by Jack Chou
You step through the portal, and immediately the world around you changes. Darkness falls over your eyes and pools at your feet. A monotonous drumming sounds all about you, beating away like some ceaseless, lifeless heart. From the gloom comes tormented screams, and in the unlit sky overhead a posse of black birds swarms, cawing in demented triumph. In terror you try to flee, but an obstacle looms before you: an obsidian monolith, as silent and eternal as death itself. You cannot comprehend its existence any more than any other detail of this nightmarish hellscape, but you can feel it calling to you, daring you to understand. When you open your mouth to reply, however, the voice that bleeds from your lips is not yours but that of a dying man: “The horror. The horror.” Welcome to the Audio-Visual Center Library, located on the third floor of the Audio-Visual Educational Center. Here dwells horror beyond your bleakest fantasies—as well as action, comedy, drama, and romance. But leave your superhero costume at the door. This is not a catacomb of ghouls and demons, but merely a library of audio and video material, where adventures patiently await intrepid adventurers in wrappings of vinyl and plastic. Opening at 8:30 weekday mornings, this secluded playground welcomes any who wish to delve into its treasures. Your student ID is required but not necessary—I for one cannot remember the last time they asked me for mine. A watch or cell phone with the sound turned off might be a good idea, though, because it is very easy to lose yourself in this delightful labyrinth. You’ll need a solid chink of reality to cling onto, lest you remain lost in there until the end of time, when darkness robs your vision and silence fills your ears, and you’re notified that it’s closing time: 4:45 in the afternoon. After all, what’s stored here is an impressive mosaic of some 2000 videos tapes, 6000 audiotapes, 100 DVDs, and myriads of other incarnations of entertainment to choose from, as well as stalwart ranks of multimedia machines to help you enjoy your selection. All you have to do to enjoy yourself is to find an adventure you fancy, secure a console, and proceed to conquer the most epic of adventures on the seat of your pants. Be your selection a romantic secret date in a rural setting of rain and mist, or a fight to the death with your nemesis in a holy church, you’re guaranteed to remain spellbound till the end of the show. Here you’ll have the happy chance to unmoor yourself from this reality and float into a whole other world, and though the place was designed as a warehouse of teaching material, it can be all enjoyment within this cozy little alcove far above teachers, classes, and all that madness. Yet this place is an unappreciated paradise, for the most part. It hardly ever entertains the crowds its plusher counterpart, located in the lofty attic of the Main Library, always seems to attract. Its affluent collection of material broods in tightly-packed legions, rarely disrupted by inquisitive viewers, and the pieces of equipment stare blankly at each other with nothing to say. It is a perfect yet silent playground, and its neglected toys reside on dusty shelves. Prior to writing this article I spoke at length with a couple of the staff members, guardians of this lonely outpost in our university’s extensive keep of knowledge. They agree that their charge doesn’t get as much attention as the other multimedia library and cite the selection of material as the main reason. Though this library has more in the way of entertainment, its collection caters to college of liberal arts students in general and DFLL students in particular. Teachers from our department choose the majority of the contents (the underlying message, I believe, is that we can stop pestering the staff with recommendations and go bother our teachers instead), and senior staff members spend the rest of the budget on maintenance while occasionally picking up a title they trust DFLL students would be glad to see. Students from other departments have a better chance of finding the information they need in the Main Library’s multimedia division, and thus are less likely to venture here. What’s more, the AV Library’s location compromises some of its popularity. While its counterpart is situated on the fourth floor of a main thoroughfare of diligent students, many of whom would often retreat there like wayfarers shying from a busy highway to a roadside cafe, our AV Library enjoys its relative seclusion at the price of obscurity. It would seem that while this place is dedicated to benefiting students from our department, it also suffers to an extent from that dedication. Other reasons, like limitations due to a modest budget of NT$100,000, and shorter hours since it has proven to be uneconomical otherwise, further hinder students from fully appreciating its value. I imagine there is still another reason: the contents are obscure too. For while it is no difficulty to navigate the ranks of shelves and cabinets, it takes patience, even research, to find a movie you know you’ll enjoy. Unlike the collection in the other multimedia library, which is presented in all the pomp and glory of their original coverings, most of the items here are stripped of attractive advertisements, bearing instead a plain label to retain some excuse of individuality. The uniform, banal wrapping makes it hard to find your flavor, and often one must risk disappointment, even distaste, as a consequence of not judging the content by its cover. It is a pity that the treasure stashed here must put up with this trivial inconvenience on top of all those other disadvantages. This article, written in hopes of greater appreciation for our very own AV Library, would be incomplete without a movie guide of some sort. I’ve already shown where free movies can be found; now I’ll suggest a few good movies for you to find. Horror/Suspense—What is cinema without a healthy helping of blood and gore? Parental advisory warnings are another thing missing from those labels, but don’t say I didn’t warn you! Psycho Legendary master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock introduces the schizophrenic, baby-faced killer Norman Bates in this cinematic classic. To call it a slasher flick would be exaggeration, since the amount of blood-letting in this movie is a mere drop compared with the ocean of red its many inferior successors seem to enjoy deluging us in. Nevertheless, you would think twice about stopping at lonely motels after watching this movie. The Birds What better creatures to mete out death and destruction, what better messengers of Armageddon, than our winged friends who are the closest things to angels in the real world? Hitchcock proves once again that there is much to be afraid of in the world we live in. Shutter your windows, bar the door, and learn to fear the sound of wings just out of sight. Rosemary’s Baby An ironic, cinematic prelude to the real life horror perpetrated by the infamous Manson Family, director Roman Polanski could not have imagined how fate would transform his masterpiece into a cruel jest to haunt him for the rest of his life. A spooky concoction of paranoia, cultism, and betrayal, this movie will chill you to the bone. The Devil’s Advocate Almost a modern remake of Rosemary’s Baby, this version features ten times the nudity and gore, along with Al Pacino’s gleeful, charismatic portrayal of the Dark Man. References to Dante and Milton make the movie even more enjoyable and “educational” for DFLL students who’ve had to sell days of their youth to a couple of epic poets obsessed with Hell and its ruler. The Silence of the Lambs No supernatural force is needed in this movie to scare you, just the inhumanity of humans. The evil and brilliant Hannibal Lector, whose cannibalistic tastes have already earned him two recent sequels, is also introduced here. Action—Guns, bombs, heroes and villains, one-liners and bimbos. Enough said. A Fistful of Dollars The classic western starring Clint Eastwood. Scenes that were later reduced to clichés by mediocre imitators, such as undertakers measuring the cowboy for his coffin before a duel or the hero making his appearance by walking unscathed out of an explosion, still retain their classic favor in this movie. And it’s always fun to watch a gunslinger gun down baddies by the half-dozen. Terminator 2: Judgment Day The near-invincible action figure before he sacrificed his immortality for the job of governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger was still believable when he allowed James Cameron to direct his acting. This sequel is generally recognized as the best of the Terminator trilogy, though Arnie didn’t get to march out of an inferno as a metal skeleton this time. But hey, he didn’t do that for the recent California fires either. Die Hard 2: Die Harder Of the Die Hard series the third installment is the uncontested masterpiece, but our AV Library only offers the second movie. Die Hard 2 is still very enjoyable as an action flick, and introduces the concept of the unlikely hero in Bruce Willis’s portrayal of John McClane, a clumsy beat cop who’s always unlucky enough to get into the worst of scrapes but always resourceful enough to find his way out of it, and save the day along the way. McClane is married, has to empty an entire clip to hit one evil henchman, needs to reload his gun, and actually gets beaten up pretty bad. Which makes him a more convincing and likable action hero than many others. Face Off Director John Woo takes action flicks to another level by adding all the angst, internal turmoil, and symbolism that have always been a major part of successful dramas. Masterfully crafted action sequences prove that violence can assume an artistic form. Comedy—If the first misconception about comedies is that they have to make you chortle, the second would be that they have to have happy endings. But none of these should fail to bring a smile to your lips. They’re from different sub-categories respectively: satirical comedy, romantic comedy, and slapstick comedy. Dr. Strangelove Also known as How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, this dark comedy by legendary director Stanley Kubrick bespeaks one possible ending to the Cold War. This is also a must-see for students studying drama, because the three major characters are all played by the same actor! Play it Again, Sam Woody Allen with Humphrey Bogart as spirit guide chasing after his best friend’s wife? It’s always romantic when a dreamy wimp falls in love with a rare beauty, and it’s always a comedy when it stars Woody Allen. Friends Episodes from this immensely popular sitcom hardly need introduction. Our AV Library only has seasons one and two, but they’re enough if you want a quick chortle. Romance—I have so little experience in this genre I was tempted to hide it under comedy, but I need to show that I’ve got every category covered. Casablanca The romance classic mentioned in countless other love movies. The characters might wear unfashionable clothes and are in black and white, but true love is timeless. When Harry Met Sally Another must-see of the genre pairs cutie Meg Ryan with an unlikely beau, city slicker Billy Crystal. The pseudo documentary style leaves no doubt that this movie is all about love. A good watch with a friend you always wish you were more than just friends with. The Glass Menagerie Written by playwright Tennessee Williams, this is a sad story about the unfulfilled love of a crippled girl—a unicorn who wished her horn broken so she might cease to be different from the one she loved. Science Fiction/Fantasy—Fans of this category have long been labeled escapists, but there are deeper meanings to these fantasies. Our AV Library fortunately seems to share that insight. Metropolis The granddaddy of the genre, in full black and white and silent glory. Dark yet humorous with biblical references, this movie set the tune for all serious sci-fi movies to follow. 2001: A Space Odyssey Based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke and directed by Stanley Kubrick, this film makes up for a slightly slow plot and a controversial ending by introducing unforgettable symbols such as the alien monolith and the killer computer Hal. Blade Runner A masterly cross between the genres of sci-fi and film noir starring Harrison Ford. As a detective or action movie it is slow and dull, but as a sci-fi movie discussing the meaning of being human it is incredibly powerful and poignant. Directed by Ridley Scott. Aliens It’s too bad that the library doesn’t have the first Alien movie, but Aliens was probably what turned this series into a cult classic. James Cameron proves that he is still better at sci-fi action films than mushy star-crossed love tragedies. A good dose of futuristic combat and classic scenes will make you wonder what people ever saw in E.T. anyway. The Lord of the Rings Look no further for epic fantasy. This trilogy needs very little introduction from me; just remember to look for it in the DVD section. Drama—You might also call it miscellaneous, because I have trouble pinning the following films in one specific category. But then again, the best movies are always made up of a good portion of many good things. The Graduate A disquieting yet amusing story set in a very normal scene with everyday characters, you’ll often not know whether to smile or frown. The great use of symbolic settings, a young Dustin Hoffman, and the beautiful soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel make this movie a timeless classic. A Clockwork Orange An incredibly disturbing and thought-invoking story about a young hoodlum. Stanley Kubrick actually had to have this movie withdrawn from circulation for a while, it’s that disturbing. The Godfather: Part I and II The mafia epic written by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the first two parts of this trilogy are must-sees. For all the violence and cruelty so cleverly and casually portrayed in these movies, they are, above all else, about the family. Apocalypse Now Also directed by Coppola and loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, it follows one man’s trek through war-torn Vietnam and into the darkest reach of the human soul. Braveheart Mel Gibson is actually likable in this revisionist movie about Scottish hero William Wallace. Watch closely the death scene where he cries “freedom,” you’ll see that he was actually saying “Oscar!!!” Considering the sheer amount of material available in the AV Library, it’s obvious that I’ve not been able to introduce even one percent of it. The rest is for you, the bold explorer, to discover for yourself. Find some time off, invite yourself into this delightful paradise, and prepare to journey away from the hubbub of the real world. You’ll be able to appreciate our AV Library more, as well as learn something no teacher could teach while having fun at the same time. So see you at the movies, and spread the word! a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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