Category: Drama

Dogma #7 Interview

Type: Drama, South Korea 2000

Director: Hyuk Byun

My rating: 3

Key actors/actresses:
Jung-Jae Lee .... Eun-seok
Eun-ha Shim .... Yeong-heui

Story:
A film maker doing interviews of people telling their love stories, he falls in love with one of the interviewees. As his feelings for her continues to evolve, her lies are uncovered...

My review:
An interesting plot that needing one to pay more attention to appreciate.

Jam Films (7 short movies)


Type: Comedy Drama Romantic SciFi Suspense, Japan 2002

Director: See below

My rating: 5

Key actors/actresses:
Directors: Daizaburo Hanada ("Opening"), J么ji Iida ("Cold Sleep"), Shunji Iwai ("Arita"), Ryuhei Kitamura ("The Messenger - Requiem for the Dead"), Rokuro Mochizuki ("Pandora - Hong Kong Leg"), Tetsuo Shinohara ("Kendama"), Yukihiko Tsutsumi ("Hijiki"), Isao Yukisada ("Justice")

Natsuko Akiyama .... ("Hijiki")
Kuranosuke Sasaki .... ("Hijiki")
Megumi Takahashi .... ('Hijiki')
Megumi Uziie .... ('Hijiki' & 'Kendama')
Masayoshi Yamazaki .... ("Kendama")
Ryoko Shinohara .... ("Kendama")
Hirofumi Arai .... ('Justice')
Haruka Ayase .... ("Justice")
Hitomi Kurihara .... ('Justice')
Akifumi Miura .... ('Justice')
Christian Storms .... ('Justice')
Satoshi Tsumabuki .... ("Justice"
Ryoko Hirosue .... ("Arita")
Kazuki Kitamura .... ("The Messenger - Requiem for the Dead")
Tak Sakaguchi .... ('The Messenger - Requiem for the Dead')
Kanae Uotani .... The messenger ('The Messenger - Requiem for the Dead')
Akaji Maro .... ("Pandora - Hong Kong Leg")
Takami Yoshimoto .... ("Pandora - Hong Kong Leg")Takao Osawa .... ("Cold Sleep")
Samuel Pop .... ('Cold Sleep')
Albert Smith .... ('Cold Sleep')
Tomomi Tsunoda .... ("Cold Sleep")
Yasutaka Tsutsui .... ('Cold Sleep')

Posted by Dominic
Story:
7 stories by 7 different directors, comedy, suspense, sci-fi, romantic, you name it. Quite fun to watch 7 short pieces.

My review:
Quite fun to watch 7 short pieces. All nicely made, since each has only about 15 mins, they have to impress the audience pretty much from the beginning. I won't spoiled you with the details of the storyline.

The hidden blade

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The Hidden Blade (buy from Amazon)

Type: Drama, Japan 2004

Director: Yoji Yamada

My rating: 4

Key actors/actresses:
Masatoshi Nagase
Takako Matsu
Hidetaka Yoshioka
Yukiyoshi Ozawa

Posted by Dominic
Story:
At the end of the Edo era, a kind hearted samurai called Munezo was living in a rapidly changing time where Japan was full of corrupted warloads and the Western world was starting to influence Japan. Munezo was a highly skilled swordsman who had not killed a single person and he was forced to confront his friend, a fellow student under the same sword master, his friend had turned into a rebel. He became very tired of the injustice in the system...

My review:
Very well filmed with the finest actors. It brings out the emotion of the character very well, Munezo's kind, warm character and his love and affection towards the housemaid Kei, his reluctant to fight his old friend and in the end he decides to take justice in his own way. Not a typical samurai with blind obedient towards the warload master.

I like the fighting scene between Munezo and his friend, so reluctant yet inevitable, he was so unsure of his new trick that he recently learnt from his sword master just for this fight, his heart was full of contradiction. I also like the relationship development between Munezo and Kie, though predictable. Was Munezo a good samurai? Probably not.

Crying out love in the centre of the world 在世界中心呼喚愛

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Crying out of Love in the Centre of the World (buy from Amazon)

Type: Drama Romantic, Japan 2004

Director: Isao Tukisada 行定勲

My rating: 5

Key actors/actresses:
Sakutaro(Today) 朔太郎...Takao Osawa 大澤隆夫
Ritsuko 律子...Kou Shibasaki 柴崎幸
Sakutaro(High school) 朔太郎...Tsutomu Yamazki 森山未來
Aki 廣瀨亞紀...Masami Nagasawa長澤正美

Story:
Sakutaro is getting married soon, one day his fiancee Ritsuko found a long lost tape that she was supposed to have given to Sakutaro 17 years ago, it is the last recording of Sakutaro's first love at high school - Aki who died 17 years ago of leukemia (blood cancer). Sakutaro has never been able to forget her but simply trying to bury his feeling. Ritsuko goes back to the home town and independently Sakutaro is doing the same, he returns to his home and went through all the tapes that he and Aki recorded for each other and their story is re-told once again.

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Osama

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Osama (buy from Amazon)

Type: Drama, Afghanistan 2003

Director: Siddiq Barmak

My rating: 4
Key actors/actresses:
Marina Golbahari .... Osama
Arif Herati .... Espandi
Zubaida Sahar .... Mother

Story:
Another movie about Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. A woman who worked at the hospital that was closed, so she lost her job and the only way to continue to feed the family is to ask her 12-year old daughter to pretend to be a boy and work. It was no easy and soon she got caught...

My review:
A poor country in a turbulent time. This is the second movie about Afghanistan that I watched recently. I can't help but feel really sorry for what this country is going through and how thankful that we are living in a comfortable stable society.

36 Quai des Orf?vres

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36 Quai des Orfevres (Original French Version with English Subtitles) (buy from Amazon)

Type: Drama, France 2004

Director: Olivier Marchal

My rating: 3

Key actors/actresses:
Daniel Auteuil .... L?o Vrinks
G?rard Depardieu .... Denis Klein
Andr? Dussollier .... Robert Mancini
Roschdy Zem .... Hugo Silien
Valeria Golino .... Camille Vrinks
Posted by Dominic
Story:
For months, Paris police is trying to solve a gang of violent armed robberies. Vrinks and Denis are both top police officers who are competing to be the next chief. The race is on, Vrinks takes the risk and relies on a tip-off of a convic, though solves the case but got him into serious trouble. Denis disregards the protocol and results in deaths of fellow officers during gun fight. Denis in defending himself, pushes Vrinks deep into trouble and gets thrown in jail. Denis becomes the new chief...

My review:
Good actors but with such an interesting plot, I expect the movie to be more intense. I didn't find the movie was capturing my attention.

Twilight Samurai

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The Twilight Samurai (buy from Amazon)

Type: Drama, Japan 2002

Director:Yoji Yamada

My rating: 4

Key actors/actresses:
Hiroyuki Sanada .... Seibei Iguchi
Rie Miyazawa .... Tomoe Iinuma
Nenji Kobayashi .... Choubei Kusaka
Ren Osugi .... Toyotarou Kouda
Mitsuru Fukikoshi .... Michinojo Iinuma

Posted by Dominic
Story:
Seibei Iguchi is a low-rank Samurai who suffers poverty as he spends all his money for the family,include a bed-bound wife who is sick, 2 daughters and an old mother. Wife died out of illness and put the family further in debt, but they are happy as a family. Tomoe is Seibei's long time love and childhood friend, Tomoe was just divorced from an abusive husband.Just Tomoe and Seibei may start to develop some special relationship, Seibei decided that Tomoe will suffer too much if she follows him. Until one day, Seibei's brilliant sword skill was discovered and he was sent to deal with a very strong enermy, facing a live or death situation, Seibei confessed to Tomoe that he really loves her...

My review:
The second movie that I watched directed by Yoji Yamada, simply excellent, well directed and well acted. Aduience can feel for the characteres in the movie and the sword fight was very impactful and so was the numerous scenes with Seibei and Tomoe.

Nathalie

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Nathalie (buy from Amazon)

Type: Drama, France 2003

Director: Anne Fontaine

My rating: 3

Key actors/actresses:
Fanny Ardant .... Catherine
Emmanuelle B?art .... Nathalie/Marl?ne
G?rard Depardieu .... Bernard

Posted by Dominic
Story:
A woman is suspious of her husband being the type of men that cheat on their wifes. She went as far as hiring a show-girl to seduce her husband and to report back to her everything that they did. Would the husband fall for it?

My review:
Is my partner faithful? Do people often ask themselves such question? How will one know for sure? Do we need to test our partner to find out? What if we don't like the outcome?

Resurrection

Type: Drama SciFi, Japan 200x

Director:TBD

My rating: 3
Buy it now:
Key actors/actresses:

Posted by Dominic
Story:
In a small Japanese village, some dead people begin to return to life, some were dead for years and some died only very recently. Why is this happening? And what does that mean? What is the impact of their living friends and relatives? A young man who was from this village was being sent to investigate, something most unexpected awaits...

My review:
Interesting film, I particularly like the message. Knowing and understanding death allows us to comprehend and appreciate the meaning of living.

Touch

Touch

Type: Drama, Japan 2005

Director: Isshin Inudou

My rating: 4
Key actors/actresses:
Masami Nagasawa .... Minami Asakura
Keita Saito .... Kazuya Uesugi
Syota Saito .... Tatsuya Uesugi
Posted by Dominic
Story:
Based on the comic book by Mitsuru Adachi. Kazuya (younger) and Tatsuya (elder) are twin brothers, Minami is the girl next door, the three of them were born in the same year and grew up together. Both brothers love Minami. She has a wish which becomes the common goal of the twin brothers that is to go to Koshien Stadium to play baseball. To do so, they must represent their high school and win the regional competition. Tatsuya doesn't want to compet with his brother and quit baseball, Kazuya is a great baseball player and has led the school team to the regional final, soon Minami's dream will be realised and she is clear on who she loves. On the day of the final game, something happened and Kazuya did not turn up...

My review:
I have always loved this comic by Mitsuru Adachi, also the TV edition which has become a classic. Kazuya and Tatsuya are good and loving brothers, Minami is the kind of girl where every boy dreams about. Mitsuru has created many touching and clever plots in the story with many other interesting characters surrounding Kazuya, Tatsuya and Minami, including the star players in the other baseball teams. I think there is too much in the originally story to be put in a 2-hour movie, the film has done a good job in bringing out the essence, but if you like the movie and have not read the comic or watch the TV series, I'll encourage you to do so.

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