Recommend Korean/Japenese/Chinese films

Placebo

Can Anyone recommend any Eastern Asian movies.
MINUS the following

Sympathy for Mr/Lady vengence
Oldboy, Casshern, Sex is Zero, Art of Seduction, Casshern, Azumi, Battle Royale, Stacy, Internal Affairs, Anything with jackie chan/ etc

Isnt there anything based in the inner city of korea/japan about teenagers or something like the city of god [not exactly ofcourse]

anything worth watching, hit me up. Sick of bad films.

thanks

Karl Hungus

Hana-bi
Kids Return
Kikujiro
Rainy Dog
Young Thugs: Nostalgia
All About Lily Chou Chou (Haven't seen it yet, but it comes highly recommended.
Memories Of Murder
Save The Green Planet
Crying Fist
Failan
The Quiet Family
Brotherhood
Joint Security Area
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... And Spring

I think that should keep you busy for now. If you need any more, you know who to ask.

Also, check out this site for some pretty consistent reviews of Asian films. This is the films they've shortlisted for special mention, and it's a good list too.

Placebo

ah thanks for all the effort man, appreciated.
good buzz !

hopefully others will also get good use out of your post.

Karl Hungus

Not a bother, I've got plenty more recommendations on file.

I haven't even begun recommending Akira Kurosawa movies to you yet, and only 2 Takashi Miike films. But mostly I've recommended some good Dramas and Thrillers seeing as you're looking for something like City Of God. There's not really anything similar, but I tried to get as many that are up the same street as that recommended.

Oh, but before I forget, also check out Twilight Samurai.

Placebo

Thanks again, ive actually seen Dreams [Akira Kurosawa], i didnt actually mean the way City of God was made but just the way the film was set in the inner city [at the end atleast], il check out the above definatley.
All About Lily Chou Chou sounds amazing.

Necronomicon

You should definately check out Brother with Takeshi Kitano. A film about gang-warfare, the Mafia versus the Yakuza kind of thing. Brilliant.

Morrigan

Here's a little random bunch of recommendations from me:

Try "The Happiness of the Katakuris" for quirkiness. It's a musical horror. Kind of.
"The Eye"
"A Bittersweet Life" (you may have seen this)
"Tokyo story" I loved this small, slow-moving, poignant story... very sad...no slick effects, no violence, just painful normal reality, which we will probably all have to experience...

tj-music.com

Zhou you´s train is a great chinese movie in Mandarin with english subtitles. When it comes to japanese movies I love the animated Spirited away a lot.

ObeyGiant

Xtravision (well, the one on Thomas Street at least) are selling "Brotherhood" as part of their 2-for-20 deal. So you get this movie for a tenner, instead of the 30 bucks Tower are charging.

koneko

Teenager specific:
The ghost-story trilogy is about teenage girls in Korean highschools, if that's the sort of thing you're looking for. The first one is an early J-horror style movie, ghosts in a school, typical type of thing, but underlying is a story about teenage girls and their relationships with eachother, how girls treat eachother in school. The second is less horror and more focused on the girls, I think this is probably the better of the three. The third is back to horror, a bit more gorey, a bit silly.

1st => Whispering Corridors
2nd => Memento Mori
3rd => Wishing Stairs

Xtravision have them all (at least, I saw them all in the Xtravision in Blanch).
Overall though they're mostly average so unless you're really looking for something about teenagers, there are much better films you can get (Karl's list, Miike films).

Audition and Visitor Q in particular are two Miike films I'd recommend. If you want to get something really good, but a bit older, check out Kurosawa's films.

Karl Hungus

ObeyGiant wrote:

Xtravision (well, the one on Thomas Street at least) are selling "Brotherhood" as part of their 2-for-20 deal. So you get this movie for a tenner, instead of the 30 bucks Tower are charging.

****. That's a great deal, and an even greater film.

Dustbowl

I thought these were great films

My Sassy Girl

A Tale of Two Sisters

Bangkok Dangerous

Musa

I have not seen the first one in sale in Ireland but all the others can be got here

Dustbowl

Dustbowl wrote:

A Tale of Two Sisters

Really enjoyed that film.

Not such a big fan of the Eye.

Snoogans

Audition.

shatners basoon

Save the green planet is a very enjoyable film, highly recommended. Not to fond of Takeshi Miike (i've only seen Audition-decent and Ichi the killer- a bit too ridiculous) but if anyone has any decent recommendations i'd give him another try.

Akira of course is fantastic even if you're sceptical about animé.
Princess mononoké and Spirited away (as suggested) are also excellent.

Zatoichi is also fantastic.

Sympathy for mr.vengeance is a a highly underrated film (i prefer it to old boy)
2046 is also very interesting. There's lots out there, watch everything!

davros

One I really liked but which never seems to get a mention is Swallowtail Butterfly. It follows a group of Asian immigrants living on the margins of Japanese society. It's very much focused on character while managing to be quite stylised at the same time. And the music - the score and the songs used in the film - is quite excellent. I still listen to the CDs though I haven't seen the film since it was released, nine or ten years ago.

Another inner city-type film is The World, a Chinese movie set in present-day Beijing that follows a group of rural types who have come to make their way in the big city. This was shown in the Dublin Film Festival last year. Great performances, sympathetic characters and beautiful cinematography. It stayed with me for a long time afterwards. And if you are interested in a real insight into life in modern China, I can't recommend better.

I'll also give a mention to Three Times, from this year's film festival. It's three separate stories set in three different periods, but using the same actors (including the wonderful Shu Qi). Honestly, it's heavy going in parts but you might find the last story interesting. I was wishing the director made a whole film out of this bit because he really managed to create a mood and some compelling characters. It's set in today's Taipei and it uses that severe, hectic city as a backdrop for a strong commentary on the detached and transient nature of modern society.

If you do see 'Three Times', it's worth knowing that the female character in the last story is based on a real person, well-known in Taiwan.

FX Meister

Ichi the Killer

Sunn

in the mood for love.. is good storytelling

nadir

davros wrote:

One I really liked but which never seems to get a mention is Swallowtail Butterfly. It follows a group of Asian immigrants living on the margins of Japanese society. It's very much focused on character while managing to be quite stylised at the same time. And the music - the score and the songs used in the film - is quite excellent. I still listen to the CDs though I haven't seen the film since it was released, nine or ten years ago.

That's a Shunji Iwai movie, he's one of my my favourite directors.
Mostly he writes all his own music, massively influenced by Debussy. I highly reccommend all of his movies, Love letter, All about lilly chou chou, Hana and alice, April Story, you should also check out his jdorma, Strawberry on the short cake, and I can't wait to see Bandage which should be out soon.
Another great Film by his protege Isao Yukisada, is Sekai no chûshin de, ai o sakebu. Basically a love story but really moving.

I'm not so much into the mad violent asian stuff, I basically like Japanese drama, I dont like Takashi miike so much, I reckon he's a good director but I have yet to see one I actually liked. Ichi killer for example, has some great moments, but overall in comparison to a good drama it just doesn't do it for me. I guess it's all down to taste. Japanese drama is some seriously good stuff, I'm watching GTO live action drama atm, it's absolutely hilarious. /me reccommends.

Beruthiel

I love these threads, and have ordered some of the one's I haven't seen yet.

Karl Hungus wrote:

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... And Spring

thanks ken for suggesting this.
I got it in the post yesterday and watched it last night.
What a wonderful piece of cinema, slow moving, simple. yet totally beautiful.
I want to live on that lake!

Karl Hungus

Beruthiel wrote:

I love these threads, and have ordered some of the one's I haven't seen yet.



thanks ken for suggesting this.
I got it in the post yesterday and watched it last night.
What a wonderful piece of cinema, slow moving, simple. yet totally beautiful.
I want to live on that lake!

Not a bother. What else did you order, out of curiosity?

Beruthiel

Brother
Zatoichi
Brotherhood
Kikujiro
Hana - Bi
Twilight Samurai

they were on sale on Play.com

I shall wait for the others to come down in price before ordering, also - they don't have some of the films you've mentioned.
where do you buy them at a good price?

Karl Hungus

Beruthiel wrote:

Brother
Zatoichi
Brotherhood
Kikujiro
Hana - Bi
Twilight Samurai

they were on sale on Play.com

Nice choises! Quite a few outstanding film there.

Beruthiel wrote:

I shall wait for the others to come down in price before ordering, also - they don't have some of the films you've mentioned.
where do you buy them at a good price?

Hmm, that's odd. I pretty much all my DVDs from play.com. What ones in particular I've mentioned don't they have?

Beruthiel

Tokyo Story is one I remember.
You can buy it as part of a box set, but @ 31 sterling for the box, it's a bit steep.
there were others, but can't remember now

jester77

Some great films there. I would also recommed A Tale of Two Sisters, very good. Have some good ones back home but can't remember the titles. One I would recommend is Dumplings. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472458/

Beruthiel

have seen a tale of two sisters already

Dumplings not on sale till june

nadir

I really liked a tale of two sisters,it was quality, kinda reminded me of the shining. It's a pity Japanese DVD's are so expensive, iff they were cheaper I'd buy more of em, but at 30~50 odd euros a pop from cdjapan and yesasia, it kinda forces me to leech em online.

Lochaber

I recommend Grave of the Fireflies. It's a semi-autobiographical Japanese film about two young children during the World War II. I found it a very moving story, beautifully illustrated, and even if you aren't that into animation I would say that it is a must see film.

Necronomicon

I saw Phone last night, another Korean horror. Not the greatest movie ever, but I did think it was quite enjoyable. Nice and atmospheric, a few hair-on-end moments. If I saw it on the cheap I'd definately pick it up.

another world

3-Iron (by the same guy that directed 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.... and Spring') is brilliant. 'Eat Drink Man Woman' by Ang Lee is also a superb movie... well worth the watch;)

Necronomicon

I got a little Tartan Asia Extreme book free with a dvd a couple of months ago, here's some of the links in the back of it:
www.asiaextreme.co.uk
www.tartanvideo.com
www.tartanfilms.com
www.lovehkfilm.com
www.midnighteye.com
www.koreanfilm.org
www.nixflix.com/skreviews.htm

REDZ

KUNG FU HUSTLE
Stupid name, but the best film i have seen in years.
on sale in HMV €9.99.

legologic

All About Lily Chou Chou is rather amazing but quite drawn out. Seen Gohatto for the first time there a week ago, another Takeshi Kitano film. Quite an interesting film. The character dynamics in it are brilliant and the ending is wild! Also you usually know Tadanobu Asano (the ronin in Zatoichi) is gonna be good.

I only bought the 7 samurai there last month... can't believe I never owned a copy. Got it and Miyazaki's castle in the sky, both excellent!

Scratch Acid

Necromomicon wrote:

www.midnighteye.com

Aye, this is a very good site for reviews and interviews, well worth a look.

As for recommendations, apart from what's been mentioned above, 'A Snake of June' by Shinya Tsukamoto is a very nice movie. Also, 'The Eel' by Shohei Imamura is excellent, but inexplicably has not been released on DVD yet. You can however find it on VHS at amazon.co.uk or ebay. 'Warm Water Under A Red Bidge' by the same director is worth a look too. A Takashi Miike movie which hasn't been mentioned yet but is pretty damn good is 'Shinjuku Triad Society'. It's kinda reminiscent of Beat Takeshi's crime-oriented movies.

Makaveli

Shinjuku Triad Society is part of a trilogy along with Ley Lines and Rainy Dog, all worth watching.

I'll second JSA (Joint Security Area) and add R-Point.
Also think Ping-Pong is a great film.

Paddy@CIRL

One Night in Mongkok isn't too bad at all, worth a watch anyway !

garred

One of the Sky Movie channels show Asian movies. They are showing Zatoichi tonight, will give it a go. The Sci-Fi channel are showing Battle Royale tonight also.

DEmeant0r

I'm going to highly recommend My Sassy Girl, i'm no fan of rom coms but christ this got me laughing from start to finish(well apart from the emotional bits)...

Also go watch Fearless, Jet li's latest movie, it kicks ass

krudler

its from Thailand but if anyones seen Ong-Bak they need to see Tom Yung Goong, its tony jaas new movie about a guy searching for a sacred elephant (same plot as ong bak really) its insane though the fight scenes are incredible (not to mention ludicrously violent) and its outdoes ongbak in the action stakes,he fights about a 50 guys at the end and does nothing but break all their arms and legs for about 10 minutes,its complete and utter insanity,get the dvd at yesasia.com, im not sure which one has english subtitles but a lot of the movie is in english anyway cos its set in australia and you really dont need to be clued into the plot its just Tony Jaa kicking the living **** out of people for 2 hours

Drapper

Makaveli wrote:

Shinjuku Triad Society is part of a trilogy along with Ley Lines and Rainy Dog, all worth watching.

I'll second JSA (Joint Security Area) and add R-Point.
Also think Ping-Pong is a great film.

If you like JSA and all the Korean war movies then try

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386064/

Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo

This film was the biggest success in Korean film history. It attracted over 10 million people to the theater, which is over 20% of the South Korean population in 2004.

easy_as_easy

has anybody mentioned OldBoy?

check it out on www.imdb.com

its a brilliant film and not arty at all.

Drapper

easy_as_easy wrote:

has anybody mentioned OldBoy?

check it out on www.imdb.com

its a brilliant film and not arty at all.

top film man there has been plenty of chat on this ! probably one of my top ten asian (Korean) films of all time!

Have you seen JSA his first movie??

koneko

Just want to add a film I've just seen (yesterday), that I haven't seen mentioned before:

Swing Girls

It's not "edgy" or scary or anything like that, but it's an adorable feelgood movie about a bunch of Japanese schoolgirls who start a swing/jazz band.

Necronomicon

Drapper wrote:

top film man there has been plenty od chat on this ! probaly one of my top ten asian (Korean) films of all time!

Have you seen JSA his first movie??

Oldboy is probably my favourite Asian movie! And yeah, JSA is great as well.

Drapper

Necromomicon wrote:

Oldboy is probably my favourite Asian movie! And yeah, JSA is great as well.

The funny thing is I was in Korea in 2004 on a day visit to the DMZ area and I saw the JSA movie the following month and it all made so much sense!

Merrick

House of Flying Daggers anyone?

easy_as_easy

Drapper wrote:

top film man there has been plenty of chat on this ! probably one of my top ten asian (Korean) films of all time!

Have you seen JSA his first movie??

no, Ive not seen JSA, Ive only an xtravision were I live, and I think we all know how useless they are...

must check for it on amazon though, cheers!

Drapper

easy_as_easy wrote:

no, Ive not seen JSA, Ive only an xtravision were I live, and I think we all know how useless they are...

must check for it on amazon though, cheers!

Blockbusters in Blanch has it ! and the Xtra Vision can get JSA for yeah ! they hasve it in Blanch too!!

easy_as_easy

blockbusters are great, I used to go to the one in Terenure the whole time, not in dublin any more though.

Speaking of xtrascum, whats their policy on new releases? they seem to have new releases are new releases for years

Rcuomo

i'd stay away from House of flying daggers, the only good thing is zhang ziyi...she's hot!

jet li has a new film out which is really good if you're into historical martial arts films - its called fearless...

Merrick

Rcuomo wrote:

i'd stay away from House of flying daggers, the only good thing is zhang ziyi...she's hot!

Oh come on, it is good. Well I think it is anyway.