Drama

The film concerns Dr. Akagi, a doctor on an island in the Seto Inland Sea area during World War II. He runs into conflict with the military while trying to combat a hepatitis epidemic. Akagi earns the nickname “Dr. Liver” (カンゾー先生 Kanzō-sensei) because of his work, though the townsfolk use it as a humorous dig at his persistent diagnosis. Though the broad circumstance of Japan slowly losing the war is the setting, many of the interactions and situations tilt into humor, for instance; the very music used for the doctor running from patient to patient has an upbeat and light-hearted tone.Read More »

Not much info on this film out there, but here is a nice little rundown by Keiko McDonald from her book, From Book to Screen: Modern Japanese Literature in Films:

“Uguisu (The Nightingale) drew on a story of the same title published that year by Einosuke Ito. Here the frame of reference is a subgenre that called itself agrarian literature. Ito’s tale is an episodic account of peasants responding to poverty and depravation with cunning, simplicity, and often woeful ignorance.Read More »

After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.Read More »

Trials and tribulations of a Croatian Communist intellectual in the turbulent years before, during and after WW2.

Evening Bells (Croatian: Večernja zvona) is a 1986 Yugoslav film directed by Lordan Zafranović. It is based on Vrata od utrobe, a novel by Mirko Kovač.Read More »

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“Love Battlefield” is one of those movies, along with Johnnie To’s crime thrillers, that you wish Hong Kong would do more of instead of indulging in 500 moronic slapstick comedies a year starring the same stable of pop “stars”. A blending of genres, “Battlefield” stars Eason Chan (”Heat Team”) as Yui, an ER nurse who finds life and love hard going after a bad breakup with live-in girlfriend Ching (Niki Chow). It’s bad enough that Yui’s love life is falling apart, but he soon stumbles into the nest of vicious drug smugglers from the Mainland who has come to Hong Kong to complete a transaction or die trying.Read More »

Two Danish-Korean adoptees return for the first time to the country they were once born in. Confronted with the spirit of their Motherland and the personal stories of the fellow adoptees they meet in the city of Seoul, Karoline and Thomas are hurled into an emotionally disorienting journey that forces both of them to question and face their own destiny and identity. Operating in a hybrid field THE RETURN is partially based on director Malene Choi’s personal experience as well as stories shared by adoptees that Malene encountered in Seoul while shooting the film.Read More »

Synopsis:
A legendary assassin and a renowned problem solver, Soo has been searching for the twin brother he has not seen since their days in an orphanage. But his brother is murdered when he turns against a vicious gang to become a police officer. In order to get revenge, Soo has no choice but to take on his brother’s identity and use it to lure the gang into a trap.Read More »

Arguably the best film of the Egyptian neorealist school of the eighties, exemplified by Daoud Abd El-Sayed, Khairy Bishara, and Mohamed Khan. depicting the devastating effects of global trade on the simple lives on the inhabitants.
Directed by Atef El-Tayeb, one of the boldest names in Egyptian cinema, who died prematurely and worked on the issues concerning the poor and the voiceless throughout his short but important career.Read More »

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Based on a folk tale by legendary writer Vijaydan Detha, this love story is set in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert. A group of conservative women on their daily long trek to collect water enjoy their brief parole from scrutiny by doffing their veils reciting songs and talking of hidden desires. But hidebound Lajwanti keeps her veil and as the others mock her, she follows but at a distance. When a strange man crosses their path, Lajwanti is struck by his silent commitment to collecting doves. This encounter starts Lajwanti on a startling journey of self-discovery. GeetaRead More »