Rating: 
Summary: not so boring
Review: I would like to mention that Shower won the Golden Space Needle Award as the audience favorite of the films screened at the Seattle International Film Festival. This award is given to the film receiving the most votes from those attending - approximately 120,000 people. It also came in second in the voting by people who purchased full series passes and averaged 63 films each over the three weeks of the festival. Beyond the story of a guy who owns a bathhouse, it also talks about the economic change in China, cultural displacement, and families.
Rating: 
Summary: The value of tradition
Review: It seems that China's rapid development is making some Chinese wonder about what they may be losing. This charming film tells the story of a man who returns home after many years from his busy life in the city to the bath house run by his father and retarded brother. He is gradually seduced by the peace and sense of community that he finds there, as well as his awakened sense of responsibility toward his aging father and handicapped younger brother. Touching and funny, with a wonderful cast of sharply drawn supporting characters. Writing about it makes me want to watch it again.
Rating:
Summary: Warm Story
Review: Just a terrific movie that let's people know that we are all people and all have problems.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Amazing.
Review: Just watched the video and I'm astounded at the depth of emotions it brought out in me. It makes us embrace what is dear to us, at the same time questioning the materialistic values society endorses. Vincent Zahedi (the reviewer who gave this movie one star and said it was boring) is hardly credible. Seems like "Highlander" and "Dude, where's my car?" obtained the five-star treatment. Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: China Loses Its Soul Along with the Rest of Us
Review: Many Chinese movies understandably focus on the tragic era of
the Cultural Revolution. This movie, on the contrary, presents us with the dark side of the "new" China. Though particular to China, it coincidentally describes a more global picture of a world that pursues money to the detriment of happiness.We immediately get a look at a metaphor for the new China. A man takes a shower in an efficient public shower, which looks like a mix between a porto-potty and a robo car-wash. It gets the job done in a short amount of time so that the user can get on with his life as producer and consumer. We then meet the businessman behind the efficient shower. He is a Chinese yuppie, now living in Shenzhen, but who is presently returning to his hometown because he believes his father, whom he had not visited in a long time, is dead. As it turns out, his father is not dead. At this point we get a juxtaposition of two worlds. The new, the yuppies' world which is humorless, lacks warmth and sensuality and the world of his father who runs a public bathouse. The bathouse, as it turns out, is not only a place where people can ENJOY a bath (and not just get clean) but it serves as a social center where people gather, problems get resolved, and people really care about one another. Alas, the efficient "new" world wins out as a modernization plan
calls for the bathhouse to be torn down...and with it the soul of the community. O sole mio, indeed...but the sun will go down and not rise again any time soon. We are headed towards a joyless efficient world. This is a brilliant movie and I would give it ten stars if possible. Thomas
Rating:
Summary: China Loses Its Soul Along with the Rest of Us
Review: Many Chinese movies understandably focus on the tragic era of
the Cultural Revolution. This movie, on the contrary, presents us with the dark side of the "new" China. Though particular to China, it coincidentally describes a more global picture of a world that pursues money to the detriment of happiness. We immediately get a look at a metaphor for the new China. A man takes a shower in an efficient public shower, which looks like a mix between a porto-potty and a robo car-wash. It gets the job done in a short amount of time so that the user can get on with his life as producer and consumer. We then meet the businessman behind the efficient shower. He is a Chinese yuppie, now living in Shenzhen, but who is presently returning to his hometown because he believes his father, whom he had not visited in a long time, is dead. As it turns out, his father is not dead. At this point we get a juxtaposition of two worlds. The new, the yuppies' world which is humorless, lacks warmth and sensuality and the world of his father who runs a public bathouse. The bathouse, as it turns out, is not only a place where people can ENJOY a bath (and not just get clean) but it serves as a social center where people gather, problems get resolved, and people really care about one another. Alas, the efficient "new" world wins out as a modernization plan
calls for the bathhouse to be torn down...and with it the soul of the community. O sole mio, indeed...but the sun will go down and not rise again any time soon. We are headed towards a joyless efficient world. This is a brilliant movie and I would give it ten stars if possible. Thomas
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT MOVIE
Review: Shower is simply an amazing movie. It is about an old man who runs a bathhouse with his mentally retarded son, in a run-down neighborood in China. His eldest son, who has been swept up into a commercial and materialistic lifestyle, comes back to see his estranged father. Shower conveys the message to live a simple life and to do what makes you happy in life to find peace. shower perfectly sets up the theme of "The Modern, The Technological, The Impersonal" VS "The Old Fashioned, The Traditional, The Human Touch". I was captured into the world that this movie creates. The atmosphere is very light and the movie has a smoothness and a non-threatening quality to it that adds to its realism. The director does a great job of not making Shower overly sentimental, which would take away from its stark human realism. The subpots and the sub characters in the film do a masterful job of complimenting the main themes in the movie and are also hilarious and unique. Not only does Shower have funny and interesting characters in it, but the emotions that the poeple experience can really be felt because of the film's simplistic realism. The relationship between the father and his sons are extremely compelling. Watching their relationships change and develop in relation to the bathhouse was solidly done. No doubt, a well crafted and directed film. BOTTOMLINE: Shower is a pleasant and often times heart-warming movie, a definite MUST SEE!
Rating:
Summary: lets get clean
Review: Simply a brilliant look into what being human is about. Before I go any further I want to give kudos to the release company, what a good job they've done with the digital transfer. I've come accross lackluster versions of great movies, which is simply a shame, but the screen glisters with color,great job. The film plays like a tv drama,very basic elements,some melodrama gets used but just right. What a simple and effective family story, with just a hint of allegory! Must see.
Rating:
Summary: lets get clean
Review: Simply a brilliant look into what being human is about. Before I go any further I want to give kudos to the release company, what a good job they've done with the digital transfer. I've come accross lackluster versions of great movies, which is simply a shame, but the screen glisters with color,great job. The film plays like a tv drama,very basic elements,some melodrama gets used but just right. What a simple and effective family story, with just a hint of allegory! Must see.
Rating:
Summary: The opening scene, was the only reason I bought this movie.
Review: Somewhere I saw the opening scene of the movie Shower. I didn't know where the scene was from, but after a bit of research I was able to pinpoint it to this movie. It is a scene of an insiders view of a People-Wash (Car-Wash for people) on a street corner in China. The DVD arrived, I asked my 11 year old daughter to come in to see the Poeple-Washer. We ended up watching the movie twice that sitting. I have seen it about three more times since, and my daughter has watched it at least twice more. The movie is brilliant. I wish I understood the native language. The acting was trememndous while I was interpreting through sub-titles, I can imagine how much better it must be without the need for them. By the way reviewer0800; I do like Schwarzenegger and I still like Shower too, is that OK? Buy this movie and really enjoy ourself for a couple of hours. greg
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