Too Many Ways To Be No. 1 (product link) Crime / Drama Chasing down a film which has been labelled one of Hong Kong's best action films can often lead to disappointment. Hong Kong action encompasses many varied styles, many offering only style over substance.
"Too Many Ways To Be No. 1" offers a lot of low-budget style, but it also weighs in with a witty, inventive screenplay which allows the film's film-school pyrotechnics to enhance, rather than smother, the story. Low camera shots and fisheye lenses give the film a particular style which works perfectly. The cinematography, like the screenplay, is meant to be in your face.
The film is frequently funny, frequently bloody--you know, a Hong Kong action film! A really, really GOOD Hong Kong action film.
Flower Island (product link) Drama / Art "Flower Island" can't help but be compared to another Korean film made one year earlier, "Nabi".
The films share similar themes about loss, memory, longing and forgetting. Both films' "European sensibilities" can in part be explained when you know that both directors trained in Poland. "Nabi" influenced "Flower Island's" director, Song Il-Gon. They can be watched as companion pieces, in fact.
The acting throughout is superb. It is one of those films that you can watch without knowing anything about it. It is a film you experience. Sad, beautiful, and thought-provoking.
Like "Nabi", this film will stay with you long after viewing it.
Without hesititation, I recommend buying both this and "Nabi"...while they are in print.
Fires On The Plain (product link) War / Drama Kon Ichikawa's classic film about the horrors of war contains one of the strangest screen performances I have encountered.
Eiji Funakoshi plays the lead role of Private Tamura, who we are told early on is suffering from TB. His afflication is not serious enough to have him admitted to a (struggling) field hospital, yet he is told he can't return to his regiment as he will be a burdon on the already low rations.
Private Tamura has no option but to leave, and fend for himself. Therein begins the soldier's journey into the heart of darkness.
This is a powerful, though-provoking film, unflinching in its depiction of the evil that men do in times of war and desperation. Eiji Funakoshi's performance left me scratching my head. Was it brilliant, or "special"? Either way, it is a film and performance which will stay with you long after the film ends.
The Eel (product link) Drama "The Eel" is 100% Imamura. This diverting character study about honour and redemption, offers a mix of quirky characters, and an insight into the Japanese character that only great filmmakers like Imamura can put together. Fantasy sequences offer the clearest insights into the lead character's deepest thoughts. He says little, but we get to know him from his (sometimes awkward) actions and reactions.
Like "Warm Water...", Imamura has created memorable characters, and a film which begs repeated viewing.
Puzzle (product link) Crime / Thriller Almost every review I have read for "Puzzle" comments on its similarity to "The Usual Suspects". With good reason. "Puzzle" is a slick "heist gone wrong" film, with stock standard characters, and the obligatory shock revelation at the very end. It is nicely shot, and being a Korean crime film, it has just enough quirky moments to differentiate itself from the plethora of crime films.
Bootleg Film (product link) Drama / Dark Comedy "Bootleg Film" is a post-Tarantino Japanese film which openly discusses Tarantino!
This is one of those films you read about, and just have to seek out. At 74 minutes long, it's a striking black & white road movie, about two friends on the opposite side of the law heading to a funeral. It is a road movie in every sense, with plenty of memorable dialogue, and a striking ending to top it off.
Recommended for lovers of Asian crime comedies, which of course means you will encounter bloodshed!
This Charming Girl (product link) Drama "This Charming Girl" could have been titled "This Ordinary Girl". This film chronicles the very ordinary life of Jeong-hae (Kim Ji-soo), who works at a post office. We watch this character do very ordinary things, as a single woman who seems content, though there is an underlying longing in almost every action. Her back-story is slowly revealed, which sheds light on the woman we first encountered.
This is a slow, involving character, with a beautifully understated performance from the lead actress.
Recommended for viewers who are happy for a film to take its time to reveal the inner workings of its protagonist.
The Big Swindle [SE 2-Disc Set] (product link) Comedy / Crime This a slick, modern Korean take on the heist film, filled with flashbacks, quirky characters, and the obligatory 'twist' ending. A fun film, which is an obvious post-Tarantino crime comedy, but with enough Korean flavor to nudge it above the average caper film.
Nabi [Media Chain 2-Disc SE] (product link) Art / Drama This is a most extraordinary film! Though shot on digital video, this film offers up so many profound, beautiful images. It is considered a science fiction film, but in the vein of Tarkovsky, not Ridley Scott.
It is set in the future in Korea, where a virus erases memories. The main character, Anna, returns to Korea, hoping to erase her past. The Korean director trained under Kieslowski, and this is a very European film, in many ways. It is one of those rare films you don't watch, but experience. There is one, extended scene towards the end of the film which is one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed in cinema. I won't explain it. It will stay with you long after watching the film.
My Wife Is A Gangster (product link) Action/Adventure / Girls With Guns Another Korean comic/action gem. Add a little romance, blood-letting and melodrama, and you have "My Wife is a Gangster".
The story is about Cha, or Mantis, who is no. 2 in a criminal organization. When she finds her long-lost sister, who is dying, and who's dying wish is for Mantis to get marry. Her underlings have the task of finding a prospective husband. The fun begins. This is one of the very best Korean comedies. The fun never lets up, and there is plenty of action between the comic set pieces. The scenes with the beautician are a hoot!
I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK (product link) Drama / Romance "I'm a Cyborg." is a masterpiece. Sorry, I just wanted to get that out of the way early on. Park Chan-Wook has delivered an incredible, though very different, follow up to his "Vengeance" trilogy. "Cyborg" is a love story, set in an asylum. The girl thinks she is a cyborg, and the boy likes to steal things. They are surrounded by a group of inmates who each have their own, quirky habits. This is a lush, highly stylized film, with a fantastic soundtrack. Quirky, touching, and from the man who brought us Oldboy et al, a treat for the senses.
I'm a glowing fan, but that's OK.
Highest recommendation.
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READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
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A good film yes, but I think "masterpiece" is exaggeration. Personally I prefer any film from the vengeance trilogy over this, but mileage varies.
Duelist (product link) Action/Adventure / Thriller This film has divided viewers. Reviews have been either scathing, or glowing. I'm in the radioactive camp.
From the opening scene, you know that this is a special experience. The cinematography is breathtaking. (The 3-disc Korean edition even has an audio track featuring only music and foley...basically everything but the dialogue.) The story may not be the most complex, but really, this is an aural and visual experience. I found myself wanting to rewind scenes, but then not wanting to halt the experience. Costumes, colours, rhythm.....this is the ultimate visual film experience. The soundtrack is superb, and adds another layer to every scene.
Buy an edition with DTS, plug in a subwoofer, hold on and enjoy the ride.
Recommended. If you like it, you will be planning a revisit soon.
Versus [Japanese Standard Edition] (product link) Martial Arts / Horror I came to this film by its legendary status, without reading detailed reviews. At first I was taken aback by the 'low-fi' quality of the film. I was expecting a flashy, special effects extravaganza. What the film delivers is a fun, sometimes bloody, but inventive little film. (The Ultimate edition offers the updated version, with new scenes added to the original.) The acting is, well, low-fi, but it's all about the action. The music adds to the experience. All-in-all a great little gem of a film, with green hues and red filters and zombies who remember how to shoot guns.
Recommended.
Nowhere To Hide (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime I reacted to this film in the same way to Memories of Murder. Entertaining, a little confusing, both with great cinematography. This really is a film to watch on a large screen tv with surround sound. Rain bucketing down through surround sound at high volume will have you searching for an umbrella!
Park Joong-Hoon creates a wonderfully eccentric character, with a shuffling gait Columbo would be proud of. The film is worth watching for his performance alone, but there is so much more to enjoy. Wonderful cinematography, a style that mixes things up, and is never, ever dull. Lastly, the opening scene is fantastic. A great way to introduce the main character.
After watching this film there will be Nowhere To Hide.......your joy!
A fun, and sometimes violent, film about assassins. Sort of. Yes, they kill, but they also argue, bicker, and sit around watching TV. You also get a little tug of the heartstrings, and some social commentary. Korean cinema is vibrant, and can be an acquired taste. Korean action/comedy/romance hybrids are like no ther. See My Wife is a Gangster as an example. The soundtrack for Guns and Talks is entertaining, also.
Recommended for those willing to suspend belief, and open up to new possibilites in filmmaking. Also, the finale set in a theatre is wonderful.
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