Post by zorro on Apr 30, 2009 9:03:44 GMT -5
I know we're all into the Korean dramas, but over the last few weeks I came across some subbed Chinese/Japanese/American movies on dvd in the library video section that blew me away.
I haven't found any discussion on the boards, so I thought I'd at least mention these in case anyone might want to watch one or more instead of the Goodbye Solo reruns on Sunday evenings. Naturally your library may not carry all of these, but some libraries lend to others if requests for movies they don't have on hand are made.
First is "The Banquet", (Chinese) based loosely on Shakespeare's "Hamlet", that stars Zhang Ziyi as a Chinese Empress who loves another man while she's forced into marrying her Uncle, the ascending Emperor after he murdered his own brother, her first husband/Emperor. (I hope I got that right) It's very well made, and although it got mixed reviews from the critics, I loved it for the look and feel as well as the soundtrack. Great choreography and special effects as well.
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banquet_(2006_film) for more info.
Next I saw "Memoirs of a Geisha", (American) again starring ZZ, this time as a Japanese geisha with *blue* eyes. It's magnificent, and the child actress who plays Chiwo (Suzuka Ohgo) is adorable. The ending is a little bit of a stretch, but otherwise it's one of the best movies I've seen in years. Fabulous music and production values all around. The cast spoke English, (??) but it still helped to have the subtitles on. Waaaaaaay better than I expected.
Following that I saw Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" (Chinese) about a government resistance group's extreme effort to bring down a corrupt official, but too graphic to recommend here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust,_Caution_(film) if you want to learn more.
Next up was "The Hidden Blade" (Japanese) about a Samurai who, after falling on hard times and trying to live a quiet life, is forced by an order of his clan leader to fight another Samurai (his friend) who's gone renegade. An interesting story, well acted, but not as impressive as the others mentioned. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Blade to see more.
The last of this group is "The House of Flying Daggers" once again featuring Zhang Ziyi in another fabulous performance. Spectacular visuals and special effects make this the best of the bunch in my view. It's a little comic bookish, but once you accept that, the action and fight sequences are mesmerizing. ZZ, playing a blind girl, is stunning in a scene that depicts the "echo game". A superb effort by everyone involved, there's even a I/O operator (whatever that is) in the credits named Zorro!! How can you not like that? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Flying_Daggers
I did find one Korean movie, "Woman on the Beach", a story about a promiscuous director who two times his new girlfriend and struggles with his own demons while he's supposed to be writing the ending to his new drama. This might make a good Drama City episode, but as a "movie" it didn't measure up to any of the others mentioned here.
movies.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/movies/09beac.html for the NY Times review.
Since I enjoyed these so much, I went back to the library and found four more including Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
I did see it some years back, but since ZZ is in it, along with Michelle Yeoh, her co-star from "Geisha", I thought I'd take another look. Also I don't remember seeing one tiger or dragon in the whole movie, but later it was explained to me that it's because they were crouching… and hiding…
If any of the 3 I have now are worth mentioning I'll add them later to this post. Any comments to any of the above or others you know of worth seeing would also be appreciated.
I haven't found any discussion on the boards, so I thought I'd at least mention these in case anyone might want to watch one or more instead of the Goodbye Solo reruns on Sunday evenings. Naturally your library may not carry all of these, but some libraries lend to others if requests for movies they don't have on hand are made.
First is "The Banquet", (Chinese) based loosely on Shakespeare's "Hamlet", that stars Zhang Ziyi as a Chinese Empress who loves another man while she's forced into marrying her Uncle, the ascending Emperor after he murdered his own brother, her first husband/Emperor. (I hope I got that right) It's very well made, and although it got mixed reviews from the critics, I loved it for the look and feel as well as the soundtrack. Great choreography and special effects as well.
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banquet_(2006_film) for more info.
Next I saw "Memoirs of a Geisha", (American) again starring ZZ, this time as a Japanese geisha with *blue* eyes. It's magnificent, and the child actress who plays Chiwo (Suzuka Ohgo) is adorable. The ending is a little bit of a stretch, but otherwise it's one of the best movies I've seen in years. Fabulous music and production values all around. The cast spoke English, (??) but it still helped to have the subtitles on. Waaaaaaay better than I expected.
Following that I saw Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" (Chinese) about a government resistance group's extreme effort to bring down a corrupt official, but too graphic to recommend here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust,_Caution_(film) if you want to learn more.
Next up was "The Hidden Blade" (Japanese) about a Samurai who, after falling on hard times and trying to live a quiet life, is forced by an order of his clan leader to fight another Samurai (his friend) who's gone renegade. An interesting story, well acted, but not as impressive as the others mentioned. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Blade to see more.
The last of this group is "The House of Flying Daggers" once again featuring Zhang Ziyi in another fabulous performance. Spectacular visuals and special effects make this the best of the bunch in my view. It's a little comic bookish, but once you accept that, the action and fight sequences are mesmerizing. ZZ, playing a blind girl, is stunning in a scene that depicts the "echo game". A superb effort by everyone involved, there's even a I/O operator (whatever that is) in the credits named Zorro!! How can you not like that? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Flying_Daggers
I did find one Korean movie, "Woman on the Beach", a story about a promiscuous director who two times his new girlfriend and struggles with his own demons while he's supposed to be writing the ending to his new drama. This might make a good Drama City episode, but as a "movie" it didn't measure up to any of the others mentioned here.
movies.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/movies/09beac.html for the NY Times review.
Since I enjoyed these so much, I went back to the library and found four more including Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
I did see it some years back, but since ZZ is in it, along with Michelle Yeoh, her co-star from "Geisha", I thought I'd take another look. Also I don't remember seeing one tiger or dragon in the whole movie, but later it was explained to me that it's because they were crouching… and hiding…
If any of the 3 I have now are worth mentioning I'll add them later to this post. Any comments to any of the above or others you know of worth seeing would also be appreciated.