May 17, 2012 ... Love,” now gives us “The Best Exotic. Marigold Hotel,” a comedy about an
alternative set of possibilities for the retirement years. Dev. Patel.
B8
Entertainment
8 – 14 May 2012
Shen Yun Performing Arts Special Coverage by Epoch Times
Mr. Lin Tengjiao, Director of Education Department, New Taipei City, attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company’s performance on March 24, 2012. Sun Xiangyi/The Epoch Times
Education Department Director:
Must See Shen Yun at Least Once in Our Lifetime Epoch Times Staff
was very smooth, and the Chinese traditional costumes showcased were outstanding. “In particular, the TAIPEI, Taiwan—Shen Yun synchronization of the backdrops Performing Arts has performed in and the artists was seamless. It was Taiwan for six consecutive years. really perfect,” he said. After seeing the performance in “The programme Khata for Taipei on March 24, celebrities from the Gods fully demonstrated the all walks of life were stunned by the masculine vigor of young Tibetan rich connotations of the Chinese men. It was really great. And in the culture showcased by the world- programme Lotus Leaves, the lotus renowned classical Chinese dance fans in the dancers’ hands were very and music company. vivid and lively, and the lotus pond Among the audience at the Dr. on the backdrops fully illustrated Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was Mr. the beauty of lotus flowers,” Mr. Lin Lin Tengjiao, director of said. Education Department, In addition, he stressed New Taipei City, that each programme Shen together with his was very good, and Yun’s wife. Mr. Lin the performances said, “Shen Yun’s by the solo vocalists performance is performance is a were soul-stirring a wonderful artistic wonderful artistic and impressive. feast that we must feast that we must Lin Tengjiao see at least once in had heard about see at least once our lifetime.” Shen Yun last year in our lifetime After the and had wanted to performance by the see the performance Shen Yun New York then, but unfortunately Company, Mr. Lin sat he was not able to make leisurely in the Hall to it. He happily said that this savour the peaceful time he had finally gotten the atmosphere. He opportunity to watch it. He said said he loved all the he didn’t expect Shen Yun to be so programmes, and was popular, and that its programmes particularly impressed with were magnificent. ‘How the Monkey King Came to Be’ He added that Shen Yun’s male as it was very playful and lively. As performers fully demonstrated he recalled the interesting content masculine vigor, while the female of the programme, he could not artists showcased tenderness and help letting out hearty laughter. grace, saying that it was indeed a According to the company’s beautiful artistic representation. website, a group of overseas Chinese Mr. Lin said that after seeing artists established Shen Yun in New Shen Yun today, his mind has York in 2006 in order to restore and calmed down, and he is looking revive Chinese traditional culture. forward to seeing the performance Mr. Lin said: “Shen Yun is a again next year. perfect combination of overseas Chinese from the artistic community Reporting by Jiang Yuchan & Billy around the world. It is amazing in Shyu. all aspects. In addition to the perfect Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in combination of the Chinese and New York, tours the world on a mission Western musical instruments that to revive traditional Chinese culture. produced the wonderful music, the backdrops and artists’ seamless For more information visit performance are also really great.” ShenYunPerformingArts.org He further noted that the The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of arrangement of all the programmes Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Judi Dench (L) and Celia Imrie in the comedy-drama “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a film about British retirees who take up residence in a hotel they believe to be newly restored. Ishika Mohan/ TM and 2012 Fox
Movie Review
THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL Inspiring and Creative Retirement Options Director: Cast:
Rating Genre: Release Date: Running Time:
John Madden Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith PG13/Some Scenes of Intimacy & Violence Comedy, Drama 17 May 2012 118 minutes
By MARK JACKSON Epoch Times Staff We’ve probably all heard words to the effect that if you retire without a good hobby, then life loses meaning pretty quickly and you’ll die soon. John Madden, the director of the Oscar-winning “Shakespeare in Love,” now gives us “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a comedy about an alternative set of possibilities for the retirement years. Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”) plays Sonny Kapoor, a terminally romantic and highly animated (and unintentionally hilarious) young man. He attempts to turn his inherited, previously
Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, and Bill Nighy (R), in the comedy-drama “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a film about British retirees who take up residence in a hotel they believe to be newly restored. Ishika Mohan/ TM and 2012 Fox glorious, but now seriously ratty hotel into “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”—an idyllic Indian “outsourced” retirement option for well-to-do Brits. The cast of British characters includes a couple (Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton) in which he’s adventurous and she’s a stickin-the-mud, a high-court judge (Tom Wilkinson) who left the love of his life in India, a widow (Judi Dench) in financial trouble, a racist housecleaner (Maggie Smith) looking for an affordable hip replacement, and male and female true-believers in everlasting
romance (Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie). The new inhabitants of the hotel—which has pigeon infestations, leaky faucets, and rooms that lack windows— quickly realize that this is not the Photoshopped version of the hotel advertisements they saw, and set up a hue and cry. To which, the everoptimistic Sonny replies, “In India, we have a saying—everything will be all right in the end. So if it is not all right, it is not yet the end.” The judge seeks his lost love, the Indian-phobic former housecleaner discovers parallels between her own
life and that of the Untouchable who serves her, and there’s lookin’for-love septuagenarian style. Young Sonny attempts to crawl out from under the thumb of his meddling mother, who seeks to keep him from becoming a man. “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” has much in common with the recent film “The Way,” which is about a cast of characters on a pilgrimage. The characters in “Best Exotic” take an unlikely pilgrimage into the twilight years by deleting the option of beige rooms with wall railings and panic buttons. Since the setting is India, one could say that by stepping out of their comfort zones, they all, to greater and lesser degrees—enlighten. The movie is visually sumptuous, the colours vibrant, the indigenous faces arresting, the local customs intriguing, and the soundtrack catchy. Barring an actual trip to India, “Best Exotic” gives the feeling of having had an eye-opening cultural experience— audience members will take a little bit of India with them as they leave the theatre. The decrepit hotel is, naturally, a metaphor for the physical state of the elderly folk inhabiting it. As they step out of their comfort zones and improve the quality of their hearts and happiness, the hotel reflects their growth as well. Everything is eventually all right, and therefore, reaches the End.
