Women of the Night

This is about how women became prostitutes in post-war Japan told through the stories of a widow, her sister and her friend.

Interesting plot! Thought this might be a pre-cursor to "Life of Oharu" filmed four years later with the same lead actress, Tanaka Kinuyo, with a similar theme. Didn't really understand why she did not choose to stay in the women's home as it offered food and shelter with a lot of pros and very little cons.

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Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

This is a kids adaptation of the mermaid fairytale about how a small fish with magical powers fell in love with a five year old boy and wanted to become human after he scooped her up from the sea.

Liked the nice storyline, the cute fish/girl and the catchy soundtrack at the end of the film!

Internet Movie Database Link

Osaka Elegy

The story is about Ayako's fall in society when she accepted her boss's indecent proposal in order to raise money to save her father.

This film is part of the Criterion Eclipse Series 13 boxset also named as Kenji Mizoguchi's "Fallen Women". The other titles are "Sisters of the Gion", "Women of the Night" and "Streets of Shame".

Liked the nice storyline that explained Ayako's actions due to her circumstances! Thought she celebrated a little bit too soon towards the end though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Hearts and Minds

This is a documentary about how the Americans got involved in the Vietnam War and its impact on both countries.

Liked the interviews with the people from the different sides and the newsreel clips! Gained a better understanding of this historic event after watching the film.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Elephant and the Sea

The film is about how a young man and middle aged man lived their lives after a mysterious disease struck their fishing village.

Liked the nice country side scenery and how the theme of emotional paralysis was elaborated through the performances of the two protagonists! Learnt a bit more about the film after the director revealed his influences by Hong Sang Soo during the Q&A. Realized that the prostitute scene with the middle aged man could have been adapted from a similar scene in "The Day a Pig Fell into the Well" while the young man's behavior could have been taken from "Turning Gate". The young man's friend's sister looked quite pretty in the pink dress!

Internet Movie Database Link

Story of a Prostitute

This is a love story between a prostitute serving the Japanese Army during the Second World War and a corporal.

Thought this film had a similar anti-war theme as the director's two other works: "Fighting Elegy" and "Gate of Flesh". Liked the manga visual style of the film, especially the surreal imagined scenes and the slow motion static shots! Nice story and great performance by the lead actress!

Internet Movie Database Link

For Every Minute I Live, I'll Enjoy Sixty Seconds

This is a documentary about how a retrenched middle aged man living in a small county town in Hunan spends his time.

Initially it was interesting to follow the protagonist around but got boring after a while as we realised how monotonous his life was! Reminds me of "Lim Poh Huat", a Singapore short film that describes how a Singaporean security guard working as a part time extra went about his day.

The Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge

This is a sequel to "The Nibelungen: Siegfried's Death". Following her husband's death, Kriemhild wanted to seek revenge on her husband's murder and plotted to do so after King Attila proposed to her.

King Attila had a very cool image and Kriemhild looked very scary with her vengeful eyes! Quite sad how the thought of revenge could destroy families and wreck havoc on entire nations. Liked how the contrast between the loyalty among the Nibelungens and the cold blooded actions of Kriemhild slowly built towards a grand finale in the end!

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Cape No. 7

The story is about how the people living in a small town near the seaside formed their own band to perform at a beach party. Cape No. 7 is the address of an undelivered package that fell into the hands of one band member who is a postman.

Interesting to see the lives of the ordinary people in the small town! Liked the quirky old ex-postman and the enthusiastic drummer! The music was nice too! Didn't like the two main leads and the subplot about the story of the undelivered package.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Nibelungen: Siegfried's Death

The story is about how the dragon slayer, Siegfried, helped his future brother-in-law win his bride through unfair means and suffered in the end because of this.

Liked the plot where it explained how Siegfried got his super powers, the special effects for the cute lethargic dragon and the great looking outdoor sets! Quite scary to think what could happen when two women quarrel!

Internet Movie Database Link

Port of Call

The story is about how a girl from a broken family and with a secret past fell in love with a sailor.

Thought the girl looked a little bit like Reese Witherspoon! Interesting storyline and I liked how the relationship of the couple evolved with time!

Internet Movie Database Link

Quantum of Solace

The story is about how a British spy called James Bond tracked down a mysterious organisation and helped a beautiful lady in the process.

Liked the big touch screen monitor at the headquarters as well as the cool Sony Ericsson phone! It was hard to follow the plot as it was a little bit convoluted but enjoyed the action sequences! Disappointed that there was little interaction between James Bond and Camille.

Internet Movie Database Link

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

The story is about how a lion, a giraffe, a zebra and a hippopotamus originally from the New York Zoo escaped from Madagascar where they were trapped in the first episode to land in Africa when their plane crashed.

Liked the slick moves performed by the lion, the funny dialogue and the interesting storyline!

Internet Movie Database Link

Days and Nights in the Forest

The story is about four young men from the city spending their holiday in a chalet in the forest and how they met two beautiful ladies staying nearby.

Liked the funny moments, the nice tribal music in the background and the psychological tension towards the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Singapore Shorts Vol 2

This is a collection of 9 Singapore Shorts. Each of them has a family related theme.

Among the shorts in the DVD collection, I had seen "Match Made" at last year's Singapore International Film Festival, "Absence" at a Singapore shorts screening at National Museum, a large part of "Gourmet Baby" on television and "Yesterday’s Play" at Kinokuniya's DVD launch prior to this. I had also heard of "Imelda Goes to Singapore" at Biennale 2006. The other films are: "Labour of Love - The Housewife", "A Family Portrait", "Autopsy" and "Wet Season".

Liked the well crafted documentary in "Match Made", the music in "Imelda Goes to Singapore", the story of "Gourmet Baby" and "A Family Portrait" as well as the interesting use of animation in "Wet Season"! The two nieces in "Gourmet Baby" looked quite cute and the food looked delicious!

It was interesting to see how both "Yesterday’s Play" and "Autopsy" explore the mother and son relationship in their own ways! The former is shot as a single scene with monologues from both son and mother while the latter is shot as a series of flashback scenes coupled with a Q&A session between mother and son in the background.

Didn't really like the strange story in "Absence". I also felt that "Labour of Love - The Housewife" was stretched too long and tried too hard to drum its message to the audience.

Asian Film Archive Link

Yamamura Showcase

This showcase consists of the following short animations:

Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor (2007, 21 min)
A Child's Metaphysics (2007, 5 min)
Fig (2006, 6 min)
The Old Crocodile (2005, 13 min)
Pieces (2003, 3 min)
Mt. Head (2002, 10 min)
Your Choice! (1999, 10 min)
Bavel's Book (1996, 6 min)
Kid's Castle (1995, 5 min)
Kipling Jr. (1995, 15 min)
A House (1993, 5 min)
The Sandwiches (1993, 5 min)
Imagination (1993, 5 min)
Perspektivenbox (1989, 4 min)
Japanese-English Pictionary (1989, 12 min)
Aquatic (1987, 5 min)

Was most impressed with "Mt. Head" by its interesting storyline and powerful narration! Felt quite sad when I watched "The Old Crocodile" and I thought "Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor" looked innovative! The series involving two birds: "A House", "The Sandwiches" and "Imagination" was quite cute too!

Freedom Project

The story is about how people fled earth to live on the moon because of an ecological disaster, how survivors from earth made contact many years later and how these two groups reconciled their differences.

Liked the exciting music from Utada Hikaru and the interesting characters! Nice storyline that is well paced!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sing to the Dawn

The story is about how the life of a group of Thai villagers changed with the construction of a casino.

Liked the nice songs and the strong storyline! Didn't really like the 3D animation as I thought the characters looked quite stiff. Might have enjoyed it better if they were done in the traditional 2D style.

Internet Movie Database Link

Piano Forest

The story is about how two guys became good friends through playing the piano. One was rich with his own practice room while the other had to play on an abandoned piano in the forest.

Liked the nice piano pieces and the friendship between the two guys who have quite different personalities!

Internet Movie Database Link

International Shorts Showcase 1

There are altogether seven shorts: "Yellow Sticky Notes", "Procrastination", "Fantasmagorie 2008", "Bloom", "Irresistible Smile", "Death By Scrabble" and "Mesh"

"Yellow Sticky Notes" shows the to-do lists of an animator from when he was still a student until he graduated and started working. "Procrastination" describes what it means to procrastinate. "Fantasmagorie 2008" is about the interaction between old and new digital animation. "Bloom" is based on an Indian folktale. "Irresistible Smile" describes a day's work of a flight attendant. "Death By Scrabble" describes the strange happenings when a couple played scrabble. "Mesh" is a mathematical video on the impact of geometry on science and how digitisation is used in computers.

Liked "Yellow Sticky Notes" as it was a personal account from an animator's perspective and "Mesh" as it was very informative!