The Heroic Ones (1970)

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Posted on March 8, 2006 by Ching Yee

This film certainly made my jaw drop, mostly for all the right reasons. I spent many, many moments trying to reconcile extremely important questions such as; is that scrawny squirt with a permanent smirk on his face really David Chiang?

And was Ti Lung really that cool and not to mention ravishing in a Mongolian warrior get-up? It wasn’t that I didn’t know David Chiang, Ti Lung and many others were in Chang Cheh’s films, I guess I just wasn’t … (read more)

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HKIFF 2005 – The Girls Hit Town!

Posted on March 8, 2006 by Alison

Ahhh, Hong Kong, city of ten thousand delights, many of them edible. It’s possible to spend your entire time in this city just eating, and enjoying it immensely. No matter what you want to eat, you’ll find it in Hong Kong, often in a tiny hole-in-the-wall noodle joint so packed you have to climb over the furniture to sit down. Me, I’ve got a particular fondness for dumpling soup, and man oh man, did I indulge.

Aside from eating, of … (read more)

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Three Times (2005)

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Posted on March 5, 2006 by James

More accurately translated as ‘The Best of Times’, the latest picture from the most highly regarded formalist in world cinema is a delightfully structured and incredibly focused effort that breathes life into three very different moments in Taiwan’s past and present.

Three separate chapters bear the names of the broad topics that Hou pursues throughout the film: Love, Freedom and Youth. A lyrical romantic odyssey among smokey pool halls precedes a refined observation of national trauma as it is embodied … (read more)

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Geochilmaru (2005)

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Posted on March 5, 2006 by Justin

South Korea checks in with their take on the martial arts tournament film. You know the style; think Enter the Dragon, Lau Kar Leung’s Heroes of the East or the (slightly silly, but quite entertaining) One-Armed Boxer Versus the Flying Guillotine. The backstory for this one, of course, is updated for the Web generation. Eight martial artists from different personal and pugilistic backgrounds are regulars on a martial arts themed website. One day, they’re summoned to fight the … (read more)

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An Autumn Afternoon (1962)

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Posted on March 5, 2006 by Ben Jennings

If you’ve never seen an Ozu film then, ironically, the final one he ever made is probably a good place to start. An Autumn Afternoon will never be recognised among Ozu’s absolute masterpieces, yet it has an agreeable accessibility and humour that make it a very fine initiation into his world. And for Ozu’s many fans, the movie represents a perfect crystallisation of his famous thematic obsessions and legendary film style. Telling (surprise surprise!) a story of familial tribulation in … (read more)

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Scent Of Love (2003)

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Posted on March 5, 2006 by Christian

“Scent of Love”

Serves 1-2

  • 1 grain (optional) character back-story
  • 60g script, preferably used
  • ½ cup of girl walking in slow-motion with musical crescendo
  • 1 clove My Sassy Girl, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon love triangle
  • pinch of unexplained event
  • 2 mins of musical interlude
  • 125g tragic event
  • 1 scene involving rain
  • splash of happy times, followed by inevitable bad stuff

1. Combine ingredients in pan and simmer. It’s important that cooking takes place straightaway. Characters should have minimal backstory so … (read more)

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Legend of Gingko (2000)

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Posted on February 26, 2006 by James

By no means a direct sequel to The Gingko Bed but loosely connected in terms of its generic origins in supernatural horror, Legend of Gingko is a modestly entertaining romp that tries very hard to be accepted as a spectacularly epic fantasy-adventure movie. Unfortunately, small problems concerning the plot and the relationships of the characters accumulate and lend a farcical dimension to this otherwise robust sword and sorcery tale.

The heterosexual love square at the centre of the plot is … (read more)

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Kwaidan (1964)

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Posted on February 26, 2006 by Justin

Kwaidan came out of left-field for me. I’ve not studied film academically, and although I’m a fan of Japanese film, I’ve not seen anywhere near as much as some of my compatriots here. Nonetheless, I’ve heard about Kwaidan — usually mentioned on places like the Mobius forums in the textual equivalent of reverential tones. So, I stuck my hand up for it when a copy arrived for review, and I’m glad I did.

Kwaidan is a collection of four short … (read more)

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