Risks, Rewards & Entrepreneur's Path

An inspirational speech full of wisdom about life and career.

I took Professor Grousbeck's class back when I was in GSB. It is even more refreshing and inspiring when I listen to this famous speech again after 3 years' struggling with my very own career, life and entrepreneurial endeavor .

"Work like you don't need the money, dance like nobody is watching and love like you have never been hurt."

Risks, Rewards & Entrepreneur's Path

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg《瑟堡的雨伞》

About the Movie:

“I Will Wait for You”… maybe not.

Madame Emery and her daughter Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve 凯瑟琳德纳芙) sell umbrellas at their little boutique in the coastal town of Cherbourg in Normandy, France. Geneviève is in love with Guy (Castelnuovo), a handsome young auto mechanic who lives with and cares for his godmother along with quiet, dedicated, care-giver, Madeleine (Ellen Farner), a young woman who clearly loves Guy…


Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg《瑟堡的雨伞》) is one of the most beautiful movies ever made with an enchanting and haunting score by Michel Le Grande, and totally focused, sharp and creative direction by Jacques Demy. Catherine Deneuve gives a fine performance in pinkish white makeup with her blonde hair pulled away from her famous face, at twenty playing a seventeen-year-old shopkeeper's daughter who falls in love with a garage mechanic. He is called away to the war in Algeria after making her pregnant. Will she wait for him as the song proclaims? Will their love endure the long separation?




















Umbrella + Rain = Romantic

Everything is superficially romantic: rain falling on the cobblestone streets of the seacoast town, cuddling lovers under colorful umbrellas everywhere. But the events are the starkest realism: when a young girl is forced to choose between love and security, which does she choose? It depends on the circumstances, and sometimes circumstances and the passage of time can change her heart. All the dialogue is sung. It is all melody throughout.













The color, deco and fashion

The sets and clothes bloom with the vivid colors of springtime flowers and pop-art pastels. Delightful too, is the wardrobe that never fails to match the wallpaper of the rooms.

The Emerys upstairs apartment has bright pink and green striped walls, so of course Geneviève wears a pink sweater and her mother a green coat. Geneviève dissolves prettily into a lilac backdrop in her lilac dress, broods in a maternity frock that matches the blossoms papering her bedroom.


































The colors in the umbrella store also suggest a shopping fantasia, devoid of the mundane drudgery of this world.













Fashion pieces

Deneuve was not only a movie star, one of the screen’s great, classic beauties, the face of France, but as a fashion icon as well. She was not only the fantasy of Europe’s greatest directors; she also became the muse of legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who was inspired by Deneuve after designing her timelessly chic wardrobe for “Belle de Jour” （《白昼美人》）.


Deneuve is luminously beautiful throughout in the movie, looking fabulously chic even in a maternity dress.













Coats over dresses is very elegant and feminine, no matter in wool, mink or raincoat. Both Geneviève and her mom have gorgeous coats. Geneviève' s coats are in pastel color tones such as pink, white and rosy while her mom's are in bright vivid colors like yellow, green and red:























The society wedding in a great cathedral, with a tiara being placed on the bride's head, symbolizes her upward social and economic movement:













Mink-clad, sophisticated, visibly wealthy Geneviève:













Deneuve, the famous face of France, with bouffant hair styles, eyes heavily made up with mascara and black eyeliner:























Deneuve is radiant thoughout the whole move, but the "other" girl, Madeleine is indeed attractive in the movie too. She was a plane-Jane type of girl when Guy was madly fell in love with Geneviève. After all the drama settled down and she became the love of Guy, she morphed into a lovely, elegant, happy wife.

Sex and The City

It has been so long since my last entry to this blog. Life has been hectic for the last several months. I still enjoy movies, and fashion in the movies. Just that I can't find time to record what I have to say. Hope I will get back working on this soon.

This fashion feast video of Sex and The City in YouTube is too good to pass. I'd like to re-post it here:

Labels or Love Sex and The City

《长江7号》– 电影 CJ7

A hilarious story about a Chinese migrant worker and his son and their encounter with a magical outer space toy (CJ7) directed by Stephen Chow, who himself portrayed the father who works in a construction site merely to make their ends meet while sends his son to an expensive private school to get the education which he couldn’t when he was young. The story touches a lot of layers of Chinese lives nowadays: rich and poor, old and new, snob and sincere… Stephen Chow’s typical black humor, as usual, makes the bitter story not only funny, but also warm and full of hope.



I personally like the cheongsam the leading female character wore in the movie very much. This beautiful, caring and genial young teacher dressed in white or baby blue cheongsam is like a breeze in this busy and chaotic world the story happens in. The design is simple, minimum and naturally fits into the movie setting without a bit of abruptness or tackiness.



I’d like to see more traditional Chinese fashion highlights rediscovered and used appropriately in today’s arts and everyday lives.

Seven Year Itch (1955) – Movie《七年之痒》

No matter you’ve watched the movie or not, I bet you’ve heard of the scenario; you’ve seen the pictures: Marilyn Monroe (玛丽莲梦露) in a lovely white dress with a huge, fluffy skirt. She's standing over a subway grate, and when the underground train goes by, it sends the air up through the grate. Monroe's skirt billows upward, revealing her legs. She tries to hold down the skirt with her hands, but all the while she is smiling delightedly at the feel of the strong, cool gust. It is the iconic picture of Monroe, and this is the movie it came from.


A modern tale of insecurity, temptation, and redemption, a simple story, told through wondrous framings, comedic dialogue, and colorful daydreams: after being faithfully married for seven years, a New Yorker Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) finds himself tempted to fool around while his wife and kid are away for summer vacation - he daydreams and fantasizes about The Girl (Marilyn Monroe玛丽莲梦露), a gorgeous model who has sublet the apartment above him; he thinks he’s come down with an inevitable disease - the seven year itch! The whole movie is about his dilemma and his wild runaway imagination. Torn between his fantasies about The Girl and his guilt over betraying his wife, Sherman eventually sees the wisdom of remaining a faithful husband.


The Girl is, in part, a figment of Sherman's imagination. She doesn't even have a name. Yet, Marilyn's ability to combine sexuality with a childlike innocence, plus the way her natural warmth and sincerity shine through her surface glamor, elevates the character of The Girl above the level of mere sex object.


Anecdotes

The classic shot of Marilyn Monroe's dress blowing up around her legs as she stands over a subway grating was originally shot on Manhattan's Lexington Avenue at 52nd St. on Sept. 15, 1954 at 1 AM. 5000 onlookers whistled and cheered through take after take as Marilyn repeatedly missed her lines. Marilyn's then disgruntled husband, Joe DiMaggio, was so offended by both his wife's exhibitionism, and the crowds slavering reaction to it, that their marriage effectively ended that night.


A John Kloss’ 1976 reproduction of the white halter dress, originally designed specifically for Marilyn, once was exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as a time capsule.

Dresses

It is 50’s and everything was glamorous.

First encounter. In the hot summer in NYC, in this black and white polka dots dress, The Girl, Marilyn Monroe, breezes in like a heavenly mist.


Marilyn thought this dress went well with champaign. She left the shoulder strap untied when she came downstairs and asked Sherman to tie them up for her. Sherman was all dumbfounded and excited. It is a gorgeous dress, especially coupled with Monroe's voluptuous figure.


The original, distinctive, iconic Severn Year Itch dress: plunging neckline, beautiful shading of ruching and pleats. It is Monroe who instilled spirit in this dress. Nowadays, many American women like to play Monroe in this dress and the blond wig in Halloween parties. This dress has served as a source of inspirations for many fashion designers in generations. You can buy reproduction of this dress from market from under $100 to hundreds of bucks. Caution: You gotta have great figure and be creative to wear this dress or it is easy to be a victim of cliché. All in all, the bar set here is too high!


In bathrobe:


The silk outfit that I don't like. Looks tacky on average people. But the killing smile and teeth? Speechless.


Sleeping beauty:



Sherman's wife is just a minor role in this movie. She was sent away up in Maine for summer vacation. Even though she made appearance just several times. I actually liked her country style / vacation look: front tied gingham shirt and shorts.


And there is a thing called hay ride: