Format: DVD from NetFlix on kick-ass portable DVD player.
Watching older films is always something of a crap shoot. NetFlix was pretty certain based on its suggested rating that I wouldn’t think much of Ye Ban Ge Sheng (Midnight Song or Song at Midnight). Generally speaking, NetFlix is pretty accurate. In this case, the rating was pretty accurate, but it’s honestly not entirely the fault of the film, or at least not the fault of the story or how it was filmed. Oh, there’s plenty of silliness here, including some ridiculously sped-up camera work, but that’s more on when the film was made.
Allow me to better explain. Ye Ban Ge Sheng is in terrible shape. This is a film that looks like it’s spent a couple of dozen years rotting in a basement before this version of the DVD was made from it. There are places where the photography is so dark it’s difficult to make anything out. In other places, scratches and pops slide up along the film. Frequently, the sound fuzzes out, making the actors sound like they are speaking underwater. For a film so highly regarded as a classic of Chinese cinema, someone needs to show it some care and attention.
