at the movies
may 24, 2002
in my spare time, i try to watch a lot of asian films. i personally think by watching these films, i'll get a better idea of the various cultures and to be able to understand people better in general. of course, movies are heavily controlled by the media and the director's vision and may not always correlate to what happens in real life and such. i mean, when you're walking on the streets of hong kong, you don't get attacked by gangs wielding those big "watermelon knives" at every turn and not everyone is doing wire-fu and running across rooftops in our little black kung fu shoes.
anyway, here's some of the movies i've seen recently. i've been missing wahine's movie reviews, so i'll write some on my own, but they aren't nearly as interesting as hers. :)
friends: after mentioning this show, 2 entries ago, i finally finished watching this 4 disc set late last night. starring fukada kyoko as asai tomoko and won bin as kim ji hoon, this story begins in hong kong, where these two by a misunderstanding meets one another. he is an aspiring film director and she is a lingerie salesgirl at the takashimaya department store in shinjuku, tokyo. after parting in hong kong and returning back home to japan and korea, respectively, they begin establishing an on going friendship through emails. she begins taking korean classes and he begins learning some japanese. over the course of 3 years, they encounter cultural differences, esp. between japan and korea, love triangle obstacles, military duty and parental involvement.
i'm a sucker for these love stories, so it's especially nice to see one that's set in 3 different locales and speaking 3 different types of languages. it was a rather short movie drama that i'm sure could have been extended to the usual 12 hour series but they did a good job in compacting all the details into a 4 hour show. i really enjoyed the fact that they respected one another's languages and went out of their way to learn how to communicate better in the other person's native tongue. i especially liked getting a glimpse of what it's like to be in a bicultural relationship as well since not too many dramas focus on this issue. not only that, but i learned quite a few new korean words and refreshed myself on others that i've forgotten. thumbs up from me, the sappy romantic at heart. :p
love undercover: stars miriam yeung and daniel wu in a really cute love story about an undercover cop played by yeung and an heir to the triad played by wu falling in love with one another. at first when i saw the title, i thought it was going to be another silly miriam yeung movie. since i've seen her other movie, dummy mummy without a baby, i wasn't too sure if i was going to like this one. but it turned out that this one was a much better comedic feat than the other one. it's a lighthearted story that doesn't go too overboard on goofiness (that's all too commonplace in HK films sometimes) and it's a nice take on romance without always giving the lead to the usual pretty girls when miriam yeung has a lot of individuality of her own. and of course, daniel wu isn't too hard on the eyes either. i would recommend this one to those who want something easy to watch without having to hang on every detail of the dialogue fearing that you'll miss out on something. [next in the dvd queue: miriam's latest movie: dry wood fierce fire w/ louis koo]
my wife is a gangster: i absolutely love movies depicting strong women who kick ass. and my wife is a gangster did not disappoint one bit. before you think this is all about fighting and killing, the story is actually a comedy as well that involves Cha Eun-Jin having to find herself a husband in order to fulfill her long lost sister's dying wish. aside from the comedic parts of the film, there are also dramatic issues such as her being a female boss in a largely male dominated "trade", her relationship with the man she married for convenience's sake, the duties she must fulfill as a gangster etc. Cha Eun-Jin is portrated by Shin Eun-kyung, who does an excellent job at playing the big boss as well as a female, who's also emotionally vulnerable. her facial expressions are rather inpressive, especially the way they can fluctuate so quickly and let's not forget that huge tattoo on her back. =:o there are a lot of good laughs in the film, especially from the supporting role males who are in the movie and at the same time, it evokes a certain sense of drama in the movie without it being too over the top silly or too seriously dramatic (like in shiri). the action sequences are fun to watch as well and i have to give extra credit to this movie, because i for one have been tired of watching male gangster bosses much too long. it's about time they step aside for some females to step up to the plate. a big thumbs up for female gangsters!
il mare: a few months back, jay had suggested this movie to me and luckily, i got a chance to watch it a few weeks ago. i have to say, this has got to be one of the more creative and touching love stories i've seen in a long long time. it's not a new movie by any sense since it came out in 2000, but by the time it gets some subtitles tagged on and available for me to watch, it's what? 2002? anyway, the story is about two star crossed lovers who meet through an exchange of letters while separated by 2 years time. don't understand it? well, you have to watch it. the details in the movie are really amazing and the cinematography is really wonderful. Lee Jung-Jae (fanning myself) and Jeon Ji-Hyun (of Yupki Girl fame) are really wonderful in the movie and as Jay and I have discussed, how can two such great looking people be single? anyway, it's truly a unique story and one that i would recommend to anyone. it's not just a love story but one that deals with fate, bridging of human emotions, sacrifices and how a relationship develops through good old fashioned...snail mail (something most of us don't utilize anymore). however, this movie does require a bit of thinking afterwards. hmmmmm. if you haven't watched it, do see this one.
for more info on the movies, click on their links. i have a ton of movies still in the queue and don't know when i'll get to them but hopefully soon -- it's a long weekend afterall! have a great one all. :D
