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Gripping drama about thieves who steal your heart.

That blood is not thicker than water is at the center of Hirokazu Koreeda's family drama Shoplifters. A beautiful film that offers both uplifting humanism and some unexpected twists.

It is clear that Koreeda has family as his most important subject when making films. Or rather the lack of family. In previous films such as Nobody Knows or Like Father, Like Son (both prize winners at Cannes) he explores how to create your own community even if you are not born into it. That theme is most clearly repeated in Shoplifters.

Here, in the beginning, we meet Osamu (Franky Lily) and a boy who smoothly picks up goods in a store without paying. But on their way home, they suddenly see a freezing little girl who seems to have run away from her destructive parents. They decide that she can accompany them to their house, where 3 women, one of whom is a grandmother, also live. At first, the girl is waiting, but the slightly messy and loud gathering in the family means that she will soon be living there indefinitely.

At first glance, it is nothing more than that. We get to follow the lives of the various family members and see how they try to cope with everyday life with little money. And really that would have been enough. Koreeda is a master at portraying everyday situations that don't really have much to say, but are completely fascinating to us moviegoers.

But Shoplifters also have other sides. With about a third of the film remaining, Koreeda reshuffles the cards and takes the story to unexpected lands. It works surprisingly well and is a good move purely dramaturgically.

The actors are all excellent, not least the 2 children, and the film is tight, but beautifully shot in all its everydayness. As usual, Koreeda does not go for the sentimental, but mainly spices up the story with a humanism that is really felt right down to the heart.

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Credible about a housekeeper in Singapore.

Film debutant Anthony Chen has made a low-key and thoroughly credible drama.“Ilo Ilo draws the viewer into what feels like real everyday life where personalities grow and people influence each other.

Sometimes you don’t need big dramatic gestures, moralizing messages or tear-jerking resolutions to touch. Sometimes you just need something as simple as the story of a family and their housekeeper. Where you only feel a faint but lasting scent of emotions such as need for affirmation, jealousy and pride.

The film is director Anthony Chen’s (who made the award-winning short film Grandma) feature film debut and is based on his own diffuse childhood memories from the 1990s, which subtly play their own role as a time period in the film. The story takes place in Singapore, in a family struggling to make ends meet in an economically troubled society.

The pregnant mother (Yann Yann Yeo) is trying to keep her rebellious, 10-year-old son Jiale (Koh Jia Ler) in check while maintaining a perfect facade while the father (Tian Wen Chen) is secretly tinkering with his career and finances. In comes Teresa, a Filipino housekeeper in search of a better life in order to support her own child. Jiale shows her aversion to the new housemate early on, but soon the lives of all four begin to affect each other in ways they never expected.

We're not talking about Mary Poppins here - Forget all the Hollywood ingredients. Unlike its story-related cousins ​​like Intouchables and Niceville, this is a quiet, low-key film that never gets boring. The sensitive, neutral acting combined with the lack of music and natural lighting almost makes it feel like you're peeking into a real home. It is not an extraordinary family with quarrels or escalating arguments, but at the same time personalities that grow, albeit slowly. You feel that something is happening and want to know what.

There are credible and titillating scenes here that build up the relationships. Like the son's bullying of the housekeeper, which in a laundry scene turns into a friendly water fight, or the mother's clumsy handling of her jealousy of her son's loving relationship with the housekeeper. The film's strength is spelled realism - Meetings and confrontations are like in reality, quiet and repressed, whether they are happy or painful.

There is no hint here that Chen is a debutante. It is an extremely well-directed film that lures the viewer in with small, effective means. Possibly a little too cold and stripped down for some. At first, the characters may seem a little unsympathetic, especially the son who is spoiled beyond all limits, but gradually we are drawn into their worlds whether we want to or not. You don't even have to like them, but we want to see that everything somehow works out.

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Samurai drama with little action.

Anyone who thought there would be a big slaughter when Takashi Miike makes a samurai film will unfortunately have to continue wishing. Ichimei is a low-key, subtle and melancholic drama about revenge and honor in the 17th century. Why they insisted on making the film in 3D is incomprehensible, however.

The film begins with the samurai Hanshiro (Ebizo Ichikawa) applying to commit ritual suicide in the courtyard of the clan leaders of the House of Li in order to restore his honor. The clan suspects that Hanshiro is bluffing, a well-used trick to get money or employment through sympathy. The story of a former samurai who tried the same idea and his tragic fate is revealed. Eventually, we also get to know Hanshiro’s background story and his real purpose for his request.

Miike has made a name for himself with uber-violent cult films such as Audition and Ichi the Killer. However, he has also made other types of films and proves here that – Obviously – He has more strings to his lyre. It is easy to believe that he has seized the opportunity when he makes a samurai film – In 3D too – And let the blood flow and heads roll. But he has somewhat unexpectedly gone in a different direction and focused on the human drama in the story.

It is beautiful and atmospheric, and the not entirely unpredictable story nevertheless engages with its loving, sympathetic characters and their gripping fates. It is easy, as a fan of Quentin Tarantino's genre-honoring Kill Bill films, to miss the pumped-up pace and violent fight scenes, but there is nevertheless something liberating and uplifting about a samurai film that actually focuses on the dramatic story.

Then it is possible to think that Miike, who has made sadistic ultra-violence his specialty, has not taken advantage of the genre and offered more sword fighters even though a typically sadistic suicide scene for him is performed in the first story. The 3D format (the first film at Cannes ever to be shown in it) is hardly used at all and the only proper fight scene, which comes only at the end, has a dose of dry humor that quickly ebbs away and leaves behind a spectacle that is somewhat transcendental to realism and is rounded off with a rather vague message.

It is a stylish, entertaining and powerful film that is unfortunately way too long and uneven. Miike is a master at delivering stylish and atmospheric films but when it comes to samurai he seems to be actively looking to find his own nuance instead of using a working concept. And that is perhaps where Tarantino got it when he paid tribute to the genre by returning to classic clichés and adding fuel to the violence scenes. Because no matter how good the direction, actors and story are, you still always see samurai fighting more than anything else.

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A visual firework.

After the subtle masterpiece Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, Zhang Yimou returns to the spectacular that made Hero and Flying Daggers such worldwide box office hits. At least on the surface, it seems that way. But after just 5 minutes, you realize that this is a different menu he is serving. This is more of a Shakespearean family drama with clear elements of Greek tragedies and soap opera.

The plot itself begins with Empress Phoenix (Yimou’s old squire Gong Li) taking her daily medicine for her anemia. Unsuspectingly, her husband, Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat), spikes the drink with a mushroom that is supposed to drive her crazy. Together they have two sons, while Ping’s oldest son is from a previous marriage. It is no surprise that this dysfunctional family is not exactly the Brady Bunch and large parts of the plot revolve around how they intrigue with each other and servants.

People who like the expression “less is more” have nothing to gain here. The film is completely bathed in visual candy that includes clothes, props and big emotional outbursts. Gong Li’s dresses alone could make a film in themselves. The execution is generally reminiscent of a Dante opera with just the right mix of betrayal, incest and revealed identities.

When the plot is so grand that it borders on parody and unintentional laughter, it is extremely important to have good actors who can carry both dialogue and expression. Yimou is lucky to have managed to get his old flame and star Gong Li in the female lead role. Only an actor of her caliber can do such an overly melodramatic role without completely losing the emotionality. Chow Yun-Fat’s role is somewhat reminiscent of his pirate foray in Pirates of the Caribbean crossed with Pai-Mei in Tarantino’s Kill Bill. He is dangerously close to overacting for large parts of the film, but gets away with it because of his strong charisma.

Director Yimou can pat himself on the back, because the visuals are absolutely top notch. In addition to the incredibly beautiful palace, he orchestrates two fight scenes of the highest world class. Even an opening sword fight is truly cinematic art. You also have to applaud him for doing something completely different from Hero and Flying Daggers even though they are supposed to be part of a trilogy together.

But even though the fight scenes are sparse, the film still falls short because the characters are a little too distant. Screenwriter Yimou has not been as active this time. It is difficult to get close to the twisted family, but they become more emotional puppets. Well-acted ones, though.

Despite this, Curse of the Golden Flower is a visual firework that you still have to recommend. After all, films like this are what films should really be, a visual experience.

FYI: Curse of the Golden Flower”required the largest set design ever for a film in China.

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Atmospheric Japanese drama.

If for some reason you were to make a dish out of Still Walking, it would undoubtedly be sushi. It is served in a very stylish way. The strong contrast of easily digestible salmon pieces and strong wasabi-dipped shrimp pieces makes for an excellent overall experience and a plate model in its most beautiful form.

Now Still Walking, despite the similarities, is not a dish but a feature film by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda.

Ryota Yokoyama (Hiroshi Abe) is on his way home to his childhood home where both of his parents still live. All family members are there to enjoy dinner together. This is something unusual as the occasions when they actually sit down and eat dinner together are becoming increasingly rare. This is mainly because all the children are adults and have their own families, but perhaps it is also because they are now a smaller family member at the table. Ryota's older brother lost his life saving another boy. The same boy who has now done nothing sensible with his life.

It is noticeable that frustration is the common thread as it is there all the time, both from the parents and from the children. The mother is worried that Ryota will not give her any "real" grandchildren, as he married a woman who had a child from a previous relationship. The father of the family carries so much frustration that his favorite son sacrificed his life for someone who did not deserve it and that his last living son does not want to become a doctor and take over his practice.

All family members carry their worries and secrets towards each other. One by one, the audience gets to look into them without them really being investigated between the characters. It is a cat-and-mouse game in body language and a balancing act between love and disappointment which is fascinating and exciting to watch.

I am struck by how similar families can be. Regardless of origin or background, the same common concerns still exist. The parallels between my own family and the Yokoyama family become increasingly apparent when you look through the cultural differences. Because Still Walking actually gives an excellent insight into what it can really be like to come home to your parents and once again end up in the old roles that you have had since you were little. Ending up in this old “role” and then having in mind that one day your parents will no longer be there to answer for the things you have wondered about scares me.

With a beautiful soundtrack and nice photography, it adds spice to the nice, easy-to-digest story that Hirokazu Koreeda tells. So whether you like sushi or not, I think the film will offer some new emotions. Because the recognition factor made me decide to show my parents a little more love more often.

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Violent in Japan

Takeshi Kitano delivers a highly interesting insight into the structures of the Japanese mafia. But what initially engages soon becomes too complicated and violent for the film's good. There are simply too many betrayals, pacts and severed fingers.

Director Takeshi Kitano is actually a completely unlikely person. The Japanese started out as a successful stand-up comedian in the 1970s and then became primarily a director and actor. Today he also frequently appears in entertainment programs and talk shows, he has written over 50 books, he draws comics, he paints and he makes films such as Kikujiro's Summer, the sweet story of a boy who must find his mother. In between, Kitano also makes violent gangster-cop films.

Although the multifaceted Kitano appears as an actor in other films, he does most of the work himself in his own productions, from scriptwriting, to directing and often acting. As an actor, he uses his stage name Beat Takeshi, which is a nod to the comedy duo he was one half of – The Two Beat. So there is a great complexity in the man, one moment he is charming and funny on the studio couch, the next he mercilessly attacks a gangster with a dental drill.

The dental drill is the one that appears in his film Outrage. Here Kitano is back to his flagship genre of the gangster film. Even before the title rolls around, he effectively establishes the Japanese mafia – Yakuza – Hierarchy with a chairman at the top, his closest man, clan bosses, underlings of various ranks. The chairman and bosses have a general meeting, the underlings stand in the parking lot by the obviously black cars. Kitano himself plays the underling Otomo. His boss Ikemoto has a personal pact with the rival clan boss Murase. The chairman – Who actually looks like Chairman Mao, or a well-combed Kim Jung Il – Does not like this and asks him to “sort out” the situation. Ikemoto must therefore break off contact with Murase in order to show loyalty to his chairman, while at the same time respecting his personal pact. He sends in Otomo, who is allowed to start a yakuza branch and who can thus act on his own to create a disturbance in the relationship, without his boss being directly involved. A clever arrangement, but this small disturbance or spark starts a wildfire that spreads out of control and causes things to heat up in all camps.

Kitano is a confident narrator with an occasionally stylish imagery. Not many sentences are said here, but it is really the actions that drive the plot forward. Initially, Outrage is very interesting, how it presents the gangster structure and the fox games between all members. With shocking violent sequences, such as cutting off the little finger with a dull knife in classic yakuza style or using a dentist’s drill in the wrong way, a sense of anxiety and tension is created in the film. We really understand that these men can do anything to anyone. No one is safe and Otomo himself is living proof of that as he alternates between total expressionlessness and exploding outbursts of violence. It contributes to the charged atmosphere.

However, after the nice opening, the film becomes a little too complicated for its own good. There are too many twists, too many showdowns and too many betrayals and stabs in the back – Or rather, shots in the forehead. In the end, it actually becomes a little difficult to keep apart who is betraying whom and who is deceiving someone else. This also means that it becomes difficult to sympathize with our protagonist Otomo, who makes too many shifts between camps for us to know where he stands. Despite the high pace, the interest level drops a few notches during the second half of the film.

It also becomes a little tiring that the film only deals with men, the only times a woman appears is in the role of a whore/escort, a scorned wife, a mistress on the prowl or in the form of a corpse. The pure macho culture within the mafia would certainly be more dynamic and exciting with a female presence in addition to the above-mentioned examples. Despite this, Takeshi Kitano is too skilled and experienced to just let a story descend into an action-packed spiral of violence where men hump men without any real meaning, and he gets up at ten towards the end and ties Outrage together in an unexpected way. As I said, Kitano is a bit unlikely.

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Creepy exorcisms among South Korean graves.

Exhuma recklessly throws a bunch of disjointed horror genres into one pot and somehow manages to cook up a deliciously creepy thriller with a lot to say.

Choi Min Sik (Oldboy) leads us down a dark and macabre path through South Korea’s complicated history. A team of paranormal experts accidentally unleash terrifying forces after excavating a sinister grave of a wealthy family. Whoops! What follows is a strange and unpredictable journey about all the ghosts left behind by Korea’s traumatic relationship with Japan.

Director Jang Jae Hyun packs Exhuma with every kind of horror imaginable. It shouldn’t hold together as well as it does, but somehow the film is fresher and more powerful than expected. All the worldbuilding, all the rituals, and all the supernatural mysteries are held together by the cultural and historical context. Trauma is certainly nothing new to horror films, but Exhuma cuts deeper than most.

Choi Min Sik as the leader of the group is, of course, gripping and really sells the suspense when it becomes clear that they have taken on darker and more powerful forces than they thought. But it is still Kim Go Eun who steals the film thanks to a startling sequence early on that loudly proclaims the film’s formal intentions. The rest of the film doesn’t quite manage to reach that level, but comes close several times.

The opening is strong and loaded with eerie atmosphere and mystery, all the conventional genre tropes are in top form. But with a running time of 134 minutes, the film is a bit too long and would have benefited from a stronger middle point. A few more scissors in the editing room would have helped, because once the tension escalates we get a sensational finale where Jae Hyun has once again saved a surprise for the audience. Nothing can prepare you for where Exhuma goes, but no spoilers here!

Exhuma is an ambitious and exciting excavation of Korea’s past. The cinematography is as impressive as it is terrifying, the entire ensemble cast gives it their all, and the script never stops expanding the scope. At the same time, there is a fascinating thematic thread that lifts the film a step above its competitors.

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No Oldboy, but that's ok.

Park Chanwook turns the page and leaves behind the mechanisms of revenge to tell of a different kind of love within the bare walls of an asylum. Our spoiled eyes recognize the extravagant cover that could only come from Mr. Vengeance, but the content offers nothing more than lighthearted entertainment.

In the full conviction that she is a cyborg, half human, half machine, young Younggoon (Lim Sujeong, A Tale of Two Sisters) burns herself badly while trying to recharge her batteries. She is sent to an asylum where she chats with the soda machine, goes on hunger strikes and instead of eating the institutional food, licks batteries to regain her strength. The staff tries everything from electric shocks to force-feeding through the nose, without much success.

But then she meets Park Ilsun (South Korean megastar Rain, Speed ​​Racer), a male patient who, after being gang-raped in the army, sewed his anus together and now hops around like a rabbit. Hoping to take advantage of Ilsun’s kleptomania, Younggoon persuades him to steal her ability to feel sympathy so she can destroy the evil doctors surrounding her, something to which Ilsun agrees and he learns the rules of her strange world in the hope of giving her back her appetite.

Having completed his sweet revenge trilogy, which included the masterpiece Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the downright leaden Oldboy, and the visual candy Lady Vengeance, Korean director Park Chanwook leaves his dissection of the mechanisms of revenge to step into the world of fantasy, where just about anything can happen. With the revenge trilogy box set on the table, it is easy to call the comedy I'm a Cyborg... a career step into a completely new path for the director who usually draws such dark brushstrokes, when everything is pastel-colored and the humor is largely farcical. But if there is something that characterizes Park Chanwook's films, it is his way of unabashedly crossing genre boundaries and then of course the visual playfulness, and we get both here.

Because of course he would never settle for a film that didn't look outrageously good, we are dazzled right from the usual ape-like opening credits camouflaged among all the electronic equipment and props in the film's Metropolis-flirting opening sequence in a factory environment, to the moments of visual effects magic that occur when we get to follow into the head of a Cyborg among machine guns, alpine peaks and giant ladybugs. In the world of dreams, you get the feeling that Park Chanwook has discovered Michael Gondry. But despite this, the story, framed in such an exclusive and expensive gold frame, would do just as well as a stripped-down theater play on a bare stage in the nearest high school auditorium. We understand quite quickly that even crazy people in a crazy world need love, so unfortunately 107 minutes of detours around the subject become a bit tiring.

I found myself sitting unengaged waiting for someone to get their teeth pulled, because if we're being honest, it's my understimulated eyes and my repressed bloodlust that have been longing for more Park Chanook impressions on the big screen, not my hopes of seeing a new One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or that the girl's favorite Rain would turn out to be some new McMurphy. I've seen enough Korean comedies to realize that it's not my cup of tea, that humor can be experienced as very strange and infantile by the uninitiated, and so it is here. The gaps between the small flashes of brilliance become too large in this witty and petty love story that hardly violates the extravagant visual style that has become Park's signature, but unfortunately forgets that we have to keep our eyes open to experience it.

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Dream or reality?

What if the scale no longer showed reality? What if it showed 0? What do I weigh then, when I step on the scale and it shows that my weight is 0? Is it a dream or reality?

Tae Suk breaks into strangers' homes to stay there for a day or a night. He never steals, occasionally he moves a painting or changes something of minor importance, but he always repays the hospitality by fixing small things, doing the laundry or cleaning. One day, no more remarkable than any other day, he breaks into what he thinks is an empty house. In the darkest corner of the house, Sun Hwa sits huddled, despairing and afraid that her husband will come home. Her face is bruised. When she sees Tae Suk, she watches and follows her intruder carefully. Later that night, she steps forward and shows herself. Tae Suk is surprised and moves eagerly towards the door to leave when the phone rings. That's Sun Hwa's man.

In some situations - In some encounters - Only glances are needed to communicate and understand. When two people who share a very strong feeling meet, the moment and the energy can tell everything. Such is the case for Tae Suk and Sun Hwa. They share the feeling of an incredible loneliness and in this scene take part in each other - Are sucked into each other - And escape together. Without speaking at all.

3-Iron tells the story in images more than in dialogue. A stationary camera allows the viewer to see details: The scenography, the sound and above all the faces can be interpreted and observed to a completely different extent. Here it is unbeatable. It is a kind of poetry that our Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki also expresses himself so well in, a kind of figurative and very freely interpreted poetry. You don't lose interest in a single frame, not for a single second. And without knowing anything about their background, the symbol-laden images (the film literally speaks in them) shape two characters with a lot of depth and emotion. You understand their loneliness and you understand their longing: How they need each other for their survival. That energy creates one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever seen on film.

In the end, they get caught and Tae Suk is reported for a whole series of crimes. They are separated and Sun Hwa is forced to return to her husband who is patiently waiting for his revenge. But with more courage and strength in her body – She knows that Tae Suk will be released – She manages to resist. Now it is about finding a way for Tae Suk and Sun Hwa to reunite. What drives them now is love.

To a large extent, Kim Ki Duk's film is about precisely this: What drives and motivates people. Why does Tae Suk wander around apartments, what satisfaction and what holes does it fill? Does he fill the hole of loneliness? And Sun Hwa's husband, what motivates his vengeful spirit, could it also be loneliness? And when Kim Ki Duk does it with high-strung energy and strong characters, and instead of taking the turns uses empathy and meticulous image processing – Well then it can't be anything but masterful.

FYI: The director wrote the script for the film in a month, it was shot in just 16 days and edited in 10.

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With a thirst for life.

A Catholic priest literally changes his lifestyle when he becomes a vampire through a blood transfusion. Old Boy director Park Chanwook updates the vampire genre in a sometimes bizarre way, which is always worth watching.

Asian horror can sometimes be a little difficult for us in the West to keep up with. Local myths, legends and general folk beliefs about ghosts, small whitewashed children or women looking out from under their wispy bangs can create shivers in the East, but shrugs in the West. It is therefore interesting when Park Chanwook transfers a typically Western genre like the vampire film to his South Korea. Here the story becomes more straightforward for all of us who know the vampire codes, while at the same time he creates something completely new with the theme.

Catholic priest Sanghyeon visits an area exposed to a deadly virus as a volunteer worker. He too is infected, declared dead on his sickbed, but is resurrected from the dead thanks to a blood transfusion. Unfortunately, his bag of blood was vampire blood and the priest soon finds himself on his feet, with a new thirst for life - Literally. His thirst is not limited to blood, but also for the flesh and he tortures himself to hold back his newfound sexual desires.

Sanghyeon becomes something of a miracle man, the only one to have survived the virus, and people make pilgrimages for the hope of a cure from the priest. He realizes his need for blood, but as a deeply religious man he cannot kill for his own survival. He cunningly takes on additional volunteer work at the hospital, where he can easily drop a comatose patient on the elixir of life. Life is complicated when Sanghyeon reconnects with a childhood friend, who has practically married his adoptive sister. He begins a secret relationship with Taeju, as the scorned wife is called. She is reminiscent of Eli in Let the Right One In, delicate but powerful, while at the same time enigmatic. Their relationship gradually takes them down a dark spiral of death and bloodshed.

Park Chanwook made the stylish and at times surreal Old Boy. Thirst involves a more straightforward story, but the style is just as sure and the story vital. He also does not shy away from the slightly bizarre, as in a scene where 2 vampires suck blood out of each other as in a hungry 69 position. He also has a good touch with effects that are portioned out in a nice way without taking over, they sneak in like warts that gradually disappear or veins that form contours under the skin. But above all, the director has a comic streak that comes to the fore in the everyday problems that Sanghyeon experiences as a newly-made vampire. Yes, the fact that he is a Catholic priest is of course a difficult contradiction.

Park Chanwook has taken a genre and updated it, just like in True Blood, Twilight and New Moon, but in a completely unique way. Here you have, excuse the expression, good bites, nice ideas and good acting. But, it gets a little too long. It doesn't get scary either, scary as in built-up tension. But it's still very watchable.

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The new miniseries about war and samurai is a future classic.

Shôgun is the proof that it can actually be okay to make a remake of something that has already been praised and won great prizes, but then it always has to be done this amazingly well.

Shôgun s a mini-series set in 17th-century feudal Japan - And begins with the English pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) suddenly running aground with his ship on the Japanese coast. There he quickly becomes a pawn in a power game between above all 2 feudal lords. Both with the ambition to lead the entire country until the young emperor comes of age and can take over.

Civil war, honor, power play and multitudes of samurai account for most of the action. But the cultural clashes for Blackthorne, who quickly tries to learn Japanese through the interpreter Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai), also take up a lot of space. During this time, Portugal had already found Japan and sent Catholic priests there who began to convert parts of the Japanese elite to Catholic Christianity, while Blackthrone now comes from a country at war with Portugal and claims to have lied about everything. It simply stirs the already infected pot.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of James Clavell's book Shôgun, which is partly inspired by real events. Already 5 years later, we got one of the best and most ambitious mini-series ever in television history, when Richard Chamberlain took on the lead role of Blackthorne and Orson Welles acted as narrator for the English-speaking viewers who did not understand Japanese. This time too, most of the dialogue takes place in Japanese, but now without an explanatory voice of course.

The old miniseries was then one of the first series of its kind to show both a naked woman and beheadings (not at the same time, fortunately) on television, which then shocked many viewers in 1980. More than 30 years before Game of Thrones turned that kind of of scenes to an almost absurd level (which gave that series the nickname Tits and Dragons). But it was, of course, the exciting and very complicated story itself, which made Shôgun win the finest television award at the Emmys, for the year's best miniseries.

So, why on earth should we go in and tinker with already acclaimed TV classics? Why not adapt something completely new or come up with a really awesome original story instead? These are questions that are most often muttered when different film studios seem to be trying to grab as much money as possible, by betting on already "given" successes. Sometimes, for example, when we get a really bad film adaptation, like The Last Airbender (2010), fans can still buy that a new and more ambitious attempt is made, like the live action series Avatar: The Last Airbender (which we can now watch on Netflix).

But this thing about remaking something that was already considered near perfect to the same format again... Why? The answer to that question will from now on always be: Shôgun. This is a miniseries that proves both why and how to update something already celebrated and let a new generation share the same story, while giving those of us who have seen the original an adaptation that can realize the story in an even more impressive way.

I read the book myself, which is really the only reason why I gave the already old mini-series a chance. When it comes to movie classics from the 70s or 80s, few frown when titles like Star Wars (1977), Apocalypse Now (1979) or The Godfather (1972) come up. Catching up on the old film classics is part of it. Considerably fewer spend 10 hours on a miniseries from 1980, however, no matter how acclaimed it happened to be at the time.

The fact that filmmaking has developed somewhat enormously in the last 40 years also means that the new adaptation of Shôgun has been able to learn from other war series and films. Just like Game of Thrones could do. And this new adaptation of Shôgun looks absolutely stunning. The photography is magical and so are the actors Hiroyuko Sanada (in the role of the feudal lord Toranaga), Anna Sawai and Cosmo Jarvis.

The book and the old miniseries have long since proven that the story itself is really exciting - And luckily the adaptation of the screenplay has stayed true to its source where needed, but also made minor updates to improve it elsewhere.

I had really high hopes, but was pleasantly surprised that they even managed to exceed them. The new Shôgun miniseries is a future classic, hopefully one of those few (like Band of Brothers) that everyone from now on will look to give a chance - No matter how many years have passed the premiere.

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Excited young people on the warpath.

At the turn of the century, a new game was started by the Japanese government called Battle Royale. The game involved a class being selected each year to go to a deserted island and fight to survive. The game was for the class to kill each other until only one was left.

3 years have passed since Class 9B played Battle Royale and Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) has gone and become a terrorist. Shuya wants revenge on the adults and decides to start a war against the elders and the government of Japan. He has gathered friends who also played and survived Battle Royale. They blow up 2 skyscrapers (similar to the tragedy of September 11, 2001) and hide on an island off Japan. The Japanese government does not like the deed and decides to start a new game, Battle Royale 2. The game is about a class of 40 young people having 73 hours to find and kill Shuya Nanahara or the metal bands around their necks will explode.

When you look at Battle Royale 2, you see a lot of similarities to the first movie. It makes me a little disappointed because it would be a little more fun if they could vary. But that's also the only negative thing about the film. The rest of the film is like the first, very good. Great feeling and very good acting performance. Kinji Fukasaku (director) just finished filming Battle Royale 2 before he died of cancer. His son Kenta Fukasaku then took over the rest of the work to complete the film. In my own opinion, I consider Battle Royale 2 to be an outstanding movie. Maybe not as good as the first one, but not far behind. The film has the same violent elements as the first, but Kinji has managed a better plot in Battle Royale 2 than in the first and that means a lot to the film.

Something that really needs to be mentioned is the music. The music in Battle Royale 2 is wonderful. You get a feeling of sadness and anger when the different songs are played during the film. But there is also powerful music in some scenes. Such as when a group of trained soldiers appear on the island to try to kill Shuya. Firefights erupt and beautiful dramatic music pours out of the speakers. That makes me really shudder. Those of you who liked Battle Royale will like the second one. Usually when you think that a sequel is coming, you immediately get a negative attitude towards the film.

A funny scene in this movie is when Shuya and the rebels send out a speech to the world declaring war on all adults and minutes later a missile hits the island and damages some buildings. In the next scene, you find out that it is a large country in the West (the World Police) that did not like the speech and decided to do what they did best, bomb.

I recommend the movie to anyone who enjoyed the first one.

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Let the games begin!

What would you do if you were suddenly pitted against your closest friends in a fight to the death? Director Kinji Fukasaku's film adaptation of writer Koushun Takami's short story Batoru Rowaiaru is a hearty, dramatic, exciting and very well-made story that manages to touch on all levels.

The year is 2000. We are in a fictional future Japan where the entire nation has recently collapsed. Huge unemployment and juvenile delinquency prevail in the country. Adults have lost confidence and fear the younger generation more and more, which leads to a new reform action being put into use by the government to overcome the problems - Battle Royale.

Battle Royale involves a middle school class being selected through a very careful lottery, kidnapped and then sent to an isolated island where they are forced to fight each other for 3 days until only 1 survivor remains.

It is with a very raw and merciless violence that the director Kinji Fukasaku depicts the central plot of Battle Royale. We follow class 9B, a group of young school students who have become like a family to each other and who are suddenly pitted against their best friends in a brutal fight to the death.

As a viewer, you quickly grow fond of many of the characters, which gives you the feeling that you are almost in their midst. The moment when the game on the island is set in motion, when each student is given a randomly selected weapon and sent out to take on each other, was in my opinion one of the strongest and most uncomfortable scenes of the film. We get to see how some react with panic and do everything to survive while others stick together and do everything they can to stop it all.

We mainly follow 3 main characters during the course of the film, primarily the students Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nagakawa. Shuya has a difficult past that left a strong impression on him. By his side he has Noriko, a girl who has been very fond of him for a long time.

These 2 are also joined by Shougo Kawada, who participated in the game once before. He is portrayed as a somewhat erratic person. We never really know where we have him and what his intentions are. This uncertainty contributes to a very exciting and intense atmosphere between the 3 who stick together during the time they are on the island where the brutal game takes place.

The film's antagonist Kitano is played by a brilliant Takeshi Kitano (Sonatine and Outrage). The interesting thing about this character is that we get to see him in different contexts, whereby his personality changes between the situations. Kitano is initially the teacher of Class 9B under the chaotic conditions of collapsed Japan.

He is portrayed during this stage as a very inferior and fearful person who has completely given up hope for the youth he teaches. Here we get an equally clear and frightening picture of how the situation in the country has affected the adults and how the young people have now taken the law into their own hands.

When he then leads the Battle Royale where his former students participate as players, it is he who once again holds the stick, but in this context there is no trace of the submissive and fearful teacher - Here instead a completely emotional, sadistic and mentally unstable person appears, who seems capable of any number of horrors.

At the same time, during the course of the story, we learn more about Kitano's personal background and the root of his madness and callousness. Beneath the character's frightening exterior, there are nevertheless glimpses of goodness, which almost forces the viewer to feel a certain sympathy for him. Therefore, the audience is kept in a tense uncertainty about what kind of person Kitano really is.

While Battle Royale is a very exciting movie experience, it is also a very dramatic and scary story with a lot of moral undertones. Both the fantastic character direction and the, in several cases, extraordinary performances contribute to this. Fukasaku has managed to portray the plot of Koushun Takami's novel of the same title in a realistic yet frightening way and delivers a cinematic experience that you simply cannot miss.

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Jackie Chan in Thai.

For many, Thailand equals a dream vacation. For others notorious for drugs etc. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. There are many sides to Thailand: The beautiful exotic country in the far east with its amazing nature, its good food and nice, friendly and hospitable people. In any case, Ong Bak is a nice reel that offers a lot of action mixed with excitement and laughter.

The opening promises well: In the annual competition in the village, all the men who participate must try to get hold of a ribbon that is at the top of a tree. First man wins. It starts off well and pretty much keeps the same fast pace throughout the film. Already there you get to know Boonting, the winner with the extra features and the athletic qualities that get through most things, even the narrowest openings, over the really high obstacles and past the less friendly competitors. Despite his speed and strength, Boonting is also humble. He has trained in martial arts for many years but has to promise his master never to use his fighting skills. Every 24 years the village holds a special festival and sacrifices to the Gods for continued joy, happiness and good harvests. The village's own saint is a Buddha-like statue called Ong-Bak. It is of course sacred and it is the duty of all the villagers to protect it at all costs. Therefore, it is a big setback when, just before the festivities, they discover that the statue's head has been cut off and disappeared. Boonting then voluntarily steps forward as the one to recapture the head and bring it home to the village.

The hunt leads to Bangkok and an old clumsy acquaintance who will do anything for money. They have barely reacquainted themselves before Boonting, in search of his suitcase, follows his host to the local fighting and betting club. To get the money back, he has to box against a number of bigger and stronger shady types. He had promised not to use his skills but now he has no choice and stands up, and of course wins...

The hunt for the missing statue head leads to more shady acquaintances and more fights. Every time Boonting is forced to fight to move forward, he thinks about his previous promise, but to get the village's property back, he makes almost any sacrifice. There are so many who are waiting to see the statue head again and he cannot let them down!

The hunt goes higher and finally he meets the top boss who runs the betting and a lot of other shady and illegal business. Ong-Bak is a fun and watchable film. In Thailand it is a great success and it has also celebrated success in several other countries where it has been shown. The pace is high and there is a good mix of tension, comedy and drama. One of the most exciting and fun scenes is when he makes his way through several blocks, away from the gang who want their lost money. An armed gang of at least 20 people do everything to stop him but fail!

There is quite a lot of action and most of it is done for real without any stuntmen or other tricks! The main actor Tony Jaa is responsible for most of the scenes himself. Ong-Bak is also very reminiscent of Jackie Chan's films. Tony Jaa has admitted in interviews that one of his idols was the Hong Kong hero Jackie Chan. He could also be compared to Chinese born Jet Li.

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A piece of epic film history.

Dark sky, gray shadows moving across the ridge. Akira Kurosawa could get top marks for Seven Samurai just because he created the legendary war scene where a troop of soldiers ride over a hill on their way to the battlefield, or because he wrote side-long backstories about each leading character and made an intricate family tree over the 101 villagers. This is an epic mammoth film, but today perhaps best suited for cineastes.

The plot is simple: Japan, 16th century, feudal society - It's sweaty, dusty and bloody, especially if you're a peasant. The population of the small mountain village is constantly subjected to bandit attacks, especially in the fall after the year's harvest. The men in the village therefore decide to hire 7 samurais to protect them from the horrible miscreants. The first man to stand up is the wise Kambei, who later hires 6 more ronin. Is this incredibly exciting? Absolutely, if you're willing to spend 3.5 hours watching dramatic Donald Duck-clad men laughing at jokes no one else understands. But if you want to see who combined it first: Slow motion + young woman falls in love with young fighter + group of heroes helping each other + men on a hill, this is where you should turn.

Just the intro is a 3-minute long explanatory text passage accompanied by pompous taikos. But hold on. From the first scene you are struck by the astonishing photo. Akira knew how to use the black/white format to the max. Small details such as the characters' patterned kimonos increase the nuances and make each frame attractive. The director recorded each scene with dual cameras in order to have a larger selection of images when editing. It's noticeable, because it's a fantastic variety of angles and perspectives. Some images are so beautiful that you could frame them as individual photographs. I especially fell for the contrast of the white daisies against the dark tree trunks. The sound effects and music are also interesting. I laughed out loud towards the end when the young woman whistled for a full hall. There are creaking hinges and humming men, but it never becomes blaringly loud, instead the music and sound effects stay in the background and act as a mood setter.

Although the film is, according to some, the first drama-action film, Akira has had his heart in the right place. Unlike now, the heroes aren't nerve-smooth and pumped with anabolic steroids. Here, the men have lovely round bellies, wrinkles and they actually cry when their pals die. The masculine lies in their enormously pent-up sexual frustration and that around every corner there seems to be a woman in distress with a crying child in her arms. The young woman who has a fling with the young wanna-be samurai is the only girl who has lines. I have full respect for that because the movie is from 1954. What scares me is rather the realization of how little the genre has developed since then: Braveheart, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven.

Just the comparison between this and more recent drama-action films makes me understand how big an influence it must have had. Not only because it is innovative but also because the story is emotionally driven. The atmosphere breathes gloom. The only thing I miss are characters that develop this way despite Akira's solid preparatory work with the portraits. It's only the funnyman Kikuchio who undergoes a major change. Despite the massive playtime, I never get a chance to go deep with a select few. Therefore, I don't really get emotionally involved in how the villagers and samurais are doing. This also applies to the dark forces that move around the village, the bandits, they have no face. They are more like a brutal, black shadow that thunders forward and devours everything in its path.

Despite its few flaws, it is still incredibly well made and interesting from a film historical perspective, but I think it takes a cineaste to really appreciate it. If you like to Google everything about the film after you've seen it, to create an overall picture and be able to put it into context, then you're the right audience.

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