6 Interesting Films I Watched Recently
Movies, World Cinema — By Kushal K Shah on March 17, 2012 5:30 pmThis is my second post after “I Hired a contract Killer”. Here I want to write about some of the films (World Cinema), I saw in the month of February.
As I mentioned in my previous post I have got enough films with me which will last for atleast next 6-8 months. Below is the list (not in any order, except for the top 3 of my favorite films amongst the 20 films, I saw last month.
1) Ai no mukidashi (Love Exposure) 2008 –
This inarguably is one of the best films, I have ever seen in recent times. Those of you are familiar with the controversial Japanese filmmaker Shion Sono must have atleast heard of this film if not seen it. This 4 hour epic film of Sono deals with teenage love & angst, jealousy, hate, religious cult , pop culture, Sexual perversion & abuse. I do not know what genre can one club the film into. This is the first film of Sono’s “Hate trilogy” others being the highly successful Coldfish & Guilty of Romance. Characters are so well developed and story is so greatly narrated through mind blowing camerawork that you won’t understand how those 4 hours flew(The original version, I read on wikipedia is 6 hours long, can’t wait to watch!).I don’t want to discuss the plot as it is very complex and I might divulge more than necessary thereby defeating the purpose of asking you guys to watch the film. One Advise: Ignore the 4 hour runtime because it is the fastest 4 hour movie you will see.
2) Jisatsu sâkuru (Suicide Club) 2001 –
Another Japanese masterpiece by Shion Sono. The plot of the film is very simple. 54 high school girls throw themselves in front of a train. What follows is the beginning of a string of suicides around the country. Detective Kuroda(Ryo Ishibashi) tries to find the answer, and finds himself entangled in the case.
This film is GORY. Those of you who found the violence in Kill Bill too much to handle please stay away from this film. The suicide scenes have been shot so realistically that you feel that you actually are seeing those suicides live. This is one of the rare films where there is a perfect blend of ‘craft’ and ‘content’. Just to drive home the point of how ‘GORY’ the film is just watch this opening Scene.I don’t know why this is rated at 6.6(Talk about IMDB and its ratings).This move deserves a rating of more than 8.The film is highly recommended and needs multiple viewings to understand.
3)Uzak(Distant) 2002 –
This is my first Nuri Bilge Ceylan film I have seen and boy I loved it. The film has a very simple story. Mahmut (Muzaffer Özdemir), a photographer, is a “village boy” who made himself big in Istanbul. Due to some differences his wife leaves him and he is in a sort of anguish. His cousin, Yusuf comes over to stay with him for few days so that he can find employment as he was laid off from the factory he was working before in his native village. The contrast between rural and urban life styles is portrayed in this film. The cousins don’t relate well to each other. What follows is the struggles and tribulations which these two men encounter amongst themselves. This is an out and out emotional film. It shows the contrast of life & human relations, complexity of human emotions, & about loneliness. The closing scene will remain in my mind forever. A film that will remain close to my heart for the rest of my life. I now need to check out more of Ceylan’s films. This could be easily remade in Hindi as you can figure out that this sort of story features in almost every household. ( but then we are too busy watching and salivating over Sallu bhai’s porn)
4) Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok: JSA(Joint Security Area) 2000 –
JSA (Joint Security Area) was the highest grossing Korean film of it’s time. The story follows an investigation into a shooting incident at the DMZ (zone at the border of South and North Korea) that has resulted in the death of 2 North Korean soldiers. While North accuses South of unprovoked hostility, the South claims one of it’s soldiers to have been kidnapped by the North and the incident being the result of the rescue mission. A Swiss team comes to investigate the matter and discovers that truth is something else. This film establishes Chanwook Park as one of the most talented Korean Director. I feel that after Oldboy this is one of the best films he has ever made.
5) Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom (The Good, the Bad, the Weird) 2008
If you are a fan of Spaghetti westerns you will end up watching this film multiple times. The film story is banal to core: There are two criminals and a lone bounty hunter(both of them fierce enemies) in Manchuria who are in search of a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits. Sounds hackneyed? But still the movie keeps you engaged
This film has mind-blowing action scenes and superb cinematography & a great soundtrack. This is like watching a modernized version of Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. I believe that this film has one of the most mind blowing opening sequences ever. Please click here to check the opening sequence of the film. A must watch for spaghetti western lovers and a visual treat. Highly recommended.
6) z ( 1969 )
This is a French political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, based on the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film depicts a fictionalized account of events surrounding the assassination of a Greek politician. We get to see the investigation into the murder, exposing how the generals devise various ways to conceal it. The film won 2 Oscars for best editing and the best foreign film respectively. Costa-Gavras gives us a top-class fast paced direction & it has one of the best BGM by Mikis Theodorakis. Please click here to listen to the super awesome BGM.
The film has some incredibly funny dialogues laced with sarcasm.
For example: “Always blame the Americans, even if you are wrong.”
I also saw other film’s ranging from Martin Scorsese’s classic “The Last temptation of Christ to the pathetic “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” to the not so good Korean film “I am cyborg but that’s ok”.I will write about them some other time.
P.S :I would have not seen these films had @nagrathnam not shared the films. So thank you sir 
.Please keep sharing and recommending.
Amazing mix of films man. I completely dig Japanese cinema but haven’t seen a Shion Sono film. Have heard about his Exte also. How good or bad is that? Which one of his films you suggest I should start with?
Well, I Haven’t seen Exte .So cant comment on it.
I have seen 4 films of Shion sono: Coldfish,Suicide club,Strange circus,and Love Exposure.
The first film I saw was Coldfish so you could start there.That would give you a brief idea about the over all Shion Sono’s style.Then you can proceed with rest of films mentioned above.
BTW strange circus is other mind boggling film.I am intrested to discuss Love Exposure with cinema buffs.
And dude your next one MUST be on Aaranya Kaandam.
Arrey Bhai I saw that film in January.Will have to rewatch to write about it.But I will try.Aaranykandam is one of my personal favorite.
I am the last guy to know anything serious about Japanese/Korean/Chinese cinema, specifically the less popular and more qualitative one, was looking for someone to help me out with them. Now this post is a start, as I have heard about 2 and watched none of the above, Very good post, indeed!
Thanks Salil.
Koren cinema is a pleasure to watch.Let me know if you need any help getting started.JSA is a superb film.Another favourite is Madeo.Let me know when you check out this films.
Kushal,
You forgot to mention the level of perversion and torture porn is much much more than Gandu to Salil.
Ha Ha, Ashwin, lets not start all over again with that, I don’t have any restriction to abusive content as long as it doesn’t distract me, and its not like I am completely unfamiliar to Korean cinema, I have seen and loved a couple of korean films, the-usual-suspects, like “Oldboy” and “I saw the devil”
By the way I am starting off with, “The Good The Bad The Weird”….. I Love westerns!!! 
“The Good The bad and The Weird” is Bhaukaal….. orgasmic stuff dude……. brilliant recco!!! Thanks!!!!
Kim Ji Woon’s A tale of two sisters(horror/thriller) and A Bittersweet Life which was remade in Hindi as Aawarapann(Emraan Hashmi) is legendary stuff…
Will let you know further…
Ajay, Sure man, I am really dumb with East Asian Cinema!
Z this is must must watch,i had watched this movie recently, being fan of political thriller this is numero uno film in that genre.
The Good Bad and the wierd,such a beautiful homage to it’s genre.
Joint Security Area, i prefer this over his famous vengeance trilogy,this movie is made up of such beautiful little moments, and make you introspect but human imposed borders.
Distant, another gem which is made with such a small budget, it is a film which makes us realise that not budget but story and narration which is important.
Thanks to Karthik and You to sharing this movies.
Yes! I completely agree.Z has a superb end which haunts you after the film as well.
And the BGM at the start of the film is a music to the ear.
Have you seen Ceylan’s “Once upon a time in Antanolia”?
“Once Upon A Time in Anatolia” is an extremely good looking, Tiring Film for me……… Phew…… I loved the way Tiryaki and Bilge shot it, and the way characters were crafted with so much love and care, But I was exhausted, once I was done with it…….
As soon as you give me dvd of that, have to watch that
@ Salil
You should watch Madeo(Mother),Memories of Murder,A tale of two sisters.I have so many movies to watch that I am exhausted.
Arey baap re baap……. Abhi, toh already “The Good The Bad and the Weird’, “Let the bullets fly” and “Red Cliff” in the pipeline!!! Phew…..
good pick and thanx for the recco
Thanks for sharing teh reviews….
Would like to get those movies from you and watch them.
@Salil
You should watch JSA as well.I am sure you would love it.
@Ajay
Never watched Awarapann but I know couple of Hindi films which were copied from Korean films example :Zinda,which was frame to frame copy of Oldboy and Murder 2 which was copied from The chaser.
@crazyrals & Ravindra
thanks.please keep visiting MAM