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RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 14/11/2005 7:24:01 PM   
cjm44


Posts: 5
Joined: 14/11/2005
Just watched the Eye, very good I thought. I've heard the second and third are pretty rubbish, does anyone agree?
About to go through all Infernal Affairs

(in reply to foz)
Post #: 121
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 14/11/2005 10:03:57 PM   
Jasiri


Posts: 2497
Joined: 23/10/2005
47 Ronin - Kenji Mizoguchi
Great to have been able to see another of Mizoguchi's films,sadly for some reason he's never received anything like the wider recognition that other Japanese directors have and very few of his films are available on DVD,thankfully though Criterion have finally released the amazing Ugetsu Monogatari.
47 Ronin is simply a brilliant film,filmed in two parts in I think 1941 and 1942,despite the subject matter only one act of violence,the initial brief attack by Asano is seen on screen during the roughly 3 hours 40 mins of the film,all the action takes place off screen and we follow only the unfolding drama.This may sound  a bit dull and it could well have been boring in the hands of a lesser director than Mizoguchi but for me it's an incredible and beautiful piece of film making.

By coincedence I finally got my copy of Kinji Fukasaku's Last of the Ako Clan/Fall of Ako Castle today which is his version of the 47 ronin story,I'll have to leave it just now though don't want to watch the same story again so soon and Mizoguchi's film is still so clear in my head that no matter how good and different Fukasaku's take on the story is it will suffer from comparison.
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Foz
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Kairo (known as Pulse over here) is finally getting released over here! It's a bit odd in place (well alright then,all of it)

*snip*

In fact I'm off to watch the Japanese directors' cut (first DVD I ever bought from Japan) right now.


Foz,how long is the directors cut.I have the HK release and it says on the case119 minutes.
Kairo is an excellent film and one of very few horrors that I have watched repeatedly and it's always enjoyable,the only other film I have seen from him is Cure which I'm equally keen on and have also watched several times trying to understand.
 

(in reply to foz)
Post #: 122
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 14/11/2005 10:32:18 PM   
foz


Posts: 3490
Joined: 1/10/2005
quote:

ORIGINAL: Jasiri

Foz,how long is the directors cut.I have the HK release and it says on the case119 minutes.
Kairo is an excellent film and one of very few horrors that I have watched repeatedly and it's always enjoyable,the only other film I have seen from him is Cure which I'm equally keen on and have also watched several times trying to understand.



The Japanese Director's cut of Kairo is a bit of a cheeky misnomer, as it's the same as the normal one (which teh director presumably cut as well) - so I still don't know who the bloke with the boat is.  Along with vastly-improved sound & vision, there's a right old raft of extras with this one though, with the notable inclusion of the making of the Tower Bit (for those who haven't seen this film yet, it deserves its capital letters).  And it also has a rather unnerving menu which shouldn't be stared at for very long...

(in reply to Jasiri)
Post #: 123
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 14/11/2005 11:09:23 PM   
Zatoichi


Posts: 2508
Joined: 30/9/2005
Can you get Kairo on DVD in this country?

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Post #: 124
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 14/11/2005 11:20:27 PM   
Jasiri


Posts: 2497
Joined: 23/10/2005
quote:

ORIGINAL: Foz
The Japanese Director's cut of Kairo is a bit of a cheeky misnomer, as it's the same as the normal one (which teh director presumably cut as well) - so I still don't know who the bloke with the boat is.  Along with vastly-improved sound & vision, there's a right old raft of extras with this one though, with the notable inclusion of the making of the Tower Bit (for those who haven't seen this film yet, it deserves its capital letters).  And it also has a rather unnerving menu which shouldn't be stared at for very long...


Ok it's not a different cut,was just wondering if I was missing something.The guy in the ship was what I was thinking about,it's just totally random.

(in reply to foz)
Post #: 125
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 14/11/2005 11:26:09 PM   
foz


Posts: 3490
Joined: 1/10/2005
quote:

Can you get Kairo on DVD in this country?


Not just yet - Optimum Releasing/Optimum Asia got an uncut 15 cert for the home video last week, but I can't see any release date.  It's just come out in the US (ex-Miramax VP Randy Wells' new Magnolia label seemingly found this one down the back of the Weinsteins' sofa after 4 years), so maybe positive Stateside feedback could push it into theatres before a DVD release.

quote:

it's just totally random


I know - first time I watched it, I assumed that I fell asleep for 10 mins just before the ending..


< Message edited by Foz -- 14/11/2005 11:30:54 PM >

(in reply to Zatoichi)
Post #: 126
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 15/11/2005 3:17:33 PM   
shotlandka


Posts: 99
Joined: 12/10/2005
wierdly ended up a very German month
Wings of Desire (fantastic)
Run Lola Run (need I say more)
Napola (very good indeed, and it stayed with me quite a while, if you know what I mean)

Other foreign films I've seen recently
The Crime of Father Amarro (great)
My half-brother Frankenstein (Russian, very good, but doubt it had an international release, I have it on Region 5 DVD, no subtitles)
L'homme du train (great, the way he asks to have his haircut is just one of the funniest moments in film!)
9th Company (9 rota)(New Russian film about the USSR-Afghanistan war, based on real experiences of the Soviet soldiers there, great film, fantastic acting, no idea about international release, Region 5 DVD has good extras - but only Russian subtitles)

< Message edited by shotlandka -- 16/11/2005 5:11:27 PM >

(in reply to foz)
Post #: 127
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 15/11/2005 8:55:39 PM   
foz


Posts: 3490
Joined: 1/10/2005
Kick the Moon - Nowhere near as good as Attack the Gas Station! (although to be fair, not much is), it shares a few threads with its predecessor (most notably the "entire cast punch-up" at the end) but with an adult cast instead of AtGS's teenage one, it's a little bit too screwball/overacted in places.  Not bad, just not as good as I hoped it'd be.

(in reply to shotlandka)
Post #: 128
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 16/11/2005 3:49:54 PM   
lixqwerty


Posts: 65
Joined: 4/10/2005
Continuing to make my way through Takashi Miikes back-catalogue I managed to watch the first two Dead or Alive films.

First of all I'll state I am a huge Miike fan and think Ichi, Happiness of the Katakuris and Visitor Q are all gems. But I was left in total bemusement at the DOA films. I put it bluntly, I thought they were crap. Totally confusing and unengaging and not at all easy films to watch. They feel like those films which have to be endured rather than enjoyed.

I didn't understand what the hell was going on (a second viewing is probably necessary but I just don't want to put myself though it). The story was a convoluted mess and I had little to no interest in the characters. There were a few moments which were nice, I liked the opening and ending to 1 and the bits filmed on the island on 2, particulary the play they put on for the children which had a certain Kitano charm about it.

But still, they were not enjoyable films and I wouldn't advise anyone who hasn't sen them to watch them. They don't tell you anything you didn't already know about Miike from other, purer films such as Bird People in China and Ichi the Killer.

** each.

(in reply to cjm44)
Post #: 129
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 17/11/2005 3:32:14 PM   
Dignan


Posts: 2421
Joined: 30/9/2005
I've finally got round to watching the excellent Amelie

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Post #: 130
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 18/11/2005 10:13:42 AM   
shotlandka


Posts: 99
Joined: 12/10/2005
Last night watched a documentary about Sluzhebnii roman (Workplace romance), a classic Soviet comedy.  Have to get it out at the video shop now, haven't watched it for at least a year!  Alisa Freindlikh and Andrei Myakov, songs and lots of laughs, just what is needed to lift the mood!

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Post #: 131
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 18/11/2005 10:33:54 AM   
Shawlord


Posts: 546
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: The Sands, Las Vegas 1950's
 The Bicycle Thieves (1948) - Possibly the slowest and most unengaging foreign film I have ever seen.  A real disappointment after all the positive things I have heard said about it.

(in reply to shotlandka)
Post #: 132
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 18/11/2005 8:38:16 PM   
Helium Hunchback


Posts: 139
Joined: 30/9/2005
Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud. Nelly (Emmanuelle Béart) helps a retired judge write his memoirs and a bond forms between them. It's very understated but enjoyable enough. I kept watching mostly because of Mademoiselle Béart.

(in reply to Shawlord)
Post #: 133
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 18/11/2005 10:36:27 PM   
Tequila01

 

Posts: 1
Joined: 18/11/2005
From: London
 Recently saw OngBak and Night Watch, brilliant the two films. Iam going to watch Korean film "Brotherhood" tonight so im hoping thats good 

(in reply to foz)
Post #: 134
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 18/11/2005 10:45:36 PM   
foz


Posts: 3490
Joined: 1/10/2005
quote:

ORIGINAL: Tequila01
Iam going to watch Korean film "Brotherhood" tonight so im hoping thats good 


It is.

(in reply to Tequila01)
Post #: 135
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 20/11/2005 9:30:08 PM   
filmliefhebber

 

Posts: 516
Joined: 30/9/2005
A tale of Two Sisters: 2 / 5. Boring (story) but nice camerawork.

(in reply to foz)
Post #: 136
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 21/11/2005 1:56:05 PM   
shotlandka


Posts: 99
Joined: 12/10/2005
Yesterday I watched The Cranes are Flying, which I've been wanting to see for ages.

WOW!

Watch it!  The acting, the camera work, the story, all just wonderful.

Also watched Infernal Affairs, which was great too.
All in all a successful weekend's watching!

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Post #: 137
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 21/11/2005 4:07:22 PM   
StevieB


Posts: 11
Joined: 10/10/2005
From: Kent, UK
 I watched the first of Eric Rohmers' "Four Seasons" films yesterday (Springtime), which was a very good film about nothing. It is amazing that in a good directors hands any subject, even a non-story, can be so well put together and entertaining. And he is still making films at 85! I am looking forward to seeing the other three seasons over the next couple of weeks. 

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Post #: 138
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 21/11/2005 7:29:51 PM   
xim123


Posts: 544
Joined: 30/9/2005
Last night whilst in Paris I watched Backstage, in French, without subtitles.  My french isn't that great so I didn't understand a word but thought it was quite good.  Curious to see it with subtitles to find out what was actually said.

< Message edited by xim123 -- 21/11/2005 7:49:51 PM >

(in reply to StevieB)
Post #: 139
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 21/11/2005 8:29:09 PM   
Peppermint


Posts: 10418
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Sussex
 I watched A Bout De Souffle this weekend and I found it disappointing.  Maybe it's because I watched some of it and then went back to it later on when I was tired.

(in reply to cjm44)
Post #: 140
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 22/11/2005 4:52:11 PM   
yblehSdranoeL


Posts: 60
Joined: 30/9/2005

JSA - More mainstream and not as `out there' or sadistic as later efforts from Park Chan-Wook, but still really enjoyable storytelling with some nice comic touches and the visual flair that would be used so well on Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy. I'm really looking forward to Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

3-Iron - Watching this was a thoroughly strange and mystifying experience. I'm still not sure what happened towards the end and the two main characters don't say a word throughout the entire movie - so par for the course (see what I did threre) for a Kim Ki-Duk film. Another masterclass in how to get great emotional perfomances out of actors using nothing but looks and gestures. Great stuff.

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Post #: 141
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 22/11/2005 9:49:10 PM   
Jasiri


Posts: 2497
Joined: 23/10/2005
Bright Future-Kiyoshi Kurosawa

More strangeness from Kurosawa about two guys and a jellyfish,not really sure what to make of it,think I'll need to watch another couple of times to get to grips with it all.He makes films which are loaded with allegory and while some of it's clear,I think a lot of this film passed me by first time round.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is for me one of the most interesting directors in Japan in recent years and I really need to make an effort to see more of his work.

< Message edited by Jasiri -- 23/11/2005 2:37:55 PM >

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Post #: 142
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 24/11/2005 2:59:07 PM   
filmliefhebber

 

Posts: 516
Joined: 30/9/2005
A snake of June: not very special. The first half is better than the second half. The blue coloured fotography is nice for just 5 minutes. Quote: 2,5 / 5.

(in reply to Jasiri)
Post #: 143
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 24/11/2005 10:00:29 PM   
Peppermint


Posts: 10418
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Sussex
 I'm Not Scared
 
Very good, although I don't think it'll end up in my collection.  One criticism though could be that the significance of what Michele found was revealed too early on. 

(in reply to Jasiri)
Post #: 144
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 25/11/2005 12:12:15 AM   
foz


Posts: 3490
Joined: 1/10/2005
quote:

ORIGINAL: filmliefhebber

A snake of June: not very special. The first half is better than the second half. The blue coloured fotography is nice for just 5 minutes. Quote: 2,5 / 5.


I've never known what to make of this film.  I dragged a couple of people I know to come and see this when it was part of the Tartan Asia Extreme thingy a few years back (probably the last really good season of these as well, if only for the respective appearances of Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Bad Guy, which turned my vague infatuation with Korean films into something far more mucky), and I've not seen them since.  Shinya Tsukamoto* is rarely for the faint of heart, and A Snake in June is possibly his most uncomfortable work to date.  It's undeniably beautifully framed, but (kind of like Takashi Ishii's Freeze Me/Freezer) it blurs the line between celebrating and objectifying women a little bit too much, leaving the viewer feeling rather confused about how they should be feeling when watching it.  Which, to be fair to Tsukamoto-san, was probably his intention all along.  The lack of any sympathetic character (other than the cop who loses his gun, played brilliantly as always by the awesome Takeshi Kitano cinema sidekick Susumu Terajima, who I have yet to see turn in a performance that isn't excellent) is always a bugger for me, but I suppose that the fact that I still think about this film 3 years after I've seen it shows that someone's done something right somewhere.
A unique film, but possibly for all the wrong reasons.



*  If people of this parish don't already know him as top magician (of which he does a brief turn in a Miike film, which if memory serves me right is Dead or Alive 2) or as director of bodyhorror oddness Tetsuo, then you may know him as Ichi's mentor Jiji in (and literal provider of manfat for the opening credits of) Ichi the Killer.

(in reply to filmliefhebber)
Post #: 145
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 25/11/2005 11:11:29 AM   
sugarplum_fairy


Posts: 2065
Joined: 2/10/2005
From: Paris
 I saw Joyeux Noel a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Has anyone else seen it? Plot info can be found on Imdb.

It is ultimately a very moving, engaging film that is all at once uplifting and depressing, it demonstrates that which we forget in war times: that the enemy is not a nameless, faceless monster, but a man/woman with a family and friends. It shows how the bonds of humanity and friendship can ultimately overcome hatred produced by propoganda or circumstance, and we can see the gradual breaking down of the divisions between each side as the lines drawn become blurry.

Definately recommended, this is an important film with an important message and superbly acted as well. Such a pity that it isn't out in the UK before Christmas (or at least I don't think it is). The only negative point is the badly dubbed singing, which I found a bit distracting.

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Post #: 146
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 25/11/2005 1:32:32 PM   
Leomuse


Posts: 3401
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: The Valley of the Dolls
 Ring Ø: Birthday
2000
Norio Tsuruta
1st viewing

B-
Worse than the first but better than the second. The last 20 minutes let it down.

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Post #: 147
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 25/11/2005 1:44:01 PM   
kenada_woo


Posts: 1669
Joined: 30/9/2005
Infernal Affiars 3.  Enjoyed it even though it lost all the tightness of the original and the scope (sp) of the second.  Its a nice and tragic conclusion to Andy Lau's character with some good twists that set up the original film.  Not a patch on the other two but has its moments and worth seeing if you're a fan of the series. 

quote:

Just watched the Eye, very good I thought. I've heard the second and third are pretty rubbish, does anyone agree?


The Eye 2 is okay but not scary.  It has some amazing imagery and one of the best teaser trailers ever, which lets the only great scare in the film down a little if you've seen it.  The story too is original and there are great moments (the lift scene especially) but  you get the feeling there's a great film waiting to get out somewhere but it never does.

Aint seen the third yet. 

(in reply to cjm44)
Post #: 148
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 25/11/2005 5:01:26 PM   
darkcloud


Posts: 425
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: The Old Kingdom
 Haven't updated in a while (over a month actually )
Here's a quick summary:

Amelie - not much to say that hasn't been said, simply one of the best films ever, brightens up any day. 5/5
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - I have never been that into FF, mostly due to my lack of Playstation. This is an incredible achievement though. 4.5/5
Picnic: Shortish Shunji Iwai film about 3 mental patients who escape the harsh conditions in the asylum to walk along the walls. Its yet another touching film from a director who seemingly can do no wrong. 4/5
The Bow: Already discussed in this forum, Kim Ki-Duk has a gift for crafting films which are at the same time troubling and touching, with minimal dialogue. 4/5
Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke - Two of Miyazaki's finest. Need say no more 5/5 both.




< Message edited by darkcloud -- 25/11/2005 5:03:43 PM >

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Post #: 149
RE: Foreign films you watched recently - 26/11/2005 10:28:41 AM   
meh...


Posts: 383
Joined: 30/9/2005
Shoalin Soccer 4/5
Insane. Off it's fucking tits, but fantasticaly hilarious entertainment.

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Post #: 150
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