Asian

Synopsis (from Letterboxed):
Aiba is a gang boss who has just got out of jail, and finds everything has changed. His old gang has broken up, and only a few people still respect him. So he becomes a consultant to another gang who are about to be clobbered by a much larger gang moving in from out of town. Aiba proves a crafty tactician, and does very well at playing gangs off against each other in order to save the smaller gang. His advice is not always taken by those he tries to help, but he is generally proved right.Read More »

KatsuKanai wrote:
The Deserted Archipelago was my first independently directed and produced film. The film won the Grand Prix at the Nyon International Film Festival and garnered considerable attention both overseas and in Japan. The film follows an extremely simple story of a plain boy who matures into manhood while constantly manipulated by nuns. But woven into this narrative are my own experiences and the history of postwar Japan as well as a series of fantasies. The result is a multifaceted and multilayered objet, the birth of a newly sur-realistic filmmaking. On August 15th, the day the war ended, I was in the third year of primary school. That day, when the reality that I had known turned completely upside down, I was saddled with the trauma of no longer being able to believe in anything. Searching here and there for some kind of spiritual salvation, I finally found the existentialism of Albert Camus. From there, I was able to build up my own kind of existentialism and this film is best understood as based in that “Kanai Katsu Existentialism.” The film was praised by European film scholars Max Tessier and Tony Rayns and was screened as part of “Eiga: 25 Years of Japanese Film,” a special program at the 1984 Edinburgh International Film Festival.Read More »

Synopsis wrote:
Min-Jun (SONG Il-Kook) and Ji-Won (SON Ye-Jin) are so-called the first-rate “players” who are dating gurus with 100% success rates in any dating pursuits. Following her usual systematic dating rules, Ji-Won fakes a schematic car accident to capture Min-Jun’s attention and successfully approaches him.

However, her smooth-sailing dating life finally encounters turbulence. Why in the world is this guy not succumbing to her alluring charm? Ironically enough, Min-Jun is also overwhelmed by the understanding that he has met his match. However, like the veteran players that they are, these two shouldn’t show any signs of weakness in their dating tactics. Who will emerge
victorious and become the last player standing?Read More »

Based on true incidents, a south Indian Hindu man falls in love with a Muslim woman–taboo in the small village from which they hail. They marry against family wishes and move to Mumbai, where he works as a reporter for a large daily newspaper. Eventually, the couple has twin boys. The rest of the film is set during the December 1992-January 1993 period when the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy raised religious tension in Mumbai and other parts of India, which sparked rioting and violence. The couple is separated from their children, and the fathers of both parents are killed when their home is burned by rioters. A reporter is shown interviewing politicians from both factions as well as the police. An underlying moral of thinking of oneself as an Indian rather than a Hindu or a Muslim is prevalent throughout the latter part of the film. The family is finally reunited after much searching through hospitals, morgues, and shelters. But the violence has left indelible impressions in the minds of the children.Read More »

Ho Jun is a student from Beijing who is working in a cattle slaughter house in Tokyo. He lives with other Chinese friends in cheap lodgings. All of them find it difficult to adapt to Japanese culture. To make matters worse Ho Jun and some friends devise a plot to rob a local pinball gambling house – the gangster who owns the house finds them out and threatens to send Ho Jun back to China.Read More »

In 1979 Ryû Murakami directed the adaption of his best selling novel “Almost Transparent Blue”: Main character Ryū and his small group of young friends are living in a Japanese town with an American air force base, their lives revolve around sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. The movie depicts the daily monotony of drug-induced hallucinations, vicious acts of violence, overdoses and group sex.
This only ever came out on VHS.Read More »

Based on a Japanese folk legend that echoes the tale of Robin Hood, this ninja thriller follows the exploits of Goemon Ishikawa (Yôsuke Eguchi), who leaves his fighting clan after its chief…Read More »

Imdb:
A university student has the usual dreams and aspirations. It turns out to be a pipe dream and so she murders her own flesh and blood. The usual media heads seek an answer in order to sell copy. A psychologist is writing a book about the character and incident. Her research for the subject matter turn the psychologist inward and things come out of the shadows that perhaps are better left buried deep in the shadows of the psyche.Read More »

Synopsis: Teen romance film based on a manga (Japanese comic book) series by Fujoshi Rumi.Read More »