Reviews

It is not a simple film, as it might seem at first glance, for many it may even seem uninteresting. But I can do dance films, especially if there is a clear interplay between music, movement of different styles and "what the poet wanted to say". And here it is directly connected with poems (fables?), it is difficult to understand these sequences of the film perfectly. From minute 36 I thought one instrument was slightly out of tune, but that's part of it and that's how it's supposed to sound in East Asia. For the final dance, the music is already largely influenced by Indonesian gamelan. And the two young actors Paulo and Rocco, even without previous dance training, are very likeable (in my opinion, downright beautiful), they look good and they took on their roles flawlessly...

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The first two or three shots of the film will divide the audience into those who might give up or give the lowest rating, for example those from the local DP Club, and others who will begin to perceive the intention that the director is presenting, because none of the filmmakers would have made the film so easily and those who criticize have discovered America that it shouldn't or shouldn't spin like that. I already know the director, especially from the film The Greek (He Liu), which really hit me hard. Fifty-year-old Taiwanese Khang, played by the director's partner and younger Thai Non, providing erotic massages in Taiwan. City bustle and loneliness. Perfect loneliness, like somewhere "alone by the forest" ... There is no need to write more about it, every viewer will get their own picture of this piece.

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Not bound by words

There are few words by this and no clear narrative structure. It's a collage of curious things and that makes it difficult to find words to talk about it. The title Bachiranun, never forget, a motif repeated near the end may be our best clue. Perhaps these are things the writer/director/actor wants to remember, both from imagination and real life.

The drops into surreal were disorientating so I have no confidence in this assessment. It was all a bit too far a stretch for me and kept me on edge. Others will love it for that. How do the horsehead dancers fit in? Was there significance to the large red pepper-type fruit characters pass to each other? Some of the scenes of dairy farming and fishing/fish processing were difficult for me. The music and elders engaged in traditional making were my favourite parts. In the end, I don't know what to do with this. It is.

Bachiranun deserves a proper review. Hopefully someone will give it one.

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A tale of guilt, regrets, self-discovery and self-love

I loved everything about this movie. I watched without any expectations and thought it would just be another cliché romcom but it’s actually something that has more depth and meaning to it.

This movie has a cohesive flow and the flashbacks really do take us back along with the main character of his self-discovery. And along with it, you will also feel what the main character is feeling (regret, guilt, sadness, etc). It also makes you understand his family’s feelings too. I cried along with the wife when he confessed about cheating, when he rediscovered the time they really argued and called it quits. That scene was chef’s kiss! That ending was exceptional too! I’m happy that even though they gave him a redemption arc, the wife still chose to love herself more after everything she’s been through. It was the perfect ending for me.

The casting was done pretty well too. Sunny and Araya are of the same age and Becky looks just like their kid. I’ve watched a couple of Sunny’s works and that man can deliver! He also registers really good on-screen. He’s aging like a fine wine. I have watched Araya in another comedy movie so I know she can pull of comedy but she blew me away with her dramatic acting skills in this. I watched Becky as a side character from BLs and I can say she really improved her acting too.

Overall, I would recommend people to watch this because it conveys a great message and the movie was done amazingly too.

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This movie deserves a higher rate!

An 8.4 rate is so low than what it deserves. Now I watched this movie because of the plot and the cast. I also like how the synopsis was worded because it does not spoil anything about the characters thus, I was surprised by their individual capabilities. Some may find this corny, or the jokes have already been used too many times before, but what I like about it is how the cast delivers those jokes that makes it funnier. Even though you already know the punchline you will still laugh out loud because of how the lines were given and the expression of the character who delivered it.
So for those who are looking for a movie that will make you laugh while watching and will make you smile remembering then this movie is that movie.

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I understand this more after reading about it

This hour long film is a combination of documentary and fiction centered around actual events like the Fukushima tsunami, with Soto Zen Buddhist monks in three of the roles. There were moments I didn't understand, like why monks were walking through muddy land driving sticks into the ground. Reading reviews and interviews helped me make sense of it in retrospect. I don't feel qualified to give it a rating and would prefer not to make such a judgement from one viewing. I gave it a rewatch value of 10 as I think I would gain much from seeing it again, perhaps a few times. But I found its screening on the JFF+ Independent Cinema festival too late to do so.

It's an intentionally unpristine view of monks and their struggles. It reflects on questions like whether allergies might come from the damage we've done to the world? What should our mission be in the present? What's needed at this time? An elderly and well respected nun gives her answers to the last two. For her, it is sharing the wisdom of the Buddha. How these practices are relevant to well-being and mental health in particular is shown through the monks' lives and advice on a suicide help line.

These are the articles I found most helpful:
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13055417
https://www.sousei.gr.jp/tenzo/en/
https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/tenzo-katsuya-tomita-buddhist-monk-hybrid

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O:G 6 - Ending on a lower note

By the sixth entry in this series, they had definitely exhausted the formula. That's not to say that this is a bad film, but it is on the lower end of fun when compared to the others, and feels more by the numbers overall. The story is a bit forgettable, as are the characters involved, and we've seen this 5x over already. But... on its own merits, and not being compared to the others, it's still incredibly watchable, with some cool set pieces to detract from the poor choreographed fight sequences (something the others could have used more of).

A few things would have improved this final instalment for me. One would be giving us an actual ending, rather than the same one we've had every movie. And I know that this is something that was more rare back then, but BWH&H did it just a short time later with its fifth film and it was perfect. Another thing would have been to have this one set years and years after the others, as it seems to take place shortly after the fifth instead. And finally, maybe some callbacks to the previous films.

I've really enjoyed this series on the whole, but can understand why it ended with this one. Audiences were tired of the same old, and it really didn't have anything new to say. I wish they'd done another final chapter many years later, as it would have been cool to see where Goro ended up in his older age. It is what it is, however, and that's just fine.

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A fine Korean short where most viewers will guess exactly what will come in the next scene, I can recommend it to all GT users. You will be pleased with the light Asian treatment, including "affines", only in one scene will you be betrayed by the English subtitles, but in the one that absolutely everyone will guess.

On March 24, 2022, I played the short again with sk subtitles and I definitely have to increase the value of the picture. Such a little gem, actually a PEARL, not a pure romance for a below-average 3.8 - but for me it's straight up a ten, wonderful including the fact that the ending is "finally" as it is. Beautifully played.

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Boring and incoherent story with bland acting

I watched the movie and expected that I would enjoy a beautiful dramatic masterpiece...but I was really shocked by the story...as for the acting, I really liked the cast and their feelings...as for the events, I felt very bored in the first hour of the movie, and some of the events were illogical, especially the topic that It is related to Algeria, even if it is not a true story, but as long as you are talking about another country, you must study the politics, heritage, and life of that country. The story was incoherent, unfortunately. I was disappointed and felt that I wasted my time watching it. Maybe I enjoyed it. The last minutes of the movie because it gave the meaning of family.. Unfortunately, the acting is great, but the writing of the movie is very bad and the events are not connected well.. If you want to watch a movie just to waste time, watch this movie, but if you have limited time, stay away from it because you will feel... Bored..

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Gentle story of friendship and love

This wasn't anything fancy, just a simple and gentle story of friendship and love between a living person and a ghost. They told it very well. It has humour and genuinely touching, beautiful moments. The two leads were perfect for their roles.

It was filmed in Onomichi and the last half hour or so conveys a strong sense of place in its own quiet, gentle way.

I was fortunate enough to catch this via the JFF+ Independent Cinema 2023 festival. This ends 31st October so it will likely be over before any finds my comments. It's worth looking for elsewhere and I hope to be able to spend time with it again.

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Not happy ending.

Ok so he is dead in the end. Weird twist;
the movie would have been just fine had he been alive and went back to see her. Keeping one promise is paramount!

Fine I get it. You wanted to throw a curve ball 😒 in there so you decided you wanted to negatively interrupt the viewer emotions with a crazy ending.

Atleast show or say how he died.
I didnt invest 2hours of my life just to be left bewildered.
Crazy!! am not happy at all, I wish I didn't watch it moving forward I will be checking Asian movies and dramas for happy ending, before watching.

I don't know what's the crazy obsession to have unhappy ending.

For crying out loud! Put the dramatic emotional roller coastsr in the middle and give us the happy ending.

trust me if the heartache is in the middle, we will still feel the pain, especially if it was well written and portrayed well by the actors.

Going back to movie removing my rating from a 8 to a 7.
got me thinking i missed something, like how did he died!!!!!

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Great watch, definitely recommend!

I LOVED this movie. The plot in itself was interesting but I never really enjoy Asian movies, atleast the ones I've watched thus far, because they never really do it for me. This one though-OMG, was just-chef's kiss. And the main leads relationship was so cute, as a die hard fan of romance no skinship in a drama is usually a deal breaker for me but here it wasn't needed. Their relationship/connection/chemistry was so pure that just watching them together was enough. I wanted to rate this a 10/10 but I ended up giving it a 9.5 because I really wish they showed us more of Miyo's power. I would have also liked to see how her family was after all that happened and not just the word of mouth they gave us, and also the main villain, what happened to that guy? This would have been perfect as a series because there's so much to unpack. Or can they just make a part 2 of this movie? Sigh. I'm just gonna go read the Manga, because how do I move on from this? Watch it, if you're into fantasy, and you won't regret it.

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