Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

以前每天都看一位居士的臉書有關佛法的分享，獲益良多，每天都當作是對自己的一種鞭策跟提醒。所以她告別臉書之後，我感覺有點失落，不過我覺得，離聚本是常道，有同修的分享勉勵雖好，但道還是要自己去修，路還是要自己去走的。如果不真幹，就算擁有再多的佛學知識，也是毫無利益！ 看著皈依証，心裡慚愧非常。雖然皈依多年，但其實我還沒有真正皈依。皈依佛，就是要「覺」，但我還睡得很香，不肯醒來；皈依法，就是要「正」，但我還有太多的邪念，正念的時間少得可憐；皈依僧，就是要「淨」，但我依舊齷齪邋遢，基本五戒根本沒有做到。皈依只是形式，我還在佛門外徘徊！ 再看皈依証上的法名「雄慧」，更是愧疚欲泣。我既沒有擔起復興佛教、教化眾生的勇氣，也沒有那種智慧才能。回想這些年來的學佛經歷，我想起了弘一法師參考古詩而給自己取的別名「二一」，說他自己是「一無是處人漸老；一錢不值何消說」。「二一」是對我過往學佛的一種非常正確的概括，也是對我往後學佛的一種非常有用的提醒，以及鞭策：提醒我學佛要常生慚愧心，鞭策我要把「一無是處，一錢不值」轉成「一心念佛，一生成就」。 放不下熟悉依賴的東西，就難免心隨境轉，隨業受生。告別 David Lee 是我應該去做，去學習的。我們都忘了本來是誰，卻以為自己就是誰。但說到底，誰是誰都不重要，因為本來就沒有誰啊！

★★★★☆ 聽老一輩人說，以前毛澤東時期，各家門都是不上鎖的，鮮有人偷東西。雖說那個時代政局不穩，科技落後，但人心還算單純贛直，要不毛澤東也不能輕易煽動人心，搞出個文化大革命來！所以我相信戲裡馮婉瑜 ( 巩俐 ) 的家門常年不鎖也不丟東西。如今科技進步了，人心卻蠱惑了，到底時代是進步了，還是退步了呢？ 〈歸來〉是張藝謀的新作，以文革為背景，隱約可以感受到對那個瘋狂時代的控訴，但重點還是擺在人與人之間的情執，描寫陸焉識 ( 陳道明 ) 與馮婉瑜之間「這麼近卻那麼遠」的無奈和痛苦。相比讓我淚流滿面的〈 我的父親母親 〉，這次張導刻意不煽情，很多情節都是點到即止，但給人的感受依然強烈，配合朗朗的鋼琴聲，幾次讓我強忍淚水。例如兩人在火車站「你認識我，我不認識你」的擦肩而過；還有在鋼琴旁「似曾相識漸轉陌生」的擁抱……巩俐的演技堪稱神級，演而無演，自然流露內心的執著與掙扎，令人印象深刻！ 所謂「情不重不生娑婆，愛不深不墮輪迴」，情執是輪迴的動力，我們之所以生生世世不能擺脫輪迴，就是因為我們始終看不破、放不下。我們看自己多情，正常啊；佛菩薩看我們多情，可憐啊！看破放下不是要你做一個無情的木頭人，什麼都不做。事可以照做，只是心不要去執著，但我們凡夫很難做到事理無礙，不被境界所迷。度他即是自度，這是佛菩薩的境界，我們求不得，最妥當的還是先求自度，再來度他。但在末法時期，我們都不求自度，何況度他？如馮婉瑜，病了不自知，忘記了應該記得的，卻記住了應該忘記的。我們此等「背覺合塵」的人，病了卻自我感覺良好，反倒覺得那些「背塵合覺」的人有病，顛倒啊！ 感人細膩的〈歸來〉讓我再次感受到情執的折磨與可怕。佛陀盼我們回歸自性，了悟宇宙人生的真相，希望我們早日「歸來」，但我們卻喜歡在外尋尋覓覓、自討苦吃，忘記了原來我們早有一個溫暖圓滿的「家」！

★★☆☆☆ In case you don’t know, Noah is a descendant of Adam and Eva, a task-doer instructed by God to build an ark so as to survive the flood that was supposed to wipe out all the sinful men on Earth, and also the proof of God’s imperfection, because if God was so perfect, he wouldn’t have created such an imperfect world where imperfect beings like Adam and Eva would be easily tempted to fall. And he wouldn’t have regretted it and wanted to flush us all away and start it all over again using the flood. I can’t help but wonder what was really going wrong with God and Noah since they all seem pretty fickle. ‘Noah’ is nothing dramatic or biblical but a plain story of love and forgiveness. Acting and special effects are not impressive though. I don’t have a slight idea what’s really going on in ‘Noah’s Ark’, so I’m a bit surprised when Noah says he’s told to start a new world without men after the flood. Meaning he’s supposed to bury himself and his whole family as well. Not a sing...

★☆☆☆☆ Honestly I can’t make head nor tail of ‘Under The Skin’ that some consider hideously beautiful. Well, I don’t understand how something hideous could be beautiful or beautiful be hideous at the same time, but I guess that’s how people feel about art films in general. Anyway it seems bizarrely stupid to me, probably because a) I’m no fan of Scarlett Johansson; b) it delivers no story but a lot of make-no-sense stuff, and quiet still moments; c) nothing thrilling going on really like there’s supposed to; d) the underscore indeed pretty disturbing; f) last but not least, I was never warned that art films are not necessarily beautiful. That they could be rather gloomy-doomy in fact! ‘Under The Skin’ is obviously too abstract and bleak for me. It really gets under my skin and makes me feel a bit uneasy since I’m convinced that this is a big bad world full of big bad wolves. The good are few. The bad are a lot. Suppose we can still tell the good from the bad!

★★★☆☆ In ‘Groundhog Day’, Bill Murray’s Phil Connors has to live the Groundhog Day over and again for reasons unknown, till… no idea how and why exactly he’s able to get out of it in the end either. Things just happen so naturally or say, unreasonably, that the whole film seems like nothing more than a comedy of romance. It could’ve been deeper and more ingenious indeed but instead it leaves us some laughs and wonders just like that. How many more mistakes do we have to repeat before we manage to learn and correct it? How much more suffering do we have to take before we finally see what’s wrong with this life and want to stop it no matter what? We keep coming back for more and more till we’re bent and crashed and tortured and killed. Yet again we come back for some more not remembering the pain at all. Well, if you haven’t had enough, I have. Just like Phil Connors himself, though I can’t see exactly how and why I’m stuck in here right now, I’m so determined to want to make it...

★☆☆☆☆ 〈 突擊死亡塔 〉為打而打，反而有點過癮，雖然我從來都看不到暴力中有何美學可言。來到這個續篇則不再為打而打了，硬把一個無聊、荒謬、薄弱的故事拖長來說，其實當我看到片長是兩個半小時，我已經心覺不妥，一部虐殺打片有必要這麼長嗎？原來這次導演真的眼紅了，野心大了，戲中大部分時間，他都在賣弄攝影美術、剪接技巧，情節合理與否就不是他關心的了──把一個十元硬幣般大的竊聽器直接放在人家的錢包裡，如此偷聽技倆，只有豬才想得出來！ 想看打的觀眾一定失望，因為裡面打的少，相比首集，打鬥場面也好不到哪裡去，看到最後我已經有點作嘔。問題來了，明知這是一部虐殺戲，暴力充斥，故事薄弱，為何我（們）還是犧牲寶貴的時間去看呢？為何我（們）始終喜歡觀看暴力，施展暴力呢？為何我（們）總是學不乖呢？唯一想到的答案，就是因為我（們）無量劫來累積的習氣。 《華嚴經》：「忘失菩提心，修諸善法，是名魔業。」如果大家参透這句話，就會明白業力、 習氣的可怕。可能你對自己所修的善業有信心，對來生還有一定寄望。但我是不求來生的，我只求今生往生彌陀淨土，一生成佛。要不然，我肯定跟電影裡的那些傢伙一樣，今生不知怎麼個死法，來生更不知會死到哪裡去！

★☆☆☆☆ ‘300’ is fresh though I see no beauty about violence at all. ‘300: Rise Of An Empire’ is however, like a boring 90-minute gameplay trailer, with a very clichéd story, unattractive characters, exaggerated slo-mo actions actually more than enough and necessary, preposterous pep talks to fill up spaces between fights, and last but not least, it doesn’t seem to know how to end properly. I know this is a comic-book-feel-like movie so that all we have to do is sit and enjoy how they fight each other’s balls out, but truth is, seeking vengeance in the name of whatever will get you nothing but yourself perished in infernal flame! Anyone who finds any part of it beautiful or enjoyable is either a headcase or an imbecile (like me)!

★★★★☆ 我不是憤青，不好政治，不屬「左」，也不屬「右」，更不會佔「中」。我沒有興趣成為民主的棋子，也沒有興趣成為民主的鬥士，因為我知道民主只不過是人的虛妄中的虛妄。有問題的人自然製造有問題的制度，但他們卻期望有問題的制度能帶來無問題的和諧社會，有問題的人認為不停修補完善有問題的制度，最終就能解決所有問題，他們不知道：外在的問題，歸根究底都是人自身出了問題。所謂行有不得，反求諸己。人的問題未解決，誰當家作主，最終結果都是悲慘的！民主本身不是問題，有問題的是提出民主的人！ 〈逆權大狀〉不單只是講「民主」，還講「國家」。國家也是一個詭異的東西。經常聽到有人講：我愛國家，但不愛黨。試問，國家在哪裡？拿來給我看看。為何會有國家這個東西？有什麼作用？沒有黨，會不會有所謂的國家？黨建立國家，統治國家，國家跟黨如何區分？要知道，國家和黨也是人妄想分別的產物，所以我不愛黨，也不愛國家，只愛中國傳統文化。國家不是地球的自然產物，地球本無國家，如果不是人有「病」，「國」也根本不會存在！ 不要誤會，我不是在詆毀這部戲，相反，〈逆權大狀〉十分精采，假如你能熬過前面一個多小時的「人物塑造」時間，接著的兩場法庭答辯絕對會看得你熱血沸騰。其中一場更有一個四到五分鐘的長鏡頭，技巧相當高，而主角宋康昊不愧為韓國影帝，演技精湛自然，收放自如。一個建築工人，為何決心攻讀法律做律師，繼而變成民權鬥士，最終成為韓國總統（主角原型是韓國已故總統盧武鉉），他跟餐廳老闆娘之間的情義絕對是原因之一。在戲中，可以看到人性的腐敗，也可以看到人性的光輝。 所謂物極必反，民主至極就變獨裁，獨裁至極民主就再登場，歷史重複又重複，因為人總是活在虛妄當中而樂此不疲！

★★★☆☆ I don’t know since when Liam Neeson felt like he’d be better off becoming an action hero, but he’s ‘Taken’ twice. One ’s fresh. One ’s boring. This time his plane’s taken, and he’s an alcoholic air marshal, part of the U.S. Department of Home Security set up after the 911 attacks. But hey terrorist attacks don’t necessarily come from outside the country. It could and mostly would be triggered by its own people. You know there’re always some bad apples. They’re considered bad because they refuse to buy the Government’s bullshit and live with a lie. And we’re good because we side with it and believe that justice’s after all so worth fighting for. ‘Non-Stop’ is more like an interesting mind game than a pack of mindless actions. You’re given pieces of a puzzle one by one on the way, and you won’t be able to guess the whole picture till it reveals itself at last. It’s actually kind of a cliché, but the flight is indeed quite engrossing. It raises an issue to me: how to really...

★★★★☆ It opens with a real footage recorded by a passenger on a subway platform, showing white cops asking several black guys to behave and cooperate for what I don’t know yet. After some bickering, one of the black is forced face down on the ground by two police officers. And it ends with a gunshot. ‘Fruitvale Station’ tells a true story that shocks, provokes and moves. The footage works like an intrigue. The rest of it reveals moments of the victim, Oscar Grant’s (Michael B. Jordan) day life before he finally walks up to such a tragedy. We get to catch glimpses of how he struggles to make ends meet, and gets caught once; how he copes with his mother, girlfriend and daughter, but inevitably goes off sometimes under pressure of trying to be a better man like every ordinary one of us. The images are poignant in a sense, as you know the ending’s not gonna be happy. The underscore is exceedingly haunting. It attacks me from time to time. Everything happens for a reason. I don...

★★★☆☆ ‘Everything’s awesome’ is repeated many times in the film, but in reality, it’s seldom heard because we, from the bottom of our heart, don’t buy it, do we? We tend to believe that, well, something’s awesome, but certainly not everything is. We always complain about there being no real good persons in the world, but it’s not things going wrong out there, it’s us! From a Buddhist point of view, the world’s merely the reflection of our mind. If our mind’s screwed up, so is the world we’re in. ‘Everything’s awesome’ only happens in the eyes of the Buddha, the awakening one. We, the sentient beings, can only get to see a messed up world and hardly realize that it’s in fact all up to us! ‘The Lego Movie’ reminds me of ‘ Wreck It, Ralph ’, a memorable piece of animation that seems a bit absurd at first but it definitely teaches and moves. Said I’d never ever check out another superhero film but this film’s not about Batman or any alike, though it makes a great deal of fun out o...

★★★★☆ Funny that when I first saw the poster for ‘Godzilla’, I didn’t see a monster destroying a city. I saw a lonely soul being destroyed in a city of fear and desperation instead. But I was wrong either way. To clear some of your wonders, I think I have to drop you a heads-up here: Godzilla is No dinosaur though it looks like one. Yes, it’s an ancient giant creature, far much older than dinosaurs as said, but while dinosaurs eat veggies or flesh, Godzilla doesn’t. He (could be a she, I don’t’ know, let’s presume it’s a he here) sucks up Earth’s radiation to live and reproduce. So he’s not there to tear apart buildings and stomp on people just for fun. He’s up there for a very serious purpose that’s after all not well explained, and so not convincing enough. I’ve got to give a thumbs-up to Director Gareth Edwards, who first gained fame for his low-budget indie sci-fi ‘ Monsters ’ that looks weird but no trash to me actually, for choosing to take a rather realistic approac...

★★☆☆☆ 〈伊朗式離婚〉跟〈 伊朗式分居 〉沒有關係，完全「抽水」。故事發生在法國，沒有前作的伊朗風情，片中那個伊朗人，我想也是多餘的，沒有他，故事照常可以發展。兩個多小時的片長，其實可以再縮短半個小時。劇情煞有介事，過程中，透過人物對話帶出種種懸疑，是其唯一可觀之處，所以也不得不佩服導演「故弄玄虛」的功力。 一個女人結了婚，生孩子，又離婚，又再結婚；一個男人有妻有子，玩婚外情，搞得妻子變成植物人，自己不知如何是好；喜歡結尾那個定格畫面──手握手，不放手，多麼唏噓無奈！在這部戲裡，我又再看到人的種種「不自由」，從而引發的種種「自作賤」。「不自由」因為業力使然。有些事情，明明不該做，卻做了；明明該做，卻沒做。在「做」與「不做」之間，我們好像有選擇，其實背後都是業力在推波助瀾，所以我尊敬的印光大師勸勉念佛人要「不能專，要他專；不能念，要他念；不能一心，要他一心」。只有當願力超越業力時，我們才能得到真正的自由。在那之前，凡夫只能在六道繼續隨業漂泊，像我這般，明明不想看這戲，最後還是看了！

★★★☆☆ In ‘Her’, you can’t see her throughout. You can only hear her voice, Scarlett Johansson’s, that may sound sexy and attractive to some, but that’s exactly what makes me not able to feel completely involved. But no doubt, it takes no less than a genius to write a beautiful, sentimental script like that. And it’s got a poetic feel of romance and the weirdest yet subtlest sex scene that you may or may not like, but I do, kind of. Can you really fall in love with just a voice that sounds like it understands and knows and loves you? Can you love someone without involving any physical contacts? Or are you just escaping from your fear of incapability to deal with real emotions and relationships? The pictures look a bit pathetic and lonely but it’s true that we’re, as the technology seems to be pulling us much closer, living more far apart from each other in fact. Now we don’t even wanna hear one’s voice. We prefer sending and receiving emotionless cold words instead of calling o...

★★☆☆☆ ‘ The Amazing Spiderman ’ is a sweet, exhilarating and encouraging piece of action entertainment. ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’ is however, too much and too easy: too much of romance and blah blah blah, and so there ain’t many fights like it’s expected to have; the bitter past too easy to get rid of; the villains too easy to eliminate; everything seems like a piece of cake except Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone)’s death that I’m not convinced and well… I don’t really care at all. I know this Spidey’s supposed to be funnier and much more easygoing in contrast to Tobey’s, but don’t you think it’s getting a bit too off the wall? So far ‘ The Dark Knight ’ seems to be the one and only superhero film that impresses so. I don’t know. Maybe, again, it’s just me. Maybe I’m already tired of such superhero films. Maybe I’m too old, too complicated, too dark, or too mundane for stuff like this. The thing is, the more I get to learn what the Buddha says about Amitabha’s Pure Land that’s compl...

★★★☆☆ 〈魔警〉讓我想起另一部有關贖罪的電影〈 聖殤 〉。當然，兩者不能相提並論，林超賢擅長拍「動作」，而金基德擅長拍「人性」，當一個擅長拍動作片的導演想轉型去拍一部比較深入探討人性的電影，一開始難免會顯得有點力不從心，〈魔警〉就是這麼一回事。它不夠〈聖殤〉來得震撼，多少跟它的劇本，音樂的選擇，故事的鋪排，還有演員（主角是吳彥祖，不是張家輝）有關。一句話概括，就是導演的功力問題。 但，我喜見林導演這種轉變，畢竟香港需要不同類型的電影，不能只有動作片；導演也不能永遠獨沽一味，毫無創新突破。〈魔警〉的節奏、拍攝手法有別於以往林超賢急速直接的風格。影像沉鬱，故事悲情，不過就有點老土及欠缺懸念。動作場面雖然寥寥可數，但功架十足。張家輝的演技無可挑剔，但主角吳彥祖的演出就顯得有點過分用力，但對比他以往那些可有可無的演出，這次已經算是有很大的進步了。〈魔警〉沒有胡亂堆砌的動作，文戲為主，動作為輔，去展現一個靈魂如何被自己過去的創傷以及罪咎所扭曲，感染力雖有，但不夠深刻！〈證人〉與〈 激戰 〉我覺得依然是林超賢至今最好的作品。 電影最後一句話：人心，總納一點黑，點出了這部電影的主題。如果你認同這句話，其實是好事，因為你認同自己是有問題的，如果你覺得自己沒問題，那就是最大的問題了。所謂開悟，說簡單了就是認識到自己有問題，有過錯，那樣你才會去對症下藥，開始修正你的行為。這個世界只有兩種人心不黑，一種是佛，一種是心全黑的人。心全黑的人看不到自己的過錯，不會懺悔，這種人難以被救或自救。當然，我們看不到這樣的人，因為他們都被感召到地獄受罪去了，留在人道的都是一些心帶點黑的人。人生的目的就是努力去根除這一點黑，慈悲是消除這點黑的良藥。慈悲包括對人，也包括對自己，對自己殘忍的人對他人慈悲，那是不完整的假慈悲，假慈悲只會把人扭曲成魔，而不是成佛！

★★★☆☆ Kids nowadays are not so simple and naïve like we think they should. This Oscar’s Best Animated film of the year is absolutely for kids… or maybe I’m wrong, because even kids would complain about it being too simple and straight. I thought to myself, if I was a little girl, no doubt I’d be so excited to see such an exhilarating, heart-warming piece of computer animation. Plus, it’s sort of a musical. There’re a lot of beautiful songs to enjoy. But you know what, it’s not at all easy to be simple now. ‘Frozen’ kind of makes me feel sorry for adults like me, and kids who prefer complicated stuff! Nothing’s ‘special’ about this film. The story’s straightforward. The lyrics are easy to remember and understand. The characters are either good or bad, no gray area. If you think the Queen’s something in between. Think again! The message is also simple: true love thaws everything, even a frozen heart! No wonder, it’s based on a fairy tale by the famous Andersen. Some say fairy ta...

★☆☆☆☆ To me this film’s a complete failure. Yes, I agree that Captain America is handsome but not cool at all. And the one he falls for is… come on. The story’s so preposterous that I almost stopped it in the middle. Even though the ending kind of explains why so, but the film as a whole is such a turnoff in which you’ll find no laughs or thrills or whatsoever. I know I shouldn’t expect a decent story in a film like this, but even the actions are ridiculously dumb as well. How come he always carries with him a stupid shield like that as it seems so heavy and clumsy either on his back or in his hand, not at all magical, and not used often? I actually wanted to just write it off, but in case you still feel like digging it and inevitably waste your time, I think I’m responsible to let you know: stay away from any Captains like that, and you’ll be very proud of yourself being able to tame your constant madness over mainstream stupidity!

★★★★☆ 一個盲的鋼琴家，不想再參加任何比賽，因為他怕人家冷言，說他之所以能贏，不是因為他彈得特別好，而是因為他是盲人；一個送外賣的女孩，因為生活所迫，不敢去追求自己的夢想──成為舞蹈家。兩個原本互不相識的人，兩段原本平行的故事，最後精采交織，爆發燦爛火花，頗為熱血！出色的音樂，加一流的剪接，充滿陽光的〈逆光飛翔〉讓人看得非常窩心、溫暖，雖然過程難免也有眼淚，但最重要的，是眼淚沒有白流！最後那場表演，引用台灣年輕人經常講的一個字，真的挺「屌」的。暫時拋開雜念，好好用心去感受，漸漸你會發覺，你好像不是在看一齣電影，而是在欣賞一首詩。 本片根據盲人鋼琴家黃裕翔的真實事蹟改編，又是一部關於夢想跟現實角力的電影。夢想，我覺得有點像佛教所講的發心，是自己為自己定下的一個方向，且不說你速度的快慢，有了方向，人生才不會迷失，行動才有助力，無論你是步行，或是乘搭交通工具，總有一天，你會到達你想去的那個地方，前提是你沒有向現實低頭，沒有停下，沒有改變方向！現實除了是殘酷的，它還有一個特點，就是狡猾，它會用盡一切方法去迷惑你，在你離夢想只有一步之遙的時候，讓你錯誤認為夢想依然遙不可及！ 我很喜歡聽鋼琴聲。小時候因為家境貧窮，根本沒有機會去學音樂。如果時光可以倒流，我想學鋼琴，將佛法融入音樂，創造令人生起念佛、念法、念僧之心的美妙音聲……嗯，我在作夢吧！真是一個好夢啊！

★☆☆☆☆ 〈 海角七號 〉（後悔看了）跟日本人有關，〈 賽德克巴萊 〉（幸好沒看）跟日本人有關，〈 KANO 〉（不會看了）還是跟日本人有關。我覺得魏德聖不應該住在台灣，卻整天想念日本，他應該索性移民日本，變成日本人，拍日本戲！ 這部電影的「成功」，多少反映了還有不少台灣人懷念被日本人統治的時期，正如也有些香港人懷念被英國人統治一樣。中國人管中國人難道就是那麼專制刻薄？說到底，根本不關制度的問題或誰統治誰的問題，而是人貪婪的問題。如果人的這種根本劣根性解決了，就什麼問題都解決了，統治者與被統治者之間的永恆角力會消失，甚至沒有所謂的統治者與被統治者的分別。當然，這種理想不會出現，除非人人信行佛法！不過，我認為西方的民主制度，比起中國的中央集權制，在制衡人的慾望膨脹方面，是相對比較有效的。 人是喜歡犯賤的，總要等到失去才懂得珍惜。所以，我們只會抱怨眼前，懐緬過去，妄想未來。小孩想長大，長大的想變做小孩。寂寂無聞的想名利雙收，名利雙收的想遠離煩擾。結了婚的懷念單身的自由，單身的渴望結婚的幸福。沒孩子的想有個孩子，有孩子的想擺脫孩子的束縛。有工作的想退休，退休的嫌沒事做悶得慌。我們就是如此生活在種種緊張與矛盾之中，因為我們「散亂」，缺乏「正念」。而沒有「正念」主要因為我們不知道我們從哪裡來，將往哪裡而去！ 這部電影根本不值一提。沒有什麼好看，沒有什麼好說，也沒有什麼好想。我越來越覺得：其實，沒有什麼地方，沒有什麼時光，沒有什麼人或事，真的值得去朝思暮想，除了阿彌陀佛的尊嚴淨土！