Cinema4you2me

The Human Condition (人間の條件,  Ningen no  jōken) Director : Masaki Kobayashi Written by : Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Koichi Inagaki Year : 1959 Country : Japan Talking about Rossellini’s Roma Citta Aperta , Godard said, ‘Italy has regained the right of a nation to look itself in the face’. One wonders if the same doesn’t hold true for Japan and The Human Condition . Despite its indictments of Japanese imperialism, the film received much critical and commercial acclaim back in 1959. In an interview, the lead actor Tatsuya Nakadai (Kaji) recalls how cinema halls would be sold out, even for the film’s marathon viewings. Such wild crowds are surely unusual for a 9-hour film that highlights the masochism of its people. However, the Allied occupation had brought quite a lot of exposure with it and cultural activities had started to thrive. Japan was experiencing a dramatic shift in social and political attitudes; a phenomenon that sits at the heart of Kobayashi’s bleak,...

For 14 days, fans of Japanese films all over Germany and abroad will have the chance to enjoy the newest Japanese films from the comfort of their own homes. The festival will be streaming their entire programme of over 70 films, consisting of around 40 film blocks and varying from vivid anime and ambitious short films to rich arthouse experiences and genre-defining blockbusters. The online ticket cost 5 euro per block and can be purchased from the festival website. A large portion of ticket sales will go directly to the Japanese filmmakers, many of whom are facing hardships due to the corona crisis. The purchase of a ticket therefore not only helps support the festival, but also the filmmakers who make it possible. Japan-Filmfest Hamburg will additionally be releasing free videos daily on the YouTube channel . When: 19 August – 2 September More info & Tickets: https://jffh.de/en The Asian Cinema Blog https://ift.tt/2Fmqlqi August 16, 2020 at 01:46PM

Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku) Director : Garin Nugroho Written by : Garin Nugroho Year : 2018 Country : Indonesia Distribution  via:  Asian Shadows Our bodies are not really our own. They are defined by society, culture, tradition, mythology, politics – all of these forces interweaving and changing the meaning of the body through time. “Memories of My Body” examines this notion through a personal experience of a boy Juno who grows up to be a traditional dancer/performer in Indonesia.  The movie follows Juno through different episodes in his life, each marked by some kind of crisis related to the interpretation of body and sexuality. Each episode is intercut with a performance of traditional theatre play, setting up the next piece and narrated by dancer-actor Rianto on whose life the movie is based. The film is filled with tragic characters, each with their own struggles. From a muscular boxer who doesn’t want to be seen only as a macho emot...

Bio of the guest author of this essay: Priya is an Italian-Indian writer at  The Indian Rose , a website aimed at presenting Indian culture to the world. She blogs about Ayurveda, South Asian cinema, and fashion. She is interested in discovering and sharing aspects of the ancient Indian philosophy and way of life that can be relevant in today’s world. The influence of Italian neorealism on Indian parallel cinema – a realist film style that emerged in the 1950s in the Indian State of West Bengal – is legendary. Since Satyajit Ray admitted that “ …the one film that truly had an impact on my mind was Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves ”, whenever Indian parallel cinema is mentioned, Italian neorealism follows. Time and again Indian realist films have been described as a sort of by-product of Italian cinema. (definitions of Italian neorealism and Indian parallel cinema can be found at the end of this essay) Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica That’s an oversimplificatio...

Illang: The Wolf Brigade (인랑) Director : Kim Jee-woon Country : South Korea Year : 2018 Illang has a lot going for it – the original anime created by the legendary Mamoru Oshii ( Ghost in the Shell ), a fascinating topic, great CGI and costumes, and a talented director ( A Bittersweet Life , The Good, The Bad, The Weird ). However, it fell short of a good movie and can only be placed into the passable movie pile.  The premise of the film is fascinating – it’s the year 2029 and both Korea’s are getting ready for reunification. As any such large political decisions that have enormous ramifications, it’s not welcomed evenly by the public. A terrorist group called “The Sect” arises and is violently opposing the reunification. As a response, South Korea forms a special military unit Illang (Wolf’s Brigade) to fight them. However, there are forces within the government that don’t want this group to exist. In the midst of this political drama, we have a love story between two confl...

I stumbled into Asian film through two coincidences: first, I saw Princess Mononoke while watching TV, and then received a DVD with Oldboy  as a Christmas gift. I was lucky to start off with good movies that made me want to see more. However, many people I know have never seen an Asian film. Even some people who actually live or have lived in Asia. This baffled me for awhile – why not? So I asked. The two most common answers I got were: they don’t know where to start, or they had watched some obscure Asian film and think that all of them are too artsy and or too hard to comprehend. Therefore, our team at The Asian Cinema Blog decided to pick some of our favorite titles to give you good stepping stones into the rich world of Asian film. Note : The list is not just for “beginners”, anyone can enjoy these movies. We just feel that the movies below have similar storytelling techniques and/or filmmaking aesthetics as those of the mainstream Western film. South Korea Oldboy. ...

For the past four years or so, countries around the Persian Gulf (GCC) have been experiencing a rise in screen talents (filmmakers, cinematographers, writers, actors, and so on). While countries have been riding the not-so-impressive wave of unoriginal soap operas and some decent comedy series since the 70s, cinema has long been resting in purgatory in this part of the globe. Thankfully, the internet has opened up new doors for artistic expression and freedom. However, even with all the available resources, one could not help but pray for this eye-gouging trend of mediocre video content to be over. What’s even more disappointing is the acceptance of poor quality (in terms of both ideas and technical achievements) and re-emergence of GCC television trends on social media. The same type of socially irrelevant content that has been delivered by so-called “TV legends” is now being recycled by even less talented “online celebrities” on YouTube and Instagram. In the midst of all this secon...

Tony, from Every Frame a Painting YouTube channel, has a visual essay about film comedy . He talks about how nowadays comedy films, especially those coming from Hollywood with their dependence on dialogue and close-ups are more like staged improv than a film. This way, they miss out on all the possibilities of the medium. Edgar Wright is a shining exception, as Tony points out, and his movies (that I love!) are a masterclass of how to do film comedy right.   Now, going back to the Asian cinema, – I have not seen that many comedies (few exceptions – Breakup Buddies , Kung Fu Hustle , 3 Idiots ). Humour is difficult to translate, and gets literally “lost in translation”. But if most of the comedy comes from the visual expression, that makes it different (that’s why the silent era comedies are funny to most). It was a pleasant surprise to watch Hae-jun Lee’s  Castaway on the Moon and see how he embraced the visual aspect of comedy. After a happy farming exercise. Hae-jun Lee...