The Chaser (Chugyeogja, South Korea, 2008)

The Saw franchise meets the (bonkers) South Korean sensibility of Memories of Murder (2003)? I wouldn’t want to deal with the police in South Korea (actually, I wouldn’t want to deal with the police in this country given the violence they are meting out, and inspiring, at demos) if these films are any indication of [...]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o kakeru shôjo, Japan, 2006)

This marvelous anime reverses the idea that youngsters want to grow up quickly with the protagonist attempting to reverse events that lead to change. Although not a Studio Ghibli production, Girl has a hero who could happily reside in movies made by Miyazaki (and others). Her wonderful tumbles, necessitated by having to leap through time, [...]

Mother (Madeo, S.Korea, 2009)

While I thoroughly enjoyed Joon-ho Bong’s Memories of Murder (2003) I struggled to appreciate The Host (2006) and the film under review. All three films take a genre, Mother‘s a melodrama, and approaches the narrative askance. In other words, he allows the genre to set up expectation but doesn’t deliver it straight. This is absolutely [...]

My Sassy Girl (Yeopgijeogin geunyeo, S.Korea, 2001, and US, 2008)

Tamar Jeffers McDonald (Romantic Comedy, Wallflower, 2007) suggests that, in the screwball comedy, affection is expressed through aggression and that the protagonist is often female; an anarchic force that disrupts the stuffy male. Katharine Hepburn is the archetype – so brilliant is she that that word is correct – in the classic Bringing Up Baby [...]

Red Cliff (Chi bi, China, 2008)

Since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan-Hong Kong-US-China, 2000) we’ve been, in the west, regaled with a number of spectacular films from China. John Woo, who’s gone ‘full circle’ from Hong Kong to Hollywood and back to China, directs this conflagration of a film. It lacks nothing for spectacle but maybe I’m getting jaded at seeing [...]

Treeless Mountain (US/South Korea 2008)

This slice of director So Yung Kim’s life is blessed by wonderful performances by the leads (above) and cursed by the constant use of a long lens that renders the mise en scene flat and the compositions dominated by claustrophobic close ups. Whilst the handheld camera and location shooting signifies realism the flat depth of [...]

Ponyo (Gake no Ue no Ponyo, Japan 2008)

Critics have compared this film to Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro (Japan, 1988) as it will also appeal to very young children. Of course his films appeal to all ages such is their artistry, however I was slightly disappointed in Ponyo though I can’t exactly pinpoint why. When Ponyo, a fish wanting to be human, is [...]

House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu, China, 2004)

One of the most sumptuously shot films in cinema, House of Flying Daggers wears its heart on the screen mixing outrageous action sequences with high octane romance. I saw the film when it was released and thoroughly enjoyed the cinematography and action sequences though failed to appreciate the romance. I certainly noticed the romantic narrative [...]

One Missed Call (Chakushin ari, Japan, 2003)

Genres are, by their nature, formulaic however new examples of the genre need to be different otherwise audiences, having seen it all before, will ‘turn off’. One Missed Call is a Ringu rip-off, instead of video tapes and a week to live, the hapless victims receive a mobile phone call – uncannily from themselves – [...]

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom, S.Korea, 2008)

Undoubtedly the funniest film I’ve seen in a long time. It stars the man with the maddest hair in contemporary cinema, Song Kang-ho, and some of the best action sequences in any western. Clearly a homage to Leone’s spaghetti westerns the visual style, as you expect, is stunning but director Kim Ji-woon (also A Bittersweet [...]