Some recent films from Asia

Cafe Society
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For fans of japanese period drama, one of the most refreshing films to come out of 2002 was Twilight Samurai http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/twilightsamurai.htm -

While the film sports some important action scenes, the film wasn’t really a chanbara (samurai slice’em up) along the lines of Lady Snowblood or the Lone Wolf & Cub films. Instead it was a character driven drama about an admirable, humble samurai of low rank who puts up with tons of shit (and gets dragged into some intensely dramatic fights) trying to earn enough to take care of his family in a period where the samurai were losing their raison d’etre. Pretty compelling stuff (I think it was nominated for the academy award for best foriegn film the year before last year, but I’m not sure if it won or not.) I finally saw another film that matches it.

When the Last Sword is Drawn (2003) http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/whenth…wordisdrawn.htm

The exemplary life of a late 19th century “country mouse” samurai is recalled through the memories of one of his students, and one of his most lethal rivals, a “city rat” of sorts, in a chance meeting one cold night in 1899, on the eve of the new century. A bit more battle oriented than the previous film, both films are highly recommended for those looking for a more thoughtful take on the samurai genre, set as they are in a period of rapid social change - the Meiji Restoratoiin - the modernization of Japan and the end of the samurai era.

Taken together these films could signal a revival of “classical chanbara”, films like Kurosawa’s period epics, where the emphasis is on interesting characters and dramatic themes, as opposed to simple “slice’em up action”.

The new Thai feature film, Beautiful Boxer is getting pretty positive reviews across the board.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beautiful_boxer/

The film tells the true story of Parinya Charoenphol, nicknamed Nong Toom, a transvestite kick boxer from a poor rural family who saved his championship winnings to see his family financially on their feet, and having discharged that karmic burden, then took what was left, underwent gender reassignment surgery. He was 19 at the time (1999).

It’s a decent, if light weight production. Real-life boxer Asanee Suwan’s won well deserved best actor honors for his joyous performance as Nong Toom, whose inheretn sweetness and acquired toughness mix in a way that confounds traditional notions of “masculine” and “feminine.” The problem is the story feels mildly sanitized. They may be true to life, but I do wish the filmmakers pushed some scenes a bit, to wrest more drama from Nong Toom’s story.

I would be remiss if I didn’t pass a warning to martial arts movie buffs: Beaufiful Boxer is NOT another OnG Bak. The fight scenes are good, but they are not staged in the way that straightforward “bricks and baseball bat” kung fu films like Ong Bak, Fist of Legend or The Transporter are. IN those films, the fights are the point. Here they are merely a part (albiet a necessary and important one) of Nong Toom’s road to the championship of his weight class and his long journey to womanhood.

In this Beautiful Boxer is closer to the recent samurai feature films Twilight Samurai and When the Last Sword is Drawn. Both of those films feature samurai action scenes, but they are subordinated to a character study of warriors who, each in thier own way, struggle to meet their obligations ot family and feudal lord, during a period of rapid social change and modernization (the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration).
I saw two (new to me) films this weekend. I may have already posted a comment about Sword in the Moon (2003) which is a pretty solid martial arts swordplay drama about two friends who find themselves on opposite sides of an extremely bloody series of civil strife. The John Woo/The Killer-esque homoerotic male bonding gets to be a tad much in this film, despite the presence of a really good looking swords woman, and the main characters remain woefully one-dimensional despite the life changing savagery all around them. The saving grace of this film are the battle scenes which (1) plentiful; and (2) brutal beyond mortal imagining. Definitely for hardcore martial arts film buffs only. Everyone else, should go rent Musa: the Warrior (2001) instead. Therein you get the gore splattered combat scenes along with some pretty good character acting by a solid cast that includes Ahn Sung-Gi (Silmido, Nowhere to Hide), Zhang Ziyi (2046. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and Yu Rong Guan (My Father is a Hero, Storm Riders, Iron Monkey).

A couple of years back I stumbled a cross a marvelous gem of a film, Chinese Odyssey 2002, that combined comedy, genre parody, period martial arts and music in a way that couldn’t fail to warm the hardest of hearts. Later I learned CO2002 is an example of what the Hong Kong film industry calls a Lunar New Year movie, one intended as high entertainment for the whole family. Since then I’ve kept an eye out for films that might meet the lofty standard set by that film. This year, I took a chance on The White Dragon (2004) a light action comedy featuring Francis Ng (The Mission, Infernal Affairs 2) and Cecilia Cheung (One Night in Mongkok, Tokyo Raiders, King of Comedy - a Stephen Chow comedy, no relation to the Scorsese movie of the same name). While not as well known in the West as CO2002’s Tony Leung, Faye Wong, and Vicky Zhao, Dragon’s Ng and Cheung make the thoroughly improbable romance between a Zatoichi-like swordsman, and 17th Century Chinese “material girl” a lot of fun, but sadly the director Wilson Yip just isn’t in the same league as C)2002’s Jeff Lau. As it stands Dragon is amusing, entertaining fluff, but little more.

Longer, more detailed reviews:

http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/swordi…moon_020705.htm
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/musa_the_warrior.htm
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/white_dragon.htm
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/chinese_odyssey_2002.htm

Some advance word on WuJia and other Martial arts films on the way…

From Korea, THE DUELIST
http://kungfucinema.com/2005/070701.htm

TRANSPORTER 2 Trailer - who’s the chick?
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/transporter_2/

Yuen Wo Ping & Jackie Chan collaborate on THE MYTH
http://kungfucinema.com/2005/071401.htm

Tsui Hark’s SEVEN SWORDS with Donnie Yen.
images - http://www.donnieyen.net/2005/7-2/18375991540.html
Trailer and official site http://www.sevenswordsthefilm.com/
news http://www.monkeypeaches.com/sevenswords.html

Jet Li’s last kung fu film (?) HUO YUANJIA
http://kungfucinema.com/2005/072002.htm

The PROMISE
http://www.monkeypeaches.com/wuji.html

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While Clean isn’t from Asia per se, it stars on of the brightest actresses to come out of Hong Kong in the 90’s, Maggie Cheung,….

I watched Oliver Assayas’ (Irma Vep, Demonlover, Those Who love Me Can Take the Train) film, Clean, for which Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love, Comrades, Hero) won Best Actress at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Nick Nolte and Beatrice Dalle (Betty Blue) play supporting roles.

Cheung plays a former VJ, and common law wife of a has been 80’s rockstar. She and her husbands are on the skids, when she fucks up and buys bad heroin. They fight, she splits, he shoots up and dies, she goes to jail. Upon her release, she learns she has nothing, and the courts have given her son to her husbands parents, at the very least until she can clean up her life.

Cheung is surprisingly understated (she doesn’t resort to the histrionics, typical of such characters in film), playing a rootless, transnational (she effortlessly switches between three languages in the film) who is also a disagreeably spoiled bitch. She has to bang her head against the wall a few times before she realizes its time to bite the bullet and grow up. She’s utterly convincing and in time, makes her character quite sympathetic, despite herself. Nolte (the father in law) and Dalle (god I didn’t recognize her, here she’s a former rocker) are solid in supporting roles.

I liked the film, but I can’t whole heartedly recommend it. Assayas’ films are wierdly cold, the viewer often feels alienated or separated from the film, somehow… this film is no exception. You have to focus on it intently for it to work. It’s a shame, cause this has to be his most accessible film yet.

Clean
http://www.plume-noire.com/movies/reviews/clean.html

Cheung is a great actress. If this isn’t for you, dig up one of her other great films instead. I recommend the 1996 Award Winner Comrades Almost a Love Story. http://lovehkfilm.com/reviews/comrades_almost.htm It’s way better than it sounds.

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The chick seems to be Amber Valleta

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I really appreciate your comments. About 80% of the DVDs I buy and/or rent are from Korea or Hong Kong. I’m just about to leave work right now and won;t have a chance to really go through your recommendations or post my own thoughts until tomorrow.

Anyway, this week I placed an order for 23 DVDs from three Asian e-tailers. Among those I ordered was Clean. It is a blind buy for me, but I am totally infatuated with Maggie Cheung so maybe I will enjoy it. Even when she is in a terrible movie (e.g., Irma Vep), I find her a joy to watch. Another one of hers in my order is Centre Stage.

**Comrades, Almost a Love Story ** is in my top five films of all time.

Anyway, I’ve got my collection listed Here. You can use the filter lists (see “searching and filtering” to see the Asian stuff). I’ve got separate lists of “owned” and “watched” DVDs, broken down by country.

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Anyone in the know want to recommend a specific film from this roster? I’ve only seen Chinese Ghost Story but am game for just about anything that’s good…

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Archive Guy, I will comment on the few on the list I have seen.

  1. A Moment to Remember: I absolutely loved this movie. If you are familiar with and like Korean melodrama, I think you will find this one of the better efforts in that genre. I actually wrote a review of this film that is at the link I provided in my earlier post. If you are the jaded sort and “emotional” movies leave you cold, well, you probably won’t care for it too much. If you do decide to see it, refrain from reading the SFAFF synopsis. I think it gives too much away and deprives the viewer of what was (to me, anyway), one of the film’s more powerful moments.

  2. ** A Chinese Ghost Story**: I really like HK fantasy-type films, whether with ghosts or not. You already seen it, so there’s no need for me to discuss here. If you like HK fantasy/romance, may I suggest you rent The Bride with White Hair? Wonderful movie.

  3. Natural City: Futuristic "Blade-Runner"esque cyborg/law enforcement type movie. Didn’t do much for me. Worth a rental, but I can’t recommend it as a festival screener.

  4. Samaritan Girl: Some people really love Ki-duk Kim (the director), but most of his films leave me cold. This one is no exception. Packs an emotional whollop and challenges you as a viewer. Technically, it is probably a “good film.”

  5. The Big Swindle: Oh, boy this was a fun movie! Think “The Sting” merged with “Pulp Fiction” and that might give you an idea of what you are in for. I bought the DVD about a year ago and was recently thinking I need to pop it in the player again.

  6. Windstruck: This was *so close * to being a really good film. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite make it. There are some really good parts. And if the director would have tweaked the ending just a bit (fans of “My Sassy Girl” will know what I am talking about), it could have been a bang-slam home run. But there is too many moments where it is obvious the director is trying just a little too hard to squeeze out the melodrama, and the actions of the police officer are so misguided that I found myself getting exasperated with just how stupid she was doing her job. BUT. The movie stars Ji-hyun Jun, who is a major cutie. And that alone was worth me picking up the DVD.

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I’m the same. I just started buying Asian DVDs this January, and I can’t stop. My favourites actually come from Korea.

In transit to me right now are A Bittersweet Life, Crying Fist, Joint Security Area, and Innocent Steps. I passed on Antarctic Journal because of all the lacklustre reviews.

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Thanks for the input, divemaster. I’ll see what I can do about catching #1, 5, and especially 4 (I liked 3-Iron and Spring… a lot)–I’ll report back if I run upon anything else.

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My fave’s:
JSA
Shiri (although it’s not very new)
and my favorite Korean movie to date:
Taegukgi (Je-gyu Kang quite obviously saw Saving Private Ryan quite a few times, but the movie’s so good I don’t mind.

And for the not-so-hotso ROK cinema:
I was underwhelmed by Natural City, too. It was a great effort with beautiful scenery, but the plot didn’t seem to go anywhere until the very end, and the director somehow managed to take the strong, good-looking, lead character torn by conflicting loyalties and make him boring and unsympathetic.

I think the director of Libera Me could have saved himself a lot of time and money by just dubbing Backdraft into Korean.

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WonK, I was able to peruse your links and now I have a few more films to put in my rental queues. Other than **Musa ** (which I own on DVD–good film) and **The White Dragon **, I have not seen the rest of your recommendations. I really appreciate you posting them, because I am always looking for good recommendations from Asia.

Interestingly enough, I watched The White Dragon this weekend. Didn’t even realize it was in your post until right now. I had the same take on it as you–light fluff, worth a rental. The middle part really bogged down, but Cecilia Chung is so easy on the eyes, I forgive it.

ArchiveGuy, I would be interested in reading your thoughts on any of the films you see at the festival. Not just the ones I might have mentioned. I have seen Ki-duk’s Spring… and 3-iron. **Spring… ** is the one exception to what I said above Ki-duk. I liked this one. Thought **3-iron ** had an interesting concept and first part, but eventully it went nowhere for me. Another film of Ki-duk’s that I might mention is Bad Guy. I thought it was reprehensible. I wanted to curl up in the shower for a day after that one. **Samaria ** didn’t generate *quite * the negative reaction in me, but it was in the same neighborhood.

Linty Fresh, those three you recommended are some pretty good movies. Certainly worth watching for fans of Korean cinema.

I would be remiss if I let this chance go by without mentioning the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters. One of the best gothic/mystery/psychological horror films I’ve ever seen. Had me glued to the screen (I even found myself doing the old bite the knuckle curled up on the end of the couch thing.) Immediately after I finished watching it, I watched it again. Then I went to the internet to read discussions on this movie. There is a lot to talk about. Masterful storytelling and creation of a mood. Highest recommendation.

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I’ve seen **JSA ** but not any of the others you mentioned. What else have you seen? I invite you to look at what Korean/Japanese/HK films I’ve seen, and my ratings, and comment where you might agree or disagree.

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Hey, divemaster! I actually just signed up for DVDSpot about two days ago. I couldn’t get into DVDAf, Guzzlefish, and all those other DVD index sites, but DVDSpot seems just right for me.

I’d rather not post my username here, but I’m the girl who gave you that link to MadMad.co.kr for UPCs on the back of Korean DVDs.

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Ack, I forgot to add… Do you have the Limited Edition of A Bittersweet Life on order? Some random copies have been shipped out autographed by Lee Byung-hun himself. :eek:

http://www.picvault.info/images/132139_signed.JPG
http://dvdprime.dreamwiz.com/files/upload/200507/20050727160150859.jpg

Two guys on one forum I go to said theirs came signed.

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Just thought I would mention it : Those who love me can take the train is not an Olivier Assaya’s film but a Patrice Chéreau one :wink:

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Wow, small world! Or maybe not. I guess its not *too * unusual for people with similar tastes to run into one another or two different websites in one weekend.

I’ve been around here for quite a while, but don’t visit much any more. Editing over at DVD Spot takes up time–as does watching DVDs! (Sadly, I hear my book collection crying out to me…[sub]read me!; read me![/Sub] but not much time for that either).

I am a frequent visitor at DVDTalk (mostly the International forum) and some other Asian-oriented DVD discussion sites, but don’t post a whole lot there, either.

Anyway, I had not heard of **A Bittersweet Life ** until you mentioned it. I read a couple of things on it and it looks really good. I don’t blind buy Korean DVDs much any more (too many expensive mistakes!), but I have requested that my R3 internet rental service pick this up so I can rent it. Then if I really like it I can put it on my wishlist.