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An error has ocurred. Please try againSee her list here: http://sweetandtastytv.com/2013/08/08/29-south-korean-movies-you-must-watch/
(with a nice Youtube video surveying the films, describing some of them in detail).
"Bold" denotes the use of bold font ("super recommendations") in the original list. I decided to use the numbering from the blog post after initially using the Youtube ordering.
My motivation to create this list was to take away the work of looking up these titles on IMDB for those interested in the list, and some of these titles being rather hard to find here (try finding "Il Mare" by yourself).
Reviews
Anoko wa kizoku (2020)
Important critique of social expectations for women, but a bit on the nose
The film illustrates the challenges and problems of women in (Japanese) society very well, the expected life paths, the judgement of the older generations, and it holds the viewer's interest well enough. But it feels like every scene straight up tells you what the problem is very literally, there isn't much room for subtlety or character exploration. It feels like a documentary illustrated in examples. Don't get me wrong, the film raises very important points very elaborately, but it reverses the "show, don't tell" principle a bit too often.
What should be the difference between a documentary and a drama dealing with the same problem? The drama should captivate, and naturally guide the audience to think about these issues because they care about the characters. A scene should not just tell a situation, it should also leave room for interpretation and interesting, surprising character interactions.
Again, don't get me wrong, the characters here are still interesting, the story is well put together, and also visually there is a lot to appreciate. It just felt a bit too much like a lecture.
But if I ever had to show someone problems in Japanese society, especially for women, maybe as a conversation starter, and it had to be in the form of a film/drama, this would be a very good choice.
And with the visual elements and the important societal questions asked, I definitely don't regret watching this film at all.