Father Geek here with our excellant Asia crew; Darius25, AccSpy, Ms.Moon Yun Choi, and Albert Lanier among others with another great far-east film report. Lots of info and pics here sooooo I'll step aside and let you dig right into it...

Asia-AICN

INDIA

- Director Rajkumar Santoshi’s highly anticipated cop thriller, “Khakee”, has now begun principal photography. The high-budget multi-starrer stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna, Aishwarya Rai, and Jaya Pradha. Here’s some pics from the sets of the film.

Jaya Pradha, Amitabh Bachchan, and some guy holding the clapperboard: See It Here

Jaya, Amitabh, and Akshay Kumar: Just Click

- Director Govind Nihalani’s next film, “Dev” was launched last week. Shooting has begun on the cop drama, which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, Fardeen Khan, and Kareena Kapoor. Here’s some pics from the launch party.

Fardeen Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Govind Nihalani: Click Right Here

Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, and Kareena: Click Here

Amitabh Bachchan, Govind Nihalani, and Om Puri: Click

- Actors Sanjay Dutt and Akshaye Khanna have joined the cast of director Milan Luthria’s “Deewar (The Wall)”, which will have Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. For the female leads, the producers are currently negotiating with Shilpa Shetty, Bipasha Basu, and Lara Dutta. Shooting is set to start this month and the film is aiming for an April 2004 release date.

- Director Vikram Bhatt has announced his next release, titled “Imaan (Honour)”. The film will star Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Amisha Patel, and Mithun Chakraborty. Principal photography is set to begin in August.

- Director E. Niwas has also announced one of his next upcoming projects, titled “Bardasht (The Limit)”. The film will have Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta in the leading roles. Principal photography is set to begin on March 15.

- Some new stills were released from director Anil Sharma’s highly-anticipated “The Hero”. The big-budget spy film stars Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra, Kabir Bedi, and Amrish Puri. It is slated to release on April 10. Here’s the pics.

Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta: Click Here Now

Sunny in action mode: Just Click

More of the above: Click Here

A FANTASTIC set pic, that looks straight off a Bond film: Click

Sunny, in one of his many disguises in the film: Click Now

The stunning Priyanka Chopra (center): Just Click

Priyanka and Sunny (in another getup): Click Here

Another gorgeous pic of Preity: Click

CHINA/HK

Here’s the latest report from AccSpy:

The 22nd HK Film Academy Award has accounced the nominations. "Infernal Affairs", as many predicted, scores the most of nominations among others with 16 in arms, "Hero" follows closely with 14 and "Three-Going Home" with 11. While Sammi Cheng went from three nods last year to none, Anothony Wong is a triple threat in the supporting actor category. Certainly the tightest and most unpredictable race since whenever,
here's this year's nominee: (* = AccSpy's prediction)

BEST PICTURE

• Hero
  
• Three-Going Home
  
• Infernal Affairs*
  
• Golden Chicken
  
• Hollywood Hong Kong

BEST DIRECTOR

• Peter Chan Ho-Sun: Three-Going Home
  
• Fruit Chan: Hollywood Hong Kong
  
• Zhang Yimou: Hero
  
• Law Chi-Leung: Inner Senses
  
• Alan Mak, Andrew Lau: Infernal Affairs*

BEST ACTOR

• Leon Lai: Three-Going Home*
  
• Tony Leung Ka-Fai: Double Vision
  
• Leslie Cheung: Inner Senses
  
• Andy Lau: Infernal Affairs
  
• Tony Leung Chiu-wai: Infernal Affairs

BEST ACTRESS

• Angelica Li: The Eye*
  
• Faye Wong: A Chinese Odyssey 2002
  
• Maggie Cheung: Hero
  
• Sandra Ng: Golden Chicken
  
• Karena Lam: Inner Senses

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Anthony Wong Chau-Sun: Princess D
  
• Anthony Wong Chau-Sun: Infernal Affair*
  
• Anthony Wong Chau-Sun: Just One Look
  
• Chapman To: Infernal Affairs
  
• Eric Tsang: Infernal Affairs

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Rene Liu: Double Vision
  
• Zhang Ziyi: Hero
  
• Crystal Tin: Golden Chicken
  
• Cecilia Yip: May and August
  
• Eugenia Yuan: Three-Going Home*

BEST NEW ACTOR

• Eugenia Yuan: Three-Going Home*
  
• Wong Yau-Nam: Hollywood Hong Kong
  
• Wong Yau-Nam: Just One Look
  
• Wong Zhun-Zhun: The Runaway Pistol
  
• Yeung Qi: Demi-Haunted

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Alan Mak, Felix Chong: Infernal Affairs*
  
• Li Feng, Wang Bin, Zhang Yimou: Hero
  
• Fruit Chan: Hollywood Hong Kong
  
• Su Chao-bin, Chen Kuo-Fu: Double Vision
  
• Jojo Hui, Matt Chow: Three-Going Home

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Andrew Lau, Lai Yiu Fai: Infernal Affairs
  
• Christopher Doyle: Hero*
  
• Christopher Doyle: Three-Going Home
  
• Arthur Wong: Double Vision
  
• Peter Pau: The Touch

BEST EDITING

• Kwong Chi-Leung: Three-Going Home
  
• Wei De-Sheng: Double Vision
  
• Angie Lam, Ru Zhai: Hero
  
• The Pang Brothers: The Eye
  
• The Pany Brothers: Infernal Affairs*

BEST ART DIRECTION

• Hero*
  
• A Chinese Odyssey 2002
  
• Golden Chicken
  
• Double Vision
  
• Three-Going Home

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Hero*
  
• Infernal Affairs
  
• Hollywood Hong Kong
  
• Golden Chicken
  
• A Chinese Odyssey 2002

BEST FIGHT CHEOROGRAPHY

• So Close
  
• Princess D
  
• The Touch
  
• Hero*
  
• Infernal Affairs

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Infernal Affairs*
  
• Hero
  
• Three-Going Home
  
• Hollywood Hong Kong
  
• A Chinese Odyssey 2002

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• Infernal Affairs (performed by Andy Lau, Tony Leung)
  
• If U Care..... (performed by Eason Chan)
  
• Hero (performed by Faye Wong)*
  
• Princess D (performed by Angelina Lee)
  
• Visible Secret II (performed by Eason Chan)

BEST SOUND EFFECT

• Inner Senses
  
• Infernal Affairs*
  
• Three-Going Home
  
• The Eye
  
• Hero

BEST VISUAL EFFECT

• Princess D
  
• The Eye*
  
• Infernal Affairs
  
• Double Vision
  
• Hero

BEST ASIAN FILM

• I Not Stupid-Singapore
  
• JSA-South Korea
  
• Big Shot's Funeral-China
  
• My Sassy Girl-South Korea*
  
• The Way Home-Korea

- After the excellent Christmas season for HK films a few months ago, it's been a year or two since HK movie business is this active. This week we check out the current movie projects in HK. More surprising is to see how various the stars starring in and genre of these productions.

- Just wrapped up is the Charlene Choi vehicle "Diva, Ah Hey", directed and produced by Joe Ma and co-starring Jordan Chan, Shawn Yue and Niki Chow. Also check out the offical site: www.divaahhey.com

- Director Benny Chan("Gen-X Cops") will soon direct a cop thriller resemble to his critical-acclaimed "Big Bullet" in 1996. Leon Lai, Ekin Cheng and Karena Lam star.

- Meanwhile, Ekin Cheng and Karena Lam are shooting a romancetic drama "The Sight of Love" in Zhin Tao, China.

- Louis Koo will co-produce and star in "Ho Ching (Free Love)" for Chinastar, a contraverial dramedy about two 20-something tycoons (Koo and Eason Chan) and their pornography empire. The film will be directed by Chan Hing-ka("La Brassiere", "Mighty Baby") and co-starring Niki Chow(yum), Cherrie Yan(double yum!), Joe Kuk and Denise Ho.

- Michelle Yeoh will jump start "Condor Heroin", a heist action comedy directed by Jingle Ma ("Tokyo Raiders"), and put "Mulan" on hold. The shooting will start next month and one of three Hollywood studios, Universal, Revolution or Miramax, will co-invest the film. (Keep your fingers crossed, better not be Miramax.). Folloing the tradition, Michelle will again being paired with a Hollywood actor.

- Tony Leung Kar-Fai (Best actor nod for "Double Vision") and Charlene Choi will play an unlikely pair of father-daughter in the action comedy "Run! Papa, Run!"

- Not being left out, Anthony Wong and Edison Chan will play father and son in action comedy "My Dad is James Bond".

- Francis Ng, while being in "Infernal Affairs: The Prequel", will also star in a light-weighted comedy directed by Derek Chiu ("Golden Chicken"), opposite Anita Yuen. The two-time best actress winner and "it" girl of the 90's is finally back on the big screen after 6 years.

- After stealing every single frames in "My Lucky Star", Ronald Cheng will be top-billed for the first time, starring in a comedy directed by none other than your favourite Lee Lik Chi, who co-directed Stpehen Chow's blockbusters like "God of Cookery" and "King of Comedy".

- After wrapping "Turn Left, Turn Right" for Warner Brothers, Johnnie To will help Chinastar to turn Andy Lau, well instead of Fatso, into Mr. Fitness in "Kung Fu Man Woman", co-starring Cecilia Cheung.

- Fresh off the sucess of "Infernal Affairs", Andrew Lau is directing a low-budget horror film in Thailand, starring Tiffany Lee ("The Mummy, Aged 19") and a group of unknown young actors.

- Last but not least, after finished his current Broadway show in HK, Daniel Wu will join Jackie Chan in "Around the World in 80 Days".

- Andy Lau and Cecilia Cheung's period comedy "Cat and Mouse" stayed on top for the second week in HKBO, generating $12 mil so far. "Chicago" also stayed in the same spot with $5 mil in 13 days. "Final Destination " debuted at no.3. Mariam Yeung/Tony Leung Chiu Wai's Lunar comedy "My Lucky Star" still did well at no. 4. Jackie Chan was doing fair business with "Shanghai Knights" which fell to no.6 with $4.5 mil in 13 days.

HERO-A THING OF BEAUTY
by ALBERT LANIER

There is a scene in Zhang Yimou's brilliant epic film HERO that I will not soon forget: A Chinese calligrapher is at work in a room inside of his school, using his talented hands to create characters in a pit filled with sand or perhaps on paper-one is not sure because the camera is shooting up at him, framing his studied concentration as he darts his long stick sideways, backward and forward. Outside of the school, an army from another Kingdom has already massed and dozens of soliders have launched a plethora of arrows-speeding as if they are pre-electronic ballistic missiles- into the school. One arrow zooms inside of the calligrapher's room and slices the end of this artist's stick that he is using as his brush. He notices this (he has no choice frankly)and when another arrow flies into the room, the calligrapher catches it, breaks off the front tip and converts this weapon into his new brush as he swiftly returns to his calligraphy. The speed and fluidity of movement integral to this scene may not impress the jaded Martial Arts film fan but it sums up the grace, power and beauty of HERO-Director Zhang Yimou's excursion into the Martial Arts extravaganza.

Actually, HERO is a lushly filmed hybrid, a filmic fusion that combines the historical epic with the swordfighting film. Like Ang Lee's superb CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, HERO has a grace and power, a sense of emotional and contemplative majesty lacking in the average martial arts actioner.

Of course, both films share the acting talents of the lovely Zhang YiYi as well.

However,there are major differences between the two films. CROUCHING TIGER was slightly literary in terms of the tone of its story and filmmaking and more poetic, sensual and romantic. HERO is pragmatic yet idealistic, philosophical yet practical, agitating for revenge and retribution yet yearning for peace and harmony. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy of a screener of HERO (alas, I cannot reveal who my source for the tape was)and I can confidently state without fear of mental reservation that this film is a masterpiece, an epic of the highest order and worthy of its Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.

Set during China's Warring States period when the varied Kingdoms that then comprised that nation soon were swallowed up by the Kingdom of Qin who's King then became China's first Emperor in 221 B.C., the film opens with the assassin Nameless (played by megastar Jet Li) entering the Forbidden City to see the King of Qin (Chen Dao Ming). Officials announce that Nameless has struck down three killers-Sky (Donnie Yen), Broken Sword (Tony Leung)and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung)- who were looking to slaughter the King. Nameless is ushered into the King's immense chamber and immediately one is made aware of the enormity and scope of the film's cinematography (superbly handled by HERO's DP Christopher Doyle), the overwhelming pictorial scale apparent in HERO. At first, Nameless must stand 100 feet away from the King (due to assassination attempts on the monarch's life)but he is impressed with Nameless' valor and service and eventually allows him to sit within 10 feet of him. Nameless informs the King of his exploits in besting first Sky and then Flying Snow (Broken Sword was killed in jealousy by Flying Snow who resented her lover's dalliance with his servant and student Moon played by Zhang YiYi). The Qin King is no fool however and sees through Nameless' cover story. The King pronounces the truth-that Nameless has come to kill him because he was born in the Kingdom of Zhao which was brutally conquered by Qin and he seeks vengeance for the conquest of his homeland. HERO is mostly told through flashbacks-duels and fights often occuring in the minds eye of the characters- with the Forbidden City scenes with Nameless and the King serving as the narrative spine of the feature.

I have neglected to delve further into the film's plot and story because HERO is first and foremost, a visual picture and must therefore be valued and appreciated as such.I am almost at a loss as a reviewer in describing the sheer elegance of HERO's images, the beauty of its many scenes. How do you describe the stunning fight between Flying Snow and Moon attired in red garments in a forest as they defy gravity and fly above the ground and atop trees, thrusting their swords at each other as leaves swirl about them?

Is it possible for me accurately discuss a scene in which Nameless and Broken Sword battle each other on a lake, both men skipping about the lake's surface as if they were well-thrown stones and dipping their blades into that body of water before a clash of blades ensues? Can I really do justice in talking about the sheer bravado of a dream sequence in which Broken Sword and Flying Snow fight their way through hordes of soliders in the Forbidden City, cutting a swath with their swords through dozens of men as if they were sugar canes hacked by the machetes of South American field workers? Any review can make intellectual observations about HERO but no review can really express what it feels to watch this film, to be filled like a cup with the awe and energy flowing though this picture.

Jet Li gives a fine performance here as Nameless. His calm and intense demeanor fit this film like a glove and Li is far more at home in this film as an actor and Martial Artist than he could ever be in slick, bigger-budgeted english-language actioners like the terrible ROMEO MUST DIE.Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung are superb here. Leung's face is like a well-painted canvas here-stoic and resigned, tough yet filled with a certain amount of tenderness. The beautiful Maggie Cheung navigates the emotions of Flying Snow quite skillfully-anger and fierceness mixed with acceptance and calm.Zhang YiYi's role of Moon gets less time than Cheung, Leung and Li but she is just as effective as the rest. Moon is a more impetuous and upfront character than many other figures in the film and YiYi is quite good at unleashing unbridled anger and sorrow here.Chen Dao Ming turns a well-rounded performance as the King, clearly demonstates this ruler's intelligence and perceptive qualitives and has an unmistakable screen presence. Donnie Yen is also quite good as Sky ( I wish I could have seen more of Yen in HERO as he figures prominently in film's early flashbacks).

Zhang Yimou proves in his direction of HERO that he is a master filmmaker (as if anyone needed to be convinced with such past work as RED SORGHUM, JU DOU, RAISE THE RED LANTERN and KEEP COOL). His Beijing Film Academy training in Cinematography and his past work as a DP serve him admirably here. Zhang Yimou's mastery of composition and Mise en Scene, his skill in framing the space encompassed in his shots is stunning here. Only a filmmaker with a highly developed visual sense could made HERO the film that it is.

It is said that President Woodrow Wilson commented upon watching the racist Civil War epic BIRTH OF A NATION that it was "history written in lighting. Well, HERO is a legend painted in the vivid colors of cinema, a film in which an interesting story is told through unmistakable images almost as if one were watching a series of beautiful watercolor portraits coming to life before our eyes.

SHANGHAI GHETTO Review (by Ms. Moon Yun Choi)

“Shanghai Ghetto” is a documentary based on a little known fact that thousands of European Jews fled the Holocaust to Shanghai, China the late 1930’s.

What was ironic for the 25,000 Jewish refugees in Japanese occupied Shanghai was that even though they were living in deplorable situation, they had no idea of the massive horrors that was going on back home to the Jews who weren’t able to escape.

They weren’t able to get visas to the U.S. or Canada and it was too late for them to escape to Shanghai. For those who managed to get in to Shanghai, they were lucky enough to get in time when no country was responsible for checking new arrivals on visas.

The film opens with interviews of the survivors from the “Shanghai Ghetto,” a name of district where Jews were segregated to. The filmmaker and producer, Dana Janklowicz-Mann, and her husband, Amir Mann, of Los Angeles, also interviews Jewish and Chinese historians. They show old black and white photos of Jewish families, individual portraits, and passports with stamps to Shanghai, picture of Kashima Maru – one of the pleasure cruises – that took the Jewish passengers to Shanghai, some 8,000 miles away.

It was a total culture shock when the European Jews landed in Shanghai. Before the cruise liner even docked on the port, some of the young, Jewish man jumped ship and tried swimming for Palestine, what we call parts of it today Israel.

Black and white photos of everyday life in Shanghai and the Jewish people, the old newsreel and photos of the drab, dreary living conditions were edited into the film, in between the interviews. It was definitely a labor of love because the filmmaker’s father is one of the Jewish Holocaust survivors interviewed in the documentary. He was raised in China. Dana Janklowicz-Mann’s brother, Gilad Janklowicz is the fitness consultant and producer of the syndicated TV workout series "Bodies in Motion." They have a sister who is a fitness instruct.

Shown at the Art House at Restaurant Row in Honolulu, this documentary was simple, yet effective in that it allowed the viewers to share in their sorrows. The film is narrated by Academy Award winner Martin Landau. One woman in the audience squealed when the narrator said that her mom use to put the rice bowl out on the window sill so that the bug would come out. That’s not a comfortable situation but when I think back to my Peace Corps days when I had to draw water out of a well that had tiny animal feces in it and filter and disinfect it before I could drink it … well I hope the bugs weren’t the size of scorpions.

What surprised me the most was that the Jewish refugees had schools, complete with the British curriculum, kosher lunches and notebooks. Compared to what was going on around the world, especially to their Jewish relatives, the kids should’ve been out collecting food.

Toward the end of the film, the survivors revisit the small apartments they use to live in the “ghetto.” The cameras follow Betty and Harold up to their rooms. They’ve all gone to live in different parts of the world but one sees in their faces memories coming back to them.

What were some of the reactions to the event featuring the film and the screening?

“On behalf of my sister, who’s unable to be here in Hawaii, I want to thank you very much for coming,” said Gilad. “She’s pregnant and about to have twins. Her documentary had won an Audience Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.”

[Jews living in Shanghai] wasn’t something I was aware of,” said an Israeli who’s a Hawaii resident now. “The story of the Nazi persecution of the Jews is a familiar one, especially as an Israeli. But the movie doesn’t depict the truly disturbing part of the Holocaust.”

Another viewer said it was done exceptionally well, was very graphic, and very moving. “Despite the dirty condition, the Jewish refugees still maintained to keep their humanity” said Rabbi Morrisjoldfarb, who was a Jewish Chaplain at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York for 33 years and who is now a resident scholar at the Temple Emanuel off the Pali Highway. They created newspapers, opened cafes, had schools and overall, had a will to live.

Those who survived their duration in Shanghai dispersed to different corners of the world, some to the United States, some to Canada and the others to Australia. The director’s father broke down into tears when the ship finally arrived in San Francisco.

For some pics from the screening, please click here: YES... Click Right Here

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ASIAN-AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL

Usumcasane was kind enough to send us his views on some films showing at this year’s SFIAFF. Here they are.

I caught some of the press screenings for this year's NAATA film festival, the SFIAAFF (San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival). The festival starts on 3/6, so anyone in the Bay Area can catch these if they are interested. Oh, and they're opening with Bend it Like Beckham, which I didn't get to see yet but which has been reviewed on this site, I think, so you can catch that, too.

No One's Ark (Japan 2002)

I'll start with my favorite so far. I should warn you though: I really dig Japanese movies where something unpleasant happens, and then for fifteen minutes you see scene after scene of the involved characters -not- talking about it. That's pretty much what you get in this movie. It's a comedy (I guess... it's certainly got comic flair... it's perhaps as much
of a drama as a comedy, though) about a young Japanese couple who are trying to get their start as entrepreneurs. They've given up on Tokyo, and gone back to the boy's home town. There, they get to experience failure: failure of personal relationships, failure at business, failures of family togetherness... All in the profound deadpan that Japanese films portray so well. Some sequences in the movie are genius--the ending, among other
things. It's got strong characters, a smart script, it's hard to predict, and it's provides, through images and story, a very clear portrayal of life in this particular small town. Some people might find it slow. It doesn't have the frantic pace of Waterboys or the easy-to-follow narrative of Shall We Dance? (although there is a story, and it's a good one... it's not defiantly non-narrative, like, say, What Time Is It There? [claws out eyes]
(I know, that one's from Taiwan, but it was the best example I could think of)).

Anyway, I'm sort of a pushover for films from Japan (I even got through last year's Distance without chewing my own leg off, and ended up kind of digging it), so be warned, but I definitely liked this one. Although not as much as some of my recent favorites from Japan, like Go, which everyone should order on that cheapish R3 DVD they've got available and watch because it rules and everyone who doesn't think so is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Chicken Rice War (Singapore, 2001)

One of the cool things about the SFIAAFF is that you get to see films from Asian countries -other than- Hong Kong, South Korea, China, and Japan. And it's important that this film is from Singapore, because the main thing that makes it watchable was that it was made in Singapore, not L.A. It's basically a fairly standard romantic comedy done by people from Singapore. Like most romantic comedies, it falls into the trap of taking
the serious parts of the movie too seriously, and the romantic plot comes off as about as convincing as a corporate vision statement. So, the love story parts are more or less wasted time, except that you're seeing an American genre reflected back at you (assuming you're American, like me) through the lens of another culture, which at least keeps one somewhat interested.

The parts of Chicken Rice War that are fun are the parts related to the title... the two lovers are the children of two rival families that have chicken rice stalls right next to each other, and have for 20 years. Some of the comic scenes about their conflicts are quite inspired. The opening sequence, for instance, with pounding techno music and Romeo+Juliet inspired captions, was worth sitting through the whole film.

So, Chicken Rice War tries hard to please, and it's not as totally predictable as an American romantic comedy, so it's worth a look if you like that sort of thing, or if you're watching another film that screens adjacent to it.

Eliana, Eliana (Indonesia, 2002)

This film is about a woman in Jakarta who's wandering aimlessly around the city, mother in tow, ostensibly looking for her friend, but really engaged in a kind of existential wtf-am-I-doing-here crisis. It's filmed on D.V., and it presents a very vivid portrait of the city that the characters are wandering through.

Unfortunately, the eighty-three minutes of the film seemed like around twice that. Literally. I was shocked when I saw the running time just a few minutes ago when I looked at the schedule.

This is one of those movies that stubbornly refuses to provide you with a narrative. And that's cool and all, I know it's making a point about the aimlessness of life in the city, and it does get that sense of boredom and purposelessness across, but for the love of God... throw me a narrative bone, here!

I hate it when I don't like movies like this... obviously produced on a shoestring, obviously made by someone smart who loves film, refusing any of the moral and philosophical cop-outs which are intrinsic to conventional narratives... I really want to like it. But after about ten minutes of watching it, I want desperately to be doing something else. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I-San Special (Thailand, 2002)

There are two narratives in this film: the story of a group of people taking an all-night bus ride, and a soap opera story (literally--it's an explicit reference to Thai soap operas) that they spend most of the movie channeling and acting out in the bus. One segues into the other without explanation or warning.

It's a rather clever concept, and it's neat to see low-budget filmmaking doing so much with so little. The film was obviously filmed on a real bus really driving around, which gives the film a very authentic feel. The contrast between the two storiesis very intelligently handled. In one, the female lead goes through melodramatic trials to ultimately triumph, in the other her problems are much more pedestrian and insoluble.

While I certainly liked I-San Special, it wasn't really entertaining as such. Mostly because the soap opera plot wasn't really engaging, and the real-world plot (more interesting, to my mind) was touched on too infrequently to keep me hooked. You get a lot of that sort of thing at the SFIAAFF, it seems. Films that teach you something, that leave you feeling like you've seen something new, something you'll probably never have a chance to see again (I-San Special is definitely NOT coming to R1 DVD any time soon), but that don't leave you feeling like you just had a rollicking good time. Personally, I think it's worth it, but some folks would just rather watch Versus again I imagine.

Mekhong Full Moon Party (Thailand, 2002)

This is a melodramatic movie about apparently supernatural fireballs that shoot up from a river every year just after Buddhist Lent. It's a pretty good film, good acting, an unpredictable plot, nice photography. It presents some interesting dilemmas for its characters, and doesn't take easy outs for any of them (except for the ending, which I'm still mulling over, but I guess if I'm still mulling over then it doesn't count as an easy out, does it?). The bad? Well, it got a little melodramatic at times. And somehow I wasn't riveted to my seat the whole time. Why? Why was I riveted to No One's Ark and not this one? Maybe I just personally like the aesthetic of Japanese filmmaking better than Thai.

Of course, if you have no idea what the aesthetic of Thai filmmaking is, you should go see this, because it's a pretty good flick, and thereby painless education.

New Moon (Philippines, 2001)

Okay, I saved this one for last, because I'm not going to be able to review it without getting political, which means I'm going to piss off about half of my readership, statistically speaking (at least in the U.S.--my odds should be significantly better abroad).

This is a movie that follows the experiences of a Muslim family (Moro, as they call themselves) on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The island has apparently been a locus of conflict between the Moro and various occupying forces for hundreds of years. As you might expect, it really sucks to live there; the body count in the film is staggering. The film opens with a vigilante raid on the village where the family lives, and a young child is hit with a stray bullet. The child's father, a peace-loving doctor in Manilla, is called home for the funeral. Things go downhill from there.

I think it's useful to see a conflict from as many perspectives as possible; this film provides the Moro perspective on the conflict on the island. But it's not a one-sided or propagandistic perspective, as evinced by the fact that there were dozens of Philippine military officers, and two full marines battalions, thanked in the credits of the film, even though the actions of the Philippine military are show to have largely negative effects during the course of the movie. In other words, this movie shows the Moro perspective, but in a way that is fair enough that even the other side in the conflict was willing to participate in making the film.

The negative thing about this film, from an artistic perspective, is that it's pretty melodramatic and heavy-handed. But, fuck, how can you not be heavy handed about people's families getting wiped out by vigilantes? The general message of the film is: WAR IS BAD AND MAKES EVEN GOOD PEOPLE DO BAD THINGS. You'd think we'd all know this already. I wish we lived in a world that was less fucked up, so we could all just roll our eyes at this and say, "yeah, yeah, war is bad, war is bad, we get it already, so stop making movies about it." The problem is, apparently we don't get it.

So,
movies like this still must be made. Everyone in the U.S. should go see it. Everyone in the U.S. in favor of starting new wars should have the lesson tattooed on their face: "When you start a war, even with good intentions, you know innocent people will die. When innocent people die, then their friends, families, and countrymen will take up arms against you, even if they are good, peace-loving people" Ahem. Anyway, I'd love it if this movie was irrelevant. But it's not. Especially in light of recent news about U.S. troops headed to the Philippines to join a similar conflict. So, grab your right-wing friends by the hair and drag them to see this movie. Or your right-wing self, if you've been rolling your eyes at my review.

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."

-Usumcasane

Well, that’s it for this week’s column. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices at atshrivas@rogers.com. See you next time.

Darius25