Note: This blog expresses only the opinions of the blog owner, and does not represent the opinion of any organization or blog that is associated with RONIN ON EMPTY.
While the South Korean film Mother begins and ends with a character dancing, all is certainly not merry in Bong Joon-Ho’s 2009 thriller. The film centers on the plight of an unnamed single parent (Kim Hye-Ja) who is raising a mentally-challenged, twentysomething son named Do-Joon (Won Bin). When a young girl in town turns up dead, a key piece of evidence points to Do-Joon as the killer. Hauled in for questioning by the local police, the mentally-handicapped young man signs a confession (offscreen, I should add). Presented with an open-and-shut case — a key piece of evidence tying Do-Joon to the crime, a credible witness, and now an illegally obtained confession (at least in US terms — not only is he mentally handicapped, but the cops physically threaten him) — these overworked, totally unethical “public servants” decide they’ve found their man and refuse to explore other angles. It may be completely understandable, but that doesn’t make it right.
As some of you may have noticed,Ronin on Emptyhas not been updated in more than a month. Prior to this steep drop off in productivity, I had been updating my blog on an almost daily basis, as I was intentionally trying to fill the void between LoveHKFilm.com’s closure and its eventual return. To some degree, I achieved that feat, but I meant for this increase in activity to continue beyond the main site’s re-opening.
Not only did I have the intention of writing more, but I also had the means, opportunity, and motivation to do so. Sure, I had an impending cross-country drive from California to Oklahoma. And yeah, I’d be heading to Michigan a couple weeks later. But I was prepared for how the trip might negatively impact the blog. In advance of the drive, I’d written a few rough drafts that I’d planned to polish for future use. At best, I’d post them using the free wireless at the various motels on our road trip. At worst, Ronin on Empty would go on a three-to-four day break. After that, I’d be back to my regularly scheduled blogging.
Well, life had other plans.
Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond my control, Ronin on Empty has been closed — and will be, at least for the time being. Now, I know what you’re thinking: like Webmaster Kozo’s once frequent, presumably tongue-in-cheek threats to quit LoveHKFilm.com, you’re probably wondering if my hiatuses — for school, for summer vacation, for general burnout — are turning into some kind of unintentional running gag. And perhaps these announced breaks were in danger of becoming a recurring, unfunny joke, but the reasons for this latest absence are all-too serious.
A family crisis of some magnitude has compelled me to return home. I’m hesitant to even discuss it online, largely because the gravity of the situation is difficult to convey in words, much less deal with in the real world, so please pardon me for my reticence. Some may be surprised that anything at all is going on with me, as I’ve maintained a veritable mask of normalcy on my Facebook and Twitter accounts. But the truth is, things have been far from normal lately.
Days before my road trip, my Dad was diagnosed with leukemia. He’s been hospitalized at OU Medical Center for more than a month with various additional health complications. It’s been said that “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” and I have to admit my family has seen some dark days in the last month or so. No words can express how bad it was.
But I’m also happy to report that, in the last few days, we’ve just seen the dawn on the horizon. We’re just waiting for it to shine through. I have confidence that it will. As things develop, I’ll keep you posted.
Until next time, I leave you with a bonus installment of my running column, Great Moments in Hong Kong Cinema. It’s from a little movie called Chungking Express, one the very best films Wong Kar-Wai ever made. If you haven’t seen this movie and you’re a reader of this site, please do yourself a favor and rent/buy/see it now. The ending won’t mean much to you out-of-context, but for those who have seen the film, you’ll know that it ends on a note most Wong Kar-Wai films don’t.
WordPress database error: [Expression #1 of ORDER BY clause is not in GROUP BY clause and contains nonaggregated column 'webkozo_wordpress.roe_posts.post_date' which is not functionally dependent on columns in GROUP BY clause; this is incompatible with sql_mode=only_full_group_by] SELECT DISTINCT YEAR(post_date) AS `year`, MONTH(post_date) AS `month`, count(ID) as posts FROM roe_posts WHERE post_type = 'post' AND post_status = 'publish' GROUP BY YEAR(post_date), MONTH(post_date) ORDER BY post_date DESC