Asian films newbie

[loserbutt]

So I'm just recently getting into Asian films, although I probably sound like every non-asian who's never really gotten into asian films... as I enjoyed Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

So, I've seen some nice ones recently, Hero tops the list (although I hated the ending!) and Infernal Affairs was very nice too. I've also gotten into some anime such as Spirited Away and Princess Monoke. And of course there's also classics like The Killer and A Better Tomorrow. So, any other films you recommend? Nothing too inaccessible please, and subtitles are a must.

[hooligan]

Actually, for a Chinese person who's kind of disconnected from the "mother" country, what are some "asian" films from ths 80s-09s that i should watch? Currently, I'm tracking down a copy of "A Chinese Ghost Story" from my local Eastwinds (an Asian/Asian American media store in westwood).

: D

[Irezumi Kiss]

I could list a lot that you can find in the Asia section at Best Buy/Circuit City/Target/Virgin Megastore/et al, but that'd be too easy and you wouldn't need me to choose for you! Here are ten of my (many) favorites that pull NO punches...you may have to search around a bit but they're well worth the effort, in MY opinion at least!

Oasis (Korea)

Battle Royale (Japan)

Ardor (Korea)

My Tutor Friend (Korea)

Yi-Yi (Taiwan/Japan)

The Blade (HK) not that Wesley Snipes one, the Tsui Hark joint!

Gozu (Japan)

Eureka (Japan)

Last Life in the Universe (Thai/Japan)

The Isle (Korea)

[s1eve]

Originally Posted by Irezumi Kiss

I could list a lot that you can find in the Asia section at Best Buy/Circuit City/Target/Virgin Megastore/et al, but that'd be too easy and you wouldn't need me to choose for you! Here are ten of my (many) favorites that pull NO punches...you may have to search around a bit but they're well worth the effort, in MY opinion at least!

Oasis (Korea)

Battle Royale (Japan)

Ardor (Korea)

My Tutor Friend (Korea)

Yi-Yi (Taiwan/Japan)

The Blade (HK) not that Wesley Snipes one, the Tsui Hark joint!

Gozu (Japan)

Eureka (Japan)

Last Life in the Universe (Thai/Japan)

The Isle (Korea)

I'll second Battle Royale, Yi-Yi, Last Life of the Universe.
There's also:
Tale of Two Sisters (Korean Horror)
All About Lily Chou-Chou

Films by Wong Kai Wai such as In The Mood for Love, Happy Together, Chunking Express, Days Of Being Wild, etc

There's alot to list. Best bet is to check out the Asian section and just go for it.

Happy Viewing!

[hooligan]

I'm looking for movies along the lines of Ozu's work? From the 1950s and before.

[s1eve]

Originally Posted by hooligan

I'm looking for movies along the lines of Ozu's work? From the 1950s and before.

Asian movies along the lines of Ozu's work?

[hooligan]

Originally Posted by s1eve

Asian movies along the lines of Ozu's work?

yes!

[deez nuts]

i too am somewhat getting back into asian films.

i've been looking for indian porn especially ones that feature light skinned indian women. light skinned indian women are hot.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by loserbutt

So I'm just recently getting into Asian films, although I probably sound like every non-asian who's never really gotten into asian films... as I enjoyed Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

So, I've seen some nice ones recently, Hero tops the list (although I hated the ending!) and Infernal Affairs was very nice too. I've also gotten into some anime such as Spirited Away and Princess Monoke. And of course there's also classics like The Killer and A Better Tomorrow. So, any other films you recommend? Nothing too inaccessible please, and subtitles are a must.

i don't really know much about other Asian films except for Chinese films. i can recommend some filmmakers whose films you can watch. i don't much get into kungfu or action movies. i'll list my favourite filmmakers with their movies i've seen and liked (i'll bold my favourites of each filmmaker).

from HK:
- Wong Kar Wai (As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, ChungKing Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In The Mood For Love)

- Ann Hui (Summer Snow, Eighteen Springs, Ordinary Heroes, July Rhapsody)

- Fruit Chan (The Longest Summer, Durian Durian, Hollywood Hong Kong)

- Peter Chan (He's a Woman She's a Man, Comrades: Almost a Love Story)

from mainland China
- Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qiu Ju, To Live, Not One Less*, The Road Home**, Hero)

- Chen Kai Ge (Yellow Earth, Farewell My Concubine, Temptress Moon, The Emperor and the Assassin, Together)

from Taiwan***
- Hou Hsiao Hsien (Dust In The Wind)

- Edward Yang (That Day On The Beach, A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi)

notes:
*can't really decide if i liked Not One Less more or To Live more. but in Not One Less, he got a cast that were all amateurs with no prior acting experience. it was amazing what he could make that cast do.

**this was Zhang Ziyi's debute, in case you're interested.

***i have to warn that Taiwanese cinema is really an acquired taste. the first time i watched Dust In The Wind, i actually fell asleep. but it was for a class so i had to watch it again so i can do a paper on it. the pace is really slow and it seems like nothing really happens, but once you get used to the style, it's easy to fall in love with it. Dust In The Wind has got to be one of my favourite films ever.


now, just off the top of my head, for Korean films, i really liked: JSA, My Sassy Girl, My Wife is a Gangster, One Fine Spring Day. Korean filmmakers are masters of the melodrama.

don't remember many Japanese titles off the top of my head, but Takeshi Kitano's films and Takashi Miike's films are usually good bets. my favourites have got to be Brother and Ichi The Killer.

Originally Posted by hooligan

Actually, for a Chinese person who's kind of disconnected from the "mother" country, what are some "asian" films from ths 80s-09s that i should watch? Currently, I'm tracking down a copy of "A Chinese Ghost Story" from my local Eastwinds (an Asian/Asian American media store in westwood).

: D

most of the films i've listed are from the 90s, some are from the 80s.

[gau dog]

Watch any Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Ghibli film. Watch any Akira Kurosawa film. Watch any Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi film (namely Zatoichi Challenged, Zatoichi's Revenge, Zatoichi on the Road). Ozu fans might like the Tora-san series though nobody does Ozu like Ozu.

Zhang Yimou movies are generally good, To Live is his best.

If you watched A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow II is a natural follow up. But I'd say ABTII is a mess of a movie with some cool scenes.

Hard Boiled is another that Woo fans appreciate. Though it's one of the more action oriented, it's also one of the more brainless.

All About Ah Long is a drama with Chow Yun Fat

An Autumn's Tale is a good Chow Yun Fat romance that takes place in New York.

Diary of a Big Man is a funny Chow Yun Fat comedy where Chow sings!

Bruce Lee movies, though kind of crummy, are a must see for Bruce alone.

For Jet Li, watch Fong Sai Yuk, Tai Chi Master, Shaolin Temple, Once Upon a Time in China

For Jackie Chan, Drunken Master, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, Police Story, Supercop, Dragons Forever, Drunken Master II, Miracles

For Stephen Chow, Shaolin Soccer, King of Comedy, God of Cookery

Sammo Hung also made some great kung fu movies like Prodigal Son, Enter the Fat Dragon, Magnificent Butcher, Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Warriors Two, Odd Couple

And if you ever get through all those few, there's tons of old time 50's-80's Shaw Brothers and Cathay movies to look into like Mambo Girl, Wild Wild Rose, Heroes of the East, Come Drink with Me, Hong Kong Nocturne, Crippled Avengers, etc...

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by gau dog

For Jackie Chan, Drunken Master, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, Police Story, Supercop, Dragons Forever, Drunken Master II, Miracles

Police Story, Dragons Forever, and Drunken Master 2 are just simply classic Jackie Chan. must see for all Jackie fans.

Originally Posted by gau dog

For Stephen Chow, Shaolin Soccer, King of Comedy, God of Cookery

not his better movies, in my opinion, although still very funny. King of Comedy was Cecilia Cheung's debute and she was cute as hell in it though.

my personal Stephen Chow favourite is probably Magnificent Scoundrels. others that i really liked are: King of Beggars, Justice My Foot, Royal Tramp (story of Duke of Mount Deer), Tricky Brains.

i've heard that sometimes even Mandarin speakers don't get Stephan Chow's comedy though, because there's so much language-play in Cantonese.

[nola]

Thanks SWK and Dog.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

I'm probably just being a tasteless party-pooper, but I really don't see how even the most hardcore of asiaphiles could've enjoyed Hero. ^^;

[Shuriken]

Here is a list of Asian film recommendations that I made on a now (apparently) deleted post. I apologize in advance for some of the inaccessible titles.


A PAGE OF MADNESS (Teinosuke Kinugasa, Japan, 1927)
THE GODDESS (Yu Yonggang, China, 1934)
RASHÔMON (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1950)
TÔKYÔ STORY (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1953)
UGETSU (Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1953)
THE SEVEN SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1954)
PATHER PANCHALI (Satyajit Ray, India, 1955)
THRONE OF BLOOD (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1957)
HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (Alain Resnais, France/ Japan, 1959)
THE STORY OF APU (Satyajit Ray, India, 1959)
HARAKIRI (a.k.a. Seppuku, Masaki Kobayashi, Japan, 1962)
ONIBABA (Kaneto Shindo, Japan, 1963)
WOMAN IN THE DUNES (Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japan, 1964)
KWAIDAN (Masaki Kobayashi, Japan, 1965)
BRANDED TO KILL (Seijun Suzuki, Japan, 1967)
DEATH BY HANGING (Nagisa Oshima, Japan, 1968)
INFERNO OF FIRST LOVE (Susumu Hani, Japan, 1968)
THE HUMAN BULLET (Kihachi Okamoto, Japan, 1968)
A TOUCH OF ZEN (King Hu, Hong Kong/Taiwan, 1969)
FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES (Toshio Matsumoto, Japan, 1969)
EROS PLUS MASSACRE (Yoshishige Yoshida, Japan, 1969)
THE CHINESE CONNECTION (a.k.a. Fist of Fury, Luo Wei, Hong Kong, 1972)
MANILA (Lino Brocka, Philippines, 1975)
IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (Nagisa Oshima, France/Japan, 1976)
PERFUMED NIGHTMARE (Kidlat Tahimik, Philippines, 1977)
THE ABANDONED FIELD — FREE-FIRE ZONE (Nguyen Hong Sen, Vietnam, 1979)
SANS SOLIEL (Chris Marker, France/Japan, 1982)
YELLOW EARTH (Chen Kaige, China, 1984)
MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (Paul Schrader, U.S.A./Japan, 1985)
THE HORSE THIEF (Tian Zhuangzhuang, China, 1985)
PEKING OPERA BLUES (Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, 1986)
RED SORGHUM (Zhang Yimou, China, 1987)
A STORY OF THE WIND (Joris Ivens, France/China, 1988)
A TERRA-COTTA WARRIOR (Ching Siu-Tung, Hong Kong, 1990)
ACTRESS (a.k.a. Centre Stage, Stanley Kwan, Hong Kong, 1991)
SUPERCOP 2 (a.k.a. Project S, Stanley Tong, Hong Kong, 1992)
SOPYONJE (Im Kwon-Taek, South Korea, 1993)
THE EAST IS RED (a.k.a. Swordsman III, Ching Siu-Tung, Hong Kong, 1990)
THE WEDDING BANQUET (Ang Lee, U.S.A./Taiwan, 1993)
CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, 1994)
TEMPTRESS MOON (Chen Kaige, China/Taiwan/Hong Kong, 1995)
FALLEN ANGELS (Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, 1995)
MOTEL CACTUS (Park Ki-Yong, South Korea, 1997)
FIREWORKS (a.k.a. Hana-Bi, Takeshi Kitano, Japan, 1998)
SUZHOU RIVER (Lou Ye, China, 2000)


If I could only recommend one film from the list, it would be...



Akira Kurosawa's RASHÔMON (1950), my favorite film from Asia, period.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by Gumby

I'm probably just being a tasteless party-pooper, but I really don't see how even the most hardcore of asiaphiles could've enjoyed Hero. ^^;

well, kungfu movies are supposed to be enjoyed for the action and not the story anyway, right? i thought the action was pretty good, and the cinematography was cool. i thought the movie was alright, but it wasn't up to par with what Zhang Yimou is able to do. i thought Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung were excellent as usual though.

Originally Posted by Shuriken

THE HORSE THIEF (Tian Zhuangzhuang, China, 1985)

oh man i never understood why some people like this film. ok, i understand all the landscape shots and how beautiful the terrain was, but damn, this movie is just too boring for me. no offense.

Originally Posted by Shuriken

Akira Kurosawa's RASHÔMON (1950), my favorite film from Asia, period.

wasn't there a remake of this in the 80s?