Middle-aged Sook-young (Kim Ji-mee) takes a train journey and recalls her abuse at the hands of men whose brutal treatment provoked her into killing in self-defence. A spell in prison leaves her suicidal but a temporary release under the watchful eye of a female warden leads to an encounter with Hoon (Lee Jeong-il) whose friendly persistence breaks through Sook-young’s mistrust … Read the rest
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Yellow Handkerchief (Yoji Yamada, Japan, 1977)
Jilted teen Kinya (Tetsuya Takeda) embarks on a road trip across Hokkaido, picking up shy, nervous Akemi (Kaori Momoi) and middle-aged loner Yusaku (Ken Takakura) as travelling companions. But as Kinya struggles too woo Akemi a routine police stop unexpectedly reveals that the taciturn Yusaku is actually a former convict just released from jail after serving time for murder. Yusaku … Read the rest
School Trip (Yoo Hyun-mok, South Korea, 1969)
On a tiny remote island off the Korean coast a schoolteacher named Mr. Kim takes a class of young children on their first ever trip to the country’s capital, Seoul.
A lovely account of simple island kids exploring a big city and winningly told through the eyes of children whose wonderment at seeing the likes of skyscrapers and neon lights … Read the rest
The Inheritance (Masaki Kobayashi, Japan, 1962)
Dying businessman Senzo (So Yamamura) announces his vast fortune is to be split among his three illegitimate children provided they can be located. To this end he orders loyal and innocent secretary Yasuko (Keiko Kishi) to locate his eldest whilst a bent lawyer (Jun Hamamura) is instructed to find the other two. But Senzo’s greedy wife Sato (Misako Watanabe) conspires … Read the rest
The Blue Light (Yukio Ninagawa, Japan, 2003)
A bright teenager named Shuichi (Kazunari Ninomiya) lives with his mother and sister. But although outwardly happy the return of Shuichi’s estranged stepfather – whom he believes to have sexually abused his sister – stirs violent impulses in the boy. So Shuichi hatches an ingenious death-by-electrocution plan to murder his stepfather. But when a psychotic schoolmate gets wind of the … Read the rest
Jersey Boys (Clint Eastwood, US, 2014)
The story of how young and gifted singer Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), and close friends Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) and Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda), three close friends from New Jersey with dubious criminal connections – along with brilliant singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) – became the smash hit pop group The Four Seasons and the internal pressures caused by … Read the rest
Gun and Key (Satoshi Isaka, Japan, 2001)
Two strangers who’ve met on the internet, a young computer expert nicknamed ‘Gun’ (Kazuma Suzuki) and an ageing locksmith known as ‘Key’ (Kenichi Hagiwara), plan to rob the office safe of a businessman with gangster connections. The robbery goes fine but on the way out the lift carrying our heroes gets stuck between floors. As the hours pass and the … Read the rest
American Sniper (Clint Eastwood, US, 2014)
Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a US Navy SEAL, finds himself torn between two families; his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) who finds herself raising their son and daughter alone and the battlefield comrades who rely on his shooting skills to protect them from a legendary enemy sniper known as Mustafa during four gruelling tours of duty in Iraq. But after an … Read the rest
The Legendary Black Rose (Jeffrey Lau, Hong Kong, 1992)
Two women named Butterfly and Chow (Maggie Shiu and Teresa Mo) are accidentally caught up in a gang murder so try to throw off the cops by blaming the incident on a fictional 1960’s Hong Kong movie heroine known as Black Rose. But the pair are kidnapped by two of Black Rose’s ageing students (Bo Bo Fung and Wong Wan … Read the rest
Safari 5000 (Koreyoshi Kurahara, Japan, 1969)
In dangerous winter weather an obsessive rally driver named Godai (Yujiro Ishihara) narrowly avoids death after a disastrous shunt during the Monte Carlo race. After recovery Godai sets his sights on the big African rally in which he’ll compete with his old adversary and best friend Pierre (Alain Cuny). But as Godai begins training the wives of both men (Ruriko … Read the rest
