Redes

This is part of the Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project DVD box set which included five other films: The Housemaid, Dry Summer, Touki Bouki, A River Called Titas and Trances. Bought the DVD box set as I saw the first two films online at mubi.com and was impressed by them!

The story is about a group of fishermen fighting for better wages against their employers.

Liked the teamwork displayed by the fishermen when they were fishing!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Inheritance

This is the last film of the "Masaki Kobayashi Against the System series". Skipped the third film, "Black River", as I saw it before already. The story is about how a rich dying man tasked his subordinates to find his three illegitimate children in order to split his inheritance.

Sort of knew how things would turn out in the end as the movie was narrated as a flashback but I was still pretty impressed by the ingenuity of the person who managed to outwit and outsmart everyone else in the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

I Will Buy You

This is the second film of the "Masaki Kobayashi Against the System series". The story is about how several businesses competed to get a young rising baseball star to sign a contract with them.

Not much baseball action and don't really understand the logic of the politics behind the competition as I thought a closed bid system would solve everything at once.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Thick-Walled Room

This is the first film of the "Masaki Kobayashi Against the System series". The story is about life in a prison camp for Japanese war criminals shortly after the second world war.

Liked the interesting stories of each of the prisoners! The former interpreter, Yokota, reminds me a little of the protagonist in the director's "Human Condition" trilogy.

Internet Movie Database Link

Summer with Monika

The story is about how a young couple resigned from their low paying jobs and escaped to an island for a while before returning back to face reality.

Great acting by the actress who played Monika! I also liked the nice black and white cinematography!

Internet Movie Database Link

Gate of Hell

The story is about how a samurai tried to get the lady of his dreams even though she is married and wrecked the lives of many people in the process.

Liked the interesting plot and the colorful costumes! Great acting by Kyo Machiko!

Internet Movie Database Link

Pina

This a documentary about Pina Bausch who was a famous dance choreographer based in Germany. She died recently and this film is a tribute to her by her students.

Liked the full length dance pieces such as "Rite of Spring", "Cafe Muller" and "Kontakthof" as well as the impromptu pieces by the students! All of them show much creativity!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Thin Red Line

The story is about how a group of American soldiers felt when they went to fight in a small Pacific Island with the Japanese during Second Word War.

Liked the nice philosophical voice over narration and the interesting flashbacks!

Internet Movie Database Link

Happy Thank You More Please

The story is about how six young adults living in New York juggle love, friendship and the responsibilities of adulthood.

Liked the nice folk music soundtrack!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunflower

The story is about the relationship between a father and his son over a period of thirty years from the late sixties to the late nineties in China.

Nice paintings at the art exhibition and liked how the father and son reconciled towards the end! Thought the director could have condensed the plot a little bit more though.

Internet Movie Database Link

My Magic

The story is about the relationship between an alcoholic father who used to be a magician and his son who was cared for mainly by his grandmother.

Liked the quiet scenes such as the one where the train passed by in the background. Didn't really like the magic shows which were too extreme in my opinion.

Internet Movie Database Link

Thirst for Love

The story is about how a young widow became her father-in-law's lover but secretly had a desire for the apathetic gardener.

Liked the interesting psychological study into the different characters! Great acting by the lead actress!

Internet Movie Database Link

Black Sun

The story is about how a jazz loving Japanese encountered an injured black American soldier who was wanted for murder and carried a machine gun.

Liked how the friendship grew between the Japanese and the American despite their difficulty to communicate with each other!

Internet Movie Database Link

I Hate But Love

The story is about the love-hate relationship between a well known DJ and his manager cum lover.

Liked the nice little journey across Japan on the old jeep! Both the DJ's girlfriend and the jeep owner looked quite pretty!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Warped Ones

The story is about how a jazz loving delinquent took revenge on a young reporter who had tipped him off to get him in jail by raping his girlfriend. She became pregnant and had to take drastic steps to make things "normal" again.

Liked the fast pace action and the interesting twists to the plot!

Internet Movie Database Link

Mee Pok Man

The story is about a mee pok stall owner's obsession with a prostitute who frequented his stall.

Liked how different people used different language to communicate in the film and the voice over narration from the diary! A little bit too creepy for my taste towards the end though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Intimidation

The story is about how a man's senior position in a bank was threatened when someone who knew about his illegal loans confronted him.

Liked the interesting human psychology games played in the film and the detailed examination on how the bank worked internally!

Internet Movie Database Link

Passing Fancy

The story is about how a blue-collared worker helped a young retrenched woman to find a job and how his infatuation with her affected his relationship with his colleague and his son.

Great acting by the father and the son!

Internet Movie Database Link

Carmen

The story is about how the director of a Spanish dance company searched for a lead dancer for his new dance production "Carmen" and how his life slowly began to resemble its plot.

Liked the beautiful dance sequences! The actress who played Carmen looked quite pretty too!

Internet Movie Database Link

A Christmas Tale

The story is about a Christmas family reunion. The mother is having cancer and needs a bone marrow donor from her descendants, the eldest daughter is not on good terms with the middle son and the cousin is still in love with the youngest son's wife.

Found it hard to follow the plot initially as it rambled on in different directions but everything tied together very nicely in the end!

Internet Movie Database Link