Winner of Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year at the 47th Golden Horse Awards, the family drama The Fourth Portrait is the sophomore feature from Parking director Chung Mong-Hong. The visual flourish Chung showed in his first film carries to his second, but it's the achingly realistic characters that come first in the beautifully overcast world of The Fourth Portrait. Hao Lei (Summer Palace), Leon Dai (Reign Of Assassins), Terri Kwan (Prince Of Tears), veteran King Shih Chieh, and funnyman Na Dow put in fine supporting performances, while child actor Bi Xiao Ha serves as the heart of the story, winning Best Actor at the Taipei Film Festival for his role as a lonely young boy seeking to understand his family and himself.
After losing his father, Hsiang (Bi Xiao Hai) moves in with his estranged prostitute mother (Hao Lei) and abusive stepfather (Leon Dai). The world is an unusual and unwelcoming place for the precocious 10-year-old boy, who can only find solace in his friendship with a kind janitor (King Shih Chieh), a petty thief (Na Dow), and a sympathetic teacher (Terri Kwan). Engrossed with drawing portraits, Hsiang becomes increasingly haunted by the unanswered questions surrounding his missing older brother.
Si Parking, su primera película, ya fué toda una sorpresa, ésta es en cambio una absoluta confirmación. La historia al principio parece que va a ir por los derroteros de drama de niño huérfano abandonado a la mano de Diós, pero en cambio lo que termina siendo es por un lado el relato de maduración de un niño dentro de un contexto poco agraciado (madre prostituta, padrastro asesino, amigo delincuente... vamos, como para echar cohetes) y por otro el retrato de todos esos que le rodean bajo el prisma de su mirada, y todo rodado con esa pausa tan bellamente taiwanesa y una cuidadísima fotografía.
¿Un pero?. Pues sí, y es que al igual que pasa con su anterior filme, me parece que la película se cierra de forma un tanto brusca.
wow, gracias spin, la veré cuando me descargue y comento, que tengo 5 días libres , jejeje :cuñaoo: arreglado lo del poster, por cierto, te recomiendo usar imageshack en vez de photobucket, TyniPic también funciona genial