Very brief notes on some Asian Films

Brief notes on the films seen at the 3 Continents film Festival : see post here
Before making the "top" 10 of the best Asian films made in 2006, I'll soon post the ones of 2005 (which I didn't do).

Also here are 4 films I have recently seen :

Exiled (Johnnie To, HK, 2006)
A loose sequel of The Mission (one of my favourite To's films), the film is set in Macao and uses most of the same cast than in The Mission (which is to me still better than Exiled). Even though masterfully done and classy with typical To's humour and style, and all characters are very well played, the film doesn't bring out all the intensity and the complexity like it did in previous film, Election (1&2). However surely one of the best HK film of the year (with Election2) and some great, memorable scenes.

Woman on the Beach (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2006)
Having seeing all Hong Sang-soo's films, I found this one a bit minor to his filmography, closer to The Turning Point or A Tale of Cinema and much more accessible to the public, Hong uses the same topics, such as the difficult relationships between men and women.

Time (Kim Ki-duk, South Korea, 2006)
Being mixed with this director's works, this one left me rather impassive, and for some reason too expected. To me, 3-Iron is the one I liked the most and found interested. However it's well acted and I guess well done.

The Foul King (Kim Ji-woon, South Korea, 2000)
A funny and enjoyable film, very well acted (Song Kang-ho is very good). Recommended.