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mollycat
Reviews
Ima, soko ni iru boku (1999)
explaining war to children
This is a good series to explain the implications of war to older children. I know a lot of people think that it is only for older teenagers and adults, because themes like child soldiers, rape, and totalitarianism are shown and/or implied, but the story is told in such a simplistic and naive way that it might leave older audiences feel rather patronized.
The animation is very good, and some of the backgrounds look great. The characterizations are simple, people are good or bad, but most are presented as having some history, and shown as leaning towards the opposite at first. For example, a character/child that commits war crimes is then revealed as a victim of war crimes itself. But that is the most ambiguous the characters get, mostly its very black and white. And the series uses obvious emotive images to drive home its point, such as the child soldiers leaving tiny footprints in the desert sand. The irrational behaviour of Shuu, the main character, also adds disbelieve to situations (such as being whipped) that would otherwise seem more dramatic.
I liked this series, but found it a bit clumsy. Other anime series that use a cutish style of animation, like Full Metal Alchemist, show a far more mature approach in the way they tackle issues of violence, responsibility and loyalty. This is for the kids only.
Akasia (2003)
so disappointing
Having just watched Acacia, I find that I have to agree with the negative reviews here. I like Asian, and Korean horror, and I had great expectations for this film. Man, was i disappointed. Watching this, I kept thinking "surely they just do this to catch me off guard later on", and for a while I expected something ingenious to happen. However, I slowly realised that the film really is that bad. It is the cheapest cash in into the Asian horror market I have seen so far.
The basic story is perhaps not even that bad, but the way it is filmed it seems like the most laughable plot ever. The tree as a 'scary' device might be okay if used cleverly, but all the filmmaker does is giving us different shots of...yes, a tree, over and over again. He seems to hope that the tree will do all the work for him in terms of tension and build-up, but it just feels like what it is: shots of a tree. For goodness' sake!
Slow build-ups can be very effective, and a film that presents the viewer with only few glimpses of what is wrong might deliver good scares, but not Acacia. Sure, we get a glimpse of a child on a tricycle disappearing around a corner, and, yet again, meaningful shots of the tree from above, or underneath, or the side, but these scenes are just not scary. They feel silly, especially because you realise that the director means them to be scary. They simply aren't.
Apart from that I agree with some of the other reviewers, that the characters are ridiculous. In particular the one character's 'descent into madness' is laughable. However, what really breaks Acacia is the terrible editing. Its hard to see why scenes were cut together the way they are, but it's bad, and it kills any spark of interrest it might have had. It also makes me feel patronised, because I can see what they are trying to achieve with it, but I cannot believe that they think I would fall for such cheap ploys.
There are lots of great Asian ghost films, and lots of bad ones, but this is by far the worst I have seen. They must have been going through the list of 'what to put into ghost movies', and ticked them all off, but in the end they forgot to add the actual movie.
Malice@Doll (2001)
A weird and interesting movie
Dolls are artificial beings, machines created by humans in order to serve as prostitutes. They live in a dark underground world, where they roam the streets looking for human clients. Those clients, however, have disappeared, and the dolls lead a purposeless existence, following meaningless routines that are focused on masters which have been absent for a long time.
Malice is one of them. She gets up every day, walks around looking for non-existent clients, and goes for maintenance. The world around her is slowly decaying, as are the dolls themselves.
Things change for her when she gets attacked by a strange monster, which turns her into flesh and blood. Thrilled by her new body, Malice tries to pass on this gift to the other droids that inhabit her world, only to encounter fear and despair instead of the hope she wanted to spread, raising questions about awareness and existence.
I didn't know anything about this movie when I rented it, and felt very confused for the first half hour. However, the feeling of 'what the hell...' soon changed to 'wow, this is great' as i started to make more and more sense of the story. The cg animation is unusual, and reminds of puppetry more than anything else. The world which the dolls inhabit is a mechanical nightmare, and the changed Malice is the only organic thing amongst all the cables and metal. I found it quite moving, especially the relationship between Malice and Joe Admin. It is brave, weird movie, and takes some thinking to make sense of. Highly recommended!
Janghwa, Hongryeon (2003)
Spooky AND Intelligent
Two sisters return home from a stint in the psychiatric ward. However, the house of their father and his new wife doesn't seem like the best place to recover, and soon paranoia and fear put everyone on edge, and nothing is and was as it appears to be.
This movie is such a rare exception to the tired genre of ghost movies: its spooky AND intelligent. It's also very beautiful. I am always on the lookout for good ghost movies, and this is one of the best, if not the best i have ever seen.
The story is so entangled that it might confuse, but with a bit of thinking it all becomes much clearer, and solving the puzzles while and after watching certainly rewards and is fun. That is, viewers who like to use their brains while watching a movie. People who resent the post-modern take on the genre might feel cheated. This film is an absolute beauty, and the cinematography and soundtrack are exceptional.
Redeu-ai (2004)
A Good Ghost Movie
Good ghost movies are hard to find. I love a good ghost movie, but normally most turn out to be teen-slashers, or just plain silly. This one is very enjoyable. It's not terrifying, and it will not make you hide behind your sofa or think too much, but it is creepy and well-paced. There are some jumpy moments, but the real stress is on a slow build up. For some time the presence of anything sinister is only hinted at. We see characters interacting, dark shadows in the corner, and glimpses of the past, mostly experienced by the main character, a female conductor. It is her first trip as a conductor, and the last trip for a train on that particular line, on which a terrible accident has happened years earlier. There is an atmosphere of menace, which slowly becomes more threatening as more of the characters' fears and backgrounds are revealed and the train gathers speed. There are clichéd scenes, such as someone innocently picking up a coat out of which falls an important newspaper clipping, but they are not bad enough to render the film ridiculous. The effects are well done and sometimes scary, and the slow pacing, accompanied by the constant sound of the train and the subtle cinematography, make for a great atmosphere. If you enjoy spookiness and ghosts you will like this.
Appurushîdo (2004)
Stunning animation, average story
This movie looks absolutely stunning, no doubt about it. The cg background works well, and the characters' somewhat artificial look fits in well. The chase scene at the beginning is incredibly beautiful with it's shattering statues and slow motion fighting. The story, however, is less impressive. I have never read the manga, but found it hard to believe that it comes from the same person who has created Ghost in the Shell, a story that is far more involving and clever than Appleseed 2004. With the exception of Hitomi, the emotional link between the Bioroids and humans, the characters are truly awful and uninvolving. The love story between Deunan, the main character, and Briareos, her love-interest who has become machine, is neat in theory, but wears thin quickly. He dies, then miraculously is alive again because the amour that he is has shut down before he dies. The reason why and how the dying man Briareos has been confined to this armour is never touched on, and any questions about existence and self are dropped. At the same time the Bioroids, beings who are supposedly without emotion, appear far more human than the main protagonists. This lack of characterisation and development is almost excused by the sheer beauty of the animation, but only almost. As the plot turned more and more into a standard action movie, i felt my attention slipping, until in the end i was so bored that I was almost glad that it was over. It's a shame, because the story has potential, and the animation is perfect. I can't help but think that a director like Mamoru Oshii would have made more out of it. Having said that, Appleseed 2004 looks so stunning that it deserves a watch, and I feel 6/10 is fully justified.
Shi mian mai fu (2004)
not a great film
This is not a great film. It has stirred some discussion, as Chinese critics keep slating it and western critics praising it, but in the end you don't need to be some cultural expert in order to find fault with this film. It is pretty looking, no doubt about that, but apart from stunning scenery it doesn't have much to offer. Maybe the cinematography of a Chris Doyle would have made a difference, but as it is the cinematography keeps stumbling over its own ambitions - far too much screen time is given to filming horses from all angles running over the forest floor, and fight scenes are constantly slowed down and broken up by slow motion shots of impressive jumps and somersaults. The characters are thin at best, and the actors, as good as they might be, have not much to work with. I normally like Andy Lau, but all he can do in this film is to look good in historic costume, and once in a while pretend he is mad. The same goes for the other actors, especially for Zhang Ziyi, who has to revive yet again her role of CTHD, and cannot do much more than look incredibly pretty in colourful costumes and breathe heavily. In the end, it is hard to feel for any of the characters, or a 'House of Flying Daggers' that you don't know anything about. The only reason this film didn't score less with me is that it was on at the cinema at the same time as Polar Express and Christmas with the Cranks.