After an anonymous caller to a radio phone in makes good on his threat to blow up a bridge he promises to explain why, but only live on air to DJ Yoon (Ha Jung-woo). For Yoon who has been stuck kicking his heels in morning radio shows this is the chance to get back in the big time. With the … Read the rest
Author: rob
Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 2008)
An insatiably curious goldfish princess named Ponyo falls in love with Sosuke, the five-year old boy who saves her after she ends up washed ashore and trapped in a bottle. But Ponyo’s love for Sosuke and subsequent transformation from fish to human alarms her wizard father Fujimoto (who despises humans for their environmental vandalism) and throws nature so terrifyingly out … Read the rest
A Scoundrel (Kaneto Shindo, Japan, 1965)
14th Century Japan; an ageing general named Moronao (Eitaro Ozawa) whiles away his time at a private court. When his courtesan Jijyu (Nobuko Otowa) unwisely hints at a Princess of rare beauty who lives in the area (Woman of the Dunes‘ Kyoko Kishida) the General instantly becomes smitten and begins sending the married woman love verses. The verses … Read the rest
A Man On His Knees (Damiano Damiani, Italy, 1980)
Nino (Giuliano Gemma) a former car thief gone straight and now a Palermo coffee stall owner finds himself marked for assassination by the Mafia after being suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of a prominent lawyer’s wife. With the help of his best friend, a pickpocket named Colicchia (Tano Cimarosa) and the reluctant assistance of Platamonte (Michele Placido) a greedy … Read the rest
Wolf (Kaneto Shindo, Japan, 1955)
A group of rookie insurance salespeople – Yano (Nobuko Otawa), Tomie (Sanae Takasugi), Mikawa (Taiji Tonoyama), Harashima (Jun Hamamura) and Yoshikawa (Ichiro Sugai) – find themselves unable to make their sales targets. Facing the sack and with their personal lives mired in poverty the group agree to rob a cash delivery truck. But after a successful heist all are undone … Read the rest
Ditch (Kaneto Shindo, Japan, 1954)
After being raped a traumatised woman named Tsuru (Nobuko Otowa) wanders into a squatter camp and is immediately taken advantage of by Toku (Taiji Tonoyama) and Pin (Jukichi Uno), two residents keen to use her to fund their gambling habit. Exploiting Tsuru’s good nature by posing as a hard up student Pin worms his way into Tsuru’s affections and convinces … Read the rest
Snow Flurry (Keisuke Kinoshita, Japan, 1959)
In 1940 the only son of an aristocratic family commits suicide with his pregnant wife (Keiko Kishi). However the latter survives to eventually give birth to a son, Sutueo (Yusuke Kawazu). 19 years later, with the family having lost its status along with most of its land, the adult Suteo harbours a deep love for his adoptive sister Sakura (Yoshiko … Read the rest
Detective Story (Kichitaro Negishi, Japan, 1983)
Wealthy university graduate Naomi (Hiroko Yakoshimaru) discovers that her absent father has hired a private detective named Shuichi (Yusaku Matsuda) to keep an eye on her. But when Shuichi’s estranged wife becomes the chief suspect in the murder of a Yakuza employee the irrepressible Naomi throws herself into solving the case whilst wrestling with her increasingly affectionate feelings toward her … Read the rest
Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1962)
A terrific film that vaults into the first rank of my favourite Kurosawa’s alongside Ran, Rashomon, High and Low and Rhapsody in August. Toshiro Mifune is an absolute delight here as the scruffy, indolent, but-light-years-ahead-of-everyone-else warrior who rescues a bunch of witless samurai and then cleans up their corruption difficulties in local government. Two things I loved … Read the rest
The Road Home (Zhang Yimou, China, 2001)
An exquisitely crafted, emotionally overwhelming experience, The Road Home ranks for me as one of the all time great cinema love stories and one of my favourite Asian films. It really blew me away. The tale is simplicity itself being essentially the story of how an illiterate teenage girl named Di (Zhang Ziyi, astonishingly good from her facial expressions to … Read the rest
