Asian Cinema

[Montresor]

I haven't seen it as yet. The trailer looked unexceptional. On the other hand, Asian horror movie trailers are almost universally bad, so I try not to judge them by first impressions. I have a copy of Kaidan (not Kwaidan) on my desk and I still have to watch it. It's supposed to be a traditional folk-tale style ghost story, so I'm quite interested in seeing it. I don't think it will be any where near as good as Kwaidan, though.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

I really enjoyed the first half of Windstruck...it was cute and fun, but the second half turned into a completely different film...and I just couldn't sit through it. My Sassy Girl is better, funnier, is too long also but not nearly so overlong, and has a better story structure. Despite being a decent film, if you've seen MSG, you don't need to see Windstruck. If you haven't, watch Windstruck first, you'll probably enjoy it more.
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Ugetsu is...astounding. I don't have the words...truly...one of the greatest works of cinema ever made. The moral end of the film is good, but the spiritual end is as good as cinema gets.
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Sansho the Bailiff is a wonderful, engrossing and emotionally involving story about the randomness of fate and the cruelty of human nature. But it also features the love of family and wisdom. I was completely involved in the story...it's just wonderful. And the acting by Kinuyo Tinaka in that last scene was amazing - she really seemed that old. I'm not sure I understand the reason for naming the film what it is, but it's a wonderful film none-the-less.
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Welcome to Dangmokgol is just wonderful. A war film with heart, but not overdone. One of my fav war films ever, told with a somewhat fable'ish story. Highly recommended.
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Taegukgi has the most realistic war depiction ever filmed. The opening act, most of the battles and the very last action by the older brother are all stunning cinema achievements.

But, the magic or involvement got broken for me with a couple scenes, namely the reassertion of the younger that the older was doing it all for "the" medal, a medal not mentioned, this being reasserted three times in twenty minutes. And though he might have been seeking recognition, I never felt that within the older brother was the sole desire for glory, nor was the characters possible love of war ever set up. Yes - it could be us seeing the older brother from the younger's assumption, but we spent too much time with the older ourselves for such a directorial move.

I also never believed the older brother's supposed 'transformation' from simple shoeman to violent war madman, yes it happens, but the director and writer never really showed him going through this downward spiral, the script just kind of said it happened, so I'm supposed to just accept that he's now this way, and yes it can kreep up within, yes it might be a cultural difference but I just didn't see it.

Other issues like the younger in the last battle continuely dodging one guy after another, one rifle after another just got old, yes, I get it, realism in a mountain battle, but come on, get too it. There are other issues, suffice to say that the script just didn't quite work - the story wasn't convincing enough for me, though at times I was near tears.

Oh, and the

Spoiler

Rosebud ending (shoes) was just too much tacked onto the Saving Private Ryan ending (pen and grave), along with the actual ending (younger brother and mother)

Taegukgi is not as good as Saving Private Ryan, though some of the film is on par or even better. I deffinately recommend it though, a very emotional experience with gritty, realistic, "in-the-trenches" warfare.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Shiri is a good thriller with a cool twist, but the dialogue was kind of made for dummies, the baddies should've been toast in the cinema and the girl's attempt to kill the

Spoiler

Southern President at the end doesn't really make sense in context

... Decent film.
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I love the Departed. I think it deserved Best Picture. However, now that I've seen Internal Affairs...I don't know that a remake that uses 95% of the original film deserves such an accolade, regardless of how good and somewhat different it is. I love what Marty did with the material, taking the last shot's scottish'ness and redoing the entire film within that concept in America, combining the various women into one, spending a little more time establishing the two men's origins instead of in montage.

As I was basically expecting Shiri meets the Departed, Internal Affair's uniqueness really blew me away, especially the cinematography and music.

I really, really like Heat, but the tension between the protagonists and the 'bosses' works better in Internal Affairs.

So, with Departed coming in second and Heat in third, I feel that Internal Affairs is a true masterpiece and the greatest film of it's kind.

[Montresor]

Taegukgi is not as good as Saving Private Ryan, though some of the film is on par or even better. I deffinately recommend it though, a very emotional experience with gritty, realistic, "in-the-trenches" warfare.

Nice write-up, but I can't gree with that alas. It might be personal taste, though I think Ryan has nothing going for it except the battle scenes. The drama in Ryan is about the standard of a Dirty Dozen sequel, its moral message is ruined by the boyish enthusiasm of the film-maker, and nothing about the script engaged me.

I do agree that some of Brotherhood of Wars script is laboured (though it doesn't bother me...I'm used to Asian scripts getting rid of uneccesary plot points); the real strength of the script lies in its unique take on war. Most films condemn war, but Brotherhood of War takes this to an extreme. There is nothing positive or heroic about war in the script. The only heroism the film has is to do with self-sacrifice, and that's established as not being part of war at all. Despite its melodrama, I really love this film. Ryan, I only like.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Well, putting things in perspective, SPR is about 11th on my list of fav war films.

[Montresor]

Fair enough. In terms of the effectivenes of the battle scenes, I'd rate Ryan as being in the top five. As a film, however, I doubt it would enter my top 20 list of war films.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Yeah, it's kind of like Gladiator for me - starts off really good...and while decent throughout, just slowly dies (except I like the acting in Gladiator far more).

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

The Chaser.

Memories of Murder meets Silence of the Lambs, but subtler...and better than either. This film is great, not in the sense of grand story, or absolute perfection (there are some issues in the last act, namely the religious addition which was completely irrelevant, and the protagonist getting his head beet in, then walking right away after), rather in temperment as the director never pushes the audience's emotions for or against the protagonist, letting the character tell the story as they live and breath.

The editing, acting, direction, cinematography, sound, music, pacing are literally almost flawless. Chaser gets across the main theme of Memories of Murder, but in a serious manner and far more gripping delivery, while engaging the audience with Silence of the Lambs type psychological complexity and deadly deeds - though MoM is nearly perfectly made and SotL has become the measuring stick of the genre.

Unlike Seven's over the top, gripping murders, The Chaser has nuance, tone and the characters are real, this killer is somewhat ambiguous, not crazy, much like us...and this makes his choices scarrier. The journey of the protagonist is not a feel good journey, it's not telegraphed for the audience to feel something specific...one can come to his own conclusions about the deeper meanings of the tale. Some might not like the ending - I love it...and I absolutely love this film.

[The Dreaming]

I cannot sing enough praise for Miyazaki. He might be the best crafter of fantasy the world has ever seen. Much like the greatest of his contemporaries, he taps into the jetsam floating around our culture, literature, history, and myth and creates something fresh and delightful in every movie. If someone who had never experienced the fantasy genre asked me for a recommendation, I would choose Miyazaki, followed by Gaiman. (Donaldson would be 4 or 5 I think)

Another flavor of Asian cinema entirely: The martial art flick. I happened to see a Thai movie called Ong Bak recently. Tony Jaa is something special. Muay Thai might be one of the few actually relevant Asian martial arts, and he is a stellar practitioner of it. He also has the acrobatic chops of a free runner, so his action scenes are just a dream to watch. He choreographs all of his action, and does all of his own stunts with *no wires*. Some of the stuff he pulls in this movie is balsy beyond belief. I really don't want to spoil it. If you have ANY interest in martial arts, you MUST see this movie. What he lacks in raw speed and flair, he makes up for with a more realistic* martial brutality. Muay Thai isn't for show, people actually still beat the living crap out of each other with it. It's the closest thing in the world to MMA before MMA existed.


*well, I wouldn't exactly call the action in this movie realistic, but in general he fights a hell of a lot dirtier than Bruce Lee, which is more what I was driving at. MUay Thai is a lot of elbows, knees, and grapples.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Just finished Silmido. Good film. Over the top, too melodramatic, expecially the damn music. The plot twists, is unique among it's peers. Worth the watch.

[Montresor]

I quite liked it too. It was a surprising film in some respects, and I thought it was better than I expected. Characters go from being mild comic relief to dangerous psychopaths quickly and, for some reason, it just works.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Dude, as I started watching the film - I think when they get to the island - I was thinking,

Spoiler

it would be cool if they have to kill off the whole lot 'em after training em. And then, when the politician ordered the Cap to slaughter em, I was sooooo sure that the Cap and the enlisted and 684 were all going to go into the North together. I was actually a little disappointed I didn't get my Hollywood ending and instead got my cool ending.

I'd also like to discuss the plot twists in the Vengeance trilogy films, if anyone's up to it. For instance, I've noticed on imdb that a lot of people missed the second twist in Oldboy.

[Montresor]

I'd also like to discuss the plot twists in the Vengeance trilogy films, if anyone's up to it. For instance, I've noticed on imdb that a lot of people missed the second twist in Oldboy.

There's a few twists. By 'the second one', which one do you mean?

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

K, as I see it...Twist #1:

Spoiler

Oh Dae Su is trying to cope with molesting his daughter.

Twist #2:

Spoiler

Oh Dae Su is not his real name, it's made up by him, written in that story mentioned by the hypnotist. Also, most other characters are also made up in the story. Mr. Han is actually still in that room, in that place, where he hired these people to hypnotise him and leave him with a new version of self there until he dies. A self that doesn't remember the evil he has done, or who Mido was/is.

Other possible Twists:

Spoiler

The room and building are metaphors for Mr. Han's life and mind, therefore there is no room, nor building, nor hypnotist, all are made up so he can deal with what he's done to his daughter. We also don't truly know what he really did. The other characters could be his own attempt to create multiple personalities, especially the 'bad guy' as he fights himself within his head.

[Montresor]

I see where you might think that, but I don't see that it was intended to be read that way.

Keeping in mind that the theme is vengeance, making the villain a figment obviates the concept. I don't recall anyone in the film saying that the diary at the end was a fabrication, or there being any real hint that the film is a delusional fantasy.

Spoiler

There's no hint that molestation occurred between Oh Dae Su and his daughter. The sexual guilt he feels is only the product of having slept with her from love and desire, without knowing she was his daughter. This works so well because the villain himself had his own guilt over sleeping with his own sister, which led to her death. That he concocts a revenge scheme centred on making Oh Dae Su sleep with his own blood is the film's real plot excellence.

EDIT:

Spoiler

I think the ambiguity of Oh Dae Su's look at the end gives away the fact that he still knows or feels what he is doing is wrong; that he will suffer in some way understanding his secret so that his daughter can be unkowingly happy.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

There are tons of hints along the way, many many in the first couple scenes alone:

- Dae Su begins saying that he wants to tell us, or the guy hanging off the roof his story
- Hypnotist in room
- Appearing on rooftop not knowing how, mentions alley with phone booth was just here before imprisonment, later spends many a meal searching for the building of his captors.
- Suicidal wants to tell Dae Su his story, not the other way around
- Later on, Dae Su's brother "doesn't know the husbands of the 230 women you've slept with."

[Montresor]

There are tons of hints along the way, many many in the first couple scenes alone:

- Dae Su begins saying that he wants to tell us, or the guy hanging off the roof his story

That story is told to the guy going to kill himself. Later, the story continues in written form, finally being relinquished at the end. It's simply a narrative tool. The fact that he's telling the story does not indicate that it's a lie (this isn't meant to be Rashomon).

- Hypnotist in room

Because the hypnotist is partly responsible for the protagonist's situation.

- Appearing on rooftop not knowing how, mentions alley with phone booth was just here before imprisonment, later spends many a meal searching for the building of his captors.

Not remarkable at all. He was gassed and left on the roof at the appointed time most appropriate for the villain's end game to begin. Why would he not search for his captor's lair?

- Suicidal wants to tell Dae Su his story, not the other way around

How does that indicate anything other than the fact that Oh Dae Su has become driven and amoral?

- Later on, Dae Su's brother "doesn't know the husbands of the 230 women you've slept with."

That's meant as an aside to Oh Dae Su's previous character.

None of that even vaguely hints that Oh Dae Su was a child molester; furthermore, it all conforms to the story.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Well, there's a lot more, but I'm not going to go into it.

I did just watch Good, Bad and Weird. It was a riot. Just an awesomely fun and funny film with great stunts, editing, music and one of the greatest chase scenes in the history of cinema, over the top, sometimes silly, but entertaining to the last.

[Montresor]

Well, there's a lot more, but I'm not going to go into it.

With respect, I don't think it's there at all. Nor does anything Park has to say about the film's deliberate ambiguities hint that it's intended.

I have a copy of Wong Kar Wai's Happy Together lying around at home, and I'll try and get time to watch it and write about it soon. Having rewatched Ashes of Time in the last week, I really feel that Wong Kar Wai may be the most remarkable living director to ever make films about love, loss, and longing. Sheer poetry on screen.

[I'm Murrin]

I've actually read the first volume of the manga which Oldboy is based on, and the original is a lot more detailed about what happened regarding the length of his imprisonment and his release. I don't think there's anything in the source material or the film itself to back the idea that it was a delusion.