Asian

  • Young Nam Ko – Sonagi AKA The Shower (1979)

    Young Nam Ko1971-1980AsianDramaSouth Korea

    Quote:
    Seokee meets Yeonee at the entrance to the village. She has transferred from a shool in Seoul as a result of her father’s business failure, and has been sent to live with her great-grandfather Yoon. Yeonee waits for Seokee near a stream and tries to befriend him, but Seokee feels awkward and avoids her. Thereafter, Seokee doesn’t see Yeonee neer the stream for days. He misses her. He dresses up in his best clothes and goes to try and find her. After Seokee fights with other kids on Yeonee’s behalf, they become friends. Yeonee asks Seokee to go hiking and they have a wonderful time. They are caught in a rain shower. Seokee givers his shirt to Yeonee. They dash for cover and sit together under a haystack…Read More »

  • Kwok-Ming Cheung – Bin yuen yan AKA Man on the Brink (1981)

    Kwok-Ming Cheung1981-1990AsianCultHong Kong

    Quote:
    Writing, directing and photographing Man On The Brink, Cheung can’t possibly have been the first kid on the block to attempt this story that later cropped up to great effect in City On Fire. But watching Chiu’s descent shaped by the seedy world around him is quite engaging, much more so during the latter stages of the film when Cheung easily plants that sinking feeling in viewer’s stomachs. Meaning that the proceedings are heading towards a sad end statement as Cheung takes us on a continuation of the social commentary from his debut. Read More »

  • Takayuki Miyagawa – Boso sekkusu-zoku AKA Wild Sex Gang (1973)

    1971-1980AsianJapanTakayuki Miyagawa
    Boso sekkusu zoku (1973)
    Boso sekkusu zoku (1973)

    Motorbike, Tits, Miki Sugimoto… and cops & yakuza as well (scripted by Norifumi Suzuki)Read More »

  • Kôji Shima – Sasameyuki AKA The Makioka Sisters (1959)

    1951-1960AsianDramaJapanKôji Shima

    This is the second of three major film adaptation of Junichiro Tanizaki’s famous novel from the 1940s, the first one being the 1950 version directed by Yutaka Abe, the latter one being Kon Ichikawa’s The Makioka Sisters from 1983. Shima’s version stars Machiko Kyo, Fujiko Yamamoto, Junko Kano and Yukiko Todoroki in the roles of the sisters. The novel (and the films) follow the lives of the wealthy Makioka family of Osaka from the autumn of 1936 to April 1941, focusing on the family’s attempts to find a husband for the third sister, Yukiko. It depicts the decline of the family’s upper-middle-class, suburban lifestyle as the specter of World War II and Allied Occupation hangs over the novel.Read More »

  • Toshiya Fujita – Erosu no yûwaku AKA Seduction of Eros (1972)

    1971-1980AsianJapanToshiya Fujita

    Tane, a female clerk of a rubber company in a corner of an industrial area facing Tokyo Bay is a quirky woman, also living on the second floor of the company warehouse.Read More »

  • Yonfan – Toh sik AKA Colour Blossoms (2004)

    2001-2010AsianEroticaHong KongQueer Cinema(s)Yonfan

    Quote:
    Asian Erotic. Teresa Cheung stars as a real estate agent drawn into a torrid – and sadomasochistic – relationship with a morose, stunningly beautiful Japanese photographer played by male model Sho. The two cavort in a luxurious apartment owned by an elegant upper-crust Japanese lady (Japanese diva Matsusaka Keiko), crossing paths with an infatuated policeman (Carl Ng), a mysterious Korean woman (Korean transgender Ha Ri Su), and an increasingly tangled web of violence, criss-crossing passions, and lurid, unchecked desires…Read More »

  • Nirad N. Mahapatra – Maya Miriga AKA The Mirage (1984)

    1981-1990AsianDramaIndiaNirad N. Mahapatra

    Synopsis:
    The story of a family, where three generations live under a decaying roof. The widowed grandmother is the titular head, her son Raj Kishore Babu, father of four sons and a daughter, is the gentle yet disciplined headmaster on the verge of retirement. The father demands of his sons a diligent pursuit of education as the means of upward mobility. The centre of all their hopes is the brilliant second son studying in Delhi to get into the IAS. When he makes it to the coveted service, the family thinks all their sacrifices have been worth it. The family gets flattering proposals and the IAS probationer marries a city-bred girl above his status. The unvoiced protest comes from the eldest daughter-in-law Prabha, the beast of burden and kitchen slave. Her husband is a college lecturer. Prabha wonders if the IAS officer’s wife will share the chores. She is proved right when the new bahu defies tradition by opting to stay with her parents when the husband is away on training.Read More »

  • Ishmael Bernal – City After Dark AKA Manila By Night (1980)

    1971-1980AsianDramaIshmael BernalPhilippines

    Quote:
    The hidden nightlife of ordinary people living in Manila unveils. Lovers and families’ conflicts are radically pitted against each other as they live in the night streets rampant with drugs and prostitution. The outstanding narrative explicitly unravels the various characters and episodes. This landmark film of Ishmael Bernal depicts the darkness of city life so vividly that it was once prohibited to use the word ‘Manila’ on its title.Read More »

  • Kazuyoshi Kumakiri – Sora no ana AKA Hole in the Sky (2001)

    2001-2010AsianDramaJapanKazuyoshi Kumakiri

    Quote:
    Following up on his acclaimed debut feature, Kichiku Dai Enkai — an intense portrait of a band of 1970s radicals who descend into morass of fratricidal blood lust — Kazuyoshi Kumakiri shifts gears completely by offering this understated romantic drama. Ichio (Takeshi Kitano regular Susumu Terajima) runs a rundown eatery on a Hokkaido highway. One day, a couple gets into a spat resulting in the guy — an overly tanned self-satisfied clod — hopping in his red sports car and driving off without her. The woman, Taeko (Rinko Kikuchi), returns to order a meal. When she tries to dash without paying, Ichio nabs her but lets her off with a warning. Ichio soon finds himself similarly stranded when his horseracing-mad father — and owner of the restaurant — swipes Ichio’s car for a crazed gambling road trip with his buddies. Later that night while camping out, Taeko inadvertently burns down one of the restaurant’s sheds. This time around, Ichio puts Taeko to work. Soon, in spite of themselves, a relationship is born.
    ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie GuideRead More »

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