The Last Letter

The story is about a Jewish mother who lived in Russia during World War II writing the last letter to her son before her execution by the Germans.

Great acting by the actress who played the Jewish mother! The shadow and lighting effect was interesting too!

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Trees WIthout Leaves

The story is about how a family fell apart seen through the eyes of a little boy. He became a writer when he grew up and came back to his hometown to reminisce about the past.

Liked the close relationship between the boy and his mother! The director also described the little incidents in his childhood really well!

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Sandcastle

The story is about a young man enquiring about his father's past after his grandfather died and just when he was about to enter National Service. His father was involved in the Chinese Student protest in 1956 and was exiled to Johor Bahru before he died of cancer.

Liked the nice National songs but still preferred Kit Chan's version of "Home"! Thought the film would provide some kind of documentary insight into the Chinese Student protest, so I was a little bit disappointed when it did not.

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Eros Plus Massacre

The story is about a famous anarchist who was murdered by the military police along with his second lover and nephew shortly after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. The film focused on his relationship with his wife and two lovers and provides a contrast with modern life in 1969 through a reporter and her two lovers.

Liked the interesting study into human psychology and how the characters from the past made their journey into the present! Noe Ito looked quite cute in her pretty kimono and gigantic ribbon on her head!

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Mime-mime

The story is about a young girl finding her purpose in life with the help of a childhood friend.

Liked the small little things that the young girl and her childhood friend did together! She looked quite cute with rosy cheeks and interesting hair clips!

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Good Bye, George Adamski

This is one of the five films in New Directions in Japanese Cinema (NDJC) 2007 that consisted of "The Bus to Heaven", "Good Bye, George Admaski". "Seismic Girl", "Babin" and "Restaurant UFO".

The story is about how a guy bumped into his best friend who had been obsessed with aliens and UFOs since young and how they went on a journey to unravel the mystery behind them.

Liked the flashback sequences about the two guy's childhood!

The Bus to Heaven

This is one of the five films in New Directions in Japanese Cinema (NDJC) 2007 that consisted of "The Bus to Heaven", "Good Bye, George Admaski". "Seismic Girl", "Babin" and "Restaurant UFO".

The story is about how a guy went on a bus trip that was arranged by his friend to celebrate his birthday and how he made up with his girlfriend in the process.

Liked the interesting discussion about the definition of good acting using Kinji Fukasaku's "The Fall Guy" and Michael Bay's "Armageddon" as examples! Made me want to check out "The Fall Guy" given the chance!

Lala Pipo: A Lot of People

This is a sex comedy about a few people staying in Tokyo who are somehow related to each other. These include a nerdy freelance writer, a charming pimp, a karaoke bar assistant who imagines that he is a superhero and three porn actresses: a beautiful young lady, a middle aged woman and a chubby lady.

Thought the theme was very similar to that in "Air Doll" with a more in-depth study of the characters! The comedy is a little bit crude but the fantasy sequences were very well done!

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Red Angel

The story is about the encounters of a nurse during World War II when Japan fought in China. She took care of the soldiers and fell in love with the doctor.

Liked the voice over narration and the contrast between the nurse's loving care towards her patients and the graphic depiction of the horrors of war!

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Diary of a Shinjuku Thief

The story is about how a couple met at the Kinokuniya book shop in Shinjuku and fell in love. Birdtop was stealing books but he was caught by Umeko who posed as an employee of the book shop.

Liked the part where Umeko piled all the different books on the Kinokuniya shop floor with simultaneous voice over commentary describing the contents! The director's use of text and color on the screen as well as the political focus reminded me of Godard.

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Air Doll

The story is based on a manga series about how an inflatable doll came to life one day and explored the world around her.

Special effects was great and the performance by Bae Doo-Na was excellent but his "Maborosi" and "Still Walking" had a bigger emotional impact on me! I have also seen his "After Life" and "Nobody Knows" and I thought this was one of his weakest works so far. "Still Walking" is available to watch for free at the Japan Creative Center.

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Bloody Thirsty

The story is about a man who shot to fame after a failed suicide attempt to save his colleagues from being laid off. He became an insurance company's spokesman through a brilliant public relations campaign.

Liked the incisive look into the media and public relations industry! Quite amazed to see how an ordinary person could shoot to fame over night and how he reacts to such a situation!

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Sing a Song of Sex

The story is about the adventures of a group of students after their exams during the sixties in Japan. The teacher taught them that the poor had been oppressed by the people in power and they had created songs about sex to express their discontent and escape into fantasy.

Liked the catchy folk songs, the imaginative dream sequences and the informative lecture on Korea and Japan history! The apathy among Japanese youth and how the voice of the minority could be drowned by the majority were also well illustrated!

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Black River

The story revolves around a poor neighborhood slum. The local gangster made a deal with the landlady to evict them and used under-handed means to get a young waitress who was interested in a student living in the slum to be his girl.

Liked the realistic depiction of the life in the slums and the ending climax!

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Bullfighter and the Lady

The story is about an American who trained to be a bullfighter so that he can impress a Mexican lady.

Liked the informative introduction to the art of bullfighting that showed off its elegance! Thought their training method was really interesting!

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The Million

The story is about a poor artist who won the lottery grand prize but misplaced his ticket. He left it in his old jacket which was given to a stranger by his girlfriend and subsequently sold to an opera singer!

Liked the interesting plot and the nice songs in this musical comedy! Thought the simulated rugby game scene was pretty innovative!

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The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting

The story is about a collector making a hypothesis that a painting could be missing and stolen from an art collection.

It was interesting to see actors posing to recreate the different paintings and to understand their background! I was especially intrigued by the story of the Marquise and her family! Ending was nicely done too with all the characters reappearing in the room!

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Kisses

The story is about how two young people whose fathers are locked up in jail met and fell in love with each other.

Liked the fast paced action and the actress looked very pretty in her dress! Thought it was funny at times and heart breaking at other times. Was really worried for the guy who was trying to figure out where the girl lived towards the end!

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The Seedling

The story is about how a newly married rich man's son took charge of a farm after graduation. He was selfish, ignored traditions and was stone hearted towards the poor. He fell in love with his maid after her husband suddenly disappeared. Things changed after his wife came to live with him.

Great acting by the maid and the plot was interesting! Liked the ending too that summarized the whole film!

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Liebelei

The story is about how a soldier who was the Baroness's lover fell in love with another girl. He broke up with the Baroness but the Baron found out about their past relationship and requested to have a duel with him.

Liked the storyline and the happy moments of the couple! The girl looked pretty and had a nice voice! I agreed with the soldier's friend who thought that the tradition of having a duel was cruel and illogical!

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