The Day He Arrives (2011)

In Hong Sang-soo’s The Day He Arrives (2011), a young film director Seong-Jun (Yoo Jun-sang) walks down the street of Seoul, wearing a puffy coat and a travelling backpack, intending to stay with a friend, a film critic, Young-ho (Kim Sang-joon). The director has made four movies but is in an on-going hiatus, living further […]

Breaking News (2004)

Director Johnnie To and his Milky Way production company set themselves a challenge with Breaking News (2004): How to restage the street shoot-out from Heat but introduce it with an unbroken seven minute shot? Opening with a showdown conveyed in that one-shot take between a heist crew (led by Richie Jen) and a squad of […]

House Of Tolerance (2011)

Languid exhaustion. Service workers at the Eyes Wide Shut orgy. Punching the clock in a 19th century bordello to pay off never-ending debts. Even the madam taking the money has to deal with rental negotiations. Sadness flows as the rot continues to set in. Well-dressed men acting the part of dilettantes, patrons and artists, using […]

Serpent’s Path (1998)

The point of view shot of a car driving down inner city roads; there’s an emptiness to the streets. In the car, two men are on a mission of revenge, Nijima (Sho Aikawa) and Miyashita (Teruyuki Kagawa). Miyadhita’s child has been molested and murdered. They know the culprit. They have a soundproofed warehouse. Revenge will […]

Fruit Of Paradise (1970)

When it comes to the avant garde as long as it looks good, I don’t care if it’s incomprehensible. Not that I really think Czech director Věra Chytilová’s Fruit Of Paradise (1970) is incomprehensible. I have seen Chytilová’s most famous film, Daisies, twice in my life and enjoyed it. In the first ten minutes of […]