Learning To Appreciate The Cantonese Audio In Cantonese Films

Back in college, I fell in love with Chinese entertainment thanks to F4. What I didn't know was that, like the Filipino language, there are several Chinese dialects. F4 had its famous song "Can't Lose You" which was the opening song of Meteor Garden II. Then there was the F4 concert in Hong Kong to which I couldn't different Cantonese from Mandarin. It was until I started listening closely to music of the late Anita Mui (and I only appreciated her existence after she left us so soon), I could say Andy Lau played an impact (and I first saw him in Magic Kitchen with Jerry Yan), Jacky Cheung (who had a duet with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid), and Faye Wong. Interestingly, some Cantonese singers did a Mandarin cover for songs originally in their native language.

I remembered my habit of changing Cantonese audio to Mandarin. My aim back then was to well, learn, Mandarin, so that's what I did. Ironically, I still enjoyed Cantonese music after knowing that it was well, Cantonese. Speaking of Cantonese, I guess the Kamen Rider BLACK RX dub that I saw was in Cantonese and not in Mandarin. The same went for that Tokosou Exceedraft dub. If it was Star TV Hong Kong then it'd be in Cantonese. Soon, Hong Kong was turned over to China which might not be a good move. I feel the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might be committing acts of linguicide. I even feel that Chairman Mao Zedong tried to eliminate all other languages during the Cultural Revolution. It's a good thing he never got Taiwan or it might become his personal hacienda. It's unlike Taiwan where their shows mix both Taiwanese Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien in many of their shows. I did even enjoy watching La Grande Chaumierre Violette which was mostly spoken in Taiwanese Hokkien.

Netflix finally came. I wanted to watch more of Andy's films after Magic Kitchen. My "horror" was that there are hardly any Mandarin dubs. This reminds me that I could watch other films in other languages. I was able to appreciate mixing Hokkien and Mandarin in Taiwanese shows. What makes it so different if I'd watch a Cantonese language film? I was able to appreciate Anita's style of music (which was usually in Cantonese) better than Jolin Tsai's music (which I don't find that enjoyable). Watching more Hong Kong films in the original Cantonese would be better. It's the original art! A Filipino would probably say, "Jacky Cheung did a cover of Ariel Rivera's hit song!" By now, I think Filipinos who saw Future Cops would've known it was in Cantonese and not in Mandarin. Maybe, some Filipinos just don't care about the original voice if there are good subtitles. The same can go for other people who have very little language about the Chinese language.

What I can say is let's respect all dialects. Any form of language supremacist or snobbery is bad. True, there will be more Mandarin speakers than Hokkien speakers or Cantonese speakers. Still, hearing the films in their native Cantonese language can be a very rewarding experience. It's pretty much exposure to more of the Chinese language. It's no different than one hearing a Filipino song in Tagalog or Visayan. It's more than time to fight to preserve all kinds of dialect even if there's still a national language of unity.

"Light The Night's" Finale (Spoilers Ahead)

SpikyTV I guess the series just kept us guessing, right? I finally got the chance to finish it after some busy nights. I was right that the killer was HANA (Esther Liu) BUT there's a twist - it was more of voluntary manslaughter than murder. Manslaughter is when one kills out of the heat of passion and that's what Hana did twice in the story. Hana had one against a client who used her and another against Sue after some unfortunate insanity attack. Hana ends up planning to hand herself over but her lover commits murder (towards a character named Chiang An) to protect her. The whole psychological thriller for me just didn't match up to what I wanted. I guess I was too used to how Victim's Game rolled out. I was expecting some real murder scheme. Instead, it was the anti-climatic manslaughter where Hana decides to hand herself to the authorities after what she did. I really still think that the finale wasn't worth too much of the wait. I was expecting something gran

I Just Finished "My Golden Life"

I finally finished My Golden Life which I was hesitant to watch. 52 one-hour long episodes? I was thinking it was easier to watch the Wuxia series that had 40+ minutes per episode such as Princess Weiyang which was quite long. A lot of episodes of My Golden Life would have a few minutes more depending on the coverage of the episode. So, I'm done and I never thought I'd actually finish it since I'm way too used to short K-Dramas. This one was rather long but it was rather entertaining in many ways. I was thinking about how Shin Hye Sun actually did well with on-screen partner Park Si Hoo. Sometimes, I'd like to joke about how they had a chemistry that looked good and felt good. Looked good? Both aren't attractive and I often joke how Hye Sun's face feels melted or how she was rightfully matched with Lee Jong Suk in Hymn of Death . Hye Sun isn't pretty but she really makes up with her good acting and likability. The same goes for Si Hoo with how he acts out hi

Just Finished "My Glamorous Imperial Concubine" (Some Spoilers)

This is another Wuxia series finished. I was having some expectations broken. The show can be full of spoilers when discussed even further. In fact, some characters are walking spoilers. If you're not ready to be spoiled - DON'T READ. If not, you can read further. I feel the show had some plot twists and turns. Besides, maybe some of the villains in this show weren't as evil as you think. Emperor Liancheng is an antagonist but dies before the show can end. Liancheng may have some idiotic obsession with Ma Fuya. It becomes even worse when Liancheng's younger sister Liansi and his younger brother Lianxi get involved. Liansi develops a crush on Meng Qiyou and even gets pregnant in the process. It seems that Ma Fuya was pregnant with Liancheng's baby but ends up in Qiyou's household after Liancheng dies. Liancheng dies doing a selfless act to save Ma Fuya. The obsessive empress Ma Xiangyun commits suicide to kill Emperor Liancheng. Emperor Liancheng's quite a

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