Does Sweet Rain have a Western release at all? I couldn't find any evidence of it on Amazon UK, sadly. Would be something I'd love to show at my uni's East Asian Film Soc.
Personally Departures is still my top Japanese film (cliche, I know), just barely knocking Kikujiro off that spot. Korean film-wise, while I know Memories of Murder is probably the best film I've seen, I just can't stop enjoying The Good, The Bad and The Weird no matter how many times I see it, so that's got to be my pick. As for Chinese, dunno whether Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles counts (joint Japanese production and all), but that'd clinch the spot in a heartbeat if so. If not, probably either To Live or The Equation of Love and Death.
Personally Departures is still my top Japanese film (cliche, I know), just barely knocking Kikujiro off that spot. Korean film-wise, while I know Memories of Murder is probably the best film I've seen, I just can't stop enjoying The Good, The Bad and The Weird no matter how many times I see it, so that's got to be my pick. As for Chinese, dunno whether Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles counts (joint Japanese production and all), but that'd clinch the spot in a heartbeat if so. If not, probably either To Live or The Equation of Love and Death.