My obsession with Asian cinema
June 14th, 2006 by GoldenAppleCorp
I’ve always been attracted to the unusual and bizarre. ‘Splains why I married AT. But I digress. No one does unusual and bizarre quite like the Asians. I’m bored today, and think you should be, too, so I’m going to share with you some of my favorites.
Happiness of the Katakuris - Director Takashi Miike normally does some pretty disgusting horror/action type films, so this comedy/musical/horror is a bit of change for him. A family tries desperately to make a living with a bed & breakfast, only to have a string of guests die in unusual circumstances. Complete with a Meatloaf-esque rock song. Bitchin.
Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl - This one is perhaps a little less on the bizarre side. It’s more of a gangster/action type film. The acting is great, the plot is followable (which can be rare with Asian films) and the really, really weird hitman is a riot. Not a bad choice for the uninitiated.
Kwaidan - Weirdness isn’t a new trend for Asian films. This 1964 film is considered by many to be a masterpiece. Four seperate stories make up this movie, each one a little weirder than the last. They all have dream-like qualities to them, often with little dialogue and lots of beautiful scenery and color.
Samurai Fiction - Who doesn’t like samurai movies? This 1998 flick is a great homage to the samurai films of the 50’s and 60’s, but with a smattering of the Three Stooges.
Volcano High - A Korean film about a high school transfer student who begins a new school in the midst of a battle between various sports teams. I’d know more, but the lead guy is a hottie. Rowr. If you don’t like reading subtitles, Snoop Dog and various guests have dubbed this film. I have that version as well, but I haven’t ventured there quite yet.
That’s only a small sample of the Asian films we own. Recommendations are always welcome. Looking at you, Joe Powell.
June 14th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
I’m not a big film-goer, but I liked the Kurosawa films I’ve seen (7 Samurai; Ran).
June 14th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
We loved 7 Samurai and have seen many of Kurosawa’s other films, but I just couldn’t sit through Ran. The only way you could really tell the two fighting factions apart was that one was dressed in red, the other yellow. This resulted in AT and I calling them Mustard vs. Ketchup. Ya can’t really take a movie seriously that way.
June 14th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
“Ran” is King Lear. Read your Shakespeare.
June 15th, 2006 at 5:25 am
Ran is King Lear? Really?? REALLY!!!!
OH MY GOD, we can’t call King Lear Mustard and Ketchup, and it makes SO MUCH more sense now!
AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!
We knew that, man.
June 15th, 2006 at 6:01 am
Well, I thought it made the film easier to follow knowing that. Your mileage, apparently, differed. Whatever.
June 15th, 2006 at 8:05 am
I just thought I’d be a dick.
June 15th, 2006 at 8:45 am
Thanks MUCH for the connection of yer cinema thoughts and my humble self.
I’ve wondered how it was I got so hooked onto Asian cinema and I only know it
started a long time ago. And yes I never tire of Seven Samurai, or Yojimbo. Toshiro
Mifune rules.
I do think he recent rise in so-called J-Horror is astonishing and am anxiously awaing
the arrival of Volcano High here at the house.
Rcently watched High and Low, a Mifune-Kurosawa crime thriller from the 50s, and also
awaiting Only The Bad Sleep Well - i think both are based on Ed McBain books.
If I had to pick some recent favorites, Pulse, Audition, 3-Iron would be in there, but I’ve
also gotten deeply addicted to anime like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost In The Shell, not
to mention the still amazing Akira.
I can eat my weight in sushi and sake, and watch Asian cinema all the day long.
Have you seen Gozu?? Imagine a Yakuza Meets Eraserhead movie, truly odd.
Oh another recent fave is House of Flying Daggers - highly recommend that one too!
June 15th, 2006 at 9:08 am
AT and I got into Asian cinema via anime. I was very spoiled, though. The first anime I saw (I think) was Ghost in the Shell. It was practically downhill from there. I’ll mention some of my other favorites in a future post, perhaps.
Totally agree on the Toshiro Mifune thing. Despite being easily recognizable, he was able to blend into every character flawlessly. We saw one of Kurosawa’s detective movies starring Mifune, but I can’t remember which one it was.
I got Pulse last night, per your recommendation. I’m eagerly awaiting that one. Maybe tonight.
Gozu will have to be added to my list. I love Yakuza and David Lynch. And House of Flying Daggers was beautiful. Not to mention the lead guy. ;)
June 15th, 2006 at 11:20 am
Gotta watch that one in the a dark room and turn up the sound - even though ya still
gotta read it! I think the subtitles are a little wonky cause the Weinstein’s wanted to keep
it seldom seen til there remake hits the screens, which i think is next month, though i like
the way asian and american cinema feeds off each other.
House of Flying Daggers was such a great visualization of relationships - loved the way
the roles kept changing for the genders. ‘course my eye was not on the lead guy. ;)
Happiness of the Katurkuris was like Bollywood and MGM or something, very strange.
Since you mention Ghost, both series made after the movie are damned fine work.
Have just discovered a 1967 French film called Le Samouri with Alain Delon as samuari-like
hitman, so I’ll have to check that out. Another film to take the samurai idea which i really
liked was Ghost Dog, a Jim Jarmusch movie about Forrest Whittaker as a samurai hit man
working with the New Jersey mob - it is both amazing and hilarious, a little gem of a movie.
Told someone recently I was ruined for life when I was taken to see a Bruce Lee triple feature
at the drive-in one summer when I was about 16 - man, i still wanna be Bruce.
Another friend asked me what was at the heart of Asian or samurai movies and after some
thought i said - it’s what happens between the action - the pausing, the posturing, the
assessment of strategies, but it all happens in like a little frozen moment. But the action
rocks too!!!
Shutting up, I could write a dang book on this topic. Thanks again!
June 16th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
I haven’t seen the French movie you mentioned, Joe, but I did see Ghost Dog when it came out on video. I don’t remember all the ins and outs, but I did enjoy and have been meaning to see it again.
Is it horrible that I love Asian films but have never seen a Bruce Lee movie?
I agree with you on the heart of samurai movies… They resemble chess matches. There much planning and thinking. No move is taken without much forethought. It’s really a beautiful thing.