ACF 1248: Two Chinese films to close-out IN FOCUS: FORTISSIMO FILMS at MoMA

In Focus: Fortissimo Films will conclude tomorrow with these two screenings at the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, NYC.

 Beijing Bastards / Beijing Zazhong

Directed by Zhang Yuan

With Cui Jian, Li Wei, Bian Jing, Wu Lala

China/Hong Kong, 1992, 95 minutes
When: Monday, November 21, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2

In Mandarin; English subtitles

Synopsis: Beijing Bastards, regarded as China’s first independent film, has been officially banned, widely boycotted, and constantly hunted down. Zhang Yuan, a leading figure of China’s so-called Sixth Generation Filmmakers, bravely took on the taboo subject of Beijing’s disaffected youth, brilliantly combining reality and fantasy in the tale of a rock idol who attempts to organize a concert and is prevented from doing so, and a young woman whose failed suicide attempt brings her into contact with different cultures within and on the edges of the city and society. Courtesy Fortissimo Films.

 Springtime in a Small Town / Xiao Cheng Zhi Chun

Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang

With Hu Jing Fan, Wu Jun, Xin Bai Qing

China, 2002, 112 minutes
When: Monday, November 21, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2

In Mandarin; English subtitles

Synopsis: In a small southern Chinese town in 1946, an unexpected visitor stirs up feelings of lust and passion within the serene walls of the Dai family’s traditional courtyard home. The young but sickly head of the household, his devoted, beautiful wife, and everyone else in the house soon begin to question the meaning of friendship, honor, and trust—all with decidedly unexpected results. Courtesy Palm Pictures.

ACF 1245: ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU at MoMA tomorrow

  All About Lily  Chou-CHou

Written and directed by Shunji Iwai

With Hayato Ichihara, Shugo Oshinari, Ayumi Ito

Japan, 2001, 146 minutes
When: Sunday, November 20, 2011, 2:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Where: MoMA, 11 West 53rd Street, NYC 

In Japanese; English subtitles

Beginning as an interactive novel Iwai wrote and posted on the Internet, All About Lily Chou Chou perfectly captures the absurdities of growing up in Japan’s pervasive pop/cyber culture, in which Internet chat rooms, pop-idol worship, and harrowing school bullying are just part of a teenager’s daily life. Iwai’s poetic, gorgeously shot coming-of-age tale provides a disturbing look at the violence, terror, and isolation that characterize growing up in Japan today. Courtesy Fortissimo Films.

This screening is part of the series In Focus: Fortissimo Films.

ACF 1243: SHOWER at MoMA

Da Ming, Master Liu, and Er Ming

 Shower / Xizhao

Directed by Zhang Yang

With Zhu Xu, Pu Cun Xin, Jiang Wu

China, 1999, 92 minutes
When: Friday, November 18, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
Where: MoMA, 11 West 53rd Street, NYC

 This evening the Museum of Modern Art will again present this wonderful drama with comic touches as part of the series In Focus: Fortissimo Films.

Da Ming (Pu Cun Xin), a businessman in Shenzhen in southern China,  returns north to his home in Beijing because he believes that his widowed father has died. But Master Liu (Zhu Xu) is very much alive, running his traditional bathhouse with his younger son Er Ming (Jiang Wu), who has mental retardation but functions at a relatively high level. Da Ming had misinterpreted a card his brother had sent, a crayon drawing showing him standing next to their father who is laid out flat in bed. When asked about why he drew the picture that way, Er Ming explains that their father is asleep in bed and that he sent the card because he missed his brother.

Da Ming in a high-tech shower prior to his trip to Beijing

Since both his father and brother are well, Da Ming, who clearly has not visited in quite some time, intends to make it a short visit and to fly back to his wife and job. But situations arise that repeatedly delay his departure. In the course of the film, Da Ming, whose life centers on making money in China's changing and booming economy comes to realize the value and importance of family and social traditions, both of which tend to be forgotten in the quest for wealth.

The three lead actors are all excellent in their roles, particularly Wu Jiang. The film also boasts fine  performances in supporting roles. These include two elderly regulars at the bathhouse who engage in cricket fighting, and a husband and wife who have been fighting with each other since an unusual incident two years earlier.

Er Ming listens to 'O Sole Mio

But the most important supporting character is a young man who sings 'O sole mio while standing under the shower. Whenever he does, Er Ming comes over, sits down, and listens to his singing with rapt attention. This connection between them plays an important role in two scenes. One is late in the film at the Neighborhood Culture Party, where the young man freezes with stage fright in front of the audience until Er Ming comes to his aide with a hilarious ploy. The other is the final scene in the film involving Er Ming at the bathhouse.

It would have been easy for this film to wallow in cloying melodrama. But Zhang Yang displays a deft hand directing a fine script about an all too human situation. Rather than being manipulative in typically all-too-obvious ways, the film takes hold of your heart and gently squeezes, genuinely earning every bit of the viewers emotional involvement and response.

ACF Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars. Very highly recommended.

ACF 1242: LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE screening at MoMA tomorrow afternoon

 Last Life in the Universe

Directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Screenplay by Prabda Yoon, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Cinematography by Chris Doyle

With Asano Tadanobu, Sinitta Boonyasak, Matsushige Yutaka

Thailand, 2003, 112 minutes

In Thai, Japanese, English; English subtitles

Friday, November 18, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2

Last Life in the Universe will be shown at the New York's Museum of Modern Art tomorrow afternoon as part of the series In Focus; Fortissimo Films.

This beautifully photographed film—one of several in this exhibition photographed by Doyle— illustrates Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s profound understanding of the aimless spirit and cautious dreams of Asia’s youth. The fortunes of Kenji, a suicide-obsessed Japanese man living in Bangkok, take a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills a Yakuza gang member. That same night, Noi, a Thai barmaid in the burnt- out beach town of Pattaya, accidentally kills her sister. Thrown together by this common twist of fate, Kenji and Noi find their lives inextricably linked as they hide out together, hoping to find love and redemption. Courtesy Palm Pictures.

ACF 1239: DEVILS ON THE DOORSTEP and THE EYE at MOMA

After a one day hiatus, the film series In Focus: Fortissimo Films will return to New York's Museum of Modern Art tomorrow with two fine Asian films.

Devils on the Doorstep / Guizi lai le

Directed by Jiang Wen

Screenplay by You Fengwei, Shi Jianquan, Shu Ping, Jiang Wen.

With Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding

China, 2000, 140 minutes

In Mandarin, Japanese; English subtitles

Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2

Synopsis: To the average Chinese peasant, foreigners have long been “devils”—potentially dangerous outsiders who arrive with dubious motives and nefarious intent. That was especially true of the Japanese soldiers who invaded China in the 1930s. Despite having to give a percentage of the grain harvest to the Japanese, Ma Dasan and his neighbors in a small northern Chinese village coexist with them peacefully—until the night two prisoners are dumped on Ma Dasan’s doorstep, one a Japanese soldier, the other a Chinese collaborator. Director Jiang Wen, the most famous actor of his generation thanks to the TV series A Beijinger in New York, brings great emotional weight to the role of Ma Dasan. Courtesy Fortissimo Films.

ACF Comments: At the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, Devils on the Doorstep won the Grand Prize of the Jury (though not the Palme d'Or for which it was nominated. It has been banned in China, for which various explanations have been offered.  In any case, it's a truly great film with spot on performances and exquisite black-and-white cinematography.

ACF Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; highly recommended

For those unable to make this, the second and final screening at this film series, Devils on the Doorstep is available with some nice extras on DVD from Home Vision, which became part of  Entertainment/Image Entertainment in 2005.

The Eye / Jian Gui

Directed by Oxide Pang, Danny Pang
Written by Oxide Pang, Danny Pang, Jo Jo Hui, Yuet Chun

With Lee Sin-jie, Lawrence Chow, So Yut Lai.

Hong Kong/Thailand, 2001, 98 minutes

In Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai, English; English subtitles

Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 

Synopsis: A cornea transplant restores a young musician’s vision, but a series of inexplicable events leads her to believe that her restored sight involves “more than meets the eye.” Her new eyes foresee disasters that only she can stop, but will she have the courage to change the future? The American remake, starring Jessica Alba, was a dud, but the original shook audiences around the world and spawned a string of successful sequels from the Pang Brothers. Courtesy Palm Pictures.

ACF Comments: As has been the case (usually unfortunately) with numerous recent Asian horror films, The Eye was remade by Hollywood. The 2008 U.S. version stars Jessica Alba and was directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud. Definitely stick with the original Pang brothers film.

ACF 1237: Chinese comedy SHOWER showing at MoMA tomorrow

 Shower / Xizhao

Directed by Zhang Yang

With Zhu Xu, Pu Cun Xin, Jiang Wu

China, 1999, 92 minutes

In Mandarin; English subtitles

Monday, November 14, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 

Shower will be the next film showing in the series In Focus: Fortissimo Films at MoMA, in midtown Manhattan at 11 West Fifty-third Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. It will also screen on Friday, November 18, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2.

Synopsis: Evoking the sharp contrasts of China’s rapid transition from traditional living to ultra-modernization, Shower opens with a wondrous fantasy of a high-tech automated shower, which then slams into a vision of a traditional bathhouse—a couple thousand years old and a culture unto itself. Mistakenly believing that his father has passed away, a man returns to Beijing from the Shenzhen region, where he had been looking to be part of China’s economic boom. His father, meanwhile, has remained behind to raise a develop-mentally challenged son and manage a run-down bathhouse in dire need of upkeep. Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics.

ACF 1231: Three Asian films screening at MoMA tomorrow, November 12th

Three more Asian films will be playing in the series In Focus: Fortissimo Films at MoMA on Saturday. (For today's lineup, see ACF 1228.)

Devils on the Doorstep / Guizi lai le

Directed by Jiang Wen

Screenplay by You Fengwei, Shi Jianquan, Shu Ping, Jiang Wen.

With Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding

China, 2000, 140 minutes

In Mandarin, Japanese; English subtitles

Saturday, November 12, 2011, 2:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 

To the average Chinese peasant, foreigners have long been “devils”—potentially dangerous outsiders who arrive with dubious motives and nefarious intent. That was especially true of the Japanese soldiers who invaded China in the 1930s. Despite having to give a percentage of the grain harvest to the Japanese, Ma Dasan and his neighbors in a small northern Chinese village coexist with them peacefully—until the night two prisoners are dumped on Ma Dasan’s doorstep, one a Japanese soldier, the other a Chinese collaborator. Director Jiang Wen, the most famous actor of his generation thanks to the TV series A Beijinger in New York, brings great emotional weight to the role of Ma Dasan. Courtesy Fortissimo Films.

Last Life in the Universe

Directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Screenplay by Prabda Yoon, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Cinematography by Chris Doyle

With Asano Tadanobu, Sinitta Boonyasak, Matsushige Yutaka

Thailand, 2003, 112 minutes

In Thai, Japanese, English; English subtitles

Saturday, November 12, 2011, 5:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 

This beautifully photographed film—one of several in this exhibition photographed by Doyle— illustrates Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s profound understanding of the aimless spirit and cautious dreams of Asia’s youth. The fortunes of Kenji, a suicide-obsessed Japanese man living in Bangkok, take a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills a Yakuza gang member. That same night, Noi, a Thai barmaid in the burnt- out beach town of Pattaya, accidentally kills her sister. Thrown together by this common twist of fate, Kenji and Noi find their lives inextricably linked as they hide out together, hoping to find love and redemption. Courtesy Palm Pictures.

Beijing Bastards / Beijing Zazhong

Directed by Zhang Yuan

With Cui Jian, Li Wei, Bian Jing, Wu Lala. 

1992. China/Hong Kong, 1992, 95 minutes

In Mandarin; English subtitles

Saturday, November 12, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 

Beijing Bastards, regarded as China’s first independent film, has been officially banned, widely boycotted, and constantly hunted down. Zhang Yuan, a leading figure of China’s so-called Sixth Generation Filmmakers, bravely took on the taboo subject of Beijing’s disaffected youth, brilliantly combining reality and fantasy in the tale of a rock idol who attempts to organize a concert and is prevented from doing so, and a young woman whose failed suicide attempt brings her into contact with different cultures within and on the edges of the city and society. Courtesy Fortissimo Films.

ACF 1228: TEARS OF THE TIGER and HAPPY TOGETHER to screen at MoMA on Friday, November 11th

Featuring 10 Asian and 1 non-Asian films, In Focus: Fortissimo Films begins at MoMA tonight with a screening of Warriors of the Rainbow. (Read about it at ACF 1225.) Two other terrific films will be shown tomorrow, Friday, November 11th:

 

Tears of the Black Tiger / Fata Lai Jone 

Written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng

With Chartchai Ngamsan, Stella Malucchi, Supakorn Kitsuwon 

Thailand, 2000, 104 minutes
In Thai; English subtitles 
Friday, November 11, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1 

Inspired by classic Westerns and romantic dramas, this Thai-spiced “Spaghetti” Western, about the impossible love of a governor’s daughter for the bandit nicknamed the Black Tiger, adds a gorgeous soundtrack to the requisite shoot-outs, broken-hearted cowboys, and beautiful women. The film’s faux-hand-tinted, supersaturated palette emphasizes the nostalgic atmosphere, in a unique homage to the larger-than-life Thai Western genre. For my review of the film last June, when it scrteened at Asia Society, click here.

Happy Together / Cheun gwong tsa sit 

Written and directed by Wong Kar-wai

With Leslie Cheung Kwong-wing, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Chang Chen

Hong Kong, 1997, 96 minutes

Friday, November 11, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1

Lovers who are happy together are all the same. Lovers whose relationships fall apart are all different, unique in the ways they inflict emotional torture on themselves and each other. Lai Yiu-fai and Ho Po-wing are in love when they arrive in Argentina from Hong Kong, but something goes wrong as they travel south in search of adventure. Poetic, inventive, and heartbreakingly honest, Happy Together garnered several major awards and cemented Wong Kar-wai’s status as one of contemporary cinema’s preeminent talents. Courtesy Kino Lorber. In Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish; English subtitles. 96 min.

The film will be introduced by renowned cinematographer Christopher Doyle!!!!!

 

ACF 1225: Two screenings of Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale at MoMA

 Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale

Written and directed by Wei Te-sheng

With Lin Ching-tai, Umin Boya, Ando Masanobu, Vivian Hsu Ando

Taiwan, 2011, 150 minutes

In Japanese; English subtitles.

When: Thursday, November 10, 2011 @ 7:00 PM

and Sunday November 20, 2011 @ 5:00 PM
Where: The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street, New York, NY

MoMA will present two sneak previews of Wei Te-sheng’s historical epic, fresh from its recent world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The film offers a unique retelling of a little-known episode from 20th-century history: between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a Japanese colony inhabited by both Han Chinese immigrants and the remnants of the aboriginal tribes who first settled the land.

In 1930 Mouna Rudo, the leader of one of these Seediq tribes, forged a coalition with other Seediq tribal heads and plotted a rebellion against their Japanese colonial masters. Wei Tesheng’s previous film, Cape No. 7, became Taiwan’s highest-grossing film ever, thus allowing him to realize this ambitious passion project, which has been in the planning stages for a decade. The film will be introduced by director Wei.

These two screenings of Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale is part of the series In Focus: Fortissimo Films,  which runs November 10–21, 2011.

ACF 1209: IN FOCUS: FORTISSIMO FILMS to feature 10 Asian films

Last Life in the Universe (Thailand)

In Focus: Fortissimo Films is an upcoming series that will screen at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from November 10-21, 2011. Ten of the eleven films are from Asian countries, including All About Lily Chou Chou (Japan), Devils on the Doorstep (China), and Tears of the Black Tiger (Thailand). The one non-Asian film is Yes Nurse! No Nurse! from The Netherlands.

An early, visionary force in the global independent film movement, Fortissimo Films now has offices in several entertainment capitals and maintains an expansive reach within the international independent film community, nurturing relationships with talented directors and producers throughout the world. Fortissimo has played an especially important role in the international expansion of Asian cinema, helping to introduce a multitude of talented and innovative artists. The company’s willingness to champion films that confront tough political and artistic issues is evident in the titles in this exhibition, which stretch across many territories to represent two decades of production, sales, and distribution.

In addition to supporting scores of notable films from Hong Kong and China—from Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together (Hong Kong) to Tian Zhuangzhuang’s Springtime in a Small Town (China) and Zhang Yuan’s Beijing Bastards (China/Hong Kong)—the company has helped to develop titles from Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines and, in particular, Thailand, with filmmakers such as Wisit Sasanatieng and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (both of whom are represented in this series).

Full information about the films to be shown, the screening schedule, and ordering tickets can be found here.

In Focus: Fortissimo Films was organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film at MoMA.

ACF 1168: Rolling Home with a Bull

Lee Hyun-soo (left) and Choi Sun-ho

Rolling Home with a Bull / So-wa Ham-kke Yeo-haeng-ha-neun Beop

Directed by Yim Soon-rye

With Kim Young-pil, Kong Hyo-jin, Mek- bo

South Korea, 2010, 108 minutes

Rolling Home with a Bull, also known as “Travel with a Cow,” is a most unusual Road Movie in that it's about a man and his bull.

Choi Sun-ho (Kim Young-pil) is an unmarried man in his late thrities who works on his parents' farm. Educated and a writer of poetry, he's fed up with having to care for and clean up after the family's bull, which is used for plowing the family's hillside fields. He urges that they sell the bull and buy a tractor to modernize their farming, but his father adamantly refuses.

So Sun-ho makes off with the bull in the family truck early one morning, just as his father wakes up, sees what is happening, and gives ineffectual chase on foot. While on the road, Sun-ho hears from Lee Hyun-soo (Kong Hyo-jin), a woman he knew in his youth but last saw seven or eight years earlier. She tells him that her husband Peter has just died in an accident. He joins her at the wake where it's just the two of them. Hyun-soo at times calls Sun-ho "Paul." Seems that at one time all three were good friends and they took on the names of the American folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary. Sun-ho/Paul had loved Hyun-soo/Mary and never really got over the her marrying Peter.

Sun-ho continues his journey, trying to get the best price for the bull, which gets "car sick" and weak from standing in the back of the truck for hours. The grand-daughter of the veterinarian who diagnosed the creatures infirmity asks Sun-ho his family name, then names the bull Choi Han-soo.

Leading Han-soo through the streets of a city

Sun-ho and Choi Han-soo are forced to interrupt their travels so Han-soo can rest periodically, as well as for vehicular repairs and other setbacks. Hyun-soo, dressed in mourning black keeps re-entering their lives, as does a religious personage from the "Oh My God Temple." There are also calls from Sun-ho's father, who calls him a cattle thief and demands that he immediately return home with the bull.

With dream sequences and fantasies, Sun-ho's quest becomes more and more bewildering, and he finds it increasingly difficult to actually sell dear old Choi Han-soo.

Rolling Home With a Bull is an off-beat comedy, to be sure. It's also delightful and touching.

ACF Rating: 3 out of 4 stars, a good, solid film that's well worth a viewing. 

Rolling Home With a Bull was a co-presentation of The Korea Society and MoMA as part of the film series Yeonghwa: Korean Film Today, 2011, which runs through this Sunday, Ocotober 2nd. For the schedule, individual film descriptions, and to order tickets, visit either The Korea Society or MoMA.

ACF 1120: ContemporAsian film series at MoMA NYC continues with PARK Jung-Bum's "The Journals of Musan."

In the monthly exhibition ContemporAsian, MoMA showcases films that get little exposure outside of their home countries or on the international festival circuit, but that engage the various styles, histories, and changes in Asian cinema. Beginning August 17, MoMA presents a weeklong run of South Korean director Park Jung-Bum's The Journals of Musan (2010). Details here.

ACF 1052: The High Life to screen at MoMA

The High Life
Directed by Zhao Dayong
Written by Dayong, Li Qing
With Qui Hong, Liu Yanfei, Dian Qui
China, 2010, 96 minutes
When: June 20th through June 26, 2011
(Complete schedule at end of this post)
Where: The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street, NYC
In Chinese, with English subtitles

Starting June 2oth, The High Life will screen for seven days at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is the latest film to be shown in MoMA's ContemporAsian film series.

In the slum district of Guangzhou, Jian Ming, the proprietor of a disreputable employment agency, becomes acquainted with 18-year-old Xiao Ya when he places her in a seedy hair salon. Dian Qui, a middle-aged guard (and aspiring poet) in a Guangzhou prison who forces his detainees to read his poems aloud, shows his softer side through his affection for a young woman who is convicted for working in a nightclub to support her family.

Though these two narrative strains hardly intersect, they inform and echo each other in their explorations of power and imprisonment. Dayong, director of the acclaimed documentary Ghost Town, uses his extraordinary skills of observation to fashion a bleak and tender portrait of a town with many faces. In Chinese; English subtitles.

Screening Schedule:
Monday, June 20, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 23, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, June 24, 2011, 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 26, 2011, 2:00 p.m.

All screenings will be in Theater 2 (The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2), T2.

ACF 888: MoMA'S 10th ANNUAL DOCUMENTARY FORTNIGHT FESTIVAL

Documentary Fortnight 2011: MoMA’s International Festival of Nonfiction Film and Media, running February 16 through 28 in The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, celebrates its 10th anniversary with 20 feature-length documentary films representing 14 countries; two performance events; and thematic programs focusing on independently made contemporary Chinese documentaries and the legacy of New Day Films, the first distributor to be run by and for filmmakers.

Below is informaion about the documentaries related to Asia.

For the full festival screening schedule, click here.

Peace
2010, Japan/USA/South Korea
Directed by Kazuhiro Soda
U.S. premiere
Introductions and discussions with Soda
Thursday, February 17, 8:00. T1
Monday, February 21, 4:00. T2

Toshio Kashiwagi drives disabled and elderly people to appointments with his affordable taxi service. His wife, Hiroko Kashiwagi, is a professional caregiver who also runs a nonprofit home-helper agency for the elderly and disabled. While Hiroko visits 91-year-old cancer patient Shiro Hashimoto to help in his daily routines, her husband returns home to feed the hungry stray cats outside their door. As government funding for these services dwindle, the hungry stray cats encounter a "thief" and the elderly man recalls being drafted into WWII for the price of a postcard. In Japanese; English subtitles. 75 min.

The Warriors of Qiugang
China. 2010
Directed by Ruby Yang
New York premiere
Wednesday, February 23, 7:30
Thursday, February 24, 4:00. T2

This portrait of grassroots activism is a rare example of people speaking out against the abuses caused by corporate greed in modern China. When the house and fields of farmer Zhang Gongli, located near the banks of the Huai river in the village of Qiugang, were destroyed by pesticides, he filed a lawsuit against the private chemical factory adjoining his land. The film follows his community's efforts to get media support, solicit help from a local NGO, and bring their concerns to the attention of the national government. In Chinese; English subtitles. 39 min.

Screens with My Fancy High Heels below.

My Fancy High Heels
2010. Taiwan
Directed by Ho Chao-ti
U.S. premiere
Introductions and discussions with Ho Chao-ti

While filming a series of stories about clothing, the filmmaker discovered just how complicated the process of making a pair of shoes was. Her fascinating, surprising film follows the trail of shoes, from women in sophisticated high heels on Manhattan's streets to the manufacturers and young female assembly line workers in China who make them. In Chinese, English; English subtitles. 56 min.

I Wish I Knew
2010, China
Directed by Jia Zhangke
Thursday, February 24, 7:00. T2

18 people from Shanghai, Taipei, and Hong Kong recall their lives in Shanghai from the 1930s to 2010. After the Chinese Communists‘ victory in 1949, thousands of Shanghainese left for Hong Kong and Taiwan. Leaving meant being separated form home for 30 years, remaining meant suffering through the Cultural Revolution and other Chinese political upheavals. In Chinese; English subtitles. 118 min.

INDEPENDENT CHINESE DOCUMENTARY:

Fortune Teller
2010. China
Directed by Xu Tong
Friday, February 18, 4 p.m.
Monday, February 21, 7:00. T2

The film's narrative is divided into sections with paired chapter headings, in the style of popular fiction during the Qing Dynasty. Li Baicheng is a charismatic traditional Chinese fortune-teller who lives in a village near Beijing with his deaf and mute wife Pearl, who he rescued from an abusive family. He cares for her while also telling the fortunes of his clients, most of whom are prostitutes. As the police crack down on both fortune-tellers and prostitutes, Li Baicheng and Pearl are forced to move to his hometown, where he is haunted by his family‘s past and China's history. In Chinese; English subtitles. 157 min.

Karamay
2010, China
Directed by Xu Xin
New York Premiere
Introduction and discussion with Xu Xin.
Saturday, Feb 19, 1:30. T2

In December 1994 a fire broke out in the Karamay Friendship Theater in Urumqi, killing 323 people, 288 of whom were school children performing for a special event. Government officials were ushered out, while the children were locked inside. Interviewing over 60 people related to the victims and showing video footage shot at the time of the disaster, the film slowly unravels the details of the incident, and provides a platform for the families to speak and be heard. Denied an official public apology, many of the victim‘s family members have suffered their own physical and emotional trauma. In Chinese; English subtitles. 356 min.; 15 min. intermission. [Also an International Film Selection]

Disorder
2009. China
Directed by Huang Weikai
Introduction and discussion with Huang
Friday, February 18, 7:15
Sunday, February 20, 2:00. T2

This portrait of Guangzhou is masterfully compiled from 1,000 hours of amateur footage shot by various cameramen. Huang interweaves scenes of traffic jams, accidents, floods, police violence, protestors, and lost, wandering souls into an epic look at urban life in China, a riveting black-and-white collage of apocalyptic imagery that's both unsettling and surreal. In Chinese; English subtitles. 58 min.

Tape
2010. China
Directed by Li Ning
Sunday, February 20, 5:00
Wednesday, February 23, 4:00. T2

Avant-garde dancer Li Ning documents five years of his struggle to balance life as a choreographer with a dance troupe of committed college students, and his responsibilities as a son, husband, and father. Li Ning‘s life becomes intertwined with the film and with his own obsessions; his life before the camera is driven and chaotic, a public platform and a confessional. Loosely chronological and rife with symbolism, the film is a riveting portrait of an artist‘s attempts at expression and conflicts with societal norms. In Chinese; English subtitles. 168 min.

ANPO: Art X War
2010. USA/Japan
Directed by Linda Hoaglund
Introduction and discussion with Hoaglund
New Day Program 2: Friday, February 25, 7:00. T2

ANPO refers to the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, which permits the continued presence of numerous U.S. military bases in Japan. In 1960, public resentment against the military presence erupted in massive popular demonstrations that were crushed by Japan‘s C.I.A.-backed Prime Minister Kishi. A wide range of Japanese artists depicted this resistance with a rich archive of art and films, including many large-scale paintings long hidden from public view. Contemporary artists continue to draw on their predecessors‘ legacy, depicting problems generated by the bases. Shot in high definition, the film reveals the extraordinary passion behind this wave of paintings, photographs, anime, and documentary and narrative films. In Japanese, English; English subtitles. 89 min.

ACF 715: "Make Yourself at Home" showing at MoMA starting today

Make Yourself at Home
Directed by Soopum Sohn
Written by Soopum Sohn, Margaret Monaghan
With Song Hye-kyo, Arno Frisch, Athena Currey
South Korea, 2008, 90 mins.
In English, Korean; English subtitles

Screening Schedule:
Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 6:00 pm
Thursday, October 7, 2010, 7:00 pm *
Friday, October 8, 2010, 4:00 pm
Saturday, October 9, 2010, 1:00 pm
Sunday, October 10, 2010, 5:00 pm
Monday, October 11, 2010, 4:00 pm

* The film will be introduced by Sohn on Thursday, October 7, 2010, 7:00 p.m. at T2 (The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2). Actually, Sohn may introduce the films at all the other screenings as well, according to MoMA. See the link at the bottom of this post. But the info I got from Korean Cultural Service today only indicated his presence at the Thursday screening. Contact MoMA if you want to be sure.

Synopsis:
For his feature debut, New York–based Korean American filmmaker Sohn uses a cleverly scripted supernatural-thriller genre to explore themes of identity and the “Other.” During a brief visit to the “homeland,” Peter (an “Americanized” Korean) helps his mother in brokering his marriage to a Korean girl. When the girl, Sookhy, arrives at his home in upstate New York, she’s in for a culture clash. But Sookhy may not be as innocent as she seemed—she soon begins to assert herself not only at home but at a nearby couple’s house as well. The increasingly outlandish goings-on and the film’s eerie atmosphere of foreboding are balanced throughout by the story’s symbolic underpinnings.

For more info, click here.

ACF 706: Final screening of BESTSELLER at BAM as part of NYKFF 2010

Bestseller
Written and directed by Lee Jeong-ho
With Uhm Jung-hwa, Ryoo Seung-yong, Lee Do-Yeong
South Korea, 2010, 117 min.
NYKFF screenings mark film's New York Premiere
Final Screening: BAM Rose Cinema
Friday, October 1, 2010 @ 9:15 PM

Already shown twice at MoMA, this Friday's screening at BAM marks the third and final showing of the terrific mystery/thriller/horror tour de force at the New York Korean Film Festival 2010. For full info about the festival's complete lineup and schdule, click here.

Summary:
After suffering a breakdown, a successful writer rents a house in the countryside for herself and her young daughter. The daughter soon befriends a talkative "presence" in the house, and regales her mother with this new friend's stories. But when the mother starts writing the stories down, bad things begin to happen.

ACF mini-review:
Although it's not my favorite genre, I really enjoyed this film. The female writer has to deal with charges of plagiarism. In the course of trying to write a new book in a large villa near a rural town, she starts losing her mind while getting visions of a horrible incident that took place there years ago. The use of rapid fire editing at certain times really ups the anxiety ante. It's a gripping thriller with fantastic plot twists, and the entire cast is top rate. (Most fortunately there are no young girls with long straight black hair falling down in front of their faces, a cliche that has long ago lost its appeal.)

ACF Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars, highly recommended.

ACF 702: ContemporAsian continues at MoMA beginning October 6th, 2010

Image from Make Yourself at Home
Pictured: Hye-Kyo Song and Athena Currey
Courtesy of MoMA

MoMA ANNOUNCES THE CONTINUING FALL LINE-UP
FOR THE CONTEMPORASIAN FILM SERIES

MoMA Presents: ContemporAsian
October 6–11, 2010
November 22–29, 2010
December 13–19, 2010

MoMA has announced the fall line-up for its ongoing ContemporAsian series, which is screened in The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters. (For MoMA's website for the ongoing ContemporAsian series, click here.)

The series showcases films that get little exposure outside of their home countries or on the international festival circuit, but which engage the various styles, histories, and changes in Asian cinema. Presented in special weeklong engagements, the films in the series include recent independent gems by both new and established filmmakers whose work represent the rapidly transforming visual culture of the region. ContemporAsian is organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, with William Phuan, independent curator.

The 2010 fall season continues with Soopum Sohn’s cleverly wrought super-natural thriller Make Yourself at Home (aka Fetish) (2008, US/Korea) in October; followed by Vimukthi Jayasundara’s second feature Ahasin wetei (Between Two Worlds) (2009, Sri Lanka/ France) in November, which mythically explores Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war; and in December the season finishes with Anocha Suwichakornpong’s Jao Nok Krajok (Mundane History) (2009, Thailand), a simple story of a male nurse caring for a young man with partial paralysis, that tackles grand and profound concepts.

SCREENING SCHEDULES:

October 6–11, 2010

Make Yourself at Home (aka Fetish) (2008)
Directed by Soopum Sohn
Written by Sohn and Margaret Monaghan
With Song Hye-kye, Arno Frisch, Athena Currey.

Peter, a Korean-American returns home from a trip overseas with his beautiful and mysterious new wife, Sookhy, a marriage brokered in a brief visit to the homeland with help from his mother. When a terrible accident occurs, Sookhy is left a widow. After a series of bizarre outbursts, it becomes increasingly clear that the grieving Sookhy may not be as innocent as she appears. Rumored to be a shaman, Sookhy begins to assert herself, not only at home, but with the neighbors, as she fights to keep a piece of the American dream. In English and Korean; English subtitles. 90 min.

Wednesday, October 6, 6:00
Thursday, October 7, 7:00
Friday, October 8, 4:00
Saturday, October 9, 1:00
Sunday, October 10, 5:00
Monday, October 11, 4:00

November 22–29, 2010

Ahasin wetei (Between Two Worlds) (2009, Sri Lanka/ France)
Written and directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara
With Thusitha Laknath, Kaushalya Fernando, Huang Lu.

With his second feature, Jayasundara boldly continues the allegorical exploration of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war that began with his Caméra d’Or–winning The Forsaken Land.

A man who apparently fell from the sky picks up a young woman and flees with her from a burning city into the countryside. From there, his travels through a mythic landscape full of astonishing sights and people become exceedingly menacing—and fraught with symbolic meaning. The tableau-like, episodic tale moves confidently between realism and ritual in scenes of stunning beauty: for example, a gorgeous musical number with strapping farm workers, a scene that wouldn’t be out of place in a Soviet agitprop film. Print courtesy Memento Films. In Sinhalese; English subtitles. 85 min

Monday, November 22, 7:00
Wednesday, November 24, 4:00
Friday, November 26, 4:00
Saturday, November 27, 2:00
Sunday, November 28, 5:30
Monday, November 29, 4:00

December 13–19, 2009

Jao Nok Krajok (Mundane History) (2009, Thailand)
Written and directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong

Under the guise of a simple story of a male nurse looking after a young man with partial paralysis, Jao Nok Krajok takes on big themes like life, birth and the universe. At times hallucinogenic, meditative and mysterious, but never ponderous, the film drifts through the mundane, almost insignificant moments of everyday life, boldly suggesting that they all add up to something grand and profound yet. In Thai; English subtitles. 82 min.

Monday, December 13, 7:00
Wednesday, December 15, 7:00
Thursday, December 16, 7:00
Friday, December 17, 4:00
Saturday, December 18, 1:30
Sunday, December 19, 5:00

ACF 692: Yeonghwa continues at MoMA - two films to screen today

Here are today's scheduled films for the ongong series Yeonghwa: Korean Film Today, presented by The Korea Society and playing at MoMA, 11 West 53rd Steeet, New York, NY:

4:30 PM The Housemaid (2010)
Written and directed by Im Sang-soo
Freely adapted from Kim Ki-young's 1960 film of the same title
With Jeon Do-yeon, Lee Jung-jae, Seo Woo, Yun Yeo-jung
New York Premiere

And what a house the maid has to clean - the largest film set ever built in Korea. But that‟s the least of it. The family she has to serve demands attention in many ways, not all of them in her job description. This continuously surprising erotic melodrama about class and privilege features both a top notch cast including Jeon Do-yeon of “Secret Sunshine”, and a climax that won‟t be easily forgotten. 95min. Courtesy of IFC Films.

7:30 PM Good Morning Mr. President (2009)
Written and directed by Jang Jin
With Lee Soon-jae, Jang Dong-gun,
Koh Doo-sim, and Im Ha-ryong

A delicious rumination about power and decision making that takes place largely in the executive kitchen. The settings and political relationships are as Korean as kimchee, but the pacing and domestic relationships are as American as apple pie. Jang Jin's film about three successive presidents is as winning as the best of Frank Capra. 132 min.

Yeonghwa is part of the New York Korean Film Festival 2010. For the festival's website, click here.

For the MoMA website, click here.

ACF 688: New York Korean Film Festival starts tomorrow, September 22nd!!!!

Image from The Housemaid, directed by Im Sang-soo

In my previous posts about the Yeonghwa film series at MoMA, which is co-presented by The Korea Society, I forgot to mention that it actually is the beginning of the return of the New York Korean Film festival for its ninth year. Furthermore, the screenings at MoMA will be followed by some at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Details and links follow:

The New York Korean Film Festival (NYKFF) is the foremost North American festival dedicated to showcasing the work of both mainstream and independent Korean cinema. Since its inception in 2001, NYKFF has established its own unique identity as a prestigious event on the world film circuit. Not only does the festival screen contemporary films, it also features panel discussions with directors and other leading figures in the world of Korean cinema.

This year, NYKFF audiences will be able to view some of the best of contemporary Korean cinema from September 22-30 at MoMa and October 1-3 at Bam Rose Cinema. Ranging from action to comedy, sci-fi to horror, to genre-bending altogether, this year's films represent not only Korea's top box-office hits but also some of the industry's most creative and substantial movies to date.

All films will be shown in the original Korean with English subtitles.

For my post with the full screening schedule at MoMA, click here.

For The Korea Society's website about New York Korean Film Festival, click here.

ACF 685: "Yeonghwa: Korean Film Today" - complete screening schedule

Yeonghwa: Korean Film Today
September 22–30, 2010
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters at MoMA

“Yeonghwa” is the Korean word for film. Featured in every major international film festival, Korean cinema has become a thriving industry. The technical excellence, the wide variety of styles and subjects, the idiosyncrasies of individual expression within the perimeters of genre, the general practice of filmmakers both writing and directing their work, the development of a consistent home-grown „star‟ system for both actors and filmmakers, and its free-wheeling entrepreneurial spirit have helped to distinguish Korean film as a truly unique cinematic form.

Korean cinema, shot in a language barely understood outside the country of its origin, is an art and industry generally made for a national audience. Therefore the integrity of the artistic vision is, for the most part, unaffected by the demands of a global film market, providing a revealing window into a culture that for many Americans has seemed inaccessible.

Film Admission: $10 adults; $8 seniors, 65 years and over with I.D. $6 full-time students with current I.D. (For admittance to film programs only.) The price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket when a film ticket stub is presented at the Lobby Information Desk within 30 days of the date on the stub (does not apply during Target Free Friday Nights, 4:00–8:00 p.m.). Admission is free for Museum members and for Museum ticketholders.

The public may call (212) 708-9400 for detailed Museum information. Visit MoMA online at www.moma.org.

This exhibition is made possible by HyundaiCard Company.

SCREENING SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, September 22

6:30 The Housemaid (2010)
Written and directed by Im Sang-soo
Freely adapted from Kim Ki-young's 1960 film of the same title
With Jeon Do-yeon, Lee Jung-jae, Seo Woo, Yun Yeo-jung
New York Premiere

And what a house the maid has to clean - the largest film set ever built in Korea. But that‟s the least of it. The family she has to serve demands attention in many ways, not all of them in her job description. This continuously surprising erotic melodrama about class and privilege features both a top notch cast including Jeon Do-yeon of “Secret Sunshine”, and a climax that won‟t be easily forgotten. 95min. Courtesy of IFC Films.

Thursday, September 23

4:30 The Housemaid. (See Wednesday, September 22.)

7:30 Good Morning Mr. President (2009)
Written and directed by Jang Jin
With Lee Soon-jae, Jang Dong-gun,
Koh Doo-sim, and Im Ha-ryong

A delicious rumination about power and decision making that takes place largely in the executive kitchen. The settings and political relationships are as Korean as kimchee, but the pacing and domestic relationships are as American as apple pie. Jang Jin's film about three successive presidents is as winning as the best of Frank Capra. 132 min.

Friday, September 24

4:30 Good Morning Mr. President. (See Thursday, September 23.)

7:30 A Frozen Flower (2008)
Written and directed by Yoo Ha
With Zo In-sung, Joo Jin-mo, Song Ji-hyo
New York Premiere

History tells of the 31st king of the Koryo Dynasty who had his queen but loved his bodyguard, a brave and noble soldier. However, in order to maintain his dynasty, the king had to produce an heir. Keeping it all in the family he does, but… A spectacular epic about power, passion, and their lethal intertwinement. 133 min.

Saturday, September 25

1:00 Woochi (2009)
Written and directed by Choi Dong-hoon
With Gang Dong-won, Kim Yoon-suk, Lim Soo-jung, Yoo Hae-jin
New York Premiere

A whizz-bang time-traveling comic fantasy about a Taoist wizard trapped in a scroll in 1509 who in 2009 must be freed to capture (as only he can) a gaggle of evil goblins wrecking havoc in Seoul. Directed with such verve and panache, WOOCHI has one believing again in magicians and monsters. 110 min.

3:30 Sisters on the Road (2008)
Written and directed by Boo Ji-young
With Kong Hyo-jin, Shin Min-a

A first film by a young woman filmmaker chronicles a road trip across Korea. Two half-sisters, each very different and quite testy with the other, travel together reluctantly in search of their errant father and develop an uneasy relationship. 96 min. Boo Ji-young will introduce the film.

6:00 Eighteen (2010)
Written and directed by Jang Kun-Jae
With Seo Jun-yeong, Lee Min-ji
New York Premiere

In Korean the title of this realist debut feature is “whirlwind”, which describes the parental thwarting of a romance between two eighteen-year old students who can hardly wait until they turn nineteen, legal age in Korea. The filmmaker dedicates his film “to my high school years. Rest in peace, teenage years.” 95 min.

8:15 Best Seller (2010)
Written and directed by Lee Jeong-ho
New York Premiere

A first feature that‟s a first-rate thriller. A successful writer, accused of plagiarism, suffers a breakdown, and after a period of time, rents an unoccupied house remote in the countryside for her and her young daughter who “befriends” a presence there. Her new 'friend' tells her stories which she tells her mother. Her mother writes them down, and, as in any good spooky tale, bad things happen and Hollywood has already come knocking on the front door of this haunted house. 120 min.

Sunday, September 26

2:00 A Frozen Flower (See Friday, September 24.)

4:30 Land of Scarecrows (2008)
Written and directed by Roh Gyeon-tae
With Kim Sun-young, Phuong Thi Bich, Jun Du-won
New York Premiere

A transgender installation artist in search of a bride travels to the Philippines and finds one. Back in Korea a young man who believes he was once adopted from the Philippines enters the couple‟s lives, and questions of national and gender identity come to the fore in this austere sophomore feature by one of Korea‟s most „experimental‟ filmmakers. 90 min.

Monday, September 27

4:30 Sisters on the Road (See Saturday, September 25.)

Wednesday, September 29

4:30 Best Seller (See Saturday, September 25.)

7:30 Land of Scarecrows (See Saturday, September 25.)

Thursday, September 30

4:30 Eighteen (See Thursday, July 8.)

7:30 Woochi (See Saturday, September 25.)