2001-2010

Synopsis
A depressed, obese woman tries to lose weight in order to win back her ex-boyfriend with the help of a fellow Hong Konger whom she met in Japan.Read More »

Synopsis:
Toward the end of World War II, middle-aged soldier Keita is entrusted with a postcard from a comrade who is sure he will die in battle. After the war ends, Keita visits his comrade’s wife Yuko and bears witness to the tragic life she has led. This year’s Oscar entry from Japan finds SHINDO in top form and his 49th and reportedly last film as fresh and poignant as ever.Read More »

Quote:
It is a significant day for 80 year old Antonio. After an absence of many years, his estranged son is coming to visit. All must be perfect. There will be a toast with a very special champagne; an embrace; warm words that may finally bridge the gap between them. But before, Antonio must wait. Bedridden, he looks out his window at the Patagonian landscape and sees light and life, the past and the present, while sensing the future. He decides to secretly leave the house, unseen by his faithful caretakers, to take what might be a last walk in his fields, breathing the air, treading the earth, inhaling the scent of the land that had been his life. What could otherwise seem like insignificant memories or moments in one’s life, take a special, beautiful meaning and weight in this poetic, humanistic film.Read More »

The latest documentary from Heddy Honigmann (“Forever,” “Metal and Melancholy,” “O Amor Natural”) focuses on Peru’s capital city of Lima, revealing its startling contrasts of wealth and poverty, and how many of its poorest citizens have survived decades of economic crisis, terrorism and government violence, denial of workers’ rights, and political corruption. [Synopsis courtesy of Icarus Films]Read More »

Synopsis:
Two elderly women, who have led remarkable lives, live deep in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. One, born in Russia, fell in love with a Kurdish student and set off to his native village here, where she spent the rest of her life filled with pain, turbulence and violence sparked by war. The other, a matron in the true sense of the word has witnessed numerous deaths and unexplained disappearances of the members of her large family. Their movements are calm, full of determination and wisdom that only old age can bring.
Simple lives that at the same time possess poetic dreamlike qualities, transparent, yet full of profound mystery are an ode to the joy of the ordinary life.Read More »

Synopsis:
A rowdy, young yakuza takes revenge against a gang of thousands for the death of his boss.

Review:
Wow! The second and final part Miike’s Yurusarezaru mono (or: The Man in White) is pretty damned impressive! Following directly from the previous part’s cliffhanger ending, Miike steps up the action tenfold, adding new deranged characters to obstruct Azusa’s path of vengeance for the death of his boss.Read More »

Quote:
Having taken on flamenco (“Sevillanas”) and tango (“Tango”), Carlos Saura tackles a third great melancholy music style, directing “Fados,” a celebration of Portugal’s classic, lamenting acoustic folk songs. The film combines fado performances from top artists, dance from Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde and archive footage. In the song centrepieces, artists deliver contemporary versions of fado classics. Lined up fadistas include young female star Mariza as well as Grammy award-winner Carlos do Carmo. Renowned diva Amália Rodrigues is remembered through arquive footage while the exploration of fado’s influences and roots gives opportunities to embrace prestigious Brazilian performers Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and the emerging Cape Verdean star Lura.Read More »

Synopsis
A lawyer who is killed in a car accident finds himself resurrected as a character in his daughter’s novel.Read More »

Asuza is a yakusa always dressed in white, a pure, yet tarnished man. A child from the streets, he saw his father assassinated by his older brother, and his mother commit suicide. These traumatizing events haunt him in the present. Asuza is now a member of a criminal group. He has been taken under the wing of the gang’s leader, his new adoptive father. When this second father figure is suddenly assassinated, Asuza plunges rapidly into an infernal revenge scheme. As he searches tirelessly for the killer, he discovers that once again, his older brother is the culprit. A confrontation is inevitable. When Asuza meets his brother face to face, he learns that behind every murder committed, lie motives more complex than they first appear.Read More »