Madeleine (South-Korea, 2003)

Madeleine, directed by Kwang-chun Park, is a film that won’t leave a very big impression but it tells a simple love story in its own way. In my opinion, many things could be better in this film. In the beginning I was very worried about the acting of the two main characters, later one I thought the film was trying to find its way in becoming a drama but didn’t really touched me.

Though it has its flaws, it can be very enjoyable as well. Like I said, it is a rather simple love story, very uncomplicated and very predictable. Still, it is no terrible film. I really liked it, maybe it is because some scenes really are beautiful and humorous, maybe it is because some scenes do contain emotion, maybe not at its fullest but that is what it makes a rather good film. Nothing too much, it’s all about showing the love between a boy and a girl and that it isn’t always easy, but sad things can be overcome.

I liked the acting of Min-a Shin ( a bittersweet life) pretty much, her smile really has something wonderful.

Battle of Wits / Muk Gong (China, 2006)

Battle of Wits, by director Chi Leung 'Jacob' Cheung, is a movie that deals about war. The tactics of war that are being used to deceive your opponent. But it is also a movie about betrayal and the cruelty of leaders/kings.

The first part of the movie shows the siege of a town. The defence has been taken care of a mysterious warrior, Ge Li, who has great knowledge about war. Though he manages to keep the city safe, the king doesn’t trust him anymore. He thinks he is wanting to take all the power to himself. This brings us to the second part of this film. Now the attackers strike again and without Ge Li the city is easily captured. But.....will Ge Li have another way to save the people and king who betrayed him. What is victory?

It really is an interesting film about the elements of the tactics of war. It has its weak moments as well, sometimes the director don’t seem to control the tension of the story very well. The music is sometimes brilliant and sometimes it is just gone (not completely of course, but not very strong), gone during a battle scene were some music really could help to make it more exciting. But, it really is a fascinating view on war and it is even very philosophical about honour.

The action is pretty good, the clothing is nicely done and the acting is pretty good as well. The main character is played by Chinese superstar Andy Lau. for the ones who like a movie about the tactics of war it is a great one, in fact everybody who is interested in watching a movie with a different view on war it is a must see. For those who do not know, it is based on the popular manga ‘bokkou’.

Samaritan Girl / Samaria (South-Korea, 2004)

Samaritan girl is directed by the famous Korean director ‘Kim Ki-Duk’.

Two schoolgirls want to travel to Europe but need money for the airplane tickets. They find the solution in prostitution. In the beginning it seems to be fun but it the mood effectively changes when one of the girls kills herself by jumping out of a window when the police enter the room. The other girl takes over the clients and offers them for once her body along with the money they first got from the people. She wants to buy of the sorrow in fact.
Her dad, a police officer, begins to suspect something and chases the clients of his daughter down.

First of all, this isn’t an easy movie. Like no other director, Kim Ki-Duk can create a suffocating atmosphere. The entire time watching this movie you will feel uneasy, don’t really know how to react. It’s a film that most of all deals about changes in personality after the experience of some tragic event.
The movie can be split in two segments. In the first we see the events that unfold and how their life is before. The second part shows what happens after this horrible event happened. Frustration and the feeling of not being capable of doing something about it will give a nasty feeling in your stomach.

Though this film is maybe not as violent like some other work of Kim Ki-Duk, don’t underestimate it. Some scenes contain very explicit violence and the entire story has a devastating impact. Also, it is a Kim Ki-Duk movie, so a very slow pace of the story and not too many talking are included.

In my opinion it’s is a beautiful but bitter story about the relationship between a father and daughter. In intriguing film made by a brilliant director.

Hana-Bi (Japan, 1997)

Hana-bi by Takeshi Kitano is a tale about love, pain and violence.
While quiet and violent police officer Nishi is going to see his wife in a hospital, she is seriously ill, his partner gets shot. Nishi is slowly being consumed by guilt. At the same time he has some money borrowed by the Yakuza and they seem to want the money back. Nishi decides to rob a bank and split the money between his partner, who ended up in a wheelchair, his debts at the Yakuza and he takes his wife on one last trip, to make her happy for one last time.

It’s typical Kitano-style! Few words, the beautiful stills and with amazing works of art I have to say, like those brilliant paintings with an animal with has a sunflower head! Also the tender line between the love for his wife and the hard violent scenes make it a very intriguing film to watch. Takeshi Kitano doesn’t chose a very narrative way of telling it’s story but let the scenes tell the story. Like many other times, he himself Takeshi ‘beat’ Kitano acts really intelligent. He doesn’t speak much but has a good expression on it’s face. It’s also a very emotional movie, in fact is has everything that makes a film great, it is kind of poetry!

A interesting movie with a perfect balance between love and violence. In one word: Masterpiece!

Lust, Caution - Se Jie (China, 2007)

Lust Caution (Se Jie) by Ang Lee stars Chinese leading actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai and introducing actress Wei Tang.
It’s a film that can best be described like a suspenseful erotic thriller. We will follow a group of students in 1928 and 1942 at Shanghai who form a acting group but also wanna be in the underground fighting the Japanese. They wanna eliminate one of the the Chinese important man who works together with the Japanese government. Tang Wei, one of the girls of this group of friends, should seduce this man (played by Tony Leung).

An interesting movie unfolds itself! It is a movie that depends on its mood, it’s a bit dark, it’s a bit lonely, it’s exciting and sexy. The rape of the girl is almost unwatchable, the killing of a person is shown horrifically, the erotic scenes are moody and explicit, the story is gently, cruel and subtle. It all matches perfectly! The acting of new star Tang Wei is really impressive and the acting of Tony Leung is outstanding again. I didn’t expect any different though because in my opinion he is one of the leading actors in this world at the moment.

The music gets under your skin, it adds to the suspenseful mood of this film. The clothing is really amazing, but yeah....those Chinese traditional dresses (the qi-pao are the most beautiful ever made), they are just so wonderful, it adds so much beauty to the film. Every little detail seems to be correct.

Ang Lee made a very impressive movie which gets under your skin, gets you the mood of seduction, gets you watch it for 2.5 hours and than ask yourself... is it done already? Just for the kids amongst us... yest it is for over 16 years old, the scenes are really explicit.

The Magdalene sisters (Great-Brittain and Ireland, 2002)

The Magdalene sisters is a rather shocking film about one of the catholic Magdalene laundries (assylum). Women who committed some sort of crime were send here.
In this film three girls are being portraited. Their crimes: Rose has a child out of wedlock, Bernadette makes the moral mistake of flirting with boys and Margaret is being raped by her cousin and tells her family members about it.
They are send to one of these Magdalene laundries for a long time, maybe forever. In this institute there are being mentally manipulated and physically abuse. Catholic religion is shown as the only true thing. The nuns are cold and cruel. This is also the mood of this film…very very cold and dark. In the end, after watching it the light seems far away for all of us! The only thing the girls could think of to escape, escape from this world of religious brainwashing.

An interesting and shocking film, by director Peter Mullan, about a Magdalene laundry in the sixties and the unfortunate girls who had to face this fate.

Suicide club / Jisatsu saakuru (Japan, 2002)

54 girls who commit suicide by jumping in front of a train! That is how 'suicide club' (also known as suicide circle and in Japanese Jisatsu saakuru) starts, so if you want to see something happy or without blood don’t turn this film on!

More suicides appear and on the spot where it happened is a sports bag found. In it is something gruesome, something made of human flesh. It should already be clear that is film is very harsh! The police doesn’t have a clue but get a strange phone call which leads to an even stranger website. An investigation starts.
In high school some students found the suicide club, and to honour their name they jump of the roof of a school building. What drives these boys and girls to end their lives?

A rollercoaster ride which will take you to much shocking stuff! But it doesn’t lose itself in cruelty and stays interesting, leaving you with many unanswered questions. The cinematography is very intriguing, especially when there is a scene about a family watching tv and the next moment a little girl is giving her rabbit salad in a strange cage. She closes the cage and the film continues. What can we except from this scene, what is its relevance? It keeps you wondering.

I thought it was a really interesting and totally weird film by director Sion Sono. The music fitted really perfectly as well, the complete opposite of the mood of this film. But once more, I don’t exaggerate when I say it is only for people with a very strong stomach, true horror is shown. It probably is a movie that is society related. Japanese society is know for his high suicide rates and this movie shows a Japanese society that completely lost his mind, kind of an pre-apocalypticalworld. Everybody seems to have lost connection with itself.

‘Now it is time to bid you all a pleasant farewell’

Nomad (Kazakhstan, 2005)

Nomad is a Kazakh/French production and is directed by Sergei Bodrov and Ivan Passer.

This film could best be described as ‘Kazakh Brave heart’. The Kazakh nomads and have to face thier oppressors, the Jungar forces with Galdan Tseren as their leader.
The different kind of tribes won’t form a unity until the son of a sultan is born. Though many want to kill him, he is raised like a warrior by a Kazakh wise man, together with a group of children from all over the Kazakh steppe which the wise man has gathered. They are the hope for the Kazakh!
There is also the story of two friends who fall in love with the same girl.

The clothing is very well done, nomad clothing is pretty interesting! The time-period is rather interesting as well because though everyone still fights with swords the first artillery is introduced.
The plot of the story is too average, the acting is not outstanding either. They tried to make an epic Kazakh movie, but we still have to wait for that to happen. This movie does put much emphasis on the fact that the Kazakh nomads are proud horse-people.

It does have a morale, and it’s clear as day: Without unity there can be no prosperity
And it should be said… it’s wonderful who they pronounce the word ‘amen’!

Grbavica (Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2006)

Grbavica is directed by Jasmila Zbanic.

It's a very emotional story about contemporary Sarajevo. A mother and her daughter, who belong to the lower class, experience emotional difficulties. Esma finding it hard to move on after she experienced horrible events at a war camp. She has wounds that left a big scar in her heart. Her daughter Sara wants to go on a fieldtrip with school. For this she needs a certificate that her father is a martyr, a question which her mother seems to be avoiding. Why is she avoiding her and what kind of ghosts does haunt her from the past?

Mirjana Karanovic acts wonderful, she catches this sad emotion which seems to be just beneath the surface. The music, mostly folksongs about Sarajevo, fit perfectly for this film.

A very beautiful film about the aftermath of the Balkan war and the difficulties of a low class family in Sarajevo.

Waiting in the dark / Kurai tokoro de machiawase (Japan, 2006)

Waiting in the dark by director Daisuke Tengan is one of those hidden pearls that has been lifted to the surface!

This movie, which is very slowly paced and with little talking in fact, shows what true beauty is about. A world that seems to be cruel, a world that doesn’t contain any light to see. In such a world we meet two young adults. A girl, who got blinded after an accident and a boy who is a half Chinese who can’t seem to make friends and is accused of murder.
Those two people, together with a friend of the girl, are the stars of the movie. Sometimes you are in awe with a film but it seems difficult to find that one thing that makes it so special. This is one of those films, the acting of Rena Tanaka and Bo-Lin Chen which is just terrific, the cinematography is stunning, the story which catches every emotion and the beautiful and intense music lift this movie to great heights!

A brilliant story about two young adults who believe there is no place for them in this world.

Vanished / Oyayubi sagashi (Japan, 2006)

The story about a group of kids playing a game called ‘Oyayubi sagashi’. A game where souls will be transported to a mysterious room. In this room there is a thumb to find, the one who finds it has the ability to make a wish. Yumiko disappears during this game. Is she still trapped in this room? 8 Years later the same people will play the game again, nothing seems to happen but slowly they begin to disappear one at the time.
A horror film that could best be described like a film with a pretty interesting story which never really convinces. It just doesn’t get exciting too much, maybe it’s because the pacing seems to be a bit slow for such kind of film, though in fact its story becomes more interesting at the story evolves the ending is not really satisfying. This film is also impersonal, the acting keeps you at a distance and this influences the fact that it is never getting really scary. Ayumi Ito managed to do a good job, she acted well in my eyes!
Again we look at some scenes where a mysterious hand appears on a shoulder…. I think I have seen it before in Ju-on.

The Cat returns / Neko no ongaeshi (Japan, 2002)

Another production of the famous Ghibli studio!

This time it isn't on a grand scale like Miyazaki's Spirited away or Howl's moving castle but Hiroyuki Morita has kind of it's own style, which created an interesting anime!

The cat returns is a film a bout a girl who rescues a cat and this isn't going unnoticed. The king of the cats wants to thank her for this, cause the rescued cat seems to be his son! She will be taken to the cat kingdom to marry the prince, but is this girl, Haru, wanting to become a cat for the rest of her life? I already see some cat-ears growing!!

Well I guess you should have noticed, maybe there is not too much depth in this story but that is fine because we deal with a film which is very humorous. Some scenes will really make you laugh and together with the good animation (do we expect different from a Ghibli production?) and sweet story it is a very enjoyable film to watch!

When you want to see a fat cat skydiving, and wallcarrying-cats falling like domino stones you sure should not miss this one!

Cherries / Yingtao (China, 2007)

Cherries (Yingtao) is a Chinese film by dicrector Zhang Jiabei.

It's a simple though very beautiful film about a mother's love for her child. In this film we will follow a mentally ill woman who is chasing children most of her time in her attempt to offer them cherries. wants to have a babyand finds an abundant one, a girl, in the woods. It should be realized that this movie starts in the '80s of the past century, a time when the birth control policy affected parents choices to abandon their child when it was a girl.

How difficult it is for this mentally ill woman to raise a child, but she manages. In the following part of this film the child reaches an pre-pubescent age. She starts to feel embarrased about her mother and is finding it difficult the way her mother shows her love, sometimes very inappropriate.

It's a movie about the love of a parent for her child. And it's not just a movie, it is a very good one! Zhang Jiabei catches the perfect mood. The cinematography is fantastic, beautiful landscapes and a slow pacing movie which style seems to be a bit like The road home. The acting of Miao Pu (who plays the mother) is almost beyond belief. She is disturbingly authentic in her role as a mentally ill mother. And maybe the most beautiful thing about this film, the thing that really makes it a bit more special, is the music. The music catches the emotions perfectly! Most of the time it's traditional 'Erhu' music, which fits perfectly!

Most of all 'Cherries' is a beautiful small, emotional film about the love.

Freeze me (Japan, 2000)

'Freeze me' by director Takashi Ishii can be seen as a revenge or a survival movie.

The story is about a girl (Harumi Inoue) who is raped by three man and it is captured on a videocamera. This girl leaves her home to go to Tokyo. 5 Years later, when she is planning to marry a colleague, the rapers find her again, one by one.

From this moment on the wants her revenge and yes...it has something to do with a freezer.

It could have been a very harsh movie, an exciting one or a very emotional one. But in my eyes it is complete failure. It just won't work... the movie is cold (maybe that is why it is called 'freeze me'), never gest really exciting/interesting and it doesn't make sense at all. Maybe it's because I don't quite know Japanese culture very good, but I doubt that as well. To me this movie wasn't convincing at all.

To be honest, I did like the poster of this movie!

In Bruges (United Kingdom, 2008)

In Bruges is directed by Martin McDonagh and stars Bendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and Colin Farrell... and ofcourse I immediately noticed our Dutch actress Thekla Reuten it it as well.

In Burges is a story about two Irish hitman who has to hide in Bruges but most of all it's a dark comedy. The conversations between Gleeson and Farrell are often hilarious and be prepared for oneliners like 'they are filming midgets'! The story has its serious moments to when Farrell is morally challenged by one of the outcomes of his shootings. The first half of the story is very different than the second half. Where in the first half it's mostly humour, in the second its more like an action-drama movie and deals more about human nature and the choices we make.

Sometimes Colin Farrell makes me a bit nervous with his acting, he just seems to overact sometimes but in this movie he is really great I have to say! Brendan Gleeson is acting brilliant like ever!

And Bruges.....well what to say? Our Belgium neighbours sure have a wonderful city!