Asian Movie Club

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 12:14:00 -0700

Genre : Horror, Thriller, Tragedy, Mystery, Drama.

Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Su-Jeong Lim, Moon Geun Young, Jung-Ah Yum.
Directed by : Kim Ji-Woon
Run Time : 115 min
Release Date : 13th June, 2003

Synopsis :

“A Tale of Two Sisters” (Korean: Janghwa, Hongryeon a.k.a Changhwa, Hongnyŏ; Literally means, "Rose Flower, Red Lotus") is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror film directed by Kim Ji-Woon. The film is inspired by a Joseon Dynasty folktale entitled "Janghwa Hongreyon-jon", which has been adapted to film several times.

Director Kim Ji-Woon’s “A Tale of Two Sisters” has been hailed as one of the best Asian horror films of recent years, and has been snapped up by the Hollywood machine for a Western release and pointless remake. Although the plot and central premise may at first sound suspiciously familiar, and though Asian ghost stories are rapidly outstaying their welcome, the film succeeds not so much through its supernatural aspects, but rather its fascinating psychological examination of grief and sadness!

Plot :

The film begins with Su-Mi being brought to a psychiatrist. She is unresponsive until a picture of her family is shown in front of her. She is taken home by her father, Moo-Hyeon, along with her timid sister, Su-Yeon. There, they are met by their difficult stepmother, Eun-Joo.

That night Su-Yeon awakes to find somebody in her room and she flees to her sister. Su-Mi promises Su-Yeon that she will always be there for her and they fall asleep.

Su-Mi awakens after a nightmare to find that Su-Yeon has begun her period, as has her stepmother, on the very same day. The girls look at some old photos, which reveal that Eun-Joo was a doctor and a co-worker of Moo-Hyeon. Su-Mi sees bruises on Su-Yeon's arms and accuses Eun-Joo.

At dinner with guests (Eun-Joo's brother, Sun-Kyu, and his wife), Eun-Joo acts strangely. During dinner, Sun-Kyu's wife begins to choke and convulse on the floor. After they leave, Eun-Joo investigates around, only to be startled by a hand that reaches out as she tries to pick up a pin.

Eun-Joo insists that strange events have become frequent since Su-Mi and Su-Yeon returned. Her pet bird is slain and found in Su-Yeon's bed. In a rage, she locks Su-Yeon in the wardrobe, and after Su-Yeon is freed, Moo-Hyeon asks Su-Mi why she is making trouble.

Su-Mi insists that the stepmother harasses Su-Yeon, locking her in the closet. Moo-Hyeon informs her that Su-Yeon is dead, and that she is not getting better. The scene ends with Su-Yeon emotionally screaming.

Su-Mi wakes to find her sister missing and believes she sees her stepmother dragging around a bloody bag through the corridors of the house and beating it. Su-Mi runs to the kitchen to grab scissors to free her sister but Eun-Joo attempts to stop her by splashing boiling water from the kettle onto her. A fight ensues and Su-Mi is rendered unconscious.

Moo-Hyeon returns home to find an injured Su-Mi, however all evidence is suspiciously gone as are the stepmother and bag.

The scene shifts, Su-Mi is now shown as the stepmother. She looks up in surprise, and the camera rotates to show the real stepmother, standing in the door way, looking sympathetic. When the camera turns around again, Su-Mi is back where she was. All memories flash through her mind that gives evidence of her illness.

It is revealed that all along Su-Yeon really has been dead, and the stepmother was absent. Su-Mi was acting as the stepmother and imagining her sister throughout the film because of a severe dissociative identity disorder.

Su-Mi then flashes back to a time when Eun-Joo was a live-in nurse caring for the girls' sick mother. The girls sense that Eun-Joo and Moo-Hyeon are flirting. Su-Mi displays her disapproval toward Eun-Joo, who in turn takes her anger out on Su-Yeon. Su-Yeon, then returns to her room and collapses on her bed in tears. Su-Yeon's mother is shown trying to comfort her as she too starts crying.

The flashback ends, and the stepmother sits alone in the quiet home. A noise comes from Su-Yeon's room. When she investigates, the wardrobe opens and from it crawls out the ghost, presumably of either Su-Yeon or her mother. The scene ends ambiguously with a scream.

The flashback picks up again from when Su-Yeon had fallen asleep, with her waking up and discovering her dead mother inside her wardrobe, who had hanged herself with an article of clothing. Terrified, Su-Yeon shakes the body and screams. A bottle of pills drops and spills open, while Su-Yeon accidentally pulls the wardrobe down on top of herself, causing her to scream again.

Various people in the house hear the bang, but not the scream. Out of everyone, only Eun-Joo (the nurse and future stepmother) goes to investigate. She discovers Su-Yeon screaming for help and clawing at the wardrobe. Eun-Joo leaves rather than helping Su-Yeon, but then changes her mind and heads back for the scene. En route, she passes Su-Mi coming out of her room to investigate the noise. An argument starts between Eun-Joo and Su-Mi. During the argument, Su-Yeon is shown whimpering under the wardrobe.

After the argument, when Su-Mi tries to leave the house, Eun-Joo stops her. Eun-Joo advises her to go and investigate the noise, warning Su-Mi that she might regret it if she doesn't. Su-Mi dismisses the warning as nonsense and angrily marches out of the house. Outside, Su-Mi passes Moo-Hyeon, who was going to investigate. Moo-Hyeon assumes that the noise was Su-Mi's, and he ends up not entering the house.

The scene switches back to Su-Yeon crying out for Su-Mi's help, because Eun-Joo decided not to go back and help her. Su-Yeon continues clawing at the wardrobe until she eventually dies. Outside the house, Su-Mi turns back long enough to exchange angry stares with Eun-Joo, who is standing on the balcony. The film ends with Su-Mi continuing to walk away from the house, but stopping to pause and think.

As the credits scroll, an image is shown of Su-Mi sitting on the dock by the pond. She is in the same outfit as in an earlier scene: The day she had come home and had done the same with Su-Yeon. However, this time, Su-Mi is sitting alone!

Remake:

“The Uninvited” (2009), is an American remake of this Korean thriller drama starring ‘Emily Browning’ as Anna Ivers (Su-Mi), and ‘Arielle Kebbel’ as Alex Ivers (Su-Yeong).

Cast :

■ Su-Jeong Lim - Bae Soo-Mi (Janghwa)
■ Moon Geun-Young - Bae Soo-Yeon (Hongryeon)
■ Jung-Ah Yum - Eun-Joo (Step Mother)
■ Kap-Su Kim - Bae Moo-Hyeon (Father)

Awards :

1. It won the 2003 Blue Dragon Award for the Best New Actress – Su-Jeong Lim.
2. It won the New Currents Award for the Best New Actress - Su-Jeong Lim at the Pusan International Film Festival in 2003.
3. It won the Festival Trophy for the Best Picture at the Screamfest Awards in 2003.
4. It won the Silver Raven Award for the Best Supporting Actress – Jung-Ah Yum at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film in 2004.
5. It won the Most Popular Film Award at the Fant-Asia Film Festival in 2004.
6. It won the International Fantasy Film Award for the Best Film, Best Director & Best Actress – Su-Jeong Lim at the Fantasporto Awards in 2004.
7. It won the Orient Express Section Special Jury Award at the Fantasporto Awards in 2004.
8. It won the Grand Prize, Prix 13ème Rue & Youth Jury Grand Prize at the Gérardmer Film Festival in 2004.
9. It was nominated at the 2003 Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival for the Best Film.
10. It was nominated at the 2006 Chlotrudis Awards for the Best Supporting Actress – Jung-Ah Yum.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.4/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 7.2/10
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, RottenTomatoes, HanCinema, BeyondHollywood]

Gallery :

...Ing (2003)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:19:00 -0700

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Melodrama.

Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Im Su-Jeong, Kim Rae-Won, Lee Mi-Sook.
Directed by : Lee Eon-Hie
Run Time : 104 min
Release Date : 24th November, 2003

Synopsis :

“...Ing” (Korean : Ai En Chi), also known as “The Guy Was Cool” or “The Cool Guy” is a 2003 South Korean film that follows the life of young woman who has become reserved and indifferent to the world as a result of her chronic illness and deformed hand.

The film quietly portrays the unconventional, yet endearing relationship between mother and daughter Min-Ah (Im Su-jeong) and Mi-Sook (Lee Mi-Sook) as well as the development of Min-Ah as she is befriended by the high spirited and carefree photographer Young-Jae (Kim Rae-Won) who moves into their apartment complex.

Plot :

“…ing”, oddly as it sound but yet a highly engaging romantic melodrama about living life one day at a time. Kang Min-Ah (Im Soo-Jung) is a pretty high school girl who has had the misfortune of spending most of her life in hospitals, especially during her formative years. Min-Ah has a deformed hand, and unbeknownst to her, a terminal illness within her. However, Min-Ah’s single mother Mi-Sook (Lee Mi-Sook) does know the truth and keeps it hidden from her daughter, instead trying to turn this negative fact into positive motivation. Although hurting on the inside, Mi-Sook puts on a brave face, encouraging her daughter to take life by the horns and live in the here and now. Min-Ah is skeptical, but soon finds the possibilities of life re-opening to her.

On the way to school, she finds a person who lost his love in a road-accident at the front of Min-Ah's high school. For this reason, he helps the school girls to cross the road. Min-Ah heard from the teacher that the man lost his girl-friend in front of the school on a rainy day, so in the rain the man cries missing his love. According to Min-Ah, "TRUE LOVE IS NOT ABOUT GETTING, BUT IS GIVING!"

Soon enough, a photographer named Young-Jae (Kim Rae-Won) enters both of their lives by moving into the downstairs apartment. Upon seeing her, Young-Jae immediately does his best to win Min-Ah’s attention, engaging in a series of well-intentioned, but slightly juvenile acts that he hopes will make her change her mind about him. Although highly resistant at first, Min-Ah eventually caves in to Young-Jae’s goofily charming persistence, and the two embark on a tentative friendship. Much to the delight of her mother, the friendship between Min-Ah and Young-Jae eventually turns to love (albeit chaste), and they soon plan a trip to Hawaii together to see the sea turtles. But with the bitter realities of Min-Ah’s fatal illness looming low on the horizon, one begins to wonder if the budding couple will be able to make it to Hawaii before it’s too late..!

Cast :

■ Gang Min-Ah (Im Su-Jeong)
■ Young-Jae (Kim Rae-Won)
■ Mi Sook (Lee Mi-Sook)
■ Kyung-Soo (Yun Chan)
■ Guard (Kim In-Mun)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.4/10; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; SpcNet.tv = 4.5/5
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, HanCinema, SpcNet]

Gallery :

Alexander Nevsky (1938)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:14:00 -0700

Genre : Epic, Historical, War, Drama.
Language : Russian
Country : Soviet Union (USSR)
Cast : Nikolai Cherkasov, Nikolai Okhlopkov, Andrei Abrikosov.
Directed by : Sergei Eisenstein
Run Time : 112 min
Release Date : 1st December, 1938

Synopsis :
“Alexander Nevsky” (Russian: Александр Невский) is a 1938 historical epic drama film directed by Russian master Sergei Eisenstein, made at a time when tensions between the Soviet Union and Germany were high, the film has heavy political overtones and propagandas. ‘Alexander Nevsky’ was the most popular of Eisenstein's three sound films. In 1941 Eisenstein, Pavlenko, Cherkasov and Abrikosov were awarded the Stalin Prize for the film.

This film depicts the attempted invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire and their defeat by the Russian people, led by Prince Alexander, known popularly as ‘Alexander Nevsky’.

Plot :
The film opens in a rural setting, with Prince Alexander toiling away in an implausible fashion among the fishermen. "Hack their ships we did nigh to smithereens", they sing, referring to the teenage Alexander's earlier triumph over a Swedish invasion at the River Neva (which lent him the commemorative surname ‘Nevsky’). A Mongol emissary from the Golden Horde appears and offers Alexander a job as commander in his army, but he refuses.

Back in Novgorod, news arrives of the crusading Teutonic knights' capture of nearby city of Pskov with the help of the traitor Tverdilo and brutal massacre of the population (including a scene in which the knights casually drop children into a fire), which adds fuel to Nevsky’s cause.

Prince Alexander is sent for to lead the troops because he’s well known for his bravery and intelligence and for his ability to rally the people. He devises a plan to lure the knights into a fight on the ice, reasoning that their heavy armour will eventually lead them to catastrophe.

In the face of resistance by the boyars and merchants of Novgorod (urged on by the monk Ananias), Nevsky rallies the common people of Novgorod in a decisive Battle of the Ice, on the surface of the frozen Lake Chudskoe on 5th April, 1242.

Running parallel to Nevsky’s story is a subplot involving two soldiers, Vasili Buslai and Gavrilo Oleksich, two famous warriors from Novgorod and friends, who have used the war as the pretence for a wager. Whichever shows the most courage and skill during the Battle on the Ice will win the right to marry Olga Danilovna, a Novgorod maiden whom both of them are courting. After both of them have been seriously wounded, Buslai publicly states that neither he nor Gavrilo was the bravest in battle: that honor goes to Vasilisa, the daughter of a boyar of Pskov killed by the Germans who had joined the Novgorod forces as a front-line soldier; and that after her came Gavrilo. Thus Gavrilo and Olga are united, while Buslai chooses Vasilisa as his bride-to-be (with her unspoken consent)!

“Eisenstein doesn’t get terrifically experimental with this film – it’s pretty straight forward narratively, though there is a lot of visual symbolism. It can be a difficult story to engage with at times because the characters are so thin, but I can see how it would have worked as a rallying piece at the time it was made and especially at the time of its re-release in 1941. The Battle on the Ice is the film’s big set piece and is one of the best and most memorable large scale hand-to-hand combat sequences I’ve ever seen. The story can be a bit plodding as it wades through layers of political commentary, but this battle sequence makes the film worth watching!“

Cast :
■ Prince Aleksandr Nevsky (Nikolai Cherkasov)
■ Vasili Buslaev (Nikolai Okhlopkov)
■ Gavrilo Oleksich (Andrei Abrikosov)
■ Ignat, the Master Armourer (Dmitri Orlov)
■ Pavsha, a Voivode of Pskov (Vasili Novikov)
■ Domash Tverdislavich, a Novgorod Boyar (Nikolai Arsky)
■ Amelfa Timoferevna, Buslay's Mother (Varvara Massalitinova)
■ Olga Danilovna, a Maid of Novgorod (Vera Ivashova)
■ Vasilisa, a Maid of Pskov (Aleksandra Danilova)
■ Hermann Von Balk, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (Vladimir Yershov)
■ Tverdilo, the Traitor of Pskov (Sergei Blinnikov)
■ Anani, a Monk (Ivan Lagutin)
■ The Archbishop (Lev Fenin)
■ The Black-Hooded Monk (Naum Rogozhin)

Awards :
1. In 1941, Eisenstein, Pavlenko, Cherkasov and Abrikosov were awarded the Stalin Prize for this film.
2. In 1939, it was nominated for the Best Foreign Film in the National Board of Review.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.8/10; AllMovie.com = 4.5/5
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, AllMovie, Criterion, RussiaBlog]

Gallery :

Too Beautiful to Lie (2004)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 06:52:00 -0700

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Melodrama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Kim Ha-Neul, Kang Dong-Won.
Directed by : Bae Hyeong-Jun
Run Time : 115 min
Release Date : 20th February, 2004

Synopsis :

“Too Beautiful to Lie” a.k.a. “Don't Believe Her” (Korean : Geu-nyeo-reul Mid-ji Ma-se-yo) is a 2004 South Korean romantic comedy film starring Kim Ha-Neul and Kang Dong-Wan. It’s a romantic, melodrama comedy film about a beautiful and cunning ex-convict girl, and an innocent and naive village guy!

“Too Beautiful to Lie” is Kim Ha-Neul’s second venture into the comedy genre after ‘My Tutor Friend’, and Kang Dong-Wan’s movie debut. This film was not a big blockbuster or a box office hitter in South Korea, like ‘My Tutor Friend’, but was praised elsewhere in Asia and abroad for its subtle and funny humour!

Plot :

‘Ju Yeong-Ju’ (Kim Ha-Neul) is a cute and innocent looking ex-con artist with excellent deception skills who is imprisoned for fraud. But using her talent she managed to go through the evaluation and able to receive a parole for attending her only sister's wedding. While on the way, she runs into a shy and confused young guy, ‘Choi Hee-Chul’ (Kang Dong-Wan) who is on his way to see his girl friend in Seoul by train. He is a country bumpkin, and physician who is the only son of the mayor of a sleepy countryside.

However, Hee-Chul accidentally drops his engagement ring awkwardly under the legs of sleeping Yeong-Ju and while trying to retrieve it, creates a hilarious misunderstanding. After clearing up the misunderstanding with Yeong-Ju, he gets up to leave, but Yeong-Ju notices a pick-pocket stealing his ring at that very moment. Keeping herself safe from any legal trouble, Yeong-Ju gets out of the train to retrieve the ring, which she successfully does. But unfortunately, she misses the train and leaves her bag which contains her sister’s wedding gift in it with Hee-Chul!

Determined to find her bag and return the ring, she tracks down Hee-Chul and reaches his hometown. While carrying his engagement ring, she unwittingly gets mistaken by Hee-Chul’s family as his girlfriend. This leads to a lot of hilarious moments where unwilling to tell them the truth due to her own safety, Yeong-Ju even manages to convince Hee-Chul’s family that she is pregnant with his child. The situation gets more complicated when Hee-Chul finally returns home after failing in his marriage proposal because he has lost his ring. He is shocked to find everyone treating Yeong-Ju as his wife-to-be and even blaming him for ignoring her after getting her pregnant. He even gets beaten up a lot by his family and kicked out of the house making his life more miserable!

However, following the many romantic and hilarious twists, the bitter enemies that are Hee-Chul and Yeong-Ju start to fall for each other and Hee-Chul begins to see that behind Yeong-Ju’s deceptive and cunning exterior, there is actually a sweet and vulnerable girl. However, the truth is revealed to the family, which causes more chaos in the situation. But after all the upheavals in their life, everything works out well in the end!

Cast :

■ Ju Yeong-Ju (Kim Ha-Neul)

■ Choi Hee-Cheol (Kang Dong-Won)

■ Hee-Cheol's Father (Song Jae-Ho)

■ Hee-Cheol's Grandmother (Kim Ji-Yeong)

■ Husband of Hee-Cheol's Paternal Aunt (Lim Ha-Ryong)

■ Youg-Deok (Lee Cheon-Hee)

■ Doctor (Lee Ju-Seok)

■ Soo-Mi (Lee Yeong-Eun)

■ Hwa-Sook (Myeong Ji-Yeon)

■ Jae-Eun (Nam Sang-Mi)

Awards :

1. It won the 40th Baek Sang Arts Award for the Best Actress - Kim Ha-Neul in 2004.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.0/10; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; SPCNet.tv = 4.5/5; ZingMovie.com = 3.1/5

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, HanCinema, SPCNet, ZingMovie]

Gallery :

The Classic (2003)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:28:00 -0800

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Tragedy, Melodrama, War Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Son Ye-Jin, Cho Seung-Woo, Jo In-Sung, Lee Ki-Woo.
Directed by : Kwak Jae-Yong
Run Time : 127 min
Release Date : 30th January, 2003

Synopsis :

“The Classic” (Korean: Keulraesik) is a 2003 classic Korean romantic melodrama film starring Son Ye-Jin, Cho Seung-Woo and Jo In-Seong. "The Classic" is director Kwak Jae-Yong's long-awaited follow-up to his 2001 smash hit "My Sassy Girl”.

This film shows the parallel love stories of a mother and daughter, bridging two different time periods. The story of the mother is told partially in flashbacks. It will be justified to say that “The Classic” is an important milestone in the history of Korean romantic melodramas!

Plot :

The film begins in the present day, where the daughter, Ji-Hye (Son Ye-Jin), is cleaning-up around her house when she comes across a box containing an old diary and some love letters belonging to her mother, Joo-Hee (also played by Son Ye-Jin). Periodically in the film, Ji-Hye reads one of these letters, which starts a flashback scene which begins narrating the 1960’s story about the love triangle that formed between Ji-Hye's mother Joo-Hee, her future father Tae-Soo (Lee Ki-Woo), and Tae-Soo's best friend Joon-Ha (Cho Seung-Woo). Though Joo-Hee fell in love with Joon-Ha after a chance meeting in the countryside, she was already engaged to Tae-Soo in an arranged marriage!

Meanwhile, in the present, Ji-Hye has some romantic entanglements of her own to work out. She is in love with Sang-Min (Jo In-Seong), the boyfriend of her narcissistic best friend Soo-Kyeong (Lee Sang-In) and a senior in the theatre club, yet finds herself unable to express her true feelings. On the other side, Soo-Kyeong asks Ji-Hye to do her a favor – write a love letter to Sang-Min. Ji-Hye pours out her own feelings for him on paper, but sadly in her friend’s name. Touched by the letter, Sang-Min is attracted to Soo-Kyeong, and Ji-Hye. Feeling uncomfortable and even guilty, Ji-Hye tries to avoid him. And yet by coincidence or by fate she keeps running into him. Bouncing back and forth, the film draws parallels between the heartbreak, lessons learned, and travails of mother and daughter, whose destinies are inextricably intertwined!

Flashback to the summer of 1968...The mother, Joo-Hee visits the countryside as a student during her summer vacation and meets Joon-Ha. Together they explore the countryside, playing near a small river bridge with the fireflies. When a storm starts they take shelter together under a tree, but not before Joo-Hee twists her ankle and is rendered helpless. Joon-Ha carries her on his back and they struggle home, only to be confronted by her angry parents. Before they separate, Joo-Hee gives him a necklace, which he keeps close as a precious reminder of their time together.

Having parted with Joo-Hee without a word of farewell, Joon-Ha spends the rest of the summer heavy-hearted! With summer vacation being over Joon-Ha also returns to Seoul. At school, his classmate Tae-Soo asks him to write a love letter to send to a girl. And who would it be but Joo-Hee, Joon-Ha’s dream girl. Unable to confess his own summer love story, Joon-Ha reluctantly complies with his friend’s request!

Unfortunately, as often happens in affairs of the heart, a third party prevents any deepening of their relationship. Joo-Hee has been promised by her parents as a bride to Tae-Soo, Joon-Ha's best friend. But Tae-Soo, a noble friend, finds out about Joo-Hee and Joon-Ha's attraction for each other and helps the two communicate secretly by letting them use his own name in place of Joon-Ha's in their letters. When Tae-Soo's father finds this out, however, he beats Tae-Soo. Tae-Soo tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide so that his two friends can be together!

Meanwhile, in the present, Ji-Hye falls for Sang-Min in whom her friend Soo-Kyeong is also very interested, but he seems not to notice. Then, in a sweet scene, they take shelter from the rain together under the same tree. He uses his coat to cover both of them and escorts her to where she needs to go. The moment, while magical, does not go anywhere as she feels his help was only due to his generous nature and not from any feelings for her on his part.

Back in the past, Joon-Ha is guilt-ridden over his friend's attempted suicide and Joo-Hee's own guilt. Determined to prevent any more hurt to her, Joon-Ha joins the army and goes to Vietnam. There he loses his eyesight while he tries to retrieve the necklace Joo-Hee had given him. When he returns to Korea, he meets again with Joo-Hee, and, trying to hide his blindness, convinces her that he has married in the hope she will move on with her life. Though heartbroken that their relationship cannot continue, she does move on and eventually marries Tae-Soo. After they have been married for several years and have a young daughter (Ji-Hye), Joo-Hee is approached by friends of Joon-Ha, who relate Joon-Ha's last wish – ‘that his ashes be scattered by Joo-Hee in the river, now a reservoir, where they first met!’ She then finds out that Joon-Ha hadn't married, but he later did after she married Tae-Soo! She was told that he had a son also. The heart-break is too much and she cries.

In the present, Ji-Hye's own story unfolds. Sang-Min reveals his true feelings for Ji-Hye - feelings that mirror her own! It is also revealed that their taking shelter together during the storm was no accident – he had purposely left his umbrella behind in a shop so that he could join her under the tree. Then, when Ji-Hye pensively reveals her mother's story to him, tears stream down his face. Silently he lifts a necklace from around his neck and places it around hers. It is the necklace that Ji-Hye's mother, Joo-Hee, had given to Joon-Ha when they met. The circle is completed – Joo-Hee's daughter and Joon-Ha's son have fallen in love!

In other words, the eternal love between Joo-Hee and Joon-Ha has finally got its destination across the divisions of time – in the shape of the love between Ji-Hye and Sang-Min! ...The younger generation has accomplished the aspirations in their lives what their parents could not!

Cast :

■ Ji-Hye / Joo-Hee, Mother of Ji-Hye (Son Ye-Jin)

■ Joon-Ha, Father of Ji-Hye (Cho Seung-Woo)

■ Sang-Min (Jo In-Seong)

■ Tae-Soo, Friend of Joon-Ha (Lee Ki-Woo)

■ Soo-Kyeong, Friend of Ji-Hye (Lee Sang-In)

■ Na-Hee, Friend of Joo-Hee (Seo Yeong-Hee)

■ Shopkeeper (Im Ye-Jin)

Awards :

1. It won the 40th Dae Jong Sang Award for the Best New Actress - Son Ye-Jin in 2003.
2. It won the 39th Baek Sang Arts Award for the Best New Actress - Son Ye-Jin in 2003.
3. It won the 24th Blue Dragon Film Award for the Most Favourite/ Popular Star - Son Ye-Jin in 2003.
4. It won the 9th Moscow International Love Movie Award for the Best Couple in 2004.
5. It was nominated at the 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards for the Best Asian Film.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.7/10; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; KYHB.com = 9/10

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, HanCinema, KMDb, KoreanMovie, MediaCircus]

Gallery :

He Was Cool (2004)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:47:00 -0800

Genre : Comedy, Romance, Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Song Seung-Heun, Jung Da-Bin.
Directed by : Lee Hwan-Gyeong
Run Time : 113 min
Release Date : 22nd July, 2004

Synopsis :

“He Was Cool” (Korean : Geunomeun Meoshiteotda), also known as “The Guy Was Cool” or “The Cool Guy” is a 2004 South Korean comedy film starring Song Seung-Heun and Jung Da-Bin.

The film is based on a novel written by ‘Guiyeoni’. It’s a funny and romantic story about a clumsy high school girl who falls into an unlikely relationship with the wealthy and arrogant bully of her school.

Plot :

‘Han Ye-Won’ (Jung Da-Bin) is a sweet, clumsy and cheerful high school girl. On the other side, there is ‘Ji Eun-Seong’ (Song Seung-Heon), a quick with the fist and insufferably rude student from vocational school and well-known as a bully. But beneath his tough exterior, he is struggling to overcome the shadows of his past!

One day, clumsily, Ye-Won leaves a message on the school website in reply to Eun-Seong's impolite message. She is shocked by the threatening calls from a boy named ‘Ji Eun-Seong’ on her mobile. Later, her best friend, Lee Kyeong-Won, tells her who ‘Eun-Seong’ is. He sends Ye-Won a message on her mobile – ‘He will wait for her in front of the main gate!’ While trying to escape, scared Ye-Won and Kyeong-Won decided to jump over the school wall. Unfortunately, the moment Ye-Won jumps, Eun-Seong is standing exactly at the other side of wall. She falls on him and they kissed accidentally. Raising his voice, Eun-Seong asks her to take responsibility; she is astonished. His friend explains that Eun-Seong has never before even held hands with a girl. Since she is the first girl who kissed him, as a consequence, she must marry him!

At the beginning, Ye-won does not have any feelings for Eun-Seong. She even rejects his invitation to come to his birthday party. Unknowingly, Eun-Seong has fallen in love with her; but he is not the kind of guy who knows how to express his inner feelings. He is jealous when Ye-Won is approached by other guys but he does not know how to be with someone he loves!

Although he is rude and bad-tempered, Eun-Seong always forgives Ye-Won's mistakes and clumsiness. One thing he couldn't bear was when he found out that Ye-Won went out with Kim Han-Seong, his senior and the one he hates a lot. The broken-hearted Eun-Seong decides to leave Korea following his mother to the US.

A year later Ye-Won is seen with Kim Han-Seong, discussing her if she is scared for her SATs. It seems to be that they are in a relationship at this point. During her SAT, the hearing portion of the exam brings up a quote from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ bring Ye-Won back to the memory of her and Eun-Seong in the park in front of the telephone booth where, no matter what, they would re-unite at the first snowfall. At this point Ye-Won stops what she is doing and runs to the park. She waits there as the scene rolls back to the fantasy she had a year ago and she starts to cry as Eun-Seong is not there. As she turns around, a rabbit is hopping towards her, the same rabbit she gave to Eun-Seong. She looks up and Eun-Seong is there. She yells at him saying "Why did you leave without saying goodbye ?" And Eun-Seong replied "True love requires no words!"

The film ends with Eun-Seong‘s childhood memory of some opening event of an elementary school where the only kid that would kiss Eun-Seong was ‘Ye-Won’. An interesting aspect to this is that earlier on in the film, Ye-won uses Eun-Seong's mobile camera to make a video of her bedroom. There she captures footage of an old photo from when she was little, showing her and a friend. It turns out that this friend is actually the little ‘Eun-Seong’, hinting at the connection between the two. When Eun-Seong watches the video on his cell towards the end of the film, he is surprised to see himself and remembers that Ye-Won was actually that little girl who kissed him!

Cast :

■ Ji Eun-Seong (Song Seung-Heon)

■ Han Ye-Won (Jung Da-Bin)

■ Kim Han-Seong (Lee Ki Woo)

■ Lee Kyeong-Won (Ahn Hae-Su)

■ Kim Hyeon-Seong (Kim Yeong-Hun)

■ Kim Seung-Pyo (Lee Min-Hyeok)

■ Kim Hyo-Bin (Kim Ji-Hye)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 6.3/10; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; HKFlix.com = 4.5/5; SPCNet.tv = 3.5/5

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, HanCinema, HKFlix, SPCNet]

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A Millionaire’s First Love (2006)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Wed, 5 Jan 2011 02:31:00 -0800

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Tragedy, Melodrama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Hyun Bin, Lee Yeon-Hee, Lee Han-Sol, Jo Yong-Jun.
Directed by : Kim Tae-Gyun
Run Time : 116 min
Release Date : 9th February, 2006

Synopsis :

“A Millionaire's First Love” (Korean: Baek-Man-Jang-Ja-Ui Cheot-Sarang) is a successful Korean romance film starring Hyun Bin and Lee Yeon-Hee in the lead roles. The basic theme of this movie is "Nothing is more important than the true love of your heart!".

Plot :

The story of the movie revolves around the life of a typical rich guy, Kang Jae-Kyung (Hyun Bin) who has no goal in life, and is just busy in enjoying the luxuries. He’s arrogant, spoilt rotten, drives sporty cars, attends the big clubs and rides through school corridors on his motorbike. On his 18th birthday, he’s set to inherit his grandfather’s multi-million dollar fortune. But to his surprise, there’s a strange condition in his grandfather’s will that he has to graduate from an unknown and low-profile school in a hilly town, Gangwondo, if he wants to inherit that fortune. The only way to inherit his fortune without a certificate from this school is to get expelled!

Until then all access to his penthouse, cottage and credit cards is denied. Should he fail to graduate or drop out then he loses everything. With little choice he heads out to the countryside and a small town in which daily life is far removed from what he’s used to. Now, he makes all the trouble he can but everything fails. He even bribes the principal to expel him, but it’s futile. Trapped in a place where everything is forgiven, he has no choice but to finish school!

Shortly after settling into his new home he meets 18 year-old class monitor, Choi Eun-Whan (Lee Yeon-Hee), who just happened to run into him back in Seoul. They don’t exactly hit it off; he’s far too stubborn and cool for school, while she sees hope for him and sets out to make him see it for himself. As they eventually draw closer, thanks to a set of coincidences and school projects they learn more about one another, and love finds its way to the heart of this rude, spoiled boy. Her existence creeps into his heart and shakes up his closed-minded world. Kang Jae-Kyung learns of Choi Eun-Whan's terminal disease and does what he can to make her happy. He even tells his lawyer that he would give up his inheritance so he could buy and save the orphanage for her.

Once during the rehearsal of a play at the school, Kang Jae-Kyung notices that the play is actually like the incident that had happened in his life. He recalls a childhood memory of being at the orphanage at Gangwondo, where he had met Choi Eun-Whan and had made a promise to return in ten days. He was unable to fulfil his promise and did not remember his promise nor the girl because his parents had died in an accident so he erased all his memories of the tragic and unfortunate past!

Their lives are forever changed as they fight the disease together and their love grows even stronger with time! “A Millionaire's First Love” also reminds us some similarities in its plot and characters with the hit American romance film, “A Walk to Remember”!

Cast :

■ Kang Jae-Kyung (Hyun Bin)

■ Choi Eun-Whan (Lee Yeon-Hee)

■ Goo-Ho (Jo Yong-Joon)

■ Myungshik (Lee Han-Sol)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.1/10; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, HanCinema, KMDb]

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Mississippi Masala (1991)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:50:00 -0800

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Drama, Desi.
Language : English, Spanish, Swahili.
Country : India, USA, UK.
Cast : Denzel Washington, Sairta Chaudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton.
Directed by : Mira Nair
Run Time : 118 min
Release Date : 5th February, 1992 (USA).

Synopsis :

“Mississippi Masala” is a lively and seductive tale of interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States. The director touches gently on the irony of this discrimination being practiced in an area synonymous with racial strife, and by a man who is subject to the same kind of exclusion by whites!

While the film focuses on a hot romance, it's also a fascinating study of a unique immigrant community with a richness of detail that borders on the ethnographic, as well as a telling examination of class and status anxiety. The smouldering, sensual attraction between the two leads has such an explosiveness that it's clear they were meant to be together!

Plot :

“Mississippi Masala” is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Jay (Roshan Seth), a third-generation Ugandan Indian lawyer, is forced by the bigoted Idi Amin’s regime to take his family and flee the country. Jay is deeply hurt by the “Africa for Africans” sentiment growing among the black people of Uganda, particularly with the changed behaviour of his childhood friend Okelo (Konga Mbandu). He vows to hate and distrust all blacks - at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government!

Jay moves with his wife, Kinnu (Sharmila Tagore) and daughter, Mina to Greenwood, Mississippi to live with other family members who own a chain of motels there. Now in 1990, Mina (Sarita Choudhury), a child with sketchy memories of Africa, has grown into a ripe beauty of 24, with an American accent that immediately suggests she does not share all of her family's ideas. She works at Anil’s family motel (the Monte Cristo) and helping her parents in earning their livelihood.

Accidently, Mina makes the acquaintance of Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a local African American carpet cleaner. At first attracted to Mina because he is fascinated by her African background, Demetrius slowly falls in love with her. This is not the sort of social life Mina's parents approve of; they expect their daughter to marry within their extended community of Indian exiles, and forbid her to see Demetrius.

The ban only serves to underline the isolated nature of the young woman's life, and there are ironies in the racism and colour consciousness she faces. Within her own community, she is considered too dark-skinned to make a desirable wife (her mother explains that ‘if you want to catch a husband, you can be dark and rich, or light and poor, but not dark and poor!’). Within the black community, the Indian woman is at first accepted with friendliness when Demetrius takes her to meet his family at a backyard party. But after all of the local Indian motel owners boycott Demetrius’ rug-cleaning company, the blacks get angry, too.

The respective families erupt in turmoil after the pair is confronted by members of the Indian family during a weekend picnic in Biloxi. The situation causes Jay to exercise the same racial prejudice by which he was himself victimized in Uganda. Ironically, Demetrius behaves just as foolishly, blaming Jay's ethnic chauvinism for a drop in his business. Ultimately, the two families cannot come to terms with the interracial pair, who flees together in Demetrius' van!

After a brief return to Kampala to attend a court proceeding on the disposition of his confiscated Ugandan house, Jay relinquishes his long-nurtured dream of returning to Uganda, the place he considered home!

Cast :

■ Demetrius Williams (Denzel Washington)

■ Mina (Sarita Chaudhury)

■ Young Mina (Sahira Nair)

■ Jay, Mina’s Father (Roshan Seth)

■ Kinnu, Mina’s Mother (Sharmila Tagore)

■ Okelo (Konga Mbandu)

■ Tyrone (Charles S. Dutton)

■ Williben (Joe Seneca)

■ Pontiac (Mohan Gokhale)

■ Jammu Bhai (Anjan Srivastava)

■ Anil (Ranjit Chowdhury)

■ Dexter (Tico Wells)

Awards :

1. It won the Critics Special Award at the 1991 São Paulo International Film Festival.
2. It won the Golden Osella Award for Best Story and Screenplay at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival.
3. It won the Best Actor Award at the 1994 NAACP Image Awards - Denzel Washington.
4. It was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival.
5. It was nominated for the Best Picture Award at the 1993 Independent Spirit Awards.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 6.5/10; AllMovie.com = 3.5/5; Amazon.com = 4.5/5; SunTimes.com = 3.5/5; RottenTomatoes.com = 6.7/10

[Source : Wikipedia, MirabaiFilms, IMDB, AllMovie, Amazon, Chicago Sun-Times, RottenTomatoes]

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Bear's Kiss (2002)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 10:51:00 -0800

Genre : Romance, Fantasy, Fiction, Drama.
Language : English, Italian, Spanish, Russian.
Country : Russia, Germany, Sweden, Spain, France, Italy.
Cast : Rebecka Liljeberg, Sergei Bodrov Jr., Joachim Król.
Directed by : Sergei Bodrov
Run Time : 101 min
Release Date : 13th Sept, 2002 (Italy).

Synopsis :

"Bear's Kiss" is a fantasy tale of a lonely circus girl trapped in the cheap and tawdry world of circus, who falls in love with a shape-shifting mysterious bear. The film has also been distributed under the titles - ‘Il Bacio dell'orso’ (Italy), ‘Le baiser de l'ours’ (France), ‘Der Kuss des Bären’ (Germany), ‘El beso del oso’ (Spain), and ‘Medvezhiy Potseluy’ (Russia).

Plot :

The film tells the story of Lola (Rebecka Liljeberg), a lonely and sullen 14-year-old circus girl, whose mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) and stepfather are circus artists. Apart from Groppo the Clown (Joachim Król), who keeps an eye out for her, Lola's only real companion is her bear Misha (Sergei Bodrov Jr.) whom she raised from cub hood.

Later, Carmen confirms Lola's suspicions that she is not her real mother and abandons her. A year goes by. One day, when she discovers that the bear can transform into a young man, a secret romance between the two ensues. Because of his free-spirited nature, Misha cannot abide living in a cage any longer and begins to roam the streets where he rescues Lola from an attacker. The authorities get involved and they are forced to leave the circus.

The two of them, along with the clown, join a street-performing sideshow, a motley crew of misfits who are led by a man named Lou. When her father, Marco (Maurizio Donadoni), is killed in a tragic car accident, the circus caravan travels to Spain, where several gypsy fortune-tellers explain the mysterious art of shape-shifting and the responsibilities it entails. Lou has plans for the bear and wants to wrestle him for money in front of wagering audiences. When the bear humiliates him in the first match, Lou in frenzy whips him, and then goes on a drunken rampage during which he tries to rape Lola. Misha kills Lou, but is captured by the police. A frantic Lola visits the gypsy woman again, but she tells Lola that Misha will now remain a bear forever because he has killed a man!

With the help of Groppo, Lola manages to free Misha and the two lovers drive across Europe back to Misha's home. It looks like Lola will have to sacrifice her one true love because she knows that in his bear-state he yearns for the freedom of the wild. She begs him to leave her. When he finally does, she hesitates but then chases after him in desperation. Suddenly now, two bears are running together through the endless Siberian woods!

Cast :

■ Lola (Rebecka Liljeberg)

■ Misha (Sergei Bodrov Jr.)

■ Groppo, The Clown (Joachim Król)

■ Carmen, Lola’s Mother (Ariadna Gil)

■ Marco, Lola’s Father (Maurizio Donadoni)

■ Lou (Keith Allen)

■ Margarita (Anne Marie Pisani)

■ Anna (Marcela Musso)

■ Ringmaster (Silvio Orlando)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 5.8/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 3.3/5; HKFlix.com = 4/5

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, RottenTomatoes, AllMovie, HKFlix]

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Windstruck (2004)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:28:00 -0800

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Crime, Action, Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Jeon Ji-Hyun, Jang Hyuk, Lee Ki Woo, Kim Chang-Wan, Cha Tae-Hyun.
Directed by : Kwak Jae-Yong
Run Time : 123 min
Release Date : 3rd July, 2004

Synopsis :

“Windstruck” (Korean : Nae Yeoja Chingureul Sogae Habnida a.k.a. Yeochinso; Literally means, ‘Let me introduce (you to) my girlfriend’) is a 2004 South Korean romantic-fantasy comedy film starring one of the most famous Korean actress Jeon Ji-Hyun and up-and-coming actor Jang Hyuk. The film was a major success, ranking as the 8th-highest grossing Korean film of 2004.

In fact, some critics have retorted that ‘Windstruck’ is just another sappy version of ‘My Sassy Girl’. This is true, to a certain extent. However, you could say that Kwak's style of directing has been recombined to give a new bittersweet formula. It seems that Kwak has drawn from his experience in directing comedies such as ‘My Sassy Girl’ and melodramas such as ‘The Classic’, and decided to try both formulas in the same project. The result you get is – ‘Windstruck’!

Plot :

In an interesting opening, the movie has ‘Jeon Ji-Hyun’, standing at the top of a building, attempting to commit suicide, with ‘Jang Hyuk’ as the background narrator. It then moves on to a flashback and switches to a narrative mode to tell the story of the preceding events which eventually lead to the opening scene. Throughout the narration, we witness the encounters of our two protagonists and how they eventually end up together. There were a couple of hilarious moments and scenes which tickle the audience's funny bone!

The story of this movie revolves around Officer Yeo Kyung-Jin (Jeon Ji-Hyun), an ambitious young female police officer serving in the Seoul police department. One day while chasing a purse snatcher, she accidentally captures Ko Myung-Woo (Jang Hyuk), a physics teacher at an all-girls school, who was actually trying to catch the thief. Later, Myung-Woo discovers the stolen purse, but just as he picks it up, Kyung-Jin spots him and tries to arrest him again. Later, Myung-Woo was released as the real thief was caught by the police with the help of the sketch drawn by him!

Kyung-Jin is then given the job of escorting Myung-Woo who was volunteering for patrolling through a dangerous district, only to be distracted when she tries to break up a meeting between Russian Mafia and Korean gangsters. With Myung-Woo handcuffed to her, Kyung-Jin almost single-handedly brings down the two rival gangs (although she is helped when she accidentally causes the groups to start shooting at each other)!

The first half of the film, told from Myung-Woo's point of view, details the couple's growing attraction and love for each other, which climaxes with a trip to the countryside where Myung-Woo tells Kyung-Jin that if he were ever to die, he wanted to come back to earth as the wind. Kyung-Jin narrates a local folklore about the romance between a Princess and her Prince charming (pinky effect!) to Myung-Woo. Soon after, he is almost killed in a freak car accident, but Kyung-Jin saves his life.

The film takes a turn into the fantasy genre in its second half after Myung-Woo is accidentally shot dead by another police officer, Yeong-Ho Kim (although the situation is such that Kyung-Jin thinks that it was her shot that killed him) as Kyung-Jin chases after a notorious criminal, Chang-Soo Shin. Kyung-Jin falls into a suicidal depression over his death and attempts to kill herself several times, almost succeeding when she throws herself off a building, only to be saved when a giant hand-shaped balloon floats under her. Soon after, she experiences visitations from Myung-Woo, who appears as the wind, sending her messages and, at one point, he even appears in her dreams in order to give her the will to live after she is nearly shot to death by the same criminal.

Ultimately the film follows a similar path set out by the American film ‘Ghost’ with Myung-Woo and Kyung-Jin communicating and sharing one final gesture of love before he moves on to the afterlife. Myung-Woo said that he will whisper, when she hears him whisper in the wind, and she will meet someone with a soul like him. Myung-Woo told Kyung-Jin that he will always be beside her inside a book with a photo left by Myung-Woo in the restaurant before he rushed to meet Kyung-Jin who was chasing the insane criminal.

In the first half of the film, Myung-Woo told that his only memory of high school was his high school trip. The book and the photo is found and returned to Kyung-Jin in the police station. The photo showed that on Myung-Woo's trip, Kyung-Jin was also nearby with her friends. This proved Myung-Woo's "I'm always beside you!" was true to Kyung-Jin. Kyung-Jin rushed out to locate the finder of the book, ultimately ending up in the train station, where she is saved by Cha Tae-Hyun's character (credited as ‘The Guy’) from being hit by the arriving train. Myung-Woo whispered that ‘The Guy’ is the one with the soul like him. Kyung-Jin whispers that "he is always beside her!”

Connections to ‘My Sassy Girl’ :

‘Windstruck’ shares the same leading actress and director as an earlier popular South Korean film, ‘My Sassy Girl’. As a result, ‘Windstruck’ contains several subtle references to the previous film. For example, a photo of Jeon Ji-Hyun from ‘My Sassy Girl’ is visible on Kyung-Jin's piano (while playing the piano). Plus the final scene of ‘Windstruck’, in which Kyung-Jin meets her new soul mate (played by Cha Tae-Hyun, the male lead from ‘My Sassy Girl’) on a train platform, is similar to the beginning scene of ‘My Sassy Girl’ and her character from ‘My Sassy Girl’ is distraught over the death of her true love!

Also, when Kyung-Jin is chasing Chang-Soo Shin in ‘Windstruck’, she tells a random citizen to act as a steppingstone to climb over the wall just like in ‘My Sassy Girl’, when she accidentally steps on a runaway soldier (played by the same actor) when she and Cha Tae-Hyun visited the amusement park during her birthday.

Jeon Ji-Hyun also plays the piano in both movies. However, "Windstruck" is not a full 'prequel' to "My Sassy Girl" in the literal sense of the term, but you can feel the connection between them!

Cast :

■ Yeo Kyung-Jin / Princess (Jeon Ji-Hyun a.k.a. Gianna Jun)

■ Ko Myung-Woo (Jang Hyuk)

■ Yeong-Ho Kim, Assistant Inspector (Kim Jeong-Tae)

■ Police Chief / Sheriff (Kim Chang-Wan)

■ Prince (Lee Ki Woo)

■ ‘The Guy’ at Platform / New Soul Mate (Cha Tae-Hyun)

■ Chang-Soo Shin, Criminal (Jeong-Ho Bin)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.1/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 4.1/5; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; MovieFilmReview.com = 5/5

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, RottenTomatoes, HanCinema, KoreanFilm, MovieFilmReview]

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Sivaji - The Boss (2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:12:00 -0800

Genre : Political Thriller, Romance, Comedy, Action, Musical.
Language : Tamil
Country : India
Cast : Rajinikanth, Shriya Saran, Suman, Vivek.
Directed by : S. Shankar
Music : A. R. Rahman
Run Time : 184 min
Release Date : 15th June, 2007

Synopsis :

“Sivaji: The Boss” (Tamil: சிவாஜி) is a Tamil political thriller film focused on the menace of corruption in Indian politics and bureaucratic system. The movie revolves around a well-established NRI software engineer, Sivaji, who returns home to India after working many years in the United States. On his return, he dreams of giving back to the society with free medical treatment and quality education to the poor people. On his way to implement his charitable plans, he has to face many obstructions and difficulties!

This movie has a plenty of Styles and Mannerisms by the Superstar ‘Rajinikanth’, who is also known as the ‘King of Style’ in India! The music and cinematography of this movie helped it to become a phenomenal success across the globe!

Plot :

The film begins with a masked convict being brought to the Central Prison in Chennai on the charges of scam. The masked convict is revealed to be Sivaji (Rajinikanth). Now, the story goes to flashback mode. Sivaji, a NRI software engineer returns home to India from the United States after many years. He brings with him earnings of up to 250 crore rupees, with an aim to start a charity organization called the Sivaji Foundation in order to provide free education and medical facilities to the poor people. However, his noble ambitions have to face many obstacles of the corrupt bureaucracy and a political kingpin, Adiseshan (Suman) who sabotages his works!

Meanwhile, Sivaji wishes to marry a traditional and cultured Tamil girl. He and his Mama (Vivek) go on their search for an eligible girl in temples, and finally, they found a cute and traditional girl, Tamizhselvi (Shriya Saran). Initially, Tamizhselvi and her parents are against the marriage with a stranger, but after some funny incidents (interactions) they agree to the same. However, just when things were going good, Tamizhselvi refuses to marry Sivaji because of the astrologer’s prediction about Sivaji’s death after this marriage! After some convincing and a funny bollywood-style song, she agrees and marries Sivaji.

Using his political strings, Adiseshan repeals the permits and clearances issued to the Sivaji Foundation by the government, and the construction work of the foundation is stopped by the court’s stay order. Adiseshan mocks Sivaji and gives him a one-rupee coin, challenging him to try and survive with it! Sivaji collects information and robs the black money from the corrupt people and sends the money to USA through hawala route to get it distributed into small denominations by his NRI friends. The same amount is routed back to India in the form of white money as donations to the charity foundation run by Sivaji. Thereby he virtually runs an alternate government by using the black money, helps the poor and develops infrastructure in the state. The jealous and corrupt politicians play some tricks, and finally Sivaji was killed!

The second half of the movie is about the revenge of Sivaji! Now, it is revealed that he has faked his death to the conspirators. After a few days when everyone wonders about the future of Sivaji Foundation, the revived Sivaji returns to take control over the foundation in a disguise of a friend, M.G. Ravichandran (Rajinikanth). Though Adhiseshan realizes that it is Sivaji himself, he is unable to prove this to the police due to the tangible evidence of Sivaji's death. Ravichandran promises to avenge Sivaji's death and eventually manages to corner Adhiseshan and challenge him. After their fight, Adiseshan is killed in a stampede. As a conclusion, the audience are informed of the foundation's success and fulfilment of Sivaji's dreams!

Cast :

■ Sivaji Arumugam / M G Ravichandran (Rajinikanth)

■ Tamizhselvi Ramalingham (Shriya Saran)

■ Adisheshan, The Villain (Suman)

■ Arivu Mama, Sivaji’s Maternal Uncle (Vivek)

■ Dr. Chezhian (Raghuvaran)

■ Sivaji’s Mother (Vadivukarasi)

■ Sivaji’s Father (Manivannan)

■ Tamizhselvi’s Mother (Uma Padmanabhan)

■ Tamizhselvi’s Father (Pattimandram Raja)

■ Tamizhselvi’s Neighbour (Solomon Pappayya)

■ Main Dance Girl in ‘Balleilakka’ Song (Nayantara)

Awards :

1. It won the Silver Lotus Award at the 2008 Indian National Film Awards for Best Art Direction - Thotta Tharani.
2. It won the 2008 Filmfare Awards South for Best Music Director, Best Cinematography, Best Comedian, and Best Villain.
3. It won the 2007 Vijay Awards for Favourite Hero and Best Music Director.
4. It was nominated for the 2008 Filmfare Awards South for Best Actor and Best Film.
5. It was nominated for the 2007 Vijay Awards for Favourite Heroine – Shriya Saran.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 6.5/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 4.1/5; NowRunning.com = 3.5/5; IdleBrain.com = 3/5; MCTalkies.com = 3.25/5; MouthShut.com = 3/5.

[Source : Wikipedia, RottenTomatoes, NowRunning, IdleBrain, MCTalkies, MouthShut]

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My Little Bride (2004)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 11:31:00 -0800

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Geun-Yeong Moon, Rae-Won Kim, Sun-Yeong Ahn, Bo-Kyeong Kim.
Directed by : Ho-Joon Kim
Run Time : 115 min
Release Date : 1st April, 2004

Synopsis :

“My Little Bride” (Korean : Eorin Shinbu) is a Korean romantic comedy film about an arranged marriage between a teacher and a student. It was the second most popular Korean movie of 2004 in Korea, behind the blockbuster hit ‘Taegukgi’, with 3,149,500 visitors. It was 4th most popular among all films.

“My Little Bride” is a Korean remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film 'My Wife is 18', starring Charlene Choi and Ekin Cheng. "My Little Bride" is not a milestone of Asian cinema, but better than a lot of similar movies of the same genre. A great chemistry between the two main protagonists; lots of loveable side characters and some very funny moments will let you dive into this insignificant joyful world with a smile!

Plot :

Park Sang-min (Rae-Won Kim) returns to Korea after his long trip from America. When he arrives, there are suddenly some family matters he has to take care of. Bo-eun (Geun-Yeong Moon) is an ordinary 15-year old high school girl who worries about grades and has a crush on her school's baseball team ace, Jung-Woo (Park Jin-Woo). One day, Bo-eun's grandfather orders her to marry Sang-min because of a pact he made with Sang-min's grandfather during the Korean War. With a heavy heart, Bo-eun agrees at her grandfather’s deathbed to marry Sang-min. However, she isn't very happy about it, because although she is friends with Sang-min since childhood she thinks of him as a playboy! Bo-eun's undercover married life begins: She pretends that she doesn't have a husband and starts dating Jung-Woo. Bo-eun believes that she can manage both men and live a double life!

Everything goes smoothly until Sang-min visits Bo-eun's school as a trainee teacher for his internship. There a teacher, called 'Miss. Kim' flirts with Sang-min and she later finds out that Sang-min and Bo-eun are married. She punishes Bo-eun by making her paint a huge wall of a stage. Sang-min and his friends then helps Bo-eun with the work of painting without letting her know. When the two families were busy at their monthly get-together, Bo-eun's elder brother accidentally shows a video of Bo-eun with Jung-Woo. Then after that she realises her mistake of cheating Sang-min and apologizes to him. She also learns from her friend that Sang-min had been helping her with the painting. She then breaks up with Jung-Woo. During a cultural festival at Bo-eun's school where Sang-min is asked to make a speech, it is revealed to the entire school that Sang-min and Bo-eun are married. Sang-min then tells everyone that Bo-eun was forced to marry him and begs everyone not to discriminate her and treat her just like others. Now, Bo-eun comes to the stage and tells Sang-min that she is not a kid anymore and tells that she loves him. The movie ends with Sang-min and Bo-eun living happily together!

Cast :

■ Park Sang-min (Rae-Won Kim)

■ Seo Bo-eun (Geun-Yeong Moon)

■ Miss. Kim, Lady Teacher (Sun-Yeong Ahn)

■ Ji-su (Bo-Kyeong Kim)

■ Bo-eun’s Grandfather (In-Moon Kim)

■ Bo-eun’s Father (Ki-Yoon Song)

■ Bo-eun’s Mother (Eun-Sook Seon-Woo)

■ Sang-min’s Father (Jin-Hee Han)

■ Sang-min’s Mother (Hye-Ok Kim)

■ Jung-Woo, Baseball Ace (Park Jin-Woo)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.1/10; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; AsianMovieWeb.com = 6/8

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, HanCinema, LoveHKFilm, AsianMovieWeb]

Gallery :

Monsoon Wedding (2001)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:56:00 -0800

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Family Drama, Musical, Desi.
Language : Hindi, Punjabi, English.
Country : India, USA.
Cast : Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, Vijay Raaz, Vasundhra Das.
Directed by : Mira Nair
Music : Mychael Danna; Sukhwinder Singh (‘Kawa-Kawa’ Song).
Run Time : 114 min
Release Date : 30th August, 2001

Synopsis :

“Monsoon Wedding” is an exuberant family drama set in the Indian Punjabi culture, where ancient traditions and modern dot-com lifestyle combine to present a unique and perfect chemistry. As the romantic monsoon rains loom, the extended Verma family reunites from around the globe for a last-minute arranged marriage in New Delhi. ‘Monsoon Wedding’ traces five intersecting stories, navigating different aspects of love and crossing boundaries of class, continent and morality. It celebrates a contemporary India never before seen on screen!

The family's hopes, anxieties and long-guarded secrets emerge amid chaotic wedding preparations, and are juxtaposed with arresting montages of real-life Delhi. The relentless summer heat mirrors the story's building intensity as the city anticipates the cooling torrent of the monsoons. And when the rain comes, the cathartic downpour brings romance, revelation and liberation!

Plot :

‘Monsoon Wedding’ is a celebration of the sensual pleasures of cinema, of love at any age-anytime, and of the importance of family. It also pays affectionate tribute to a city where weighty tradition collides daily with global culture and the dot-com age, yielding an unusual and melodious harmony!

The plot of the film is set in the modern upper-middle class of India, where the modern and western lifestyles mix with the old family traditions. Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) is a concerned father, busy in organizing an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding for his daughter Aditi Verma (Vasundhara Das), for whom he has arranged a marriage with Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas), a NRI engineer from Houston, Texas. All the relatives from both the families, some from distant places like Australia and America, are gathering at New Delhi during the monsoon season to attend the wedding.

The bride, Aditi Verma, is nervous as she has been having an affair with her married ex-boss Vikram (Sameer Arya). The film also includes several parallel subplots - Ria Verma (Shefali Shetty), the unmarried cousin of the bride, was sexually abused by her uncle, Lalit's brother-in-law and the family's patriarch, Tej Puri (Rajat Kapoor), some years earlier and she finally speaks out to prevent his abuse of her younger cousin, Aliyah. The wedding contractor P. K. Dubey (Vijay Raaz) falls in love with the family's maid, Alice (Tillotama Shome). The bride's brother, Varun, struggles with his father's disapproval of his longing to be a chef, and his angst at Varun's lack of conventional Indian masculine characteristics. Ayesha (Neha Dubey), the youngest marriageable relative of the bride, flirts with Aditi's cousin Rahul (Randeep Hooda), who has just returned from Melbourne. This is all set within the four days preceding the wedding, predominantly at the Vermas' house.

These four-day arrangements and celebrations will see clumsy organization, family parties and drama, dangers to the happy end of the wedding, lots of Bollywood music and even a parallel love story of the funny wedding planner, P. K. Dubey with the shy housemaid, Alice!

Reviews:

■ Nick Rogers of Suite101.com states that “Not content to merely direct traffic of intersecting characters, Mira Nair never lets the scurrying ensemble lag or their stories flag. ‘Monsoon Wedding’ is one of the most culturally savoury, joyously exotic comedies since ‘Strictly Ballroom’." (Sep 19, 2010)

■ Josh Ralske of All Movie Guide says, “It’s not just a touching, funny, multi-layered drama; it’s an exuberant love poem to a city and a culture in transition.” (Oct 30, 2002)

■ Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal says, “By the last shots of the family members dancing and laughing, I was as happy as them!” (Sep 7, 2002)

Cast :

■ Aditi Verma, Bride (Vasundhara Das)

■ Lalit Verma, Bride’s Father (Naseeruddin Shah)

■ Pimmi Verma, Bride’s Mother (Lilette Dubey)

■ Ria Verma, Bride’s Elder Cousin (Shefali Shetty a.k.a. Shefali Shah)

■ P. K. Dubey, Wedding Contractor (Vijay Raaz)

■ Alice, Bride’s Maid (Tillotama Shome)

■ Varun Verma, Bride’s Brother (Ishan Nair)

■ Aliyah Verma, Bride’s Youngest Cousin (Kemaya Kidwai)

■ Ayesha Verma, Bride’s Young & Hot Cousin (Neha Dubey)

■ Hemant Rai, Groom (Parvin Dabas)

■ Mohan Rai, Groom’s Father (Roshan Seth)

■ C. L. Chaddha, Bride’s Maternal Uncle (Kulbhushan Kharbanda)

■ Tej Puri, Lalit’s Brother-in-law (Rajat Kapoor)

■ Rahul Chaddha, C. L. Chaddha’s Son (Randeep Hooda)

■ Vikram, Bride’s Ex-boss (Sameer Arya)

Awards :

1. It won the Golden Lion Award at the 2001 Venice International Film Festival.
2. It won the Lanterna Magica Award (C.G.S.) at the 2001 Venice International Film Festival.
3. It won the Producers Award at the 2005 Independent Spirit Awards - Caroline Baron.
4. It won the Best Foreign Film Award at the 2001 Canberra International Film Festival.
5. It was nominated for the 2001 Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
6. It was nominated for the 2001 BAFTA Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
7. It was nominated for the 2001 European Film Academy Awards for Screen International Award.
8. It was nominated for the 2001 Hollywood Foreign Press Association Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
9. It was nominated for the 2002 The British Independent Film Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
10. It was nominated for the 2002 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Foreign Film.
11. It was nominated for the 2003 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.2/10; AllMovie.com = 4/5; Amazon.com = 4.3/5; All-Reviews.com = 2.5/4; RottenTomatoes.com = 7.9/10

[Source : Wikipedia, MirabaiFilms, IMDB, AllMovie, Amazon, All-Reviews, RottenTomatoes]

Gallery :

My Sassy Girl (2001)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 12:34:00 -0700

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Jun Ji-Hyun, Cha Tae-Hyun.
Directed by : Kwak Jae-Yong
Run Time : 123 min
Release Date : 27 July, 2001

Synopsis :

“My Sassy Girl” (Korean: Yeop-Gi-Jeog-In Geu-Nyeo; Literally means, ‘That Bizarre Girl’) is a 2001 South Korean romantic comedy film, in which the lead protagonist's chance meeting with a drunk girl on the train changes his life. It is based on the true story told in a series of love letters written by Kim Ho-Sik, who initially posted them on the Internet and later adapted them into a best-selling book!

The film revolves around the typical relationship between a kind-hearted and naive college guy, Gyeon-Woo (Cha Tae-Hyun), and a gorgeous and crazy unnamed girl (Jeon Ji-Hyun), and the funny incidents caused by the girl. Most of the humour stems from Gyeon-Woo's constant state of confusion as he submits to the succession of trials that his wilful and crazy girlfriend puts him through!

Plot :

The film tells the story of a college guy, Gyeon-Woo, and the Girl who is never named in the movie. Gyeon-Woo just cannot seem to catch a romantic break. His prospects are so pathetic that even his mother tries to help, telling him to visit his aunt for two reasons. Firstly, because Gyeon-Woo remind his aunt of her son who drowned recently; secondly, because there is a girl his aunt wants to introduce him to. Gyeon-Woo repeatedly put off going to see his aunt.

The movie begins with Gyeon-Woo on top of a mountain, speaking wistfully about a girl he knew two years ago that had buried a time capsule with him at that place. She had never returned like she'd promised! Next, one sees Gyeon-Woo at a photo studio, having his passport photo taken. He is called by his aunt so that she can finally introduce him to the girl she's been trying to set him up with. The movie then flashes back to the past!

At dinner, Gyeon-Woo is interrupted by a call from his mother, telling him to visit his aunt and meet a potential date. He refuses and continues to eat with his friends. On his way to his aunt's place, he observes a drunken girl standing precariously close to the edge of the subway tracks as the train approaches; he pulls her to safety just in time. Inside the train, Gyeon-Woo cannot help but stare at the girl wavering back and forth. He is slightly attracted to her but repulsed by her drunkenness. Finally, she pukes on a passenger and faints but not before she calls Gyeon-Woo "honey". The passenger aggressively chides him and tells him to take care of his girlfriend! Gyeon-Woo, completely flustered, carry her all the way to the nearest hotel. While he is showering, her cell phone rings. Stark naked, he runs out to answer it and informs the caller of their location. Just as Gyeon-Woo realizes there are no towels in the shower, a pair of women police officers burst into the room and arrest him!

After getting out of jail — where he was bullied by gangsters — he goes home. His mother beats him with a vacuum cleaner for not turning up at his aunt's place and there is a brief flashback of his lifetime failings as a student! He receives a call from the Girl demanding him to meet her and explain why he was naked in bed with her. Both met at the takeaway point and she drags him to a bar where she tells him to order, criticizes his choices and then tells him what to order. Over the drink, she cries, admits to breaking up with her boyfriend the day before and gets thoroughly drunk, resulting in a second trip to the same hotel!

After this second overnight stay at the hotel, she begins to become a more active part of his life. She visits Gyeon-Woo in school and pulls him out of class, telling the teacher that Gyeon-Woo is the father of her soon-to-be-aborted baby. The Girl's mood swings wildly from joyful to downright violent, but Gyeon-Woo puts up with it and lets her abuse him for her amusement!

She is an aspiring scriptwriter and throughout the movie gives Gyeon-Woo three different screenplays from different genres. The first is an action movie - “The Demolition Terminator”, which switches gender roles, symbolically having the Girl save her helpless lover (Gyeon-Woo). The second is a wild perversion of a Korean short story - “Sonagi”, in which the Girl, having died, asks that her lover be buried along with her – even though he's still alive! The resulting situation is quite humorous. The last is a Samurai movie spoof, full of genre clichés and anachronisms. All three plots feature the same common thread - the Girl is from the future!

Despite all the horrible things Gyeon-Woo endures, he is determined to help cure the girl's pain. In one scene, he decides to surprise her for her birthday and takes her on a night-time trip to an amusement park which ends up quite differently than how he planned - the pair encounters an AWOL soldier who holds them hostage and rants about his misery. Gyeon-Woo convinces him to release her, and she in turn convinces the soldier to free Gyeon-Woo and go on with his life.

One day, the Girl was waiting for Gyeon-Woo after his class. They are walking through the university campus when she suddenly complains about the pain caused by her high-heels and convinces Gyeon-Woo to switch shoes with her. Overjoyed, she tells him to chase her, which he does wearing her high heels. It starts raining and they return to her home. At her house Gyeon-Woo overhears an impassioned argument between the girl and her mother over her relationship with him. He does not hear from her for quite some time and his life without her begins!

However, one day she calls him and tells him to bring a rose during her class to commemorate the 100th-day anniversary of their first meeting. He does this, leading to a touching and romantic scene where he arrives in disguise and is about to leave the packed auditorium but is led to the front. The Girl is onstage playing a piano in front of an audience of her female classmates who applaud in approval at his romantic gesture - a similar gesture, the viewer is later informed, was performed by her previous boyfriend. As the night further unfolds he is confronted at her house by her parents. Her father is naturally infuriated that she is drunk again and demands a break-up!

Time passes and one day the Girl calls Gyeon-Woo to meet her for dinner. When he arrives, he is surprised to see her with a date. The Girl introduces Gyeon-Woo to him as "her friend". During dinner, the Girl leaves the table briefly, leaving Gyeon-Woo and her date by themselves. Gyeon-Woo candidly offers advice on how to ensure her happiness by following ten rules (commandments!). He devised his rules from considerable pain, dedication and devotion to the Girl. When she returns her date begins to explain the rules. It is at this point that she realizes just how well Gyeon-Woo understand and cares for her! She abruptly leaves her date and searches for Gyeon-Woo. Once reunited, the two realise they are at a turning point in their relationship.

They travel to a mountain in the countryside where she unveils a time capsule. During the previous night the couple wrote their true feelings in letters which the Girl says will be buried next to a particular tree on the mountain. They agree to meet again at the tree after two years to read the letters together. After burying the time capsule, they went their separate ways.

During the two years period, Gyeon-Woo works hard to improve himself in many ways, even writing ‘My Sassy Girl’ which someone has bought the movie rights to, an event he eagerly anticipates telling the Girl about. When the agreed upon date arrives, he travels to the mountain but the Girl does not show up. Eventually, he opens the time capsule and reads her letter and learns the root of her angst and behaviour – Gyeon-Woo reminds her of her previous boyfriend who, rather than breaking up with her, actually died before she met Gyeon-Woo. All through the time the Girl and Gyeon-Woo were seeing each other, she had been seeing her dead boyfriend's mother, who wants to introduce her to a nice young man.

A year after Gyeon-Woo visits the tree, the Girl finally arrives and finds an old man there. The old man reveals the secret of the tree to her that it is not the same tree; the original tree had been struck and destroyed by lightning last year and a similar tree had been planted by a young man so that someone special wasn't sad, and that he has read the letters! The Girl says she had hoped that destiny would bring the couple together during the two years. As the girl begins to read the letter, she sees a UFO (time machine) flying away. This led her to believe that the old man was Gyeon-Woo from the future. The Girl then tries to call Gyeon-Woo repeatedly, but she was informed that number is either changed or doesn't exist!

The film then cuts to Gyeon-Woo entering a subway station, wearing the same suit he was wearing at the beginning of the movie. The flashback has ended and continuity is resumed from right after Gyeon-Woo leave the photo-studio. Gyeon-Woo is caught outside the shutting doors of a train, presumably ignorant at first of the Girl's presence on the train but after a few seconds of staring he seems to realise whom it is he sees from behind. As the train pulls out he runs along but has to give up!

At lunch with her deceased boyfriend's mother after a year-and-a-half, the Girl is surprised to hear a familiar voice apologize for his lateness. The mother introduces her nephew Gyeon-Woo, whom she has been trying to introduce to the Girl for years. The mother, who is Gyeon-Woo's aunt, tells the Girl to go out with him, hoping that he could make life easier for her. She then tells Gyeon-Woo that the Girl can give advice to him about his impending trip to England, to which he replies, "I don't have to go anymore!" The pair hold hands under the table and the Girl says she thinks she met a man from the future (Gyeon-Woo). The final shot flashes back to the anniversary scene, where the pair shows their ID while entering a bar in school uniforms!

Remakes:

■ American Film : My Sassy Girl (2008)

This American remake of the film with same name, starring Jesse Bradford and Elisha Cuthbert, and directed by Yann Samuell was released in 2008.

■ Japanese TV Drama : Ryokiteki Na Kanojo (2008)

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and actress Rena Tanaka are the lead characters in the Japanese dramaof the same name which started broadcasting in April 2008.

■ Bollywood Film : Ugly Aur Pagli (2008)

An Indian version called ‘Ugly Aur Pagli’ starring Ranvir Shorey and Mallika Sherawat was released on August 1, 2008. The movie is directed by Sachin Khot.

Cast :

■ The Girl (Jeon Ji-Hyun a.k.a. Gianna Jun)

■ Gyeon-Woo (Cha Tae-Hyun)

■ Gyeon-Woo’s Father (Kim In-Moon)

■ Gyeon-Woo’s Mother (Song Ok-Sook)

■ Girl’s Father (Han Jin-Hee)

■ Girl’s Mother (Hyeon Sook-Hee)

■ Gyeon-Woo’s Aunt (Geum-Seok Yang)

Awards :

1. It won the 2001 Blue Dragon Awards for Best New Actor - Cha Tae-Hyun.
2. It won the 2002 Grand Bell Awards (South Korea) for Best Actress - Jeon Ji-Hyun and Best Screenplay (Adapted) - Kwak Jae-Yong.
3. It won the 2003 Hong Kong Film Award for Best Asian Film.
4. It won the 2003 Hochi Film Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
5. It won the 2003 Fant-Asia Film Festival Award for Most Popular Film.
6. It was nominated for the 2004 Awards of the Japanese Academy for Best Foreign Film.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 8.2/10; AllMovie.com = 3.5/5; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; Amazon.com = 4.5/5

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, AllMovie, Amazon, HanCinema]

Gallery :

Mongol (2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:17:00 -0700

Genre : Historical Epic, Biography, War Drama, Romance.
Language : Mongolian, Mandarin.
Country : Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Germany.
Cast : Tadanobu Asano, Sun Hong-Lei, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren.
Directed by : Sergei Bodrov
Run Time : 126 min
Release Date : 20th September, 2007

Synopsis :
“Mongol” is a semi-historical epic film based on the early life of Temüjin, the young Genghis Khan and the events which led him to become a legendary conqueror. Contradicting the Western (and Russian) image of Genghis Khan as the monstrous and cruel conqueror, Bodrov's work is influenced by Lev Gumilev's "The Legend of the Black Arrow" and is based on "The Secret History of the Mongols", the 13th century Mongolian account, unknown until its re-emergence in China 700 years later. Shooting took place, for the most part, in the People's Republic of China, mainly Inner Mongolia, and in Kazakhstan.

‘Mongol’ illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan. It shows the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temüjin in 1162. As it follows Temüjin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multi-dimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. ‘Mongol’ shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested - his unique relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor!

Plot :
The movie quotes an old Mongolian proverb - "Do not scorn a weak cub; He may become a brutal tiger!” The film opens with Temüjin (Tadanobu Asano) as a prisoner in the Tangut Kingdom, and narrates his earlier life through flashbacks. Nine-year-old young Temüjin (Odnyam Odsuren) is travelling with his father, Esugei (Ba Sen), a tribal chieftain (Khan), to select a girl as his bride. On the way, he meets young Börte (Bayertsetseg Erdenebat), the daughter of his father’s friend, who says she would like to be chosen and asserts she would make an excellent wife. While his father wishes him to choose a wife from the ‘Merkit’ tribe, Temüjin convinces his father to allow him to choose Börte. He promises to return after five years to marry her.

On their way home, Temüjin's father is poisoned by an enemy tribe. As he lies dying, he tells Temüjin he is now the new khan. However one of his father's warriors, Targutai, orders the other tribesmen to loot the dead khan's camp, taking the horses and livestock. Targutai spares Temüjin's life, declaring “a Mongol does not kill children!”

After falling through the ice on a frozen lake, Temüjin is found lying down in the snow by a young boy, Jamukha (Amarbold Tuvshinbayar). The two quickly become friends and perform a traditional ceremony declaring themselves ‘blood brothers’. Targutai, however, catches up with Temüjin and he is captured and locked in a cangue. Temüjin escapes late one night and continues to roam in the countryside.

We do not see Temüjin again until 1186 where he is a young man. He once again is caught by Targutai, who wishes to kill him now as he is grown up. Temüjin escapes again, this time taking one of the tribe's horses. He goes to find Börte (Khulan Chuluun) and brings her back to his family. Later that night they are attacked by the ‘Merkit’ tribe led by Chiledu to take revenge, because Temüjin's father had years before stolen his wife from one of their tribesmen. While being chased on horseback, Temüjin is shot with an arrow. Börte whips Temüjin’s horse, telling it to go home. Börte is captured and told by the Merkit leader that she is now his. Temüjin returns to his family weakened but determined to get his wife back.

Temüjin goes to his childhood friend, Jamukha (Sun Hong-Lei) who is now a khan himself. Jamukha agrees to help him attack the Merkit tribe and get his wife back, though only after a year passes. The attack on the Merkit tribe is a success, and Temüjin finds Börte alive and Chiledu dead with his throat slit. However, just as he feared, Bortë has been raped and left pregnant with Chiledu's son, whom Temüjin accepts as his own. Against Jamukha’s wish to stay, Temüjin and his men leave early the next morning, and two of Jamukha's soldiers also joined Temüjin because he takes better care of his warriors than Jamukha. Jamukha chases down Temüjin, but Temüjin refuses to send back Jamukha's warriors because a Mongol warrior is free to choose his lord, and Jamukha's warriors chose Temüjin. Jamukha warns him that his actions will lead to war.

Taichar, Jamukha's brother, is later killed while attempting to steal Temüjin's horses and this brings Jamukha and Temüjin go to war. When their armies face off, Temüjin sends some of his men to protect the families, while those remaining continue to fight. Being outnumbered, the army is quickly over-run. Jamukha decides to make Temüjin a slave rather than kill him.

Temüjin is sold to a rich garrison chief (Zhang Jiong) of the Tangut kingdom despite the dire warning given by a Buddhist monk (Ben Hon Sun) acting as his advisor. While imprisoned, the monk pleads Temüjin to forgive his monastery when he is free, and Temujin agrees in exchange for delivering a wish bone to Borte indicating he is still alive. The determined old monk finally manages to deliver his message to Börte. To get to Tangut, the faithful Börte becomes a merchant's concubine, bearing a daughter along the way. Once Börte arrives in Tangut, she abandons the merchant and pays the guard for the key to Temüjin's cage.

After his escape from Tangut, Temüjin gathers an army to unite all Mongol tribes and made some basic rules to live by. By using special war tactics, Temüjin defeats Jamukha to unite all the tribes. He then lets Jamukha leave alive. With the united army of Mongols, Temüjin wiped out the Tangut kingdom from the face of the Earth but the monastery survived. After his victory, Temüjin is named the ‘Khan of all Mongols - Genghis Khan’!

Reviews :
■ Peter Rainer of Christian Science Monitor states that “Mongol is a throwback to a more respectable tradition. The largeness of its scope arises naturally from the material, not the budget. The movie earns its stature.”
■ A O Scott of The New York Times describes Mongol as "a big, ponderous epic, its beautifully composed landscape shots punctuated by thundering hooves and bloody, slow-motion battle sequences."
■ Joe Neumaier of New York Daily News praised the performance of Chinese actor Sun Hong-Lie as - "Sun Hong-Lei, who, as Jamukha, gives so many neck-cracks, guttural howls and conspiratorial smiles he's like a Chinese Marlon Brando."
■ The Globe and Mail states - "As an epic action movie, Mongol is satisfying enough. Think Brave Heart. Think 300. Just don't think too much."

Cast :
■ Temüjin / Genghis Khan (Tadanobu Asano)
■ Jamukha (Sun Hong-Lei)
■ Börte - Temüjin's Wife (Khulan Chuluun)
■ Monk (Ben Hon Sun)
■ Esugei - Temüjin's Father (Ba Sen)
■ Oelun - Temüjin's Mother (Aliya)
■ Chiledu - Oelun’s First Husband (Sai Xing Ga)
■ Targutai (Amadu Mamadakov)
■ Taichar - Jamukha's Brother (Ba Ren)
■ Young Temüjin (Odnyam Odsuren)
■ Young Borte (Bayertsetseg Erdenebat)
■ Young Jamukha (Amarbold Tuvshinbayar)
■ Tangut Garrison Chief (Zhang Jiong)

Awards :
1. It won the 2007 Golden Eagle Awards for Best Costume and Best Sound Design.
2. It won the 2007 Nika Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Production Designer, Best Costume Designer, and Best Sound.
3. It won the 2007 Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor - Sun Hong-Lei.
4. It won the 2008 Houston Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
5. It won the 2008 Las Vegas Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
6. It was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (from Kazakhstan).
7. It was nominated for the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Achievement in Cinematography.
8. It was nominated for the 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.4/10; AllMovie.com = 4/5; MetaCritic.com = 7.4/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 7.1/10
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, AllMovie, RottenTomatoes, MetaCritic]

Gallery :

Ballad Of A Soldier (1959)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:27:00 -0700

Genre : War Drama, Romance.
Language : Russian
Country : Soviet Union (USSR)
Cast : Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko.
Directed by : Grigori Chukhrai
Run Time : 88 min
Release Date : 1st December, 1959

Synopsis :
“Ballad of a Soldier” (Russian: Ballada O Soldate) is an apolitical Soviet film depicting the humanitarian impulses of its characters to their nature rather than to an adherence to state ideologies. The plot of the film is set during World War II and shows how the Red Army soldier Alyosha tries to make it home during a leave, meeting several people on his way and falling in love with Shura.

Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war film. It recounts, within the context of the turmoil of war, various kinds of love - the romantic love of a young couple, the committed love of a married couple, and a mother's love of her child!

Plot :
The film tells the story of a young and naive Russian soldier Alexei Nikolaevich Skvortsov aka ‘Alyosha’ (Vladimir Ivashov) and his journey to home in the midst of World War II. The story starts with the chase of a scared signalman Pvt. Alyosha (19) by two German tanks. In the attempt of self-preservation, Alyosha single-handedly manages to destroy the German tanks and earns a commendation for his bravery. Instead of accepting a medal, he requests the General to grant him a 4-day leave to go home. The kind General awarded him a 6-day leave pass to visit his mother and repair the leaking roof of his village house!

During his journey to home, he encounters the devastation the war has brought on his war-torn country and meets numerous people and uses up much of his valuable leave time through his efforts to help others! The first person he met was a soldier Pvt. Pavlov, who asked Alyosha to meet his wife in route to home and give her two pieces of soap as a gift. At the railway station, Alyosha helps and encourages a veteran soldier Vasya (Yevgeni Urbansky) who, having lost a leg in the war, is afraid to return to his wife, fearing she might reject him!

At the changing station, Alyosha met a venal train guard Gavrilkin (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) willing to grant him free passage in a freight car of a military supply train in exchange for some cans of beef. Riding in the train, he met a young and beautiful girl Shura (Zhanna Prokhorenko) and falls in love with her. The scared girl made innocent Alyosha to believe that she’s on her way to visit her fiancé. So, he tried to help her in any way to reach her destination. On the way, Alyosha met Pavlov’s wife (V. Markova) and found that she has betrayed her husband by marrying other man. He took back the soaps from her, and gives it to old and sick Pavlov’s father (Vladimir Pokrovsky) in the hospital, who longs for his son’s return.

After wasting his most of the leave time in helping others, Alyosha finally manages to arrive home too late. He only has enough time to hug his mother and immediately start on his journey back to his unit, before his 6-day leave expires. He finds his way back to the front but, as told via voiceover, he never returns from the war! At the end, the voiceover narrator says, “He would have been a fine man.... but we remember him just as a soldier - a Russian Soldier!” - emphasizing not his political ideology but his national identity!

Cast :
■ Private Alyosha Skvortsov (Vladimir Ivashov)
■ Shura (Zhanna Prokhorenko)
■ Alyosha’s Mother (Antonina Maksimova)
■ The General (Nikolai Kryuchkov)
■ Vasya (Yevgeni Urbansky)
■ Vasya's Wife (Elza Lezhdey)
■ Gavrilkin -The Train Sentry (Aleksandr Kuznetsov)
■ Zoya (Marina Kremnyova)
■ Liza - Pavlov’s Wife (V. Markova)
■ Old man in Hospital - Pavlov’s Father (Vladimir Pokrovsky)

Awards :
1. It won the Special Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
2. It won the Golden Wolf Award for Best Film at the 1960 Bucharest Film Festival.
3. It won the Golden Gate Award for Best Film and Best Director at the 5th San Francisco International Film Festival, 1960.
4. It won the 1960 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Participation.
5. It won the 1961 BAFTA Award for Best Film - Any Source.
6. It won the Bodil Awards for Best European Film, 1961.
7. It was nominated for the 1961 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
8. It was nominated for the 1960 Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award for Best Foreign Film.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 8.1/10; AllMovie.com = 4/5.
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, AllMovie, Criterion]

Gallery :

Daisy (2006)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:19:00 -0700

Genre : Romance, Action, Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea, Hong Kong.
Cast : Jun Ji-hyun, Jung Woo-sung, Lee Sung-jae, David Chiang.
Directed by : Andrew Lau
Run Time : 110 min
Release Date : 9th March, 2006

Synopsis :
“Daisy” (Korean: Dei-Ji) is an urban romantic melodrama between a young painter, an Interpol detective and a professional assassin. With a twist that is bound to make its audience think about their own perception about love, the film was shot entirely in The Netherlands, for the most part in the city of Amsterdam, Haarlem and Epen.

The plot follows Hye-Young (Jeon Ji-Hyun), a young and innocent painter who works at her grandfather's antique shop in Amsterdam, and makes some money on the side sketching portraits for tourists. Park Yi (Jung Woo-Sung) is a contract killer holed up in a house at the city centre, where the local artists used to gather on the weekends. He notices a beautiful painter (Hye-Young) walking by regularly, and found a soft corner for her!

A turning point comes when Hye-Young falls off a makeshift wooden bridge, losing her painting bag. Park Yi secretly builds up a new bridge for her. It's love at first sight in the meadows of daisies, where her clumsiness caught his attention! Although she doesn’t know who has offered such favour, she leaves one of her paintings (of daisies) as a sign of gratitude.

However, being shy and aware of the dangers of his professional career, he can only admire her from afar, do little (or perhaps big) things for her in an anonymous fashion. He never shows up in front of Hye-Young. Instead, he delivers daisies at 4:15 pm (a symbolic figure since Hye-Young's solo exhibition later will be held on April-15) everyday without fail!

Hye-Young is also in love with this mysterious stranger. She is constantly waiting for him to appear, and greatly touched by his acts. One day, Jeong Woo (Lee Seong-Jae), an Interpol officer monitoring an Asian gang at the city square met Hye-Young, and asks her to draw his portrait with daisies in hand. She mistakenly believes him to be the unknown stranger who sends her daisies on a weekly basis. Hye-Young rapidly shows her affection toward Jeong Woo, even though the real man is watching the new development from a nearby house, still hiding. Jeong Woo knows he's not the guy, but he decides not to tell the truth - since he also falls in love with the girl!

Jeong Woo also must eventually face off against the real daisy guy – Park Yi, a soulful hit-man who has pined for Hye-Young ever since he spied her painting daisies in the countryside. Through myriad manufactured circumstances, the two men meet and become rivals over love and the law. Meanwhile, Hye-Young cries in the background, clueless as to who her promised daisy guy really is!

Cast :
■ Hye Young (Jeon Ji Hyun a.k.a. Gianna Jun)
■ Park Yi (Jung Woo-Sung)
■ Jeong Woo (Lee Seong-Jae)
■ Cho (David Chiang)
■ Detective Jang (Ho-Jin Jeon)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.3/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 4/5.
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, RottenTomatoes, Flixster]

Gallery :

The Cranes Are Flying (1957)

noreply@blogger.com (Layman's Blog) — Fri, 8 Oct 2010 07:05:00 -0700

Genre : Romance, War Drama.
Language : Russian
Country : Soviet Union (USSR)
Cast : Tatyana Samojlova, Aleksey Batalov, Vasili Merkuryev.
Directed by : Mikhail Kalatozov
Run Time : 97 min.
Release Date : 1957

Synopsis :
‘The Cranes Are Flying’ (Russian: Letyat Zhuravli) is a Soviet film about the horrors and consequences of World War II. It depicts the cruelty of war and the damage suffered by the people of Soviet Union.

The film is based on a Soviet family of Fyodor Ivanovich, a doctor and who lives with his son, Boris, and daughter, Irina. His mother and nephew Mark also live with them. The film centres on Boris's girlfriend, Veronika, and her experiences during wartime. She is nicknamed ‘Belka’ (‘Squirrel’).

World War II breaks out, and Soviet people come forward to volunteer in the war with great patriotic fervour. Boris also volunteers to defend his motherland from the enemies, much to Veronika's sadness. He leaves for the war, and is killed, saving a fellow soldier. However, he is listed as missing in action and neither Veronika nor his family know that he has been killed.

The German blitzkrieg then begins, and the family is terrorized by nights of bombing; they take refuge in the subway system underneath the city. During one attack, Veronika lost her parents in their bombarded apartment, and Fyodor Ivanovich invites Veronika to live with his family. Mark, who has been pursuing Veronika from a long time, is put in charge of taking care of Veronika. He is obviously in love with her, but she continually rejects him because she is waiting for Boris to return. However, during one bombing raid, Veronika refuses to go down to the shelter and is raped by Mark. Ashamed Veronika reluctantly agrees to marry Mark, and the rest of the family believes that she has betrayed Boris.

The family is relocated with many other Russians to Siberia in order to escape the German offensive. They live in a temporary community where Fyodor Ivanovich, Irina, and Veronika work in a military hospital. Mark and Veronika are both unhappy in their marriage. When a soldier in the hospital becomes hysterical due to his girl friend’s betrayal, Fyodor implicitly denounces Veronika while cheering him. She become upset and tries to do suicide, but fails. Shortly after that, Fyodor finds out that Mark bribed an official in Fyodor’s name to get exemption. Fyodor suddenly realizes that Mark has not only betrayed Russia, but he has betrayed the whole family and has taken advantage of Veronika. He confronts Mark and kicks him out of the house, while Veronika is allowed to stay and is forgiven by the family for "betraying" Boris.

The soldier who was saved by Boris, comes in search of Boris's family to tell them the news. When Veronika finds out, she refuses to believe it, saying that Boris's friend Stepan will know what happened to him. When the soldiers come back at a victory parade Veronika meets Stepan and she finds out that Boris is indeed dead. Boris's friend Stepan makes a speech during the parade asserting that they will never forget those who died in the war, but peace must be maintained.

Cast :
■ Veronika (Tatyana Samojlova)
■ Boris (Aleksey Batalov)
■ Fyodor Ivanovich (Vasili Merkuryev)
■ Mark (Aleksandr Shvorin )
■ Irina (Svetlana Kharitonova)
■ Volodya (Konstantin Nikitin)
■ Stepan (Valentin Zubkov)
■ Grandmother (Antonina Bogdanova)
■ Tyernov (Boris Kokovkin)
■ Anna Mikhajlovna (Yekaterina Kupriyanova)

Awards :

1. It won the ‘Palme d'Or Award’ at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the second of two Soviet films to win the award. Tatyana Samojlova received Special Mention for this film.
2. It was nominated for ‘Best Film - Any Source’ at the 1958 BAFTA Awards.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 8.0/10; AllMovie.com = 4.5/5
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, AllMovie, Vobzor]

Gallery :