A Song I Remember (2011) [Film Review]

A Song I Remember; or, Polaroid Memories
     Why do you take photos, Tsuyoshi? I like your pictures.
Recently, I have noticed via Twitter announcement that organisation La Cinémathèque Française has made Kiyoshi Sugita’s A Song I Remember available to watch online legally and for free with English and French subtitles. Needless to say, I took the opportunity and viewed the movie I have heard absolutely nothing about. Here are my thoughts on it.

Release Info

Directed by: Kiyoshi Sugita Starring: Takenori Kaneko, Yuri Ishizaka, Koichi Masuno

Language: Japanese Original Title: ひとつの歌 Runtime: 98 min

Synopsis
Tsuyoshi (Takenori Kaneko) passes through the streets of Tokyo, trying to capture an interesting moment on his Polaroid camera. He decides to take a photo of a woman waiting at a train station. A few moments later, the woman dies tragically in an accident. While searching for Polaroid accessories, Tsuyoshi befriends Kiriko (Yuri Ishizaka) who runs a local camera shop. It turns out that Kiriko is a daughter of the woman Tsuyoshi encountered at a train station…

A Chance Encounter
Before checking out A Song I Remember, you need to know that this is indie filmmaking at its purest. There is absolutely zero pacing. Scenes keep on going and it is up to the viewers to draw proper conclusions. In addition, we mainly get either establishing or tracking shots while following the main protagonist through his daily activities. Nevertheless, all of this works to the film’s advantage.

When you are in the right mindset, you will definitely enjoy the peacefulness of the movie. It is not just about storytelling, but about characters within settings. It is quite interesting that the director chose to film A Song I Remember in 4:3 aspect ratio because, in my opinion, this only gives it an additional charm. It is a pleasure to see Tsuyoshi and Kiriko on real Tokyo streets, within real suburbs, etc. Consequently, the world of the film is not imagined but very much tangible.

Although the movie lasts a little over 90 minutes, the viewing experience itself is much faster. The story in itself is fairly simple, and the theme of a Polaroid camera catching fleeting, and seemingly trivial, moments of our lives is indeed intriguing. Performances of the main leads, Takenori Kaneko and Yuri Ishizaka, cannot go unnoticed as well.

Recommendations
All in all, I wish I could have A Song I Remember on either DVD or Blu-Ray, so I could use it as a demo disc on my TV set. The cinematography in this film is just so darn beautiful. Sequences of real Tokyo during the hustle and bustle period are something to be cherished and played on repeat. The movie can be checked out on Henri platform until the 8th of February, 2022.
Overall score: 7/10

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The Resisitance (2011) [Film Review]

The Resistance; or, The Mark of Ninja
     Tonight, I have to kill the general, avenge my family, and avenge the Chinese people. If tonight fails, I need you to tell everyone what has happened here.
The Resistance marks the second directorial feature of Peng Zhang Li, the kung fu master who also happens to be an aspiring filmmaker from China. Is this film an improvement over The Last Kung Fu Monk? Let’s find out together.

Release Info

Directed by: Peng Zhang Li Starring: Hu Sang, Peng Zhang Li, Jeremy Marr Williams

Language: Mandarin, English Original Title: 反抗者 Runtime: 85 min

Synopsis
China, the 1940s. After the massacre of Nanjing, the Japanese soldiers gradually took control over the Chinese territories while exploiting the local population. Steven (Jeremy Marr Williams) is an American journalist who was sent to China in order to uncover the truth about the war atrocities committed by the Japanese, but he is thrown into prison. Xiaoyu (Hu Sang) bears personal grudge against the invaders because they killed her family. As a result, she joins the Chinese Resistance. What is more, Xiaoyu acts on her own and becomes The Black Dress Killer. She single-handedly attacks the Japanese troops under the cover of the night. Her goal is to kill the ruthless General Takeshi (Peng Zhang Li).

The Vigilante’s Shadow
Whereas The Last Kung Fu Monk replicated the vibes of Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan flicks, The Resistance tries to mimic the war exploitation undertones of such popular films as Hapkido (1972), Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (1983), and Ip Man (2008), sprinkling it with a touch of ninja theme taken straight from Samurai Spy (1965).

In terms of technical execution, this movie is a vast improvement over Peng Zhang Li’s debut feature. The editing, pacing, and the music score are much better. Nevertheless, the presence of rudimentary CGI has to be excused in view of the fact that the Chinese industry was at the early stages of implementing the technology back in 2011.

With regard to the screenplay, the plot line is coherent and understandable, yet it suffers from a few cliches (dream sequences involving a double twist, the General doing some pain-resisting exercise with scantily clad ladies). However, I enjoyed the nods to the aforementioned films (Hu Sang looks totally like Angela Mao from Hapkido, and the General character is obviously named after Takeshi Kitano).

When it comes to performances, Peng Zhang Li really tried to do his best as a rotten-to-the-core villain, but Hu Sang outshines him as the main heroine/righteous ninja. After this picture, the actress went on to have a steady career on television. My praise also goes to Johan Karlberg as the German officer Schultz. His part might be small, but it is indeed a memorable one. Interestingly, the actress Jenny Lin (who later had a big break with Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid (2016)) also has a small role in the film.

Recommendations
All things considered, The Resistance is a Chinese war exploitation film that tries to relive the glory of previous popular pictures of the genre. It may suffer from inadequate CGI and a very messy ending, but the viewing experience is definitely better in comparison to The Last Kung Fu Monk. You can check out the film on YouTube.Overall score: 5/10
Note: My thanks go to Johan Karlberg for sharing pieces of trivia about this film. You can check out his interesting making of featurette here.

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The Crucible (2011) [Mini Review]

The Crucible (2011)

This time, I would like to make an exclusive mini-review of the South Korean drama film called The Crucible (released internationally as Silenced).

Release Info

Directed by: Hwang Dong Hyuk

Starring: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu Mi, Kim Hyung Soo

Language: Korean

Original Title: 도가니

Runtime: 125 min

I picked it up because I have recently seen Train to Busan (2016), as I have wanted to check out something more of Gong Yoo and Jung Yu Mi. Well, after checking out The Crucible, the film left me completely gobsmacked. I was so shocked that, in my view, a regular review of the film seems pointless, because it will not give it enough justice.

Don’t get me wrong, The Crucible is a great movie, but I would like to refer to the sensitive topic that it explores. The story is based on real events which took place at Gwangju Inhwa School (go here for further details) and, in short, the movie focuses on a teacher who discovers that faculty members of a school for deaf children are sexually assaulting their students. The highlight, as well as the issue, of the film is that it does not present its topic subtly. It grips the viewer by the throat and slaps him in the face with highly explicit content. The first half of the film is a brutal exposition as the main character, Kang In Ho (Gong Yoo), unravels the uncomfortable truth; whereas the second part is a nasty courtroom drama as he and human rights activist Seo Yoo Jin (Jung Yu Mi) struggle to make the offenders pay for their crimes.

To be honest, it is not a movie for everyone. If you’re faint-hearted or feel very distressed about sensitive issues, then give this film a pass. However, if you feel up to going through some upsetting sequences, then The Crucible will provide you some intellectual food for thought. It is no wonder that the film actually led to some legislative reforms in South Korea.

Overall score: 8/10