Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Betelnut by Yang Heng

A new Chinese director to follow...
Betelnut by Yang Heng - first feature film - won the New Currents Prize at the Festival 3 Continents and previously also the New Currents Award at the Pusan International Film Festival, it was also screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

synopsis :
Ali and Xiao Yu are two friends who try to keep the boredom of a small town at bay by stealing motorcycles, hanging in bars and swimming. They each meet a young woman whom they try and seduce. Their achievements can never be for good.

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Festival 3 Continents - Awards

The 3 Continents Film Festival ended last night. I'll write a commentary later for now just the prizes.

The Official Selection
- Competition fiction :
Fireworks Wednesday - Agshar Farhadi - Iran
A few kilo of dates for a funeral - Saman Salour - Iran
Falafel - Michel Kammoun - Lebanon
Mientras Tanto - Diego Lerman - Argentina
Opera Jawa - Garin Nugruho - Indonesia
Koorogi - Shinji Aoyama - Japan
Time between dog and wolf - Jeon Soo-il - Korea
Esas no son penas - Daniel Andrade - Equator
Nacido y criado - Pablo Trapero - Argentina
Glue - Alexi dos Santos - Argentina
Zhoshy - Daniyar Salamat - Kazakhstan
Betelnut - Yang Heng - China

- Competition documentary :
Yellow Box – Ting Fu-huang - Taiwan
Celle qui portait les fleurs - Hala Al Yacoub - Syria
Stories from the north - Uruphong Raksasad - Thailand
Exteriors - Aliresa Rasoulinezhad - Iran
Manoro - Dante Mendoza - Philippines
Atos de homens - Kiko Goifman - Brazil
Serras da ordem - Andrea Tonacci - Brazil

more about the line-up :
see post here

The prizes
The International Jury of the 27th Festival des 3 Continents composed of :
Natacha Feola, director
Michael Galasso, composer
Rona Hartner, actress
Marcel Hoehn, director
David Robinson, cinema historian
Dito Tsintsadze, director
Henner Winckler, director, has awarded

Fiction
Golden Montgolfier : A few kilos of dates for a funeral by Saman SALOUR (Iran)
Silver Montgolfier : Meanwhile by Diego LERMAN (Argentina)
Nouveaux Regards prizes : Betelnut by YANG heng (China)
Best actor : Nahuel Perez BISCAYART in Glue by Alexis Dos Santos (Argentina)
Best actress : Artika SARI DEVI in Opera Jawa by Garin Nugroho (Indonesia)
Special Jury Award for : Fireworks Wednesday by Asghar FARHADI (Iran)
Best Directing Award, Tribute to Jacques Demy : Rain Dogs by HO Yuhang (Malaysia)
Public Prize (FIP & PIL) : A few kilos of dates for a funeral by Saman SALOUR (Iran)
Young audience Prize : Glue by Alexis dos Santos (Argentina)
SACEM prize, Best sound track and musical creation : Opera Jawa by Garin NUGROHO (Indonesia)

Documentaries
The International Jury of the 28th Festival des 3 Continents composed of :
Mercedes Alvarez, director
Ginette Lavigne, director and editor
Yann-Olivier Wicht, director
Olivier Zimmermann, director and photographer, has awarded

Golden Montgolfier Ex-Aequo : The Yellow Box by TING Fu-huang (Taiwan)
Golden Montgolfier Ex-Aequo : Acts of Men by Kiko GOIFMAN (Brazil)
Public prize : The Stories from the North by Uruphong RAKSASAD (Thailand)


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Saturday, November 18, 2006

Notes on some Japanese films

The Blessing Bell (Sabu, 2002) with Susumu Terajima.
The Blessing Bell is a contemplative and urban tale which offers a slow pacing and a well structured narrative and sharply edited. The film opens with a static shot on some rails, like an invitation to a meditative journey... Then a man (Susumu Terajima) appears from the distant corner and walks pass by the camera and vanishes. This man encounters various people during his wandering (he walks and walks and walks aimlessly...), listens to them, their bad luck or difficulties (which permits to evoke various social problems such as unemployement, poverty, suicide, loneliness without being sentimental or pityful or anything alike, the film is more subtle), but does not utter a single word. He's an observer, a confident and a passerby and gets along with the course of the events, until he decides to take part and be an actor/master of his fate.
Great performance from Susumu Terajima and an interesting film with a Jim Jarmusch influence.

A Stranger of Mine (Kenji Uchida, 2005)
Divided into 3 main parts, the film is told from the points of view of 5 different characters : a lonely and desperate woman, a broken-heart, depressed salaryman, a embittered private detective (old friend of salaryman), a confident, cunning woman (ex-girlfriend of the salaryman), a fallen yakuza boss. All the characters are getting connected at some point, the film, a debut and still only film by Kenji Uchida, and whose narrative is very well structured, is a charming, simple, light comedy using also different genres, sometimes more romance, sometimes more comedy, sometimes more like a film noir. Very well played.

Antena (Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, 2004)
Antena is rather a heavy, psychological, family drama dealing with a childhood trauma and suffering, affliction from the sudden disappearing of the youngest daughter one night. The film is very physical, and the actors, especially the main actor (Ryo Kase) shows an impressive, and quite disturbing performance in a very sober, ascetic mise-en-scene.

Takeshis' (Takeshi Kitano, 2005)
Well, that's a very Kitano film!!! Almost impossible to summary this film, it seemed a bit all over the place, completely illogical and irrational, with absurd and humourous situations, flashbacks and "replays"and non-linear narrative, yet, typical of Kitano's filmmaking, his recurrent actors (Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi, Kayoko Kishimoto...) are all excellent too. Highly recommended.
website

A Cheerful Gang Turns the Earth (Tetsu Maeda, 2006)
Entertaining, Pulp Fiction almost like but more in comedy style.

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Sunday, November 05, 2006

some SB movies

Deadly Duo (1971) and Magnificent Wanderers (1977) both by Chang Cheh and starring David Chiang, but Magnificent Wanderers is not very good (the characters are too "clownish" and stereotyped, especially the "bad" ones, the humour isn't great and the film isn't great acted and rather badly edited).

Deadly Duo doesn't run for long (about 70 minutes) but goes straight to the action, in fact it seems to show fights after fights (mainly with swords, axes, or a few other weapons). The plot is simple : set at the end of the Sung dynasty, "this picture shows how prince Kang was saved by many patriots and the selflessness of these valiant men"!
Hero Bao (Ti Lung) and three of his courageous men will have to cross a bridge that only an expert can do, and who is, of course, Little Bat (David Chiang). As usual, Chang Cheh gives portraits of heroes carried by the great values of virile friendship (one can notice that there is no a single female character at all in this film) and by the sense of sacrifice, strong will and invulnerable bravery which Chang Cheh expresses entirely at the the final scene in a very visual way.

2 other SB films not directed by Chang Cheh:
Swordsman At Large (Chui Chang Wang, 1971) and The Fastest Sword (Pan Lei, 1968). Two different ones.
The Fastest Sword offers a simple plot about the best and fastest swordsman, also called the Sourthern Swordsman, who, victim of his title, is constantly challenging by other swordsmen. Proud and arrogant, he meets an old monk who defeats him within a blow. The old monk then teaches him humility and the futility of glory and importance for 3 years by making certain long tasks alone (copying old scripts, making a very small statue out of a massive rock). But when he goes back to the world, not only relatives of swordsmen he killed in his previous life come back to him but he's also challenged by another famous swordsman, the Northern Swordsman.
The Fastest Sword is to me closer to a chambara kind, not much action and a long final duel (that lasts about 10 minutes with slow motion shots and close-ups), the complicity of the village and even the main character, Ding Menghao (Lu Ping who acts very well), almost walks and acts like a Japanese swordsman.

Swordsman at Large involves many characters - female and male, often in couples such as Flying Eagle and Zhao Tai Chi, the Lian cousins, Xiao the rambler and Xi Niang. The plot presents several conspiricies and ways to get the prestigious Deer Knife in order to rule the martial world as well as a romance story (that could have been shorterned).

a couple of other SB movies mentioned here.

and....
A top 10 of Martial Arts HK films (posted on the Kung Fu corner thread on RT) :

Top 10 Before the 80s
1. Raining in the Mountain (King Hu, 1979)
2. The New One Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh, 1971)
3. Have a Sword, Will Travel (Chang Cheh, 1969)
4. The Assassin (Chang Cheh, 1967)
5. Cold Blade (Chu Yuan , 1970)
6. Touch of Zen (King Hu, 1969)
7. That Fiery Girl (Yan Jun, 1968)
8. Temple of Red Lotus (Chui Chang-wang, 1965)
9. The Wandering Swordsman (Chang Cheh, 1970)
10. Come Drink with Me (King Hu, 1968)

Top 10 After the 80s
1. Once Upon a Time in China (1&2) (Tsui Hark, 1992,1993)
2. The Blade (Tsui Hark, 1995)
3. New Dragon Inn (Raymond Lee, 1992)
4. Iron Monkey (Yuen Woo-ping, 1993)
5. Fong Sai-Yuk 1 (the 2 is okay but not as good) (Corey Yuen, 1993)
6. Tai Chi Master (Yuen Woo-ping, 1993)
7. Wing Chun (Yuen Woo-ping, 1994)
8. Dreadnaught (Yuen Woo-ping, 1981)
9. Blade Of Fury (Sammo Hung, 1993)
10. Swordsman 2 (Ching Siu-Tung, 1991)

Perhaps not in specific orders and it could easily change. Also films like Bride with White Hair and A Chinese Ghost Story, which are more wu xia fantasy, are very good films.

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Saturday, November 04, 2006

Festival 3 Continents (bis)

Films I plan to see :
most of the competition (fiction and documentary), but for sure :
Falafel - Michel Kammoun - Lebanon
Mientras Tanto - Diego Lerman - Argentina
Opera Jawa - Garin Nugruho - Indonesia
Nacido y criado - Pablo Trapero - Argentina
Zhoshy - Daniyar Salamat - Kazakhstan
Betelnut - Yang Heng - China (already won great prize at Pusan in New Currents section)
Yellow Box – Ting Fu-huang - Taiwan
Stories from the north - Uruphong Raksasad - Thailand
Manoro - Dante Mendoza - Philippines

I will try to see some of the "Our year in film", but surely some will get released afterwards. Anyway those I will try to see at least :
The last communist - Amir Muhammad - Malaysia
Indio nacional - Raya Martin - Philippines

I will skip Satyajit Ray's retrospective and Continent B (apart perhaps Février - Yuthlert Sippapak - Thailand, I've already seen One nite in Mongkok)

Now the focus it's going hard to see all, so I will try to see the 2 Thai films of the 60s and 70s (
Prae Dum (Black Silk) and The angel), the 60s Korean film by Sin Sang-ok and the 80s ones, and I'm curious about the films from Saudi Arabia.

If I manage to see all this already, then I'll be happy. I will post comments (short) on each film I will see and on the festival in general.

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Festival 3 Continents

Soon, 21.28 November, the 3 Continent Film Festival will be held for its 28th edition. Plenty films from Asia, Africa and Latine America... a festival to not miss!!!

website

The programme is finally online.

1. Official Selection
Fiction and documentary competition
25 films, never shown in France before and marked by a high degree of audacity. The jury will award a new prize called Nouveaux Regards (New Looks), to highlight a particularly innovative film from an aesthetic point of view.
- Competition fiction :
Fireworks Wednesday - Agshar Farhadi - Iran
A few kilo of dates for a funeral - Saman Salour - Iran
Falafel - Michel Kammoun - Lebanon
Mientras Tanto - Diego Lerman - Argentina
Opera Jawa - Garin Nugruho - Indonesia
Koorogi - Shinji Aoyama - Japan
Time between dog and wolf - Jeon Soo-il - Korea
Esas no son penas - Daniel Andrade - Equator
Nacido y criado - Pablo Trapero - Argentina
Glue - Alexi dos Santos - Argentina
Zhoshy - Daniyar Salamat - Kazakhstan
Betelnut - Yang Heng - China

- Competition documentary :
Yellow BoxTing Fu-huang - Taiwan
Celle qui portait les fleurs - Hala Al Yacoub - Syria
Stories from the north - Uruphong Raksasad - Thailand
Exteriors - Aliresa Rasoulinezhad - Iran
Manoro - Dante Mendoza - Philippines
Atos de homens - Kiko Goifman - Brazil
Serras da ordem - Andrea Tonacci - Brazil

- "Our year in films"
This section will include premiere screenings of about 10 remarkable films of the year, to be released soon.
Una mancha en el agua - Pablo Romano - Argentina
Paraiso - Felipe Guerrero - Colombia
En el hoyo - Juan Carlos Rulfo- Mexico
Les climats - Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Turkey
Innocence - A. Chumsai, N.Kongsri - Thailand
Serambi - Garin Nugroho + collectif - Indonesia
I don’t want to sleep alone - Tsaï Ming-liang – Taiwan
Still life - Jia Zhang-ke - Chine (opening)
Bamako - A. Sissako - Mauritanie/Mali (2005)
Al’boom - Khaled Al-Zadjali - Oman
Un matin bonne heure - Gahité Fofana - Guinea (2005)
Talk to her - shorts by D. Omirbaev, E. Khoo, P.E Ratanaruang
The last communist - Amir Muhammad - Malaysia
Indio nacional - Raya Martin - Philippines
Pour aller au ciel, il faut mourir - D. Usmonov - Tadjikistan (closing).

2. Satyajit Ray - a complete retrospective
" With all due allowance, Ray achieved by himself what the French Nouvelle Vague was to generate as a group some time later. " Charles Tesson, Satyajit Ray (Éditions Cahiers du Cinéma)
An outstanding tribute to an outstanding film-maker! Of course, Satyajit Ray does not need to be discovered any more. Yet, although his name is well known, his films are not easily available on the big screen. This will be an opportunity to discover or rediscover the 37 fiction and documentary films made by the Bengali master - from Pather Panchali (1958) to Agantuk (1991), including the Apu trilogy.

3. Continent B: All You Need Is Love
This festival section is dedicated to genre films and unclassifiable film objects. Romance and carnal knowledge will be explored through 6 films.
One nite in Mongkok - Derek Ye - Hong-Kong (2004)
Février - Yuthlert Sippapak - Thailand (2002)
La femme de tous - Rogerio Sganzerla - Brazil (1969)
Moon & Cherry - Yuki Tanada - Japan (2004)
Sangam - Raj Kapoor – India (1964)

4. Produire au Sud: Fathers and Sons
The 8 participants to the Produire au Sud seminar will each choose and present to our audience a film which was instrumental in their vocation as a producer. This will be an eclectic kind of carte blanche, both geographically and historically, and it will include many nice surprises.

5. Focus
A brief yet effective way to shed light on countries where film news is being made (Thailand, Korea, Chile...).
- Thailand :
Prae Dum (Black Silk) - R.D Pestonji (1961)
The angel - Chatricharlem Yukol (1974)
Luk E-san (Fils du nord-est) - V. Kounavudhi (1982)
Plae Kao (The Scar) - Cherd Songsri (1980)
Duay Klao (The Seed) - Bhandit Rittakol (1987)
Fan Ba Karaoke - Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (1996)
- Korea :
Bon gum-you - Kim Ki-young (1982)
Surrogate Woman - Im Kwon-taek (1987)
La petite balle lancée par un nain - Yi Won-se (1981)
The Day when the Pig fell in the Well - Hong Sang-soo (1996)
Le locataire et ma mère - Sin Sang-ok (1961)
- Chili :
Obreras saliendo de la fabrica - J. L. Torres Leiva (2005 - short)
Al Sol - Victor Ballesteros (2005 - short)
Llorando Bajo el Agua - Alicia Scherson (2002 - short)
El Espino - Théo Court (2004 - short)
Lobos de la feria fluvial - Ilan Stehberg (2005 -short)
Cien ninos esperando un tren - Ignacio Aguerro (1988)
Rabia - Oscar Cardenas (2006)
Morir un Poco - Alvaro Covacevich (1967)
- Japan : tribute to Studio 4C° :
Deep imagination - programme 5 shorts
Mind game - Masaaki Yuasa (2004)
Princess Arete - Sunao Katabuchi (2001)
- Saudi Arabia, the debut
Keif Al’hal ? - Izidor K. Musallam (2006)
Women without shadow - Haifaa Al Mansour (2005)
Cinéma à 500Km - Abdullah Eyaf (2005)
Les ombres du silence - A.A Mohansein (2005)

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