Hollow Dance

Mother (2009) - Bong

How far will you go to prove your child's innocence? Kim Hye-ja, the reigning queen of Korean tv drama plays the title character in Bong Joon-ho's Mother. He uses Kim's presence to the fullest here. Those big fawny eyes, raven's nest hair, wiry frame. She has been the mother of Korean collective consciousness for the last 40 some years. And she is a force to be reckoned with.

As he demonstrated over the years, Bong's a very talented director, churning out well polished dramedies (Memories of Murder, The Host) with everyman's touch. As we go through the moral muck of the small town ghetto, filled with poverty stricken swindlers, retards, incompetent police, glue sniffing high schoolers, we recognize right away that we are in Bong's world. Mom yells at her idiot son at a visitation after he gets arrested for murder, "Why did you sign the confession? You don't do that even if you are guilty!"

Like in Memories of Murder, Bong's not in a hurry to reveal the murderer. That's not really what he's after. There are plenty of small details and characters he wants to present first. It's not about child prostitution, not about broken family and not even about ineffective judicial system. Bong's very good at his own brand of storytelling. But I feel that he shortchanges those important elements to do so. Ultimately, it's about celebration of motherhood. But it feels hollow somehow.

Beghrir (Moroccan Pancakes) Recipe:

My first Beghrir (semolina pancakes) experience was at an Isreali joint in my neighborhood called Mimi's Hummus and it was fantastic. The fluffy, chewy stack with slightly sour taste was a nice alternative to chalkiness I usually associate with pancakes. So I had to duplicate this at home. I found that it is also honey butter that makes a big difference.

For 14-16 pancakes, you will need:

3 cups warm water
2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups semolina flour
1/3 regular flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
vegetable oil
1/3 cup warm honey
6 tbsp melted butter
half dozen strawberries, cut in small cubes

In 1/4 cup of warm water add the baking powder and mix. In large bowl, mix semolina, flour, yeast and sugar and add 2 3/4 cups water. Add salt and baking powder. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rise for 40 minutes to an hour.

Coat the frying pan with small amount of vegetable oil in medium heat. Pour in the batter one scoop at a time. Cook the pancake until bubbles appear all over the surface and the bottom pale golden, about 2 minutes on both sides. I like mine a little more golden than that of the picture above.

Place them on plates, shower them with strawberries. Mix honey and butter and drizzle it generously. Serve right away.

*My experience with Beghrir is that they don't age well. You might have to eat them all once you made them. Share with everyone!

Unleavened

Valhalla Rising (2009) - Refn

I gotta admit, Nicolas Winding Refn(The Pusher Trilogy, Bronson)'s macho posing looks and works much better in this period piece. Hell, any film looks much better if it took place in a desolate, stark, unforgiving nature background. Valhalla Rising almost rises above its thin premise by its beauty- a.k.a.; New World. Not even Mads Mikkelsen's one eyed mute warrior from Sutherland can save this hallucinogenic black metal music video. Granted, Refn's use of wide screen format is impressive and often breathtakingly gorgeous. But like his first and last American film, Fear X, it's muddled in Lynchian (but nowhere as intriguing) trippy-ness. Then again, it's not set in American Midwest and not about a small time security guard.

Soft-Softcore

Moon & Cherry (2004) - Tanada

A nice twist on a typical pinku film premise: it's girl on top, using boy as a sextoy to further her career as a eros writer. A college freshman Tadokoro joins an erotic writing club called "Electric Button(a petname variation for female genitalia)". There he meets the only female member of the group, Mayama who is actually published unlike all the knick-knack of horny losers in a nudie magazine strewn clubhouse. Tomboyish and sleepy eyed, straightforward Mayama blows Tadokoro's cover as a pro at their first meeting- "you are a virgin, aren't you?" and lures him into series of sexcapade to help her writing. There are no strings attached and no feeling on Mayama's end. He soon is at her beck and call.

Tadokoro meets a sweet and cute co-worker Akane at the bookstore and starts having a relationship. Akane is everything Mayama is not and she gets jealous as Tadokoro tries to gain Mayama's approval on his writing.

It's a typical no budget teen roman-porno stuff. But Director Yuki Tanada has a nice, gentle touch to the whole genre. It's nicely shot too.

Veggies!

The Garden (2008) - Kennedy

It's South Central, LA. Shortly after the LA Rodney King riot, about 350 mostly hispanic families took 16 acres of garbage heaped land and started cultivating vegetables for their own consumption. For the next 12 years or so, South Central Farm had been oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle. documentarian Scott Hamilton Kennedy chronicles their struggles to keep the farm from getting bulldozed over. The Garden has plenty of drama- community organizations bickering with each other, corrupt politicians, pc celebrities (then prez hopeful Dennis Kucinich, Daryl Hannah, Willie Nelson, Ed Bagley Jr, Zach de la Locha, Danny Glover, Joan Baez and many others), Kunstler style civil rights lawyers, machetes and other farm equipment, injunctions and several reversals of fortune,etc, etc.

In the end, it's a heartbreaker. They lose the farm to a stereotypical villain- Jewish developer who bought back the land for 5 million from the city in some shady backroom deal and two years later, tries to sell it for 16.5 million. When the farmers raise the money, he refuses to sell it to them because he doesn't like their conduct,sees them as anti-semites and as ungrateful immigrants with entitlement mentality.

I remember this being nominated for the best doc along with the Betrayal, Encounters at the End of the World, Man on Wire and Trouble the Water in 2009. It was a good year for docs for sure. Finally saw it and gotta say this is a doc that is up there with Harlan County USA as one doc that packs the strongest punches for me. See this.

Visit South Central Farmers Website

JAPAN CUTS 2010: Zero Focus

Zero Focus (1961) - Nomura

Zero Focus (2009) - Inudo

I remember watching the 1961 black and white version of Zero Focus a long time ago thinking, 'this needs an update.' The Hitchcockian premise was very intriguing: a man disappears during his business trip leaving his young wife distressed and confused. She travels to the snow country up north to find the missing husband and digs up someugly past while dead bodies turning up around her. But it was visually bland and lacked any kind of suspense. So it was a nice surprise to see the remake on this year's Japan Cuts line-up.

The film is an epic. It begins with stock footage of the destroyed post-war Japan, then seamlessly moves into the economic-boom era of the 50s with impeccable periodic detail. Director Isshin Inudo here crafted a sumptuous picture of the bygone era Japan seldom seen in contemporary films.

The year is 1957. A naïve, young wife Teiko (Ryoko Hirosue)'s search for her missing husband Kenichi (Hidetoshi Nishijima) takes her to Kanazawa, a snow swept beautiful town spared by bombing in WWII (with its dramatic sea cliffs, the town is a ripe setting for the Hitchcock inspired murder mystery). With the help of her husband's colleague from the advertising firm he worked for, she tracks down a client of his, Murota (Takeshi Kaga), a ruthless local businessman and Murota's elegant and sharp-edged wife Sachiko (Miki Nakatani) who is an ardent supporter of a local woman mayoral candidate. If she is elected, she will be the first woman mayor in Japan. But their meetings leave Teiko more questions than answers to her husband's whereabouts.

She also encounters Murota's receptionist Hisako (Tae Kimura), whose physical attributes and rough pan-pan girl English (pan-pan girls refer to prostitutes for the occupying GIs) don't really add up to how she landed her job. Kenichi knew these people? Teiko soon realizes she knows nothing about her husband's past. Then the bodies start turning up and she begins to understand that her investigation is a threat to someone.

Zero Focus is more than just a murder mystery. It's more to do with however Japan wants to forget the defeat, its shadows haunt the generation from starting anew. Their psyche is forever scarred- Kenichi forever emasculated, Sachiko and Hisako struggling against social, political strictures.

The film is also the stage for three-way acting battle by the best actresses in current Japanese cinema -Hirosue (Departures), Nakatani (Memories of Matsuko, Sweet Little Lies) and Kimura (All Around Us). As the film slowly reaches its lengthy climax, there are mental breakdowns, confessions, sacrifices, stabbings, broken glasses, tears and more tears. They act their hearts out in their respective hammy roles. An over-the-top Sirkian melodrama the film turns out to be. But undeniably well done melodrama for sure, as I witnessed many teary eyes at the end of the screening. The film looks back on Japan's painful rebirth from the ashes of WWII and shines a light on people's resilience.

Zero Focus is screening on July 15th (9PM) at Japan Society as part of 2010 Japan Cuts.

Review at Twitch

Japan Society: Japan Cuts 2010 Website

JAPAN CUTS 2010: One Million Yen Girl

One Million Yen Girl (2008) - Tanada

A 21-year old Suzuko (Yu Aoi of Hana and Alice and Shaking Tokyo segment from Tokyo!) has a criminal record from a minor incident. With this stigma in a strict society like Japan, it's quite difficult to lead a normal life: the neighbors' gossips and constant arguing at home gets too much for her. She decides to make a million yen and move out, go some place where no one knows her, find a job and work until make another million and repeat the process. The trouble started with her wanting to leave home and live independently anyway.

Suzuko first goes to a small seaside town and starts working at a concession stand. It turns out she is pretty good at making snow cones. When a local guy takes an interest in her, it is too close for comfort for our heroine. As soon as she reaches her goal, she takes off to a mountain village where she gets a job as seasonal peach harvester. With her fragile figure and girlish looks she attracts unwanted interests wherever she goes.

One Million Yen Girl is an interesting take on the road movie genre in the age of economic meltdown. Its first half plays out like a practical Japanese cousin of Into the Wild. But Suzuko is not snotty, nor proud. Rather, she is quite unsure of herself. With her bank book as her only friend, she travels, meets people and moves on before things get complicated socially.

The film takes a turn and becomes a standard romance when she gets a job at a gardening section of Home Depot style business in one city where she meets Nakajima (Mirai Moriyama), a serious college student. The attraction is mutual and she finally confides in him. To her surprise, he confesses his love for her. Should she stay or should she move on after accumulating another one million yen?

The strength of the film is in all too humanness of Suzuko. She thinks her journey is more to do with not standing up to her reality rather than about discovering herself. This makes her more endearing to watch (Thanks to writer/director Yuki Tanada's acute observation and maturity). With her fragility and "troubled smile', Aoi encompasses the young woman on the brink of adulthood. With its bittersweet ending, one can only hope for a sequel.

ONE MILLION YEN GIRL is screening on July 8th (8:30PM) at Japan Society as part of 2010 Japan Cuts.

Review at Twitch

JAPAN CUTS 2010: Bare Essence of Life

Bare Essence of Life: Ultra Miracle Love Story (2009) - Yokohama

Yojin (Kenichi Matsuyama, best known as L in Death Note series and an upcoming Haruki Murakami book adaptation, and one of my all time favorite, Norwegian Wood) is a twenty five year old man-child living in a rural town in Aomori with his grandmother. He's not dumb. As he describes himself, his brain is wired differently. He is prone to outbursts and childish behavior. Yojin's daily routine begins with half a dozen alarm clocks and schedule written on the white boards in his room, as he forgets things frequently. He listens to his late grandfather's audiotape instructions on how to grow vegetables and follows through rather unsuccessfully and helps out his grandmother to sell her organic vegetables in town.

Everything changes when Matsuko (beautiful Kumiko Aso) arrives in town from Tokyo. She is a sullen kindergarten teacher who lost her boyfriend in a horrible car accident where his head was decapitated and never recovered. She came to Aomori to consult a medium to see if she can still communicate with him. Yojin is smittened right away but Matsuko's frightened by his erratic behavior. After getting showered by pesticides while playing with a local boy, he finds that pesticides keep his brain calm. Since Matsuko prefers his 'new', less spastic self, Yojin keeps spraying himself with the harmful chemicals in the hopes of her liking him back. The effects actually make him sick and he dies. Then he's alive again, only until he dies the second time!

Okay, on paper, Bare Essence of Life is goofy as hell. Its plot is shoddy and the mix of realistic settings and surrealistic elements doesn't always work. But Satoko Yokohama's film is completely original and fresh. There are lovely scenes of Yojin walking Matsuko home at night. She talks about evolution being stopped as humanity makes its world safer and further controls unpredictable elements like Mother Nature. You have to live freely without fear in order to evolve. Without cutting back and forth, Yokohama lets dialog flow in these natural, intimate one-shot long takes. With its two hour running time, Bare Essence is a leisurely paced contemplation on many elements- new age spirituality, heart vs. brain, nature vs. technology, self-sacrifice, (possibly) autism and cyclical nature of life, all in sunlight drenched beautiful rural Japan. Maybe Yojin with his ability to talk to a dead man with no head is us humans' next evolutionary step? Messy but always engaging with great two lead actors and charming supporting cast largely comprised by the non-professional locals, Bare Essence of Life promises yet another great woman director with unique voice emerging from current Japanese cinema.

BARE ESSENCE OF LIFE: ULTRA MIRACLE LOVE STORY is screening on July 7th (8:30PM) at Japan Society as part of 2010 Japan Cuts.
Review at Twitch

NYAFF 2010/JAPAN CUTS: Dear Doctor

Dear Doctor (2009) - Nishikawa

A man on a bicycle finds a discarded white lab coat on the road at night. Then he puts the coat on. Miwa Nishikawa's Dear Doctor makes clear from the get-go what this film is really about. It's not the looks or the credentials that makes one a doctor, it's one's heart.

Adapting from her own novel, Nishikawa, a pupil of Hirokazu Kore-eda (Maboroshi, Nobody Knows), skillfully plays out a story of an imposter. In Kamiwada, a small rural village, the sudden disappearance of their beloved doctor, Dr. Ino (Tsurube Shofukutei), who's been serving them for the last three years, leaves its mostly elderly residents in shock and disbelief. Detectives are soon frustrated with conflicting information given by the villagers with no clear picture of who Ino really is.

The film jumps back and forth between the police investigation in to the disappearance and the happier times with Dr. Ino. We backtrack a few months: a young city intern Soma (Eita) shows up in his convertible one day to assist Dr. Ino. The intern is not happy about being there but is soon impressed by how Dr. Ino conducts himself. He is everything the city doctors are not- personable, humble and caring if not a little unorthodox. It becomes apparent to the viewers though that Ino is a fraud. He's been getting by as a doctor with tremendous amount of luck and the help of his loyal and non-judgmental nurse (great Kimiko Yo).

Things get a little hairy when Dr. Ino makes a house call to an old widow Kazuko (Kaoru Yachigusa) who's suffering from ulcer. They both have inkling that it is something more serious. But Kazuko doesn't want her daughters to know, especially the one who is a doctor in the city. She doesn't want to burden her grown up children like her late husband did in his later years. But it is a matter of life and death, and it puts Dr. Ino in a precarious position when the city doctor daughter shows up and disputes his diagnosis. Though his life is a lie, Ino is torn. He wants the old widow to get proper treatment, even though the truth may come out.

For some, it might be a little hard to swallow that these villagers are that gullible even after the police exposes Ino as fraud, especially considering the distrustful state of modern medical care system. Dr. Ino in that sense is a metaphorical figure, not to the extent of Chance the Butler in Being There, but nonetheless an illusion, a wishful thinking that's a little more tangible in the society with its rapidly aging population.

With pitch perfect stellar performances from everyone involved, including Teruyuki Kagawa (Tokyo Sonata, Tokyo!) as a smarmy pharmaceutical rep and gorgeous cinematography by Katsumi Yanagijima (Dolls, Battle Royal), Dear Doctor is a great, if not a little old-fashioned dramedy with a big heart. Just like her mentor Kore-eda, Nishikawa doesn't have one cynical bone in her body. Layers of nuanced visuals, great acting and fitting laid back bluesy soundtrack by More Rhythm are all masterfully put together. But the film belongs to Shofukutei, a rakugoka performer and tv personality, resembling the late Takashi Shimura (Ikiru)- Akira Kurosawa regular, his good-natured pretender is a gleaming projection of our wishes in a cold, impersonal world.

Dear Doctor is screening on July 3rd (1:00PM) and July 4th (4:15PM) at Japan Society as part of 2010 New York Asian Film Festival/Japan Cuts.

Review at Twitch

Director Yu Irie Interview

Director Yu Irie has two films represented at this year's New York Asian Film Festival: 8000 Miles and 8000 Miles 2: Girl Rappers. In Japan, as in the US, rap music has become an outlet for young people facing an uncertain future. These films are not simply about hip-hop culture in Japan. They are more to do with the blank generation and suburban ennui. Irie, coming from the same background as his characters, understands well the frustrations of these lovable losers in suburbia and portray them with warmth and care. I had an opportunity to talk to him about independent films and hip-hop in Japan.

There are quite a few films at New York Asian Film Festival this year labeled as "indie" film by "indie" filmmakers. Do these labels apply to you in Japan?

Yes, absolutely. There are two criteria I fit in. First, in Japan, anything that's not a major production, it's considered independent. On top of that, when a film is entirely funded by the director himself and made with bunch of friends like mine, it's an indie indeed. So definitely yes.

How influential is hip-hop culture in Japan? Did it influence you growing up?

Hip-hop arrived in the late 80s and really took roots in the early 90's in Japan. I was a teenager then, and there were many great Japanese rap artists who had huge influence on me.

You did two films now about hip-hop groups, first and second one separated by gender (Boys and Girls). Was it a conscious decision?

Yes, that was something I was very conscious of. I knew they would obviously rap about different things.

I noticed the differences how the boys and girls approached hip-hop. The boys seemed more interested in the idea of being a hip-hop artist whereas girls were more enthusiastic about actual music.

Oh, sure. Me being a male, like the characters, I had motivations about being famous, being rich, how girls will like me and all that while making the first 8000 Miles. (Laughs) The second one, with the women with where they are (age-wise), they can really focus on the joy of music. That was something I was interested in showing.

How did you go about selecting actors for the both first and second one? Probably because of the first one's success, you must've gotten more money and more resources for the second. I noticed some known actors in Girl Rappers.

In reality the budget didn't change that much making Girl Rappers. I didn't have much interest in the first place to get well known actors. Even the second one, my focus was on using unknown actors. It just so happened that there were some actors who saw the first one and really loved it and approached me, so they really wanted to be part of the second film. Some of the known actors happened to be right for the parts.

Wow, that's great.

Sure I want people coming out to see the film in theaters but without any famous actor in the film, it would be understandably difficult. But these are people who are out in the countryside trying to be rappers, so the important thing to me was getting believable looking people as those characters. I don't think I could have achieved that with known faces.

Did you know Shingo, Ryusuke and Hakushu beforehand? And is DJ TKD really a musician?

Yes, we all went to same school and we were classmates later on. Yes he is a musician but he can't live off being a musician so he has a business on the side.

In the US, hip-hop comes out of specific conditions- poverty, racism and violence. What issues drive Japanese youth to get involved in hip-hop?

Japan in the 90's, that's when hip-hop became big, mimicking American artists and they were trying to figure out how to make it their own. It's different though. Like the first 8000 Miles film, they started to rap about where they are from. The lyrics were still mellow compared to poverty and things like that. 8000 Miles came out just before the Lehman Brothers scandal and global recession, which have been affecting Japan as well. I think there will soon be edgier, harsher lyrics to reflect that.

What are your expectations on audience reception for your films both here and Japan?

It's really hard to imagine how it will be received but it's not really about hip-hop culture but more about youth trying to achieve their dreams and so whatever hip-hop represents to the characters, they can replace it themselves with whatever their dreams are so they can relate to characters that way.

The other thing is female Japanese rappers haven't achieved any success in Japan. Hopefully it will change when they see Girl Rappers.

My French friend was very adamant about French language being most suited for rap, do you think about Japanese that way?

(Laughs) I think English is more suited for rap to be honest. English has harder sounding words than French or Japanese.

I think many Shogung fans will disagree with you.

(Laughs)

So what's next for you?

I think I'll continue the series with a film about DJs.

Yu Irie talks about hip-hop at Twitch

NYAFF 2010: 8000 Miles 2: Girl Rappers

8000 Miles 2: Girl Rappers - Irie (2010)

This sequel starts with Ayumu (Maho Yamada), as she wakes up at home in Gunma Prefecture- another suburb of Tokyo right next to Saitama where the first 8000 Miles took place. We notice the slogan hanging from her desk in her cluttered room, perhaps the remnants of a New Year's resolution from god knows when: "Be a cooler person this year". Living at home with her single father, helping family business- making and delivering konjak, a traditional green gelatin, she is an aimless twenty-something, like the heroes of the first movie. But she once was a vibrant member of an all-girl high school group, B-Hack, with her friends Mittsu (Love Exposure's Sakura Ando), Mamie and Beyoncé. It was the legendary local DJ TDK (the same Takeda-san from the first movie) who inspired them. The girls are struggling with ups and downs of grown-up world - getting old, debts, boyfriends, unwanted pregnancy and lame jobs. At the mention of regrouping, Mittsu barks, "Rap music is not cool anymore." But their passion for music once again ignites when they encounter two b-boys from Saitama (Ikku and Tom from the first film), who make a pilgrimage to where TDK's life altering concert took place- a riverbank in Gunma. After their hostile free-styling battle, the girls are motivated to pick up their act one last time.

Similar to Shogung, B-Hack goes through an ultra embarrassing gig in the middle of the film. Taking place in a public swimming pool, their reunion performance doesn't even remotely resemble gangsta rap, but is closer to a Spice Girls act. With their bubble gum lyrics and matching bathing suits, it's pretty pathetic and they know it too. Without any close ups, director Yu Irie goes for a wide, single long take for the entire performance, as if to spare the girls from further embarrassment.

The differences between the first 8000 Miles and Girl Rappers are not only in far superior production value and acting, but in the characters themselves: they are much better drawn out and their struggles much more heartfelt. Even the stereotypical characters here have redeeming qualities and are likable. What sets these girls apart from the boys is their genuine passion for music, not the put-on act that comes with the rap culture.

In the end, like Ikku and Tom, the girls realize what rap is about. You rap about what you know. It's a confession of sorts. It's a way to vent your anger and frustration. It is, ultimately, a therapy. With Girl Rappers, Irie has matured to a patient, observant filmmaker representing the blank generation of Japan and I expect great things from him in the future.

8000 Miles 2 is screening on June 29th (8:45 PM) at the Walter Reade Theater as part of 2010 New York Asian Film Festival. Director Yu Irie will be at the screening!
Review at Twitch

NYAFF 2010: 8000 Miles

8000 Miles - Irie (2009)

A sleeper hit of 2009 in Japan, Yu Irie's 8000 Miles is a no budget tragicomedy about wannabe b-boys in Saitama, a Tokyo suburb. A chubby NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) Ikku and his farmboy friends Mighty and Tom(u) are members of Shogung, a hip-hop group, lounging around empty warehouses and practicing their freestyle rap, dreaming of big success. Decked out in gangsta gears of their idols (2pac and Notorious B.I.G.), cocky attitudes and made-up slangs (bro, here stands for broccoli), it's pretty clear from the get-go, these ne'er do well, twenty-somethings are more interested in the idea of being rappers than actual music. Ikku tries to be relevant though- he collects clippings of newspaper headlines for lyrics.

The trio (because the rest of the group bailed at the last minute)'s first gig takes place in a local PTA meeting about youth problem. Shogung performing in front of the completely unresponsive audience and the Q & A session that follows are the most uncomfortable yet funniest scenes in the film. Irie's penchant for long takes works well here to catch all the awkward moments.

The subplot includes a sickly legendary DJ Takeda-san(TKD) residing in seclusion in their neighborhood and Ikku's high school flame turned porn star to stir things up inside the group.

All in all, this small movie is not really about rap culture in Japan. It's more to do with the blank generation and suburban ennui. Irie, a native of Saitama, understands well the frustrations of these lovable losers in suburbia and portray them with warmth and care. Hidden behind all the oversized parkas and dark shades, 8000 Miles is an ultimately a tender bromance between Ikku and Tom.

8000 Miles is screening on June 29th (6:30 PM) and June 30th (3:30 PM)at the Walter Reade Theater as part of 2010 New York Asian Film Festival. Director Yu Irie will be at the screening!
Review at Twitch

New York Asian Film Festival 2010: Ip Man 2

Ip Man 2 (2010) - Yip

Wilson Yip's saga continues, this time it's Hong Kong, 1950. Having just arrived and penniless and friendless, Ip Man, the master of Wing Chun style martial arts, faces first the complex local martial club hierarchy, then yet another abusive foreign power, this time, the British empire.

After losing a number of hard earn pupils to tuff wars, ever stoic and dignified Ip Man reluctantly enters to a test to earn respects and rights to open his own martial club, under the watchful eye of a respected and rich local honcho, master Hung (Sammo Hung). Against one master after another on the ricketty round tea table, Ip Man shows them he is much more than enough to be called a master. The fights are heavenly, especially between Sammo Hung, who choreographed all the fight sequences in both Ip Man movies and Donnie Yen.

Then the film goes into Rocky IV territory with the corrupt, racist British police force arranging the West-East boxing match to show who the boss is, with an obnoxious boxer named Twister. Sammo Hung, at the tender age of 58, gives the most heart wrenching performance here as the master who abides to the rules to survive, but not to the insult to Chinese. Ip Man 2 belongs to Hung as much it does to Donnie Yen.

The fight between Twister and Ip Man is way over the top. It was the ruthless but dignified opponent Miura that gave the first film weight and integrity, a worthy opponent so to speak. Twister, a thick headed foreign devil, comes across as Hugo Weaving on steroids. I kept expecting him appearing in flip-flop dress as in Adventures of Pricilla Queen of the Desert. Ip Man 2, with the political urgency gone, is lighter and sillier than the first one, but still great fun to watch. It even squeezes in little Bruce Lee at the end.

*Prior to the screening, Sammo Hung received Asia Star Lifetime Achievement Award from ever enthusiastic Grady Hendrix of NYAFF. As Hung introduced this Opening Night Film of the NYAFF 2010, his good humor and grace didn't go unnoticed by star-struck audience that packed the sold out screening.

Ip Man 2 is the Opening Night Selection screening on June 25th (9:30 PM) and is screening June 27th (8:45 PM) at the Walter Reade Theater as part of 2010 New York Asian Film Festival Sammo Hung will be at the screening
Ip Man 2 Review at Twitch

Same same...

A State of Mind (2004) - Gordon






With the US's Iraq invasion looming therefore the North Korean Gov't attention being elsewhere, Daniel Gordon, a BBC documentarian gets an unfettered access into the lives of two North Korean school girls as they prepare for 2003 Mass Games for eight months. Families of these two girls are at first stand offish, but as the time goes along, we get to see how the people in Hermit Kingdom lives, granted they are among 2 million privileged people living in the capital, Pyong-yang. What's surprising about this non-judgmental documentary is how similar and ordinary the girls are to the rest of the world's. They laugh a lot, want to sleep more rather than go to school, have tit-tats with their families.

As they prepare their moves on concrete schoolyard for grueling 20 day, two times a day performance for the 55th anniversary of founding of the republic, we get to see how this small country managed to scrape by (not very well, but nevertheless) for all these years by the power of collectivism. The mass games, an astounding display of discipline and devotion are necessary conditioning from an earlier age (later military service) to have people always at odds with the sworn eternal enemy the US, the imperialists to keep the regime going.

The girls seem to be happy as they make pilgrimage to the sacred Baek-du mountain, the supposedly the birth place of the eternal leader, Kim Il-sung and preparing for the mass games in the hopes of their great General, Kim Jong-il making an appearance at the stadium. He never does, breaking girls hearts everywhere.

Fascinating, intimate and beautifully shot documentary that shows that these people aren't that different.

Turning Back

180° South (2010) - Malloy




These rugged boys got it good. A surfer/climber Jeff Johnson and friends try to duplicate the journey to Patagonia by Ben and Gerry of outdoors world(Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Sportswear and Doug Tompkins, founder of North Face turned environmentalist) in 1968. Johnson hitches a yacht ride, making a detour to Rapa Nui(Easter Island) when the mast of the ship breaks, picks up a hot surfer chick Makohe(she sings beautifully too) there, then arrive in Patagonia to climb the revered Corcovado. It is then, a total surprise for the crew(including Chouinard who's fast approaching his 70) that the peak is not snow-capped anymore, due to climate change and thus unclimbable.

The environmental message here mixed with 60's idealism is pretty strong. Tompkins apparently bought 2 million acres of lands in Chile to conserve it and is fighting alongside the locals against the development down in Patagonia.

Cutting back and forth between stunning nature photography and 16mm footage of 68' journey with soundtrack featuring James Mercer, Isaak Brock, Mason Jennings constantly in the background, 180° South plays out like a pretty North Face commercial at times. The cutesy animation is also too hipsterish for its own good. But the beauty of visuals is too overpowering for me to be cynical about this crunchy granola of a film.

Private Healthcare

Britannia Hospital (1982) - Anderson

The esteemed Britannia Hospital is in frantic mode because they are expecting a visitation from HRH(Her Royal Highness). But the Unionized kitchen staff are on strike, refusing to serve rich patients their caviar and lamb shanks. And there are demonstrators outside shouting 'down with the privilege' and protesting some cannibal African dictator who resides in the hospital.

This third in Mick Travis Trilogy(If.... O Lucky Man!) is a biting satire where no one is safe from Anderson's criticism- private-run health care, deal-making Union bosses, silly upper-class, irrelevant nationalism... Even though it's from different era, Britannia Hospital is just as relevant as it was then. It's funny as hell and much more coherent than messy O Lucky Man. Malcolm McDowell has a minor role as an investigative reporter who unwittingly becomes a subject of a medical experiment of manic, messianic Dr. Miller. Anderson's absurd and prophetic open ending is a right fit to conclude the trilogy. Oh, Mark Hamill makes an appearance as dope smoking news crew who gets overrun by the angry English protesters.

Subway Grate Plants in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

I looked down today and saw:

Gym Shorts

The recess was ending. Playing in the sandlot, you lost track of time. You were nine years old. You had to go to the bathroom really bad. The field cleared as the bell rang. Peeing in the corner of the building while no one was watching, at the time, seemed like a pretty logical thing to do in your mind. It was either that or wetting your gym shorts. You quickly looked around and pulled your shorts down. As you relieved yourself, someone tapped on your shoulder. It was a hall monitor. You knew you were in trouble. You were escorted to the teacher’s lounge, to Mr. Lee, who happened to be your favorite teacher. The hall monitor told him what you were up to. Mr. Lee dismissed the monitor and looked at you with a cigarette dangling in the corner of his mouth.
“Peed on the school property eh?” He tsked, shaking his head.
“Come closer,” You obliged.
“You pulled your wee-wee out in front of everyone?” You were too mortified and embarrassed to speak.
He took a deep drag from his cigarette. You remember the red hot of the cigarette to this day. He pulled the front of your gym shorts toward him. Then he flicked the ashes off his cigarette in to your pants. Snap.

Your wife left you. Took the kid too. Things weren’t going well for a while between you two. The love was gone if it was there in the first place. Business school, MBA, night classes, 2 years of out-of-state training, overtime, business trips, junior lender at 33, two cars, house, bigger house… for what, you thought. She left. With the kid. 35 years old. You are on meds. Clinically depressed. Bipolar. Whatever.

It’s Friday night. Here you are at the City Central, a bar near the office. Drinking with your so-called co-workers. Larry, your boss is talking with some skank on the other side of the bar. He throws glances at you and smiles. You smile back lifting your Chivas on the rocks. You haven’t told him about your wife leaving him. You haven’t told anyone. The glass is empty. Do you want another shot? The barkeep says. You nod, then shake, then nod again. Fuck it, you say.

Larry called you in to his office two weeks ago. You’ve known him for ten years. He took you with him from the previous job. Bigger company, better pay. Linda and Damien, you know the names of his kids. You drank his homebrew. You play with his dogs. You are forever grateful to him. But the current financial crisis made you jittery. Made everyone jittery. The company’s cutting back. That means your job is on the line too. “Jung-bum came to see me yesterday,” Larry said.
“You know what he said to me? He said you were on anti-depressants?”
That little shit backstabbed me, you thought.
Jung-bum is that ambitious Korean kid who just got out of his MBA. You liked him. You took him in under your wings. In private, he called you brother in Korean affectionately. Now he tells Larry, your boss, of your defects, your Achilles Heel so to speak.
“He wants your job. “Larry Said.
“I didn’t have to tell you this. But you and I go way back. I guess the kid didn’t know. All I’m saying is, get your shit together and trust no one.”

Jung-bum approaches you from the other side of the bar with a drink in his hand. Fuck it, you say as you down your fifth Chivas.
“Great crowd huh?”
“Yes.” It pains you to see the kid in the face.
“Something wrong? You look pale”.
You don’t answer him right away. You ask the barkeep for another shot.
“My wife left me. She took the kid. Soon she will take the house, cars and all my money. I’m a mess.” You gulp your drink down.
“What?”
“I’m bipolar, too.” You let him have it all.
“I’m so sorry, bro.”
“No, you’re not. And don’t call me bro!” With that, you walk out of the Central Station.

You notice something in the alley as you look up from puking your guts out. It’s a homeless person sleeping. He’s an old Asian man. And he seems very familiar to you. Can it be Mr. Lee? You go closer to inspect. Certainly the man looks like him. You squat down next to him.
“Mr. Lee. Remember me?” No response.
“I didn’t expect to see you here today. A nice surprise.” The bum twitched in his sleep.
“You were my favorite teacher, you know?” Your smile is lost in the night.
“I don’t suppose you’ve ever thought I would turn out this way, have you, all broken and sad….” You sigh.
“I did everything by the book, everything I was supposed to do, studied hard, went to good school, worked hard, got a good job, got married, a house, kid, cars….” You fight tears welling up in your eyes. You lay yourself down next to the bum.
“Mr. Lee. I really don’t know what to do. And I’m scared.”
The bum opens his eyes and gets up, grunting. The man is too drunk to stand up straight by himself. You get up to help him. He touches his groin area, grunting.
“You have to go, is that it?” You ask him.
You undo his fly and get his penis out just in time for the bum to start urinating. The steam rises. The bum releases a sigh of relief. You feel better, standing next to him, holding his penis, looking out into the darkness.

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies...

Che: Part 1 & 2 (2008) - Soderbergh

With Jon Lee Anderson, the author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, as a primary consultant, Soderbergh presents perhaps the most dispassionate biopic I've ever seen, in two parts. He cherry picks from the revolutionary's life, first the Cuban Revolution up to the takeover then jumps to Bolivia where Guevara meets his untimely end- It should've been dubbed as The Rise and Fall of Che.

Soderbergh's approach is all reasonable and sound. Given its heady subject matter, the more I think about it, his all out objectivity is/should be the only logical conclusion for anyone's attempt at the screen adaptation. Benicio Del Toro seems comfortable in the role who was the disciplinarian and the moral core of the cause rather than personable human being. But for the true revolutionary who exclaimed the love for the common men, the film lacks any kind of emotional resonance. Not that it's not compelling: each part devotes itself to a long grueling combat scene- Bolivian part more so as Asthma stricken Che struggles to keep up with the rest of the group.

I never quite understand Soderbergh's infatuation with technology. Throughout his spotty filmography, his insistence on trying new 'look' never worked for me. I hated the look of Che, especially the second one. It's not as ridiculous as Traffic's blue and orange dichotomy, but the bluey, dreary exterior comes across as amateurish at best.

Che was not quite the disaster I was expecting. But it was far from satisfying experience. Parts of his life I was interested in the most- his Congo campaign and his role in after-the-takeover of Cuba were excluded. It's interesting to see what's going on in Latin America right now, especially Bolivia where his failed attempt at igniting its people to the revolutionary cause, with its almost biblical implications.

Grand Master

Ip Man (2009) - Yip

I'm happy to report that after the awful wire work/FX ridden wuxia swordplay period, Hong Kong cinema is once again enjoying bare-knuckle kung fu boom. Wilson Yip's biographical film on the Wing Chun School grandmaster Ip Man, trailing him through the Japanese occupation, the big battle and his flight to Hong Kong is a sumptuous experience. Master Ip is a humble aristocrat who doesn't want to show off his skills. He only receives guests who wants to 'practice' with him occasionally in his big mansion where he lives with his wife and young son. But the words get out that he beat every master in Fo Shan, a southern Chinese city famous for its numerous martial art schools. But the Japanese occupation begins and Ip goes through hardships just like any of his fellow Chinese. After seeing his friends beaten to death in a martial arts match set up by a Bushido practicing Japanese captain while working at a coal factory, Ip once again picks up the trade he had to abandon in order to feed his family in desperate times.

Master Ip story has been loosely adapted to martial arts films many times(after Bruce Lee and Jet Li, now it's Tony Leung as Ip Man in Wong Kar-wai's latest, Grand Master). But nationalism and heavy handedness aside, Ip Man is every martial arts fan's dream. Donnie Yen brings righteousness and stoicism that fit the role well. Sammo Hung's fight choreography is stripped down to basics, but it's a glorious one. I can't wait to see Ip Man 2 in which Sammo Hung co-stars.

Splash, Chlorine, Swimming Suites...

Naissance des Pieuvres/Water Lilies (2007) - Sciamma



A perfect Summer fling movie. Must be something to do with splashing of water, chlorine smell, tight swimsuits... A swimming pool is a perfect setting for a coming-of-age drama. For Marie (Pauline Acquart), a flat chested 15 yr old, her object of desire is not some boy but sultry Floriane (Adele Haenel), the school's synchro swim team captain who has reputation as a school slut. While her early-puberty-hit best friend Anne daydreaming about hunky François from the swim team, Marie hangs out at the synchro practice and practices her skills in the bathtub. Marie gets her ogling privileges at the practices in the swimming pool, in exchange for being a Floriane's wingman whenever she wants to hang with the boys. It turns out, Floriane's sluttiness is all but an act since no boys will dig her once they find out she's an inexperienced virgin. Floriane needs to lose her virginity fast. But to whom?

First time director Céline Sciamma has a great visual sense as well as great empathy toward her characters to handle rather a pervy material. Never fully explicit, the girl's sexual escapades don't lose its grip on reality. The friendship among the girls seem genuine and touching.

Nature Calls: My Abandonment

I am very picky about what I read. Sure, there are a lot of books with pretty covers calling out to me like sirens but I've been burned so many times (copies of half-read books with pretty covers stacking, spilling out our bookshelves), I don't go for that as much as I used to nowadays. Anonymous library copies will do. Having just abandoned Faulkner's impenetrable Sound and the Fury, I needed something to read. I do browse at the bookstores. It's a good pastime for me. And all the good books I've read over the years, it's usually happenstances: We were in Soho area on Friday night near McNally Jackson, a medium size, independent bookstore that has been a cultural island in the sea of expensive shops and tourists. I wasn't really looking for books, just wandering about, absorbing the balmy Spring weather, on the way to the train station.

Then I see this in there:

Intrigued by its cover, I flipped it over and read the description:

A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND HER FATHER LIVING IN FOREST PARK, an enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in nearby creek, store perishables at the water's edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts. Once a week they go to the city to buy groceries and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight.
Inspired by a rue story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of its young narrator, Caroline, My Abandonment is a spellbinding journey into life at the margins and a stirring tale of survival and hope.

I'm sure it's many urbanites' fantasy (including mine) to live self-sufficiently in nature, away from civilization. And I know the city of Portland and the Pacific Northwest pretty well. The book starts out and fulfills that fairytale of ours faithfully. Then it gets darker- sort of McCarthy's The Road with a resourceful girl instead of a helpless boy. I didn't expect that sudden change of mood. Good thing is the author Rock doesn't play the helpless child card. It's about a girl finding herself through abandoning normal life.

I read the book in two days. It happened to me only once or twice, and I'm a very slow reader. I recommend the book to any good friend of mine. It will delight your senses and then disturb you. But don't despair, read on and the beautiful ending will reward you.

Virtual Friends

We Live in Public (2009) - Timoner

The doc starts with a video message of Josh Harris to his mother who's dying of pancreatic cancer, "hopefully we will see each other again on the other side. While you are there, say hello to all the relatives and our ancestors and whatever..."

Harris, one of the dotcom kids who made enormous amount of money in the 90s, invited documentary director Ondi Timoner in 1999 to document his latest venture, Quiet, a 24/7 surveillance camera wired bunker commune of young artistic types, under Manhattan. The candidates would sign their privacy away into this Orwellian experiment for the live world of internetz fame. It was a grandiose experiment and a true show of excess. It was Harris' vision of the future where people's lives are inseparable from this thing called world wide web.

For me who thinks Media Studies is the most worthless subject in the world and who can't stand exhibitionists, this doc didn't sound too good. But at the same time I had a strong desire to see this Josh Harris guy crash and burn at the end of the movie. Even though I've never heard of Harris, I remember attending one these ravish party/art shows thrown by 'one of the dotcom millionaires' in the late 90s.

Harris, a man-child who was admittedly brought up by television in a loveless family, made money in the silicon valley and created internet tv stations called Pseudo in the mid 90s. There is a footage showing Harris bragging to Bob Simon from 60 Minutes that it's a matter of time Pseudo would take over CBS. Mind you, internet was still far away from broadband.

After some freakish behavior (dressing up as a clown named Luvvy, his internet persona) that scared some investors off, he left Pseudo to his fellow shareholders and embarked on Quiet- his own world where he can be in charge in every aspect. It was the peak, the tail end of good times before the internet bubble burst. With their dial-up internet, the world got to see young people doing everything (except creating it seems)- eating, taking shower, fucking, shitting... and chat about their Quiet experiences. The commune was also equipped with a gun firing range and interrogation room. After a while, there are mental breakdowns, fights and it ends with Giuliani's police raid right after the new year 2000.

Harris then jumped on the idea for We Live in Public, a first internet couple living in public 24/7, with his girlfriend. What he didn't realize was that people lose interest fast, and subjecting himself to the experiment would backfire. In the end, he loses all his money, girlfriend and falls into obscurity, alone and lonely. Everything he did afterwords, comes across as stunts for that fifteen minutes of fame with his desperate desire to be loved still intact.

We Live in Public is a fascinating doc. One way or another, his vision came true, maybe not the exact way he predicted. I don't have to tell you the eminence of Facebook, blogs, youtube and even chat roulette in our lives. Hell, the reason we are here conversing is because we want some kind of validation on ourselves. The bottom line for coming to these sites is, we want to feel good about ourselves, ain't it?

A Train, Lower Manhattan

These sound projects are from last year. I need to pick it up again.

Wonton Garden: noodle with dumplings and roast pork

Chinatown, Manhattan

Thicker than Blood

Flounder (2010) - Park





The first time director Park Joon-bum's film is about three best friends on the verge of adulthood in the harbor city of Pusan. A country where friendship/brotherhood is thicker than blood, it is easy to see why Park concentrates on the trio - a baby faced college student in the eve of mandatory military service, a fish market worker studying to be a cop and a lazy Korean b-boy wannabe, and not much else. There are slight unfulfilled romances, poverty and family issues to test their friendships.

Flounder has a neo-realist feel with its squalid, down to earth settings. Their lives' ups and downs might not make big impressions but they are treated with warmth and care. Part of the reason it works is that Park is of the same age as these characters and knows what he's talking about. Even with all the melodrama, Flounder shows Park's potential to be a great filmmaker.

Woman Under the Influence

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) - Hancock




Jessica (Zohra Lampert) who just spent 6 months in NY institution, moves in to the idyllic Bishop manor near a lake in a small town with her supportive husband and their friend. They will be a farmer and she will get better in time. First, the small town folks are not only unfriendly but down right creepy with bandages on their wrists and on their necks. The trio then finds a strangely attractive redhead, Emily (Mariclaire Costello) living in their house. She warms everyone up and they agree on the beautiful vagabond staying with them indefinitely. While they are settling down, Jessica is seeing things and voices in her head mess up her quietude, make her question her sanity again.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death is a moody thriller that plays out as if Cassavetes tried his hands on the horror genre. It's a slow burn. Thank goodness the characters are not teenagers and there are no cheap scares. But with Lampert's great acting and eerie setting/cinematography/sound design, Let's Scare Jessica to Death is an unsettling little gem.

Tokyo Destroyed Again

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (2009) - Oreck
Rainbow Beetle at whopping $47!

More of an anthropological essay than straight-up documentary, Beetle Queen shows the latest craze in Japanese culture- bug collecting. With a typical Japanese woman's voice over(courteous yet sultry), we get to see and hear the urban landscapes, lights, cars, trains and people juxtaposed with close ups of bugs, mountains, forests, rice paddies etc. It shows how Japanese see the world in microcosm and simplicity through Shintoism and Zen Buddhism- haiku, zen rock garden, bonzai trees... Therefore, bugs are seen as logical connection btwn human and nature.

With sight and sound skillfully put together, Beetle Queen is a very hypnotic, seductive film. It's a delight to gaze upon the excited children's face as they marvel on these giant bugs and hear elders talking about their prized items with nostalgia. It reminds strongly of Chris Marker films but much more intimate and inviting.

Once You Go Black...

Black Snake Moan (2006) - Brewer


You've all seen the poster: half naked Christina Ricci chained up, kneeling before towering Sam Jackson in his dirty wife beater. When Black Snake Moan came out, I just rolled my eyes and didn't give it a second thought. Recently my musician friend played some songs from the film, sung by Sam Jackson hisself and man oh man, he can really bring it on. So why not, I'll bite that race bait, I thought.

First off, I'd be lying if I didn't enjoy seeing Ricci chained by the waist writhing about. She's got one fine bod. But behind all the trappings, Black Snake Moan is a tender love story with a capital t. Combining race, music, Jesus and booze in American South, Brewer succeeds in telling a sweet story of redemption and change without being coy.

Ricci plays Rae, a little nymphet with a fucked up childhood, who can't seem to close her legs up and Sam Jackson is Lazarus who, after getting dumped by his wife for his brother, sets out to fix Rae up in her wicked ways even if it means chaining her to the radiator which has been warming his house all these years. Lazarus, a retired blues musician, is far from a saint. But he wants to help the poor girl.

It's a Sam Jackson show. Lazarus is a very well developed, fully three dimensional character. Even though Rae comes off as a little too stereotypical whitetrash whore, still retains her humanism by Ricci's volatile/vulnerable performance. Justin Timberlake is also pretty good as an army vet/ messed up kid who gets to be taught a lesson by a big balding black man. Honestly, who wouldn't want shouting Sam Jackson to be their relationship counselor?