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There are some movies that manage the impossible task of convincing you that insensitive and callous as the Homo Sapiens race has turned out all is not completely lost with the world.

Despair not, these rare films insist, because the virtues of decency and compassion can still be found among a few people if you look hard enough around you.

Better Nature

A Simple Life is one of those exceptional movies that highlight the better nature of the few decent people left on this planet.

Famed Hong Kong film-maker Ann Hui directed this lovely film, which features Andy Lau and Deanie Ip in the two key roles.

The movie is a simple tale, beautifully told, of an elderly Chinese maid Ah Tao (Deanie Ip) in Hong Kong who’s served the same family for over 60 years.

Four generations have benefited from Ah Tao’s care since she came to the family as an orphan after World War II.

Now in her 70s, Ah Tao lives in an Hong Kong apartment with Roger Leung, a film producer, and one of the family members she had tended to when he was a young boy. Besides cooking, she maintains the apartment in fine shape.

The rest of Roger’s family has since migrated to America.

The highlight of A Simple Life is the relationship between Ah Tao and Roger Leung, shown as affectionate, loving and easy-going.

Not unlike that of any two close family members.

Although Roger is the master and Ah Tao the servant.

Director Ann Hui subtly shows us that Roger is in fact closer to Ah Tao than his own mother, who comes on a visit from America. But I’m getting ahead of the story.

Then one day calamity strikes – Ah Tao has a stroke.

Her left side is impaired and despite physiotherapy she now has difficulty walking and moving her left hand.

How will Roger respond to this tragedy?

Will the old servant be dumped, left to fend for herself in her autumn years?

Au contraire, Roger proves himself to be made of different metal from the callous herd of humans.

The scenes in the old-age home where Ah Tao moves in after the stroke are heart-rending, and are deftly interspersed with fine comic touches featuring some residents.

After watching A Simple Life, I learned that Ann Hui has been making brilliant dramas centered around social issues.

Solid Cast

Fine as any film’s screenplay and story can be, it comes to life only with a sterling cast.

Director Ann Hui deserves kudos in picking two brilliant actors.

Deanie Ip and Andy Lau are extraordinary in their respective roles.

I was, of course, familiar with Andy Lau but Deanie Ip was new to me.

In a virtuoso natural performance, Deanie Ip takes this touching film to rarefied heights.

Remarkable Film

I was glad to learn, and after seeing the film yours truly was not in the least surprised, that when it comes to awards it’s been an embarras de richesse for A Simple Life.

The film was also Hong Kong’s nomination to the 84th Oscars but sadly did not make the final cut.

A Simple Life is ample proof that simple themes of compassion, illness and caring can turn out so beautifully in brilliant hands like Ann Hui’s.

I cannot recommend A Simple Life strongly enough.

If you ask me, A Simple Life is easily the best film I’ve seen in 2013.

This Chinese gem is available on DVD at Netflix.

A Simple Life has now whetted my appetite for more films by Ann Hui.

A few days back, we were blessed enough to watch the lovely Japanese film Kikujiro (1999).

As if writing and directing this jewel was not a generous enough gift to viewers, Takeshi Kitano also donned the greasepaint for a key role in the film.

Even if you’ve not seen Kikujiro, surely you are aware of it because the thieving Indian bastards pinched one memorable scene from this film.

Remember Ranbir Kapoor and his co-star placing a nail on the road in Barfi, sending a passing car sliding down an embankment and then the two running like mad?

Kid, that was a straight lift from Kikujiro.

As we now sadly know, that was only one of many scenes stolen from different movies and cobbled together as Barfi.

Unusual Journey

Kikujiro centers around an atypical journey.

Of a young boy Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi) and a retired gangster (Takeshi Kitano) hitchhiking from Tokyo to distant Toyohashi to meet the kid’s mother in a far off town and their encounters with a motley set of characters en route.

Young Masao, a cute young kid, lives with his grandma in Tokyo. Masao’s father is long dead and his mother, whom the boy can’t remember, lives far away.

Feeling lonely during the vacation, Masao heads off to see his mother after stumbling upon her address. Seeing him traveling alone to a distant place alone, his neighbor insists her husband (Takeshi Kitano) accompany the boy.

Thus the stage is set for one of the most interesting, colorful, touching journeys ever depicted on celluloid.

Like a lot of great movies, Kikujiro is many things.

It’s a fine comedy punctuated by displays of man at his bestial worst with an ample serving of love and a pinch of tragedy.

What’s not to like of such an amalgam!

Each of the characters in the film, be it the kid, the retired gangster, the poet, the bikers, the child molester or the young couple, is an offbeat, unusual personality, certainly not part of the herd.

Together, this colorful group delivers extraordinary magic on the screen.

Joe Hisaishi’s soundtrack adds to the beauty of Kikujiro, more than doubling the charm of the film.

The best track, and the most acclaimed, is, of course, Summer.

Kikujiro is rich proof that sometimes in life the journey is more important than reaching the destination.

Timeless Gem

Kikujiro is one of those rare movies that will never age.

As long as people watch movies, discerning viewers will rejoice in the wonder that is Kikujiro.

Many decades after SI and this blog’s readers no longer walk this land and are but faint memories, Kikujiro will continue to enthrall viewers.

SearchIndia.com enthusiastically recommends Kikujiro to lovers of good cinema.