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Certificate: 
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Release Date: 10 May 2003
Tagline: From the ravages of war rises the ultimate assassin.
Main Cast:
Aya Ueto … Azumi
Kenji Kohashi … Hyuga
Azumi is a great looking film and very entertaining. The fight scenes are great, which is just as well because there’s plenty of them! And it’s pretty gory too.
The plot is kind of standard fare; nothing too complex. This isn’t an issue though, as I tend to think that this type of film needs an uncomplicated story.
It’s an interesting mix of history and comic book heroes, and I really liked that about it. It also has the best gay goth ninja magician that I’ve ever seen (“magician?” I hear you ask. It’s the roses. Where does he produce them from? My guess is from up his sleeves).
One thing that I couldn’t grasp though was whether it was supposed to be semi-comical. There are funny moments, and it seems to descend into madness towards the end. One of the funniest moments (to me) was the odd sounds made by the above mentioned gay goth ninja magician at the end. They’re reminiscent of Paul Burrows’ sounds of terror during the Bush Tucker Trials in “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!”.
Overall, Azumi is good entertainment if you like this genre of film.
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Director: Akira Kurosawa
Release Date: 6 October 1980
Main Cast:
Tatsuya Nakadai … Shingen Takeda / Kagemusha
Tsutomu Yamazaki … Nobukado Takeda
Kenichi Hagiwara … Katsuyori Takeda
Due to reviews, I expected great things of this. Although I enjoyed it, I can’t say that it gripped me. I found it somewhat plodding, and 3 hours of a rather thin plot was stretched to the max. Although I will concede that such time was needed to portray the story effectively.
It looks great, and has a real feel of 16th Century Japan. It’s a very ‘sweeping’ epic, and the central performance by Tatsuya Nakadai is very good. Obviously, I can’t comment on the acting, as I am unqualified to judge non English speaking actors.
If you are a film lover or a fan of this period of Japanese culture, then you’ll get something out of this. However, if you are a ‘blockbuster junkie’, then don’t bother.
This is a very simplistic review, and I’m sure that many people will disagree with me. And, in turn, I would not disagree with them. This is just a personal view, and I am in no way rubbishing Kagemusha
The best thing to do is to watch and judge for yourself.
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Directors: Oxide Pang Chun & Danny Pang
Release Date: 27 September 2002
Main Cast:
Angelica Lee … Wong Kar Mun
Lawrence Chou … Dr. Wah
I’ve removed the tagline for the film from this review, because it’s a spoiler for one of the most powerful ‘reveals’ of the film, and I don’t want to ruin things for you!
I won’t go into too much detail, because it’s the kind of film that you just need to watch without reading too much about it first (as is the way with so many Asian horror films).
It is a story of a blind woman who has a cornea transplant, and ends up seeing more than she bargained for. As it goes along, it gets creepier and the tension builds very well. Then it switches from being a traditional horror/ghost story into a story of personal tragedy and is very moving. The ending is fantastic and, I have to say, I never saw it coming!
Gin Gwai is a very well made and atmospheric film that will have more than enough little twists, turns and frights to keep you watching.
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Director: Hideo Nakata
Release Date: 6 June 2003
Main Cast:
Hitomi Kuroki … Yoshimi Matsubara
Rio Kanno … Ikuko Matsubara
Another superb horror from the director of Ringu. Whilst not as scary as Ringu, Dark Water is a suspense filled tale that manages to creep you out more and more as the film goes on. It starts with a downbeat scene of torrential rain and a young girl waiting in school for her mother after all the other children have been picked up. The film then cuts to a custody mediation between a divorced couple. The love the mother has for her child is clear, but money is short and they rent a room in an old and rather run down apartment block. A rather eerily deserted one at that. It’s here that you get a real sense of foreboding that makes you shuffle in your seat.
The director paces the film perfectly, building the tension slowly. And even though you know where the film is headed it’s still thoroughly enjoyable. At no point do you groan and think how cheesy it is, as is so often the case in Western horrors. The acting is also superb. Both Hitomi Kuroki and Rio Kanno give stunning performances throughout.
Dark Water is an engrossing film that had me totally absorbed, and I thoroughly recommend it.
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Director: Yimou Zhang
Release Date: 14 January 2005
Main Cast:
Takeshi Kaneshiro … Jin
Andy Lau … Leo
Ziyi Zhang … Xiao Mei (as Zhang Ziyi)
House of Flying Daggers is a visually stunning and thoroughly entertaining film. There really isn’t much for me to say about it other than if you don’t enjoy this, then there’s something wrong with you. The plot works very well. It’s not particulaly complex, but that was fine with me, as I didn’t want to struggle to follow a plot and find that I was not paying full attention to the visuals.
Watch this film. You won’t be sorry!
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Directors: Yoshiaki Kawajiri & Jack Fletcher
Release Date: 28 September 2001
Tagline: When the sun sets… The hunt begins.
Main Cast: (Voice, English)
Andrew Philpot … D
John Rafter Lee … Meier Link
Pamela Adlon … Leila (voice) (as Pamela Segall)
Wendee Lee … Charlotte
I’m a fan of Japanese animation, and I haven’t seen a bad one yet. Vampire Hunter D is beautifully crafted. The animation is superb and very atmospheric and the story is also very good. However, it is not a traditional vampire movie. It’s a dark film that has depth. The characters struggle with their own personal demons, and Meijer Link is depicted as a vampire with a heart – he loves and is loved in return.
However, I find myself somewhat ambivalent about it.
Personally, I don’t want to see vampires that are capable of love. I want to see them as evil and predatory creatures. I also found it a bit dull and slow at times. I also disliked the talking hand. Yes, it provided a bit of comic relief, but I don’t think the film needed it. However, all of that is just my opinion and it doesn’t mean that the film is bad. Indeed, it is a very interesting take on the subject.
Overall, even if you are not a fan of anime you should find this film entertaining.
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Director: Kim Je-Woon
Release Date: 13 August 2004
Main Cast:
Yeom Jeong-a … Eun-joo (Stepmother)
Im Soo-jung … Su-mi
Moon Geun-young … Su-yeong
Kim Kab-su … Bae Moo-hyeon (Father)
This is one of my all time favourite films. Immediately after watching it for the first time, I watched all the special features on the DVD (which is unheard of for me!). I then rewatched the film the next day.
The acting is superb, and the film is gripping from start to finish.
I don’t want to reveal anything about the film here; to do so would be a mistake. I will say, however, that it is a finely crafted film, revealing its secrets slowly.
It’s well worth seeking out sites that offer theories and possible explanations for events in the film, and the link below offers some very credible ones. A word of warning though; do not view this site before watching the film!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/board/thread/69288079
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