A word, a whisper in a general’s ear, and just like that a nation will descend into chaos. Neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother, indiscriminate violence to the point where even the leaders forget exactly how it all began. How can something like this happen? And can it really be the work of one man?…
Category: Asian Cinema
Okja Review
There is no doubt that Bong Joon-ho is a visionary filmmaker. And with six features under his belt (Snowpiercer, Mother, The Host, Memory of Murder, Barking Dogs Never Bite), including his newest production, the Netflix original Okja, there is no sign of him slowing down. Okja premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; it connects drama, family…
In Conversation with Mori Yoshitaka and Matsuyama Kenichi
This year’s Udine Far East Film Festival offered a great selection of truly excellent films, and among those, some packed an especially powerful emotional charge; in this grouping, there is no doubt that Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow was among the very best. The film’s screening was accompanied by director Mori Yoshitaka, known best for his Space…
Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow Review
In the Western cinematic scopes, we can find a number of chess-themed sports films and biopics, but there is a mere handful of productions that feature the Japanese cousin of the popular board game: shogi, known also as ‘Japanese chess’; a sport that has, since its 16th century beginnings, evolved into one of the most…
I Am Not Madame Bovary Review
David vs. Goliath seems to be the theme shrouding Feng Xiaogang’s newest feature, I Am Not Madame Bovary – there had been a lot of talk on what seemed to had been more than just a spat between the film director and the largest Chinese cinema chain, Wanda Cinema Line, who, at least according to…
19th Far East Film Festival: Close-Knit
Tomo has been abandoned by her mother, again. While this isn’t the first time it’s happened, and her mother has been more-or-less an absent parent since day one, it still hurts. Unable to live on her own, the eleven-year-old seeks refuge with her uncle Makio. He gladly accepts but he doesn’t live alone anymore, he…
19th Far East Film Festival: Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High
Teiichi wants to create his own empire. How’s that possible, you may ask? Well, by controlling the student council at his elite high school, of course. If he can run the school then Teiichi’s a shoe in for a prestigious government position, and from there he can even become Prime Minister. With his father’s broken…
19th Far East Film Festival: New Trial
Injustice, corruption, and oppression of the underprivileged are continuing topics in the South Korean motion pictures, but instead of focusing on the themes of personal vengeance, filmmakers often turn to common social issues to raise public awareness. 2000. In the southern city of Iksan, a 15-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for…
19th Far East Film Festival Opening: The Survival Family
On Friday, 21st April 2017, the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) opened the doors of Italy’s Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine for the 19th time; the selected opening film was Shinobu Yaguchi’s The Survival Family that promptly announced one of the “red threads” of this year’s edition: we were up for 10 days of excellent…
19th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy (21st – 29th April, 2017)
In less than a week, the 19th edition of the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) will open the doors of Teatro Nuovo “Giovanni da Udine” in Udine, Italy, and East Asian cinema will reign over the little city in the Italian Friuli-Venezia Giulia region for a full 9 days (21st – 29th April 2017). The FEFF…
The King Review
Jung Woo-sung. Jo In-sung. Ryu Jun-yeol. It’s hard to aim and miss with a bullet that is riding on the waves of these three audience-favourite names; and especially so when the shot is fired by Han Jae-rim, who both wrote and directed The King and who – following the success of his period drama The…
Lee Gae-byok’s Luck-Key
Body- and identity-swaps have been explored by Hollywood since the 1970’s; unfortunately, most of those films are just wacky comedies. Unexpectedly, Asian cinema has been keeping up with this trend of the la la land and has produced a few worthy productions, including the Japanese Key of Life by Kenji Uchida (Weekend Blues, A Stranger of…
Hong Ji-young’s Will You Be There?
Surprisingly, last year was fairly fruitful for the female filmmakers in South Korea. Most of their films – perhaps slightly unappreciated by the mainstream cinema critics – have been cherished by many film goers. One of those films is Will You Be There?, the first adaptation of Guillaume Musso’s 2006 bestselling novel with the same…
Missing Review
After a lengthy hiatus, Lee Eon-hie finally grabbed a pen and paper – as well as camera – and created (with some help from Hong Eun-mi) her first thriller Missing, which features two well-known Korean actresses: Uhm Ji-won (Master, The Silenced, Wish) and Kong Hyo-jin (Single Rider, Boomerang Family, Crush and Blush). Missing depicts a story…
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