Asian

synopsis
Relationship between father and son against the background of the Maoist regime in China, starting at the end of the Cultural Revolution in the year that Mao died (1976), and into the following two decades. The father, a painter, had been interned in a labour camp for “re-education”, and lost his ability to paint. Upon being released he teaches his son to draw, but is obsessive about it and doesn’t allow his son any freedom or independence. Their convoluted relationship throughout the son’s childhood and into adulthood is shown in an absorbing way. The film is also a snapshot of the political and social changes that China was undergoing.Read More »

A man returns from World War II to find his desperate wife had resorted to one night of prostitution to pay for their son’s hospital bills.Read More »

Based on a short story by Nobel Prize-winning author Kawabata Yasunari, this lighthearted road film follows the rolling wheels of a country bus manned by a driver who says “thank you” to everyone he encounters. “Mr. Thank You” drives into various humorous and telling episodes with different passenger and travelers as he rumbles his way through the mountainous countryside. Arigatau-san highlights common Shimizu motifs of location shooting, constant movement, and heartwarming sentiments, while at the same time subtly addressing real-world worries like Depression-era woes and the condition of Korean laborers.Read More »

In this weird, wicked and wonderfully perverse shocker from Japan, we meet Sumida, a disabled young man marked by his wheelchair, his electronic voice box, his rampant alcoholism, and his appetite for porn. When a female student temporarily becomes his carer during her college studies, he mistakes her harmless flirtation for true love. Her eventual rejection sends Sumida on a downward spiral in which his repressed rage erupts in random violence. Black-and-white cinematography by Masaaki Takakura.Read More »

In the Susukino red light district of Sapporo, a private detective (Yo Oizumi) drinks alcohol with his driver Takada (Ryuhei Matsuda) in his favourite bar. There he receives a phone call from a woman who identifies herself as Kyoko Kondo. The woman asks the detective to complete a simple task. The detective, having an excellent sense for danger, thinks the work is easy and accepts the case. The next day he begins the investigation.Read More »

Synopsis:
Critically-lauded but somewhat distant drama from Ann Hui.

Review by Kozo (taken from Love HK FIlm):
Award-winning political drama from Ann Hui treads on rich territory and results in a noble, but emotionally lacking effort. Using the work of real-life activist Father Franco Mella (played here by Anthony Wong) as a guideline, Ordinary Heroes moves from the plight of the boat people through the tragedy at Tiananmen Square with a sweeping view of political activism in Hong Kong.
The situations and storytelling are top notch but ultimately the film proves a better portrait than a story. The film doesn’t try to educate viewers about Hong Kong’s political history, and instead concentrates on a long-unrequited romance between Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-Sheng and Loletta (now Rachel) Lee. Sadly, that plotline proves of tenuous interest, which isn’t helped any by Lee Kang Sheng’s obviously dubbed acting. The relationships, while affecting, don’t truly reach a conclusion in the film, which is sad because it seems that Hui is reaching for one.Read More »

A boxing melodrama. Two friends become boxers and begin training for the championship. The two boys eventually face each other in the ring.Read More »

IMDb comments:
You can watch this crime drama as a sort of Japanese DESPERATE HOURS. A just married ordinary man has his family held as hostage by three hoodlums who want him to do something for them. Get a big package of money from his boss, and not a Yakuza. This is not a yakuza movie, folks, but a true suspense film, a bit far from what Kinji Fukasaku used to show us. A tale told with a terrific nick of time pace, with splendid editing and simple filming skills. The main lead character, the poor man who is lost in the city because he knows that he must obey to what the gangsters ordered him to do, this man’s play is so convincing. I was not lucky enough to see it with subtitles, and I am sure I unfortunately missed a lot. But I followed the basic scheme anyway. I would have imagined Koji Tsuruta as the husband’s character. A golden gem that deserves to be seen at all costs.Read More »

Quote:
BAM/PFA (Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive) wrote:
In this film of the furusato genre, Isako Nakazato returns to the Tsugaru fishing village where she grew up, bringing with her Iwashiro, a gangster who has been marked for a hit. The two decide to start a new life together in the village, learning from the wisdom of the fishermen, the blind musicians and the other villagers who have made them welcome.

Koichi Saito has made several films on similar themes, in which his protagonists are outsiders, often criminals, seeking redemption through love and acceptance into a new community.Read More »