Treeless Mountain

The story is about two sisters who had to cope with their mother's absence when she left home in search of their father. They were first sent to their aunt's place then to their grandparent's place.

Great acting by the two young actresses! Liked the simple story and how the director fleshed out the film with little details! I wonder how tasty the fried grasshoppers were!

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Walkabout

The story is about the adventures of a teenage girl and her younger brother in the Australian Outback when they got lost and met a local aboriginal boy.

I liked the nice scenery of the Australian Outback and the psychological tension among the three people! I found quite a lot of similarities with "Alice in Wonderland". The teenage girl was like Alice in "Alice in Wonderland" walking around in a land filled with strange creatures, the aboriginal boy was like the Mad Hatter who guided her across the land and performed a special dance towards the end. I also liked the poem recitation in both films!

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Alice in Wonderland

The story is adapted from Lewis Carrol's novel "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass".

Liked how elegant the Cheshire Cat floated and flipped around in the air! The plot was not particularly exciting and the ending was a bit awkward in my opinion but there is an interesting analysis that explains the mathematical background of the story!

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The Class

The story is about school life in France focusing on the interactions between a French teacher and his students who come from a diverse background.

Liked the realistic depiction of the camaraderie among the teachers and the lively discussions in class!

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Color of Pomegranates

The story is about the life of an Armenian poet called Sayat Nova.

Liked the visual aesthetics in the form of colorful costumes and nice props! The plot is near to non-existent but the inter-titles helped me understand what was going on.

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Syndromes and a Century

The film compares the working conditions of doctors working in a rural hospital and those working in a city hospital. The rural hospital is closer to nature and the doctors had a closer relationship with their patients.

A little bit abstract for me as there is not much of a plot. Thought the interview questions were pretty interesting and the songs were nice!

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Up the Yangtze

This is a documentary about people living along the Yangtze river who had to move as the construction of the Three Gorge dam neared completion.

Liked how the director focused his story on one family and contrasted their life with their daughter's life who quit school to work on board of the cruise ship! Nice scenery of the Yangtze river and the dam looks huge, perhaps even bigger than the Marina Barrage!

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72 Tenants of Prosperity

The story is about how the tenants on a street in Hong Kong helped each other in times of crisis.

A little bit messy as the director tried to fit as many big name actors and actresses into the film as possible into the plot but I liked the marketing strategies of the two mobile phone shops! They were pretty innovative!

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Through the Olive Trees

The story is about the process of making a film and describes the actual story of the actor and actress who were victims of an earthquake.

Loved the off-screen speeches by the lead actor, the beautiful Z-shaped path that was carved into the mountain and the final scenes! Don’t really understand why there was a need for so many NG scenes though.

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Memories of Murder

The story is about how the police tried to track down a serial rapist in a small town.

I liked this better than "Mother" as the plot was more focused on making sense of the clues rather than on other miscellaneous sub-plot! Great acting by Song Kang-Ho who was also the lead actor in "The Host"! The final scene expressed what he felt over the whole incident very well!

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The Mad Fox

The story is about how an astrologer became mad and his encounters with a fox.

Liked the interesting plot, nice music and amazing special effects! Really impressed by their set design!

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Germany, Pale Mother

The story is about the life of a German family before, during and after the second World War, narrated by the daughter who was born during an air raid.

Liked the mix of documentary footage and the film as well as the exploration on the effects of war on the human psychology! I thought the hairstyle of the mother looked quite similar to that of Princess Leia from "Star Wars". Wonder if it was a coincidence or a direct influence.

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Burying Old Alive

The story is about life in Korea many years ago when famine was common and there was a custom that required old people to be carried to the top of the mountain to die once they reached seventy years old. People were also more superstitious then and relied heavily on the advice of the shaman.

Liked the interesting storyline and the anti-shaman message! There were several scenes that were completely black except for the subtitles. The audio output was not disrupted though, so it was like watching a radio play. Thought it was a very unique experience!

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A Page of Madness

The story is about a woman who is a patient at psychiatric clinic. Her husband works as a janitor at the clinic and their daughter is getting married.

Liked the interesting special effects and the nice soundtrack! It is a pity that the condition of the film is not too good.

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Boy

The story is about a boy and his dysfunctional family that consisted of him, his father, his step mother and his younger brother.

Liked the weird music in the background and how the boy's introspective character was shaped by his environment! Learnt a little bit more about Japan's society at that time through this film too!

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Le Franc

The story is about a poor musician who is about to be thrown out from his home for not paying his rent but decided to buy a lottery ticket to change his luck.

Liked how the real and fantasy sequences gelled together! The characters were pretty interesting too!

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Always: Sunset on Third Street 2

The story is about life in a small neighborhood in Tokyo during the late fifties.

It was a little bit difficult to identify the characters at first without prior knowledge of the original film but I was able to slowly deduce their relationships along the way. Liked the little stories of the different characters! The young girl who worked at Suzuki Auto looked quite cute with her two ponytails!

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Do the Right Thing

The story is about how a small incident sparked a racial riot in a black neighborhood.

Liked the plot and the interesting characters in the film! Could tell that the director was telling a story close to his heart although I was lost on some of the real life references.

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Mother

The story is about a mother investigating a murder mystery that allegedly was committed by her dim-witted son.

Great acting by the mother! Liked the twists and turns in the murder mystery! Was really taken aback when they revealed who the real killer was!

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A Summer at Grandpa's

The story is about how a young boy and his sister spent their summer holidays at their grandpa's place as their mother was sick in the hospital.

Liked the leisurely countryside life depicted and the interesting characters encountered in the film! Great acting by the two kids!

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Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks - Part 2: Remnants

This is the second part of a trilogy that documents people living in the city of Shenyang before and after their houses were torn down.

Liked how the inhabitants were able to act naturally in front of the camera and spoke freely about what they thought! The songs that they listened to were very nice and the snowy landscape was pretty! Felt that the ending was a bit abrupt though.

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Koko, a Talking Gorilla

This is a documentary about a gorilla who was trained to use sign language to communicate with her trainer.

Liked the philosophical questions raised by the interviewees and watching the everyday life of the gorilla with her trainer! Was impressed by how smart she was!

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The White Balloon

The story is about a young girl who wanted to buy a goldfish for new year but had to ask other people for help when she lost the 500 tomans that her mother gave her.

Liked the interesting storyline and the resourcefulness of the little girl! Quite amazed by how the director managed to inject so much drama in a simple story!

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Not Without You

The story is about a father who brought up his daughter single handedly only to face a series of red tape when he tried to register her for school.

Liked the beautiful black and white cinematography and the cool dream sequence! The ending was nicely executed too!

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Donkey in a Brahmin Village

The story is about what happened when a professor brought a stray donkey home and asked a mute girl in the village to take care of it.

It was interesting to see how the presence of the donkey affected life in the village! Nice satire that showed how the Brahmins were superstitious and intolerant of others!

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Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks - Part 1: Rust

This is the first part of a trilogy that documents the lives of workers in the city of Shenyang before and after they were laid off as the factory went bankrupt.

Liked how the workers were able to act naturally in front of the camera and spoke freely about what they thought! Learnt a bit more about the situation in China through this great documentary! I am already looking forward to the next two parts of the trilogy!

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Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels

The story is about three days in the life of a widowed housewife named Jeanne Dielman who stayed with her son.

Liked the rhythmic sound of the protagonist opening and closing the doors as well as switching on and off the lights! I was impressed by how organised and neat she was! The dishes that she made on screen looked delicious too!

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The Name of a River

The story is an autobiography of an influential Indian director called Ritwik Ghatak done in an abstract mythical style.

Liked the nice songs in the film but wished that I had more background knowledge on the Indian history and fables to understand the film even better!

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Scenes of City Life

The story is about life in Shanghai during the mid thirties.

Liked the special sound effects in the film! It was interesting to gain an insight into the thoughts of young people during that time!

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Nazarin

The story is about a priest living in a rural Mexican village during the early twentieth century. He tried to live a holy life but this caused unexpected conflicts as it was against social norms.

Liked the interesting story and the ambiguous ending! Not really sure if the priest was a fool or simply a religious fanatic though.

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Humanity and Paper Balloons

The story is about the plight of poor people during the Tokugawa era. One of them was the wife of a ronin and she makes cheap paper balloons at home.

Liked the interesting plot but was depressed by the pessimistic view of life!

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The Cow

The story is about a young man's love for his cow and what happened when he discovered that it was missing one day. The cow had died but the villagers tried to hide the truth from him.

Liked the interesting depiction of the rural life in an Iranian village! I could tell that the young man really loved his cow through his interaction with it!

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Daybreak

The story is about a young girl who moved to Shanghai together with her boyfriend during the early thirties. Their boss was rich and powerful and he often abused his power.

Liked the flashbacks of the couple's happier moments and the actress's nice smile!

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And Quiet Rolls the Dawn

The story is about one family's daughter who was suspected to be missing when she did not return home from work as usual and its impact on the neighborhood.

This was a late seventies film, so there was no mobile phone for the daughter to call home during that time. Liked the social commentary on the role of women in Indian society and the depiction of a typical daily life at the rural Indian neighborhood!

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Black Girl

The story is about an African woman coming to France to work as a maid and how she felt about it.

Liked the voice-over narration that described the protagonist's feelings! A little bit shocked by the ending though. This would make great teaching material for new maids and their potential employers!

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The Girl Who Sold the Sun

The story is about how a handicapped girl decided to work in the city by selling newspapers whose title is "The Sun".

Learnt a bit more about the lives of street children in Africa! Was impressed by the little girl's optimism and resourcefulness!

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Nine Days of One Year

The story is about the struggles of a group of nuclear scientists in Russia during the sixties.

Liked the speech on the role of war in advancing science and vice versa! The inner monologue of the workaholic scientist's wife was interesting too!

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The Bakery Girl of Monceau

This is the first part of the "Six Moral Tales" series by Eric Rohmer. The rest of the films in the series are "Suzanne's Career", "My Night at Maud's", "La Collectionneuse", "Claire's Knee" and "Love in the Afternoon".

The story is about how a young man befriended a beautiful girl whom he always bump into in the street. The beautiful girl disappeared mysteriously without leaving her contact number. The young man roamed the streets in search for her and he became a regular customer of a bakery in the process as he wanted to save time on his meals. Will not reveal too much of the rest of the story but he eventually faced a moral choice in the end.

Liked the narration that described the thoughts of the protagonist! The pastry in the bakery looked really delicious!

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The House is Black

This is a documentary about lepers living in Iran. Their condition is described alternately between a man narrating facts and a woman reciting poetry.

Liked the sound of poetry and how it matched the images shown! The ending was pretty good as it showed how the children of the lepers felt about their parents!

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Astro Boy

The story is about a robot made in the image of a scientist's son who died in an accident. This is an adaptation of a Japanese manga and TV series.

The protagonist looked quite cute with his big eyes and spiky hair! Was inspired to check out the TV series online after watching the film and I found the TV series to be even more interesting! The soundtrack and the storyline are both even nicer!

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Crimson Gold

The story is about the life of a pizza delivery man in Iran. The title referred to the jewelery that he wanted to buy from a shop but was humiliated by the owner who felt that he could not afford it.

Liked "The Mirror" better as it was more unpredictable. Felt a little bit bored with the protagonist who had a monotonous job. The pizza looked delicious though! Maybe that was part of the reason why he became so fat!

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The Ritual

The story is about how a single woman hides her pregnancy by staying in the temple but eventually had to be evicted when people in the village found out about it.

Liked the anthropological approach to explain the unreasonableness of the caste system in India! The protagonist violated social norms but was kind towards the untouchables. The senior Brahmin students knew the rituals by heart but physically tormented their junior. Great performance by the lead actress!

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The Green Ray

The story is about a woman who went on a vacation by herself. She has just broken up with her fiance and hoped to start a new relationship.

Was quite puzzled as to what the green ray represented until towards the end of the film and everything pieced together quite nicely! This film reminded me of films by Hong Sang Soo with its theme of a lonely person, episodic structure and seemingly random dialogue!

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The Song of Sparrows

The story is about how a middle aged man working in an ostrich farm was fired and accidentally found work in the city as a motorcycle driver. His family life suffered in the process.

Liked "Children of Heaven" better as the protagonist was a really unlikable guy, shouting at his kids for no reason at all most of the time! Hope no animal was hurt making this film!

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Hunger

The story is about a talented writer struggling to survive in the city. He is poor but still tries to live with dignity.

Liked the interesting dream sequences especially the one with the dog!

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The Human Condition

This is a trilogy about the life of a young man who tries to follow his principle of treating people with kindness despite the harsh wartime conditions. He was first a coal-mine supervisor at Manchuria towards the end of World War II, became a soldier and finally ended up as a prisoner of war in Russia.

Liked how the movie traced the protagonist's life against the bigger historical background! As he was thrown into different situations, he tried his best to stick to his principles despite the circumstances. Was pleasantly surprised to see Chishu Ryu and Hideko Takamine guest starring towards the end!

I: No Greater Love IMDB Link
II: The Road to Eternity IMDB Link
III: A Soldier's Prayer IMDB Link

The Adjuster

The story is about the life of an adjuster, a person who investigates insurance claims and recommends an effective settlement. His wife has a job at the Board of Censors and they live in a show-flat together with his sister-in-law and son.

Don't really like the director's films as he tends to break a story apart into many fragments like a jig-saw puzzle and challenges the audience to piece them up together. I was puzzled until after the Q&A session. I thought it was technically pretty clever but didn't feel connected to any of the characters.

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A Moment of Innocence

The story is about a film director recreating a scene twenty years ago when he injured a policeman who was distracted by his cousin.

Liked how the whole film making process was shown together with the actual story and the philosophical dialogue! The director's daughter looked quite cute and the cousin looked quite pretty! Wasn't really sure what to expect for the ending but I thought it was very appropriate despite being a bit abrupt!

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Strange Circus

The story is about how the dark secrets of a Japanese family came back to haunt each of their members many years later.

Liked the flowery lines spoken in the narration and was deeply affected by the psychological impact on both mother and daughter as a result of the father's tyranny over them! A good mix of dreams and reality also provided several interesting twists to the film!

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Mary and Max

The story is about the friendship of two pen pals: one was a little girl from Melbourne named Mary, the other was a middle aged Jewish man from New York named Max who suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome.

Liked the interesting storyline and the narration! Nice soundtrack too!

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