{"id":1497,"date":"2025-11-30T15:28:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2025-11-30T15:33:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:33:31","slug":"one-night-two-films-and-the-painful-reality-of-growing-older","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/?p=1497","title":{"rendered":"One Night, Two Films, and the Painful Reality of Growing Older"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1497\" class=\"elementor elementor-1497\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4885d473 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4885d473\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ccaec88 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6ccaec88\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.16.0 - 17-10-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>As I practice noticing and feeling appreciative toward the small things in life, I\u2019ve watched two amazing movies just days apart that evoked a deep feeling in me\u2014one worth putting down in words.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>From Macau\u2019s neon lights to a paper factory\u2019s cold halls, these 2 movies reveal what middle age really feels like.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In the end, I\u2019ll share my verdict on which one I prefer and why. But for now, let\u2019s see what Colin Farrell and Lee Byung-hun\u2014those \u201970s actors\u2014have done to make <em>Ballad of a Small Player<\/em> and <em>No Other Choice<\/em> unmissable sagas about lost middle-aged men in today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Ballad of a Small Player<\/em><\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>Ballad of a Small Player<\/em> follows a beaten British gambling addict who calls himself Lord Doyle, chasing his gigantic last win in the colorfully lit city of Macau, where people and spirits mingle in the Month of the Dead.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>No Other Choice<\/em><\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Meanwhile, also set in Asia, <em>No Other Choice<\/em> depicts the return journey of Mansu, a mid-level manager at a local paper factory who loses his job unexpectedly due to an American takeover. Left with \u201cno other choice,\u201d he hunts and eliminates his rival competitor for a new job to secure his family\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Both Stories Begin with Fragile Identities<\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>For both stories, it all begins with a gained or assumed identity, which turns out to be so fragile that once lost, it leaves our protagonists devastated\u2014pushing them to wicked solutions that ultimately follow the path of their chosen identity.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Identities We Pick<\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In a blink, I am no longer the high schooler my mom took to school and my dad forgot to pick up, always the object of comparison my younger brother deeply resented. Just like that, Lord Doyle wakes up in a hotel room\u2014so magnificent yet messy\u2014rushing out as if someone is chasing him. In fact, the hotelier is hunting him down to ask for a pending payment he has been avoiding.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>It is not cheap to live a \u201cLord\u201d life for someone whose profession is unclear, running from debts at home. Living off his luck at the game table is the only thing that keeps him going from one day to the next, while trying to reclaim his \u201cLord\u201d status.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The movie is so brightly lit that we sometimes forget how dark Doyle\u2019s life truly is. In contrast, <em>No Other Choice<\/em> only shows brightness at the beginning, when Mansu and his family enjoy a Sunday in their huge villa, barbecuing the gifted eel set from the American boss\u2014not knowing it is a farewell offering for laying him off.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>For Mansu, \u201cPaperman,\u201d and for Brendan (Doyle), \u201cLord,\u201d are the identities they adopt\u2014anchors signaling \u201cyou are okay.\u201d Take them away, and their lives collapse, pushing them deep down the rabbit hole.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seeing It All Taken Away<\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>At first, it seems manageable. Mansu feels confident going to interviews with years of experience on his back; being a Paperman must mean something in the market.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Lord Doyle jumps from one casino to another, touring Macau like the back of his hand, leveraging the assumed power of the Golden Glove\u2014a status signaling the part of him that never felt short.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>One by one, Mansu sees his wife\u2019s tennis lessons canceled, the dogs gone, even the Netflix account revoked. Reality hits hard.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Doyle quickly realizes no casino welcomes him except the Rainbow, where he borrows some credit from a mysterious lady, Dao-ming, despite his streak of bad luck.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When it rains, it pours: Mansu suffers from a weird and annoying toothache that torments him even further, frustrating him as if life were not already miserable enough.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Doyle, sneaking into a hotel at night like a thief, discovers that not only the hotel staff but also his UK creditor has arrived to demand payment.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In life, when you need help most, it often comes mysteriously. For Mansu, his encounter with Sun Chul, the new manager at a rival paper company, gives hope for a secure future and a path to become Sun Chul\u2019s colleague. For Brendan, the loanshark Dao-ming becomes both his muse and his savior, telling him in a dream about a treasure to finance his final bid back to life.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Path to Fight Back<\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Funny enough, both Brendan and Mansu share a common attachment: their glove. Doyle uses it to play cards; Mansu takes pride in his gardening hobby using gloves. With their favorite tools\u2014the uniform and the glove\u2014they are determined to reclaim their lives.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The glove gives them power, fuels their identity, and provides the confidence they desperately need. It helps them focus and finish their tasks, however crazy the path may be.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When Mansu finishes the second target, he buries him in the garden under an apple tree. For the final target, similarly, he digs a hole and chokes the poor man to death.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>For a moment, I feel sorry for Doyle. All he has is himself, alone in an alien world he calls his second home, where they call him <em>Gweilo<\/em>, a slang term for foreigner\u2014or literally, \u201cghost man.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>For Mansu, his family is with him all the way, providing support and companionship, for better or worse.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Outcome<\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Finally, after all mishaps, with money loaned to him by Dao-ming, Doyle wins big and faces the unexpected emptiness of his victory.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Mansu, with a tablet in hand, walks like a tiny dot in a giant paper factory that once housed his entire crew. A baton in his hand, he pokes to check quality, but now robots run the factory, leaving him in a stark, humanless space.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:separator --><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/><!-- \/wp:separator --><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Verdict<\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Both movies are perfect for a date night\u2014flicks that speak to you, about you. They are not competitors; you should enjoy both.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>For my taste, however, I choose <em>Ballad of a Small Player<\/em>. Colin Farrell\u2019s top-notch acting, portraying a man who has lost it and finally finds redemption, speaks to a part of me I\u2019ve only recently come to embrace. The cinematography brings Macau to life\u2014vivid, dreamy, and powerful, like watching <em>La La Land<\/em> as a thriller.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>One Asian story played by a Westerner, one American story adapted by a Korean director and cast\u2014both are amazing examples of human stories transcending region.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-93661f2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"93661f2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e4f69a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e4f69a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.16.0 - 17-10-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/film-review-1-683x1024.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1499\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/film-review-1-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/film-review-1-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/film-review-1-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/film-review-1-600x900.png 600w, https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/film-review-1.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I practice noticing and feeling appreciative toward the small things in life, I\u2019ve watched two amazing movies just days apart that evoked a deep feeling in me\u2014one worth putting down in words. From Macau\u2019s neon lights to a paper factory\u2019s cold halls, these 2 movies reveal what middle age really feels like. In the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-90sagain"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"woocommerce_thumbnail":false,"woocommerce_single":false,"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"motsangkhon.com","author_link":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/?author=1"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"As I practice noticing and feeling appreciative toward the small things in life, I\u2019ve watched two amazing movies just days apart that evoked a deep feeling in me\u2014one worth putting down in words. From Macau\u2019s neon lights to a paper factory\u2019s cold halls, these 2 movies reveal what middle age really feels like. In the&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1497"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1502,"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions\/1502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motsangkhon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}