movie to enjoy the full impact of that last one.)

Winnie Leung is a lonely woman that likes to make puppets and write her diary, and she misses her boy-friend Seth Lau, who left her after breaking up their relationship. Winnie leaves messages in his mail box and unsuccessfully tries to contact him in his job. When she meets Ray Fan, she tells him that his resemblance with Seth is amazing. Ray moves to her place and when Winnie's next door snoopy neighbors calls the police because of the smell in her apartment, a dark secret is disclosed in her diary."Diary" is a claustrophobic, almost theatrical and impressive movie directed by the stunning Oxide Pang Chun and certainly among his best works. The story is very well tied-up in spite of having many twists, with the last one showing the reality, in a magnificent screenplay written by the Pang brothers. The fantastic performance of the lead actress Charlene Choi, who builds the process of insanity of her fragile, depressive and scary character without any need of grimaces like in most American movies, gives total credibility to this sinister tale. The cinematography uses of black and white and a limited range of colors prevailing the green to give a gloomy and very sad atmosphere. I regret that only a few viewers have had the chance to see this great "little movie" since there are only 92 votes in IMDb. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): Not Available