Brotherhood of War (Taegukgi) (2004)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Andy

Brotherhood of War was the highest grossing film ever in Korea at the time of release and it is easy to see why. It’s is big. It has battle scenes of visceral intensity to rival Saving Private Ryan, soaring orchestral strings and seething crowd scenes that make Gone with the Wind look like an amateur, suburban theatre production. Even the steam coming off an idling locomotive looks epic.

The core of the film is the relationship of two brothers, … (read more)

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The Great Yokai War (2005)

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Posted on March 24, 2007 by Deni

There’s a little folklore everywhere you look, especially in Japan, and Takashi Miike, in his charming, slightly left of centre way, has perhaps never looked so closely nor with such relatively gentle nostalgia, at this traditional source of fear.

The Great Youkai War is of course a children’s film, so gentle is a more appropriate term to use than you might have expected from this director, although he does get in a few subtle hair raisers. Mainly, it’s a standard … (read more)

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Inugami (2000)

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Posted on March 18, 2007 by Mark Morrison

Nature is pretty unbalanced in Inugami, director Masato Harada’s dark modern folk tale filmed from Masako Bando’s novel. On the surface, the rural village of Omine looks like a pleasant posting for new art teacher Akira Nakahura. Nice wooded hills, friendly locals, and a local paper-maker called Miki Bonomiya who seems to become more beautiful each time he sees her. But strangely she doesn’t seem so popular around the village, maybe due to the fact that everyone knows that … (read more)

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Sympathy For Mr Vengeance (2002)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Alison

Picture this: you struggle to consciousness on a rough concrete floor in a building abandoned before completion. You’re cold. You’re naked. Your body is racked with pain, which you trace to the roughly-stitched wound on your side, marking where your second kidney used to be. You can scarcely stand, yet you somehow struggle down many flights of stairs to a nearby road, and try to hitch a lift back to town, because there’s no other option.

Welcome to the world … (read more)

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Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (2005)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Alison

Until you’ve seen a Park Chan-wook film, you’ve never been gruelled. Not even slightly. You may think that other films are raw or powerful or harsh, but other film-makers are novices compared to Master Park. And although Sympathy For Lady Vengeance is visually beautiful, you’ll still be in for a good gruelling.

That said, I’d have to say that this is the gentlest of the Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy For Mr Vengeance and Old Boy being parts one and two … (read more)

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The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge (1974)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Ben Jennings

Being more or less the second sequel to The Street Fighter, The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge was released in the same year, 1974… those schlockmeisters certainly didn’t mess about when they knew they were onto a good thing. And a very good thing it is, too. This immensely enjoyable entry into the 70s grindhouse hall of ill-fame benefits greatly from Sonny Chiba’s uniquely goofy charisma.

The story, which involves a gang’s extortion of a corrupt public official, tapes containing … (read more)

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Steamboy (2004)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Andy

Steamboy starts with two shots of the world distorted by water. The first is through a droplet. The second is workers reflected in the radiating ripples as the droplet disrupts a pool of water. Welcome to Katsuhiro Otomo’s latest creation Steamboy: a world altered by another form of water — steam.

Whenever a major league hitter like Otomo steps up to the plate it is almost inevitable that a new benchmark in anime will be set. The PR machine … (read more)

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Springtime in a Small Town (2002)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Eugene

There is a certain restraint that seems common to Chinese cinema. Where characters live at an emotional detachment with each other and passions are inhibited for the sake of duty and respectability. It is this suppression that means that not everyone lives happily ever after and sometimes an ending and a resolution are enough.

This certainly holds true for Springtime in a Small Town. Basically a remake of a favourite post-war Chinese film, Springtime follows a man who returns … (read more)

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