Yo-Yo Ma Movies

Master Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai directed this lyrical, dream-like martial arts epic. A famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million dollars to produce (a shocking sum for a national cinema populated with low-budget quickies) and features a virtual who's who of the Hong Kong film world. Conceived as a prequel to the popular martial arts novel The Eagle-Shooting Hero by Jin Yong, the movie is less a straightforward action thriller than a visually striking meditation on memory and love. It nominally centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), who ekes out a lonely existence as an itinerant hired sword. Getting on in years and tormented by memories of a lost love, he also works an agent for other mercenary assassins from his remote desert abode. Ouyang's old friend and fellow swordsman, Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Kar-Fai, who starred in the The Lover) drowns his lovelorn misery in a magical wine that makes him forget. Later, a mysterious young man named Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) hires Ouyang to kill his sister's unfaithful suitor, Huang Yaoshi. The following day, that spurned sister, Murong Yin (Lin again), hires Ouyang to protect her dearly beloved. Meanwhile, Hong Qi (pop star Jacky Cheung) finds some redemption for a life of killing by accepting a poor girl's offer to avenge her brother's death -- a task that Ouyang brusquely shunned. In another subplot, a master swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) is slowly going blind. He agrees to defend a village from horse thieves so that he can afford to go home and see his wife before his eyesight fails completely. This film is one of the most celebrated examples of 1990s Hong Kong cinema: it won multiple awards in its native Hong Kong, along with a Golden Osella for Best Cinematography at the 1994 Venice Film Festival.

In the years following Ashes of Time's initial theatrical release, the original negatives were lost and multiple versions of the film began to crop up all across the globe. As a result, director Wong Kar-wai longed to compile these various versions into a restored, remastered, and definitive final cut. With Ashes of Time Redux, the director restructures the film according to seasons, effectively clarifying the central narratives, and digitally colorizes the film to render cinematographer Christopher Doyle's masterful imagery all the more lavish and intoxicatingly gorgeous. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker, philosopher and activist Godfrey Reggio completes the film trilogy he began with Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi in this visually striking examination of the impact of technology upon our culture. Naqoyqatsi is a word from the Hopi language which roughly translates as "war as a way of life" or "a life of killing each other," and in this film Reggio uses a intense barrage of images - most of which have been drawn from existing film footage and then altered using a variety of optical and digital techniques - to express his belief that technology is no longer at war with nature. Instead, we have allowed technology to become the "nature" in which we live, and as it stretches our physical and emotional environment in new and troubling directions, we have created for ourselves a world of greater chaos, violence, and confusion. As with his previous features in this trilogy, Naqoyqatsi features an original score by Philip Glass, featuring cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma; director Steven Soderbergh, a noted admirer of Reggio's first two films, served as executive producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Christine Baranski makes her first series appearance as Seattle radio therapist Dr. Nora Fairchild, a spoof of a certain well-known, ultraconservative talk-show host. Dr. Nora's outspoken, bullying and predominately homophobic "my way or the highway" radio personality is extremely irritating to many observers, including Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), who to his everlasting regret recommended Nora to the KACL management. Even so, the outrageous Nora dramatically increases the station's ratings -- setting the stage for a riotous showdown between the Doctors Crane and Fairchild. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Violin virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma has entertained audiences around the world with his extraordinary talents. He constantly explores the musical ideas of any composer, seeking to bring form to the piece. This is the fifth of six Inspired by Bach programs that blend the music against a story or a short film. In this video, Ma and Japanese Kabuki dancer Tamasaburo Bando explore ways to choreograph Kabuki movements with an unaccompanied violin section, both working in conjunction and isolation to find the musical thoughts of the piece and translating them into the delicate, ancient dance movements. The end result will leave the viewer amazed, enthralled, and delighted by these two artists. ~ Forrest Spencer, All Movie Guide

Ice skaters Torville and Dean explain to cellist Yo-Yo Ma how they translate the composer's notes into dance moves, and give a sample performance. This segment comes courtesy of Yo-Yo Ma's Inspired by Bach series, in which the musician teams up with contemporary artists from a variety of media to create new works based upon the composer's legendary works. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

This 53-minute documentary, one episode in the six-part Canadian TV series, Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach, attempts to link Johann Sebastian Bach's personal and professional life with the modern world. It is structured by director Patricia Rozema (I've Heard the Mermaids Singing) around the six movements of Bach's Suite No. 6 with cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing amid traffic on an island in a busy street, on a rooftop, and at other locations around Manhattan. Olympic gold medallists Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean execute a graceful ice-skating accompaniment to the music because Ma believes "they did for ice-skating what Bach did for cello." Bach biographical information is provided by Tom McCamus. This film was shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival. Other episodes of this series featured a Bach-inspired garden designed by Julie Moir Messervy, dimensional digital recreations of Piranesi engravings, and Yo-Yo Ma collaborations with Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando, choreographer Mark Morris, and film director Atom Egoyan. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Quirky Canadian director Atom Egoyan helmed this, the only fictional entry in a series of six films, titled "Yo-Yo Ma Inspired Bach." The story centers on the world-renowned cellist and is a free-form series of unrelated connections between people. As the story begins, Ma is flying to Toronto via Canadian Airlines. Meanwhile, his limo driver Sammy Angelopoulos patiently waits for him at the Air Canada terminal. Their connection, needless to say, is going to be delayed. Real estate agent Sarah is trying to find someone to buy the home of the aged Dr. Kassovitz. The trouble is, the good doctor refuses to sell unless the buyer promises to keep the furniture and his art collection intact. Sarah has a bad cough and goes to see the attractive Dr. Angela France, an amateur cellist who is attending one of Ma's master classes. Dr. Kassovitz later gives Sarah tickets to Ma's concert while her sweetie Max pays Dr. France a visit himself. Max hates classical music, but Sammy, another of Dr. France's patrons adores it and hails Ma "an ambassador of God." In the midst of all the connection making, Ma can be heard playing Bach's Suite No. 4 for cello. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Musicians and performers know that practice makes perfect. In this edition of the four-part series Marsalis on Music, renowned jazz and classical musician Wynton Marsalis and cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma teach the young musicians of the Tanglewood School how to work out and practice difficult peices of music. The program climaxes with the two performing a fantastic duet of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo." Absolutely the finest music appreciation and instruction series for children available, this is a must-have for music teachers and school libraries. ~ Heather M. Fierst, All Movie Guide

This delightful presentation is illustrated with photographed graphics. The musical background is performed by Yo Yo Ma. ~ All Movie Guide