Reviews

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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So good I rewatched it immediately

I had high expectations going into this and somehow this movie exceeded them anyway. I smiled, I sobbed, I felt so many emotions. The actors did a phenomenal job, I cannot sing their praises enough. The story itself was a masterpiece and everyone involved in its creation is a genius in my eyes. I'm so grateful this film exists, and that I got to watch it and then watch it again the next day because I couldn't stop thinking about it.

There was a version of myself before watching this film, and now there is a version after. I will cherish these characters close to my heart forevermore and rewatch their story over and over again to comfort myself with their existence.

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A deeply intimate movie

In the mood for love is a wonderful movie that showcases a deeper level of intimacy without ever having the lead actors kiss, and honestly it works very well.
The story is simple and delivered in more of a show not tell method, and the emotions of the characters are felt more than any thing else. Its very mundane in how it shows day to day living, showing a bit of realism in the story.

Spoilers:
At first i was disappointed that the leads never got a proper conclusion on their quasi affair, but it also felt exceptionally fitting for the type of people they were. It was realistic.
Ultimately I think that it made a lot of sense and while I as a person was sad, from a writing perspective I admired the story greatly.
I watched this in summer of last year when i was looking for older romance movie recommendations, and was floored by the fantastic writing

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The war continues and it might continue

Kaguya-sama Love Is War Final (2021) is the second live-action movie of Kaguya-sama Love Is War. I was hoping it would be a notch better than the first, but unfortunately, it's inferior.


§ Overview

Shirogane Miyuki and Shinomiya Kaguya are back as student council president and vice president respectively. After both of them apparently confess their love to each other and after a kiss at the end of the movie, both are at it again, trying to make the other confess their feelings for each other.


§ Notes


1. Their confession near the end of movie 1 could have been a fitting finale to the story, and this is why I'm not pleased that they've practically gotten back to square one in this movie.


2. The events are not as airtight as in movie 1. The subplot about Ishigami Yu can be removed without affecting the plot.

Actually, on its own, I like it. Assuming we haven't seen the anime, we get to know Ishigami, and why he behaves that way. As a result, he becomes an endearing character, and I am looking forward to meeting him in the anime.

The problem is that it is inconsequential to advancing the plot. This gives you the unfortunate impression that the movie has run out of material despite reading from anime watchers and manga viewers that the movies have omitted so much.


3. With the way Chika's character acted, I am not sure if I will like her anime version because it seems many people like her. She's brain-dead, a comic relief, but not one you would take seriously.


4. The ending concluded in a similar fashion as movie 1. The story seems to be ending, but they leave enough ambiguity for a third live-action movie to be possible, which I think should no longer happen but I'll watch anyway if ever that happens.


§ Conclusion

It's a good movie but it could have been better. I'm not sure I can recommend it to people who have seen the anime or read the manga, but I am okay suggesting the live action movies for those new to the story with the caveat that these movies are inferior to the anime/manga versions.

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"Each heart is different."

A few months after Naruse Mikio directed his first talkie, he created this film based on a play titled, “Two Wives.” Two Wives described the film much better than the submissive order “Wife! Be a Rose!” Had it not been a Naruse film, I might have skipped this title. I’ve learned to trust him where women were concerned, he was much more forward thinking than other directors at this time. While billed as a comedy, there was disappointment and pain behind the upbeat music and smiles.

Kimiko and Seiji are planning to marry, all they need now is for the fathers to meet and hash out the transaction. The only problem being, Kimiko’s father left home to live with a geisha in the mountains around Nagano fifteen years ago. Aside from a meager money order that arrives each month, Kimiko and her mother have not heard from him in a long time. Kimiko works in an office supplying much of their income while her mother writes poetry for the newspaper and teaches a poetry class for free. Etsuko spends money freely on her own clothes, living in her own little world. Kimiko determines to visit her father and bring him back to not only arrange her marriage but also to free him from the clutches of Oyuki, the woman he is living with.

In Naruse’s first talkie five months prior, the sister who dressed in Western style clothes was derided as a “modern girl.” Kimiko often dressed in Western clothing and was portrayed as independent and yet also filial. Despite Kimiko believing that “Men like a wife who acts childish and cajoling…or motherly and protective,” she tended to be neither. Seiji admired her fierceness and had no problem with her traveling alone across the country to cross swords with the harridan controlling her father. “I guess you’re as tough as she is.” When things turn out to be different than what she believed, Kimiko rolled with the punches and opened her mind and heart. There was still heartbreak aplenty when attempting to be filial to two parents with different hearts. Many a child of divorced parents has had to come to terms with adults who cannot live together.

Unlike Three Sisters with Maiden Hearts where Naruse overused the new ability to employ sound, in this film, the music flowed evenly and organically throughout the story. The acting for 1935 was exemplary, forgoing melodramatic tics. Chiba Sachiko as Kimiko conveyed the longing and despair behind her smile as she dealt with conflicting emotions regarding her father and mother. With Naruse’s characters, still waters ran deep, belying powerful eddies and currents guiding their actions.

Wife! Be a Rose! could easily be reworked in the present as a film about the different ways families exist and coexist. Love doesn’t always come in the package we expect nor does love make every relationship work. Sometimes love means acceptance of who people are and also being able to let go.

7 February 2025

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"I am born under an unlucky star."

It seemed to me that I was born under a lucky star when the Japanese Film Festival screened this movie for free in my country.

Believe it or not, Matched was actually the reason why I left our house and broke my one-month "no going out" streak. When I saw the poster in the official JFF lineup this year, I knew I had to fight to get tickets for it (to the point where I had to excuse myself from work just to sneakily snag some tickets—oops).

No one knows how badly I wanted to watch this movie. When it was rumored that both Tao Tsuchiya and Daisuke Sakuma would star in a thriller film together, I knew I had to be there. Tao was someone I really loved seeing on the big screen, while Sakkun, on the other hand, was my favorite Snow Man member, so you can imagine how ecstatic I was when the news came out.

Drama aside, Matched had a very interesting and timely premise. In a generation dominated by technology, everything seemed easier—even finding someone to spend your waking days with. What’s the best way to meet someone with a common interest and goal? Through a dating app, duh.

But what made this interesting for me was the dark truth: you could potentially match with someone who is dangerous. There’s no way you can truly get a feel for someone without spending time with them. And that’s something Rinka did—she entertained someone who was too strange for her liking. Tomu, on the other hand, was probably just cosplaying as someone who's engaged in dark magic.

Despite my dislike of how everything turned out in the end, I genuinely found some parts amusing. Even the people I was watching the movie with were literally howling with laughter whenever Tomu said his iconic line.

If you're used to seeing Sakkun in his always happy and energetic state, well... you won’t get an inkling of that here. Please, give him more of these roles! He pulled it off perfectly.

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My Heart Hurts…. in a good way

I’m not usually a fan of this type of ending, but here is was very well done, I cried hard but still loved it. Not going to lie, this was a pretty heavy and emotional movie. They had a really rough time, but they became each other’s home. I also liked that you could see Rui brighten around Akari. She also seemed to have a pretty positive attitude towards life, despite everything she’s had to go through. Suku was adorable too. I loved the theme song, it fit the movie wonderfully. Ryusei is probably one of my favourite Japanese actors, I like how he portrays his characters.

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it was just perfect

literally just what the headline says lol

Tiny spoilers? Js adding to make sure
This is a movie you should watch without knowing anything beforehand

9.5 because I was really sad at the end but perfect regardless, I feel like if the ending went any other way it wouldn’t have been as good. Because we know the how important it was to both characters . Still made me feel empty inside like omg..🥲
it was confusing and it had me on edge the whole time, but it was super exciting and the story was really good. I wish I could rewatch it again for the first time.

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Glad I gave it a chance.

The thing that stuck out most to me about this movie is its cinematography. I don’t want to be cheesy but many of the landscape shots felt timeless. Despite not being in 4k and no HDR, I felt like I was brought back in time.

As for the love story itself. Wholesome, sincere, and very simple. The main FL and ML don't even speak that much to each other. Not much drama or tension, and the ending felt satisfying despite the circumstances.

I’m glad I gave this a shot despite the most unassuming poster I’ve ever seen in my life. I didn’t even know the young female lead was Zhang Zi Yi.

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"That turned out good"

Naruse Mikio’s first talkie, Three Sisters with Maiden Hearts, made use of not only the actors’ voices but a variety of music as well. Each of the sisters dealt with poverty in their own way. This was a women-centric film and Naruse dealt with the female characters in a sympathetic manner without pandering. That’s not to say there was no melodrama, it wouldn’t have been a 1935 film without buckets of angst.

Chieko tells her new boyfriend how her mother sent her older sisters Oren and Osame to work when they were eight. The mother trains 3 other young women how to play the samisen and sends them out like she had her older daughters to the street and dingy hostess clubs and bars. Chieko is the youngest and favored child who dances in a revue. The neighborhood boys derogatorily call her a “modern girl,” due to her wearing western style clothes. Osame bears the brunt of her mother’s vitriol and tries to protect the other girls. Simply buying a magazine or food with their earnings instead of turning them all over to the mother can earn a beating. Osame wants Chieko to leave with her boyfriend and get away, much as their older sister Oren had. The women have tried to steer clear of the criminal element in their part of town, but the sisters are on a deadly collision with the gangsters as two try to make their way out.

Naruse displayed the claustrophobic boundaries of poverty. Leaving town or seeking a new place to live, all required money, money the women didn’t have. They earned very little playing in the clubs and bars and spent more time fending off the advances of drunken men. Only Chieko with her “wealthy” boyfriend and kinder treatment from the mother fared well. Even she lamented that her mother hadn’t had the courage to commit suicide with the lot of them when they were younger. Oren’s husband had TB and he refused to let her go back to the seedy side of town to work preferring to live in abject poverty. Osame tried to play peace maker for everyone involved even while she worked in a job she hated. There was nothing glamourous about her work in the dim light that smelled of booze, sweat, and cigarettes.

Like many directors when they were first able to use sound in their films, Naruse made liberal use of it. Samisens played with women and men singing. The revue had a band playing while the women danced and sang. There was whistling, sound effects counting down the minutes, and a soundtrack of heartbreaking music. The version I watched was in desperate need of restoration. Many of the frames were faded and blurred and occasionally the frames would go black. The performances were strong, never delving into histrionics regardless of the situation. Hosokawa Chikako is usually first in the cast list, but Oren didn’t appear on screen until 40 minutes into the film. Tsutsumi Masako as kind and gentle Osame carried much of the story on her slight shoulders. Selfless to a fault, no one had her back in the dangerous world she lived in. Umezono Ryuko as the relatively spoiled Chieko gave an energetic but restrained performance. Often the “modern girl” in these early films could be annoying, yet Umezono and Naruse kept Chieko all too aware of the pain around her, but with hope for escaping it.

Three Sisters with Maiden Hearts could have used a few more minutes to flesh out some plot elements, but overall, it was an entertaining if bittersweet first talkie for Naruse Mikio. In Asakusa, crime and selfishness did pay, while those who were generous paid a higher price.

6 February 2025

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Kyudo (OK) & Red Flag ML ლಠ益ಠ)ლ

A series which talks about the glory of kyudo (magnificent), but also a pretty weird love/control story.

The ML character is creepy, chronically lacking in emotion and always in hyper control mode. Miss, if you meet a man like that, run away!! You will not cure him, he will never become a kind and caring person, he will always be insecure and controlling (all the Red Flags).

That said, MASAKI Nakao's performance is superb as always!
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Une série tout à la gloire du kyudo (magnifique), mais aussi une histoire d'amour / contrôle assez weird.

Le personnage du ML est flippant, en manque affectif chronique et dans l'hyper contrôle. Miss, si vous rencontrez un homme comme ça, fuyez !! Vous ne le guérirrez pas, il ne deviendra jamais quelqu'un de gentil et d'attentionné, il sera toujours en insécurité et dans le contrôle (tous les Red Flags).

Ceci-dit, la prestation de MASAKI Nakao est comme toujours superbe !

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