Christine's reviews

There's been a lot of talk about this over here - will this be the breakthrough for the star winner from the 2006 Academy Awards (some Americans won other, minor Oscars but Best Live Action Short is the one that everyone wants, ok? ) or will it be a quirky false dawn?

Gleeson is one of my favourite character actors and anyone who's seen Intermission will know that Farrell can act.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

...and some token Belgians Bruges looks lovely too. I went there on my first ever school trip abroad and can't remember a thing about it apart from having bread and butter for breakfast with chocolate sprinkles on them - how exotic I thought.
I'm pretty sure you'll like the film T !

Adi - you quit too soon - The Warlords did get better, but I know what you mean about overdoing the genre.

You'll never guess where my first school trip abroad was - Communist Russia! Seriously, it was in '87 or '88.

My political ideology was formed pretty early on (the women were beautiful, after all).

Shadows in the Palace

Directed by Mee-jeung Kim

A Korean period drama set during the Chosun era. A royal maid is found hanged, the court elders want to insist she's committed suicide, but determined court nurse who examines the body reports she's been murdered. What follows is intrigue and conniving on a mass scale from the top to the bottom of the Royal household.

What makes this story different is that the King is hardly seen, it's the women that form the focal point of the film and the hierarchy of maids, gentlewomen, ladies in waiting, right up to the queen mother are all involved. Don't go thinking that this is some gentle bit of womens scheming, oh no, there's scenes of horrible torture and brutality that'll make you want to turn away.

There's also a supernatural element that creeps in a fair way into the film, which to be honest isn't needed - the beautiful costumes and settings of the film are far more fulfilling a watch than having to resort to a smattering of cgi horror tricks. Easy enough to ignore these bits though, and to enjoy the nasty conspiracy amongst these women closeted in an enclosed world where even their chastity is marked for only a king's enjoyment.

Directed by Mee-jeung Kim who also worked on the film The King and The Clown, another excellent period Korean film, indeed Shadows in the Palace was filmed on the same set, however both films have a totally different feel.

Kaidan

director Hideo Nakata

This is not the 1964 Kaidan/Kwaidan, but the latest film from Hideo Nakata (Ringu, Dark Water). Back from filming in America and back to creepy Japanese style. This is a period film this time. A samurai kills a moneylender and is cursed with his dying breath. The moneylenders two teenage daughters are left on their own not knowing what happened to their father. Twenty years later, in another town, the samurai's son happens upon the elder daughter who is an attractive teacher and despite the age difference they become lovers. Her jealousy soon invites fate to intervene and the curse is invoked again and again with horrible effect on the young mans life. Poor guy cos he hasn't got a clue why all this is happening to him

Right at the beginning there is some staged scenery like in the 1964 Kaidan's gorgeous painted backdrops, but this isn't a remake, it's one story not four, but it fits in with the period and feel of the folk story genre. The film looks beautiful, with lovely kimonos and nicely framed shots inside the houses, well acted too. Creepy in parts, and pretty gruesome at times with a couple of well timed jump moments. I wouldn't say it gave me as many shivers as Nakata did with Dark Water, but Kaidan is a solid well made ghost story that could've been cut a little to give it a better pace.

There's a very weird closing shot which I can't shake out of my mind . Hopefully no nightmares tonight!

Just remember (if you can) Chris it is only a movie

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Assembly

Director Xiaogang Feng

During the Chinese civil war in 1948 Captain Gu Zidi leads his troops in a push against the enemy in a ruined town. They're ambushed and he loses many men. His reduced battalion of 47 loyal men are sent to defend the banks of the Wen river. All of them are killed, and in the confusion he's taken as a POW by his own side. Now sorted, and as time goes on with him fighting in the Korean War too, he constantly lives in the past thinking about the men he lost who've only ever been reported as Missing In Action and never given the recognition of bravery they deserved. So begins his one man quest.

Starts with set piece explosions in a rased town, very much along the lines of that battle in Saving Private Ryan, but soon leaves that battleground mentality as we follow Gu Zidi on his personal mission. A much more emotional film follows. This film is an excellent eyeopener to the chaos that must've ensued during those times in China - such a big country and so many people fighting and so many casualties. Gu Zidi's own men were mostly peasants , unable to read and write.

His lifelong personal battle is very moving, even with failing eyesight he never gives up. The actor, Hanyu Zhang, who plays Gu Zidi has a great physical presence onscreen giving him a dogged determination and an authority that others bow to.



A different take on a war film, very moving and the actor that plays Gu Zidi is remarkably good.
4/5

Le Grand Chef

directed by Yun-Su Jeon

Le Grand Chef despite the title this is a Korean film about two rival chefs, grandsons of the two apprentices of the last Royal Chef of the Chosun era. One is a successful restaurateur, the other is a veg grower and salesman who's given up cooking for a living cos he's been accused of poisoning the judges in a previous competiotion by blowfish - not a pretty sight nor is the graphic preparation of live fish the faint hearted.

Some really great food scenes, made me want to taste stuff I'd never seen before (except the blowfish) . Lots of different kimchis and beautifully elaborate presentations. The film suffers from awful veering from comic to sentimental, such that you're a little confused as to what's serious and what's not. Unsurprisingly then, some of the more mawkish scenes that're maybe supposed to be tearjerking are actually quite funny. Weird when that happens, are you supposed to be laughing when someone sacrifices their pet cow so they can enter the 'beef carving' part of the competition? then cry as the cow turns for one last look before it gets it between the eyes? I dunno, the Korean sense of humour

Rather over melodramatic at times and with a ramped up patriotic finale, but entertaining for the foody scenes, although some aren't for the squeamish

Thanks for the reviews, I'm a little apprehensive about watching Assembly, given the subject matter and the fact that it's a major blockbuster I was afraid it's gonna be just more Chinese propaganda...

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mm I know what you mean, I thought the same but it's not really partisan enough that its unwatchable. The Kuomintang are simply shown as the enemy soldiers, there's no overt political stance taken, it's more a story about Gu and his personal battles. Obviously they show the Communist military hierarchy, but there's even a couple of digs against the local cadre at one point, showing them being mean minded and accusing him of lying. So rest assured

Sweet, I'll give it a try.
Incidentally, if you haven't already, check out Blind shaft. It paints a surprisingly bleak picture of modern China which naturally got it banned in its home country.

ah yes I read about that one. I'll look it up. Cheers

Blind Shaft
Directed, produced and screenwritten by Yang Li

Two itinerant mine workers have hit upon a gruesome scam that fleeces unscrupulous mine owners out of thousands of yuan. When one of them starts to have a bit of a conscience a surprising twist of fate occurs.

Only the two leads are actors which gives the film at times a docudrama feel, unsurprisingly Yang Li started his film life making documentaries before this, his first full length film.
Realistically set amongst the coal mines and the poverty stricken hovels the miners live in, it's very hard to condemn the two con men despite the despicable way they're making money, cos their own background is one of struggle, and like itinerant workers the world over they're working to send back money to their families. The conditions they work in are difficult and dangerous, and the safety measures minimal.

Yang Li takes no moral stand on the men's behaviour but simply stands back and shows the viewer what kind of tough life these workers have.
3.5/5
and also

Blind Mountain

another powerful film from Yang Li, this time the story of a young college educated girl who is having difficulty finding work. Offered a job selling medicinal herbs, she takes a trip with the company owner to a remote village buy collect the herbs. She accepts a drink, and wakes up the next morning to find herself a prisoner and the guy disappeared. She's been sold into a family as a wife to a middle aged brute of a man.

The film follows her despair as she's subjected to horrific treatment under the noses of the rest of the village who turn a blind eye. Even the local Party village leader accepts her position as the man's property, and just wants to keep the peace. She fights, cajoles and escapes, only to be brought back again and the film culminates in a sharply curtailed ending that leaves you surmising sadly what her fate will be.

The film's a terrible reflection on the plight of women traffiked in villages where China's single child policy has led to boy children being given the prioity of life, so women are in short supply as marriage partners. Reminiscent of the women's stories in Xinran Hue's book Good Women of China.


3.5/5

So a thumbs up to both of them?

I'm a little late here on the In Bruges review -- but I'm so glad you liked it. Probably my favorite film of the year (and hey, I've seen The Dark Knight twice!)

Is there really talk about it winning some awards over in Britain? That would be fabulous! Keep us Americans posted on that front.

definately!

Not heard anything about that, but will post if I do

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

directed by Hitoshi Yazaki

a very poignant film about four women living in Tokyo: Satoko, Chihiro, Akiyo and Toko. Toko and Chihiro are flatmates and Akiyo works as a call girl at the agency where Satoko is receptionist. Toko is an artist and Chihiro is an office girl. So we follow the relationships between two sets of women as well as their personal journeys. The stories run in parallel, the two couples never meeting but their livescrossing.

You'd think a film with such a title is going to be a sweet, romantic bit of fluff, but this film digs much deeper into the souls of these four, all of whom are suffering in one way or another from a longing of something more from life - love mostly and who can blame them ? it can be a lonely existence in a big city.

Brilliantly developed characters, and the director has a great eye for detail, you get such a sense of who these women are just from their tiny apartments. Akiyo's stark surroundings reflect her empty sadness and unrequited love for her best friend. The cute Satoko's haphazard rooms, her moving little nightly routine of beer and staring at the stars from her balcony and her need just to find a boy to love. Toko's enmeshed in her paints and struggling to cope with a
failed love affair, bottling all her emotions up. Then Chihiro, all pink and girly and just with a great need to look after somebody and be loved. Her treatment by her so called boyfriend is cruel and demeaning, but so needy is she that she can't turn away. All their lives are unravelling, and although they know each other they're not communicating.

It's not all unremitting sorrow, alright their relationships with the men in the film are not the stuff of dreams - weak men, bad men and complete bastards - but the understanding of each other and the friendship that develops towards the end of the film you hope will get them through. An upbeat sequence at the very end brings a smile and makes you realise how involved you've actually got with these characters - a great tribute to the gentle touch of a clever director.

Interestingly Kiriko Nananan who plays the artist Toko, is a writer and manga artist and wrote the original story that the film is based on.

Recommended if you appreciate subtle, quiet films.

I enjoyed it too, although I don't really remember much of it...

Thanks Chris I have added it to my bigpond list