The Asian Film Thread

Ah, the source of many American movie ideas today...

Has anyone seen any great Asian movies as of late?

Needless to say, I recently saw the conclusion to Park Chan-Wook's Revenge Trilogy, "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance." Definitely the most arthouse entry in the trilogy, the occasional bizarre imagery and overall direction (as well as a great performance by Lee Young-Ae) make this a well worth the wait.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Kairo's definitely on the deliberate side in terms of pacing, but though the story's not exactly the clearest to me, from what I've discussed on other boards as well as my own viewing, the depressed suicidal entity (the one seen near the end in the warehouse) has always been there with that computer program thing, getting through to others by way of loneliness. As he gets to more and more people, there are more of those red tape-sealed rooms for the ghosts to get more people. The fact that so many people get taken in the end is just a means for Kurosawa to illustrate the society of disconnect we live in: we are all "connected" by way of internet, but in reality, we are all as distant and as alone as we'll ever be in life.

Oh yeah, and Crying Fist I saw a while back. Choi Min-Sik never disappoints.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Hadn't been to GFF in a while before that little hiatus, but I find it funny that it seems so sudden that a fair amount of people suddenly used Asian film avatars. Geum-Ja, Sun-Woo...

Since everything's been restarted, how about discussion of a rather popular Asian film...

Let's go ahead with Tom Yum Goong.

I've gotta say I never would have thought "Give me back my elephant" would be a compelling enough driving force for a film but this one completely disproved me. All that crunching was satisfying in every sense of the word. That first real fight (with the guy with the therapeutic jars on his back) was so abruptly started (flying knee kick) that it just got the movie started for me. Everything was "elephant, elephant, elephant" for the first ten minutes, and then finally he lost the damn thing and everything went uphill. I came for an action movie, and I got it.

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Has anyone who's seen BR2 actually thought it was good? I hear the director's cut does wonders for the film. I doubt it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Already have. I just hadn't seen the director's cut.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by kapsi

I watched "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" lately and it sucks... I hope the last part of trilogy is better.

:doggy:

If you didn't appreciate SFMV, don't expect to be captivated by SFLV. The general consesnsus is that oldboy is the greatest of the three, usually because of its visual overload. I find SFMV to be the greatest of the Revenge Trilogy.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I just saw Please Teach Me English. While my experience with Korean rom-coms is limited, from what I've read and what I little I know, the film seemed to fit the mold precisely. Nothing new, but it was a fun watch. Some quirky CG and animations pop up in some unexpected moments, perhaps another staple of the genre I'm not aware of, but it is chockful of off-the-wall antics that I've come to expect from these things. The male lead here is the male lead from Volcano High; good or bad, that's for you to decide.

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I just saw a film cowritten by Park Chan-Wook called the Humanist. It's this black comedy involving a rich brat and two of his friends trying to get their way out of a murder charge. I don't know how much he wrote, but it's pretty bad, with a lot of gross-out humor that just comes off as sophomoric. One of the guys was from Attack the Gas Station though. Just a little side note, but it doesn't redeem that film in any sort of way.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by nabhan

I watched Oldboy yesterday. What a fucked up movie. I sort of called the big suprise for Daesu though. Man, gross.

Not Asian, but what about The Crying Game for twisted?

Spoiler:

Chick had a penis.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Blackbord

I'm suprised Yamamanama didn't create this thread.

I'm surprised your avatar isn't black.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Anyone see Miike's bit in Masters of Horror, Imprint? Considering American standards, it's no surprise it got pulled. In and of itself though, it's still one grotesque work. You can spot a mishmash of elements from recent great Asian cinema - oldboy, Three: Dumplings, Audition

Spoiler:

with incest, abortion, and torture, respectively

- but it is nonetheless its own hand-y beast.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Battle Royale is great; almost everyone will say the sequel is crap; and the novel is infinitely better. Most obviously, having so much more space to tell the story of an entire class gives more room for character development. Nonetheless, though I like the portrayal of Kazuo in the novel as amoral, the film version of him as simply a psychotic killer is great and absolutely creepy.

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Originally Posted by Dhsu

That and he has an awesome hairdo.

As the saying goes, "quoted for truth."

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Dhsu

Just watched Mr. Vengeance.

Messed.

UP.

And that's not even counting the pedophilic undertones.

Pedophilic undertones? You mean the retarded guy getting the girl's necklace?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I've always seen the retarded guy as a sort of deus ex machina. It never hurts to rewatch to think of something else because the rest of the film is so finely crafted.

I can't recall the skirt-lifting scene very well, but it's not intentional and I'm pretty sure you don't think so, though correct me if I'm wrong.

What is your final evaluation of the film? Good? Bad? Obviously those undertones you perceived aren't a good thing, but the messed up doesn't give me a good idea.

FELIPE NO

Definitely a very different film than oldboy. Park Chan-Wook has said that the visual overload in oldboy was a result of his being so tired of his minimalistic approach in SFMV.

Lady Vengeance is the most arthouse-like film in the Revenge trilogy so hopefully that will be helpful in shaping your expectations.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by a_kitchen_utensil

I honesly don't quite understand this movie. So the opening scene of 50 girls jumping right into the tracks of the number 8 train was "entertaining", but I was quite confused with the rest of the movie elements. A few twists I didn't expect:

Karudo:

Karudo (the police detective) commits suicide. Did he really think this was his fault that he couldn't connect and his family was at stake for it

The "girl" at the end:

So instead of committing suicide, she decided there was a purpose in life, and all the children cheered?

I basically don't quite understand the ending, and it's funny after the credits that it announces THIS FILM IS BASED ENTIRELY FICTION, ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS OR EVENTS IS A COINCIDENCE. I sure as hell hope so, or else my next trip to Japan will be postponed indefinetly.

Who was the blond haired freak and what was his roll? Who was the Bat and what was her purpose? To play a joke?

That movie was horrible. Sion Sono (I think that's how it's spelled) got praised to no end and the hype for this was incredible. It turns out it's just some completely disjointed piece of crap with lots of incredibly violent scenes. By the by, did anyone spot the reference of this in the much worse film Hostel?

Anyway, the blonde guy was someone who was seeking infamy by taking credit for the entire suicide trend/cult/mania going on throughout the city. It was just a red herring to set up the surprise revelation that it's this group of kids. Been a while since I saw it, so up for discussion on points.

My favorite scene is hands down the little montage with the kids music playing and everyone around the city is commiting suicide. I really flinched with the mom in the kitchen. Ugh.

Did anyone here thought the music was catchy? "Mail me..."

As for older Asian films, I've seen in parts that one Seijun Suzuki movie, the one with the sequel of it being Pistol Opera... I forgot but I'd like to see his other more linear works.

Haven't seen Kurosawa which needs to be remedied.

Is anyone excited for "I'm a Cyborg But That's Ok," Park Chan-Wook's upcoming comedy (yes, Park Chan-Wook as in "tendon-cutting and teeth-pulling" guy and comedy as in "funny ha ha")?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

New Hayao Miyazaki film to be announced May 5th I think.

I forgot if I mentioned this before, although I know if so, no one answered so... did anyone see Miike's Imprint yet?

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Arbok

O_o Really? Man, and he said he was going into retirement after Princess Mononoke, and now look where we are. I'm not complaining though, great news. Got a link for where it was mentioned?

Twitch.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Not a problem. Tonari no totoro to-toro.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Speaking of SFLV, did anyone enjoy spotting the cameos? It was awesome to see Shin Ha-Kyun and Song Kang-Ho as the hired assassins.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Gang Hye-Jung is a newscaster.
The actress who played Woo-Jin's sister is one of the girls in the "Reaction to Geum-Ja" montage. I believe she actually says "Kind Geum-Ja!"
The actor who played Mr. Han plays the fervent religious who sells out Geum-Ja to Mr. Baek.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?