Daddy long legs / Kidari ajeossi (South Korea, 2005)

Again a story about love! It is a typical Korean movie wit hits romance and drama. It has a nice story, with a plot twist which could be expected a bit.
The emotion of this film is a good one, it is about looking for your true love. And sometimes you suddenly realize all the time it was so clear. But for some reason, now you suddenly see. The one you love, the one you looking for…in fact all the time you knew and at the same time you didn’t have any clue about it.

Just look around you and maybe you will find that person you were looking for so long very near to you. As long as my memories of you will never fade, I will be happy. Even though I don’t know anything anymore, there is one thing I want to remember. That one thing, it is you.

Maybe you just realize you remembered again.

Diving Bell and the Butterfly / Le Scaphandre et le papillon (France, 2007)

The diving Bell and the Butterfly , directed by Julian Schnabel, is a story about a man (former director of Elle) who suffered a stroke and got the ‘locked-in’syndrome. He has lost all ability to move his body or even swallow. The only thing he can do is blinking with his left eye.
This is a film about his view, how he has to learn how to communicate with only using his eye. Of course, the story is not an easy one but because of the humor in it, it is never too heavy.
Wonderful cinematography, sometimes even dreaming like scenery which really will get to your heart. Along with poetical texts a wonderful atmosphere is being created.

The acting of Mathieu Amalric is really great! You can feel the pain of not being able to do anything anymore, the suffering of the problem that no one understands what you mean. The music of a great quality, with a very interesting choice of songs.



A very strong film about life after your former life.

The Dark Half (USA, 1993)

The 1993 film ‘the dark half’ is one of so many adaptations from Stephen King’s novels. At the same time, it is one of those rather bad adaptations (like many more in the 90's). The story is okay, maybe not a truly horrifying horror, but the acting no good. It is typical, those B-actors overact all the time and don’t get any atmosphere into this film.
The story is about a writer who quits with a series of books, but the main character (a violent alcoholic guy) in this book doesn’t want him to stop and seems to make his entrance in the real world. He wants the writer to write again…..

Just read the book!

Dark water / Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Japan, 2002)

Dark Water is one of those Japanese horror stories which will give you an uncomfortable feeling from the first minute and will last for the entire film. There is no happiness in it all all, only a long chain of tragic events.
It all starts when a mother and her daughter are moving towards a new apartment, and almost immediately water starts dripping the ceiling. The little girl sees a little girl in a raincoat and starts to play on her own. What is the relation to another little girl who got lost two years before, why does the water never stop falling? Imagine a bathtub full of dark water......

And yes, there is also a truely terrifying scene in an elevator! No blood, no massacres but intense loneliness and sadness.

An very intense and mysterious horror film which is maybe most creepy but like I said before, it will give you a very sad and uncomfortable feeling. Interesting and impressive but verysad and sometimes even moving!

Day Watch / Dnevnoy dozor (Russia, 2006)

Day watch (Dnevnoy Dozor) by director Timur Bekmambetov is a Russian action/horror movie dealing about good and evil, about the day watch and the night watch.
If you haven’t seen night watch before you should leave this one unpacked for a while. This is because of the simple fact that you won’t understand anything of this film when you start with day watch. Night watch was very confusing and it complexity was brilliant but for the western audience it was too weird and difficult to understand it to its best.
Night watch continues the story where it was left. Maybe this film is a bit easier to understand, but don’t expect a simple storyline.
Most of all it is a great action movie, Hollywood could learn something from these scenes. I won’t say anything of the storyline cause I simply don’t know where to start. The fantastic and hypnotic music adds some dark mood as well. I can’t really describe it well but this movie breathes a ‘Russian’ feeling, in almost any scene. Westerns (like me) will probably miss some wordplay about Russian life and politics but that is fine, cause it will satisfy you enough!

A very interesting movie about good and evil, now we have to wait for twilight watch.

Diary of June / Yu-wol-ui il-gi (Korea, 2005)

Diary of June is also known as 'Bystanders' and to my opinion that is the better name for this movie.

It's a film which in the beginning looks like a normal detective movie which has it's funny, exciting and sad parts. But it is more than this. When I finished it I only had one thing in mind, that I just saw a very disturbing movie.

The stoty deals about a boy who has written an advanced diary. In school he always gets bullied and in his diary he desribes how he would kill them. It's a way of releasing his pressure. After he committed suicide, his mother (which is played by the always fantastic actress Yunjin Kim, most people will know her for her role in 'Lost') who is a bit psychic starts to really kill the guys which her son described in his diary. She was an old friend of the detective that leads the investigation.

Like I said.. this story seems interesting but also not very fresh. And than the empasis in this movie starts to change. It doesn't deal too much on this child and his mother (ofcourse they are important and the focus point in the story) but it deals about 'bystanders'. People who see things happen but don't dare to raise a hand or lift a finger.

To be honest, probaly 90 % of all people would do nothing when something bad happens. We keep telling ourselves 'it has nothing to do with me'. And this film shows this message clearly, how such thoughts will ruin you and how you can get lost in life cause you also could never forget those moments.

It's disturbing to see how a teacher knows this kid is being bullied but thinks it will end sooner or later, how two girls see that another girl is being held by a few guys and about to be killed just turn a blind eye and walk on. The end is very different from most movies!

And this makes it an interesting movie to watch and a pretty good one too. In my opinion they could have made more of it but maybe it would be too heavy than. Now it's a bit cold and not too close, but I guess when it would have more emphasized on your feeling it would have been too hard to watch. Not a very famous movie, but when you have the chance...please watch it. It deserves it!

Dolls - Takeshi Kitano

Wowww , that is what I can say about Takeshi Kitano's movie: Dolls.
A story about three different kinds of love between people. One guy loves a girl but is forced to marry another for his career. The girl he leaves tries to commit suicide and becomes mentally ill. He looks for her and they walk through the Japanese seasons bound my a red cord.



The second story is about a Yakuza (Japanese maffia) leader who loved a girl when he was young, they always sat at the same spot on saturday in the park. When he is old he looks for her and finds her still sitting in the same park. The third story is about an idol and her fans. Who is the biggest fan and how can he show his devotion to her.



These are all very tragic stories about undying love. It's inspired by the Japanese Bunraku doll theatre. Kitano is also inspired by famous writer 'Chikamatsu Monzaemon' (1653-1724). He is like the Japanese Shakespeare.



You will be blown away by it's gorgeous imagery. The brilliant costumes are the work of famous Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto. For those who wanna see pure beauty and aren't afraid of something new...you have to see this one!

Dumplings

A strange, very strange movie. I think this described the Chinese movie 'Dumplings' perfectly, directed by Fruit Chan. Yu could say the story is a bit sick, but in a way the movie is very attracting. The camerashots are wonderful, thanks to Christopher Doyle (2046, in the mood for love). The acting of Bai Ling, Miryam Yeung and Tony Leung is great, they each give a special personality to their character.
It's about a woman that wants to be young again. This quest leads her towards a mysterious woman that seem to have some famous 'Dumplings' that will bring her eternal youth. What is the secret? A strange, sometimes disturbing movie about the crazyness of the modern beauty, to stay young and beautiful no matter what the price will be.