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H (2002)
H is a psychological masterpiece from Asia.
H by Jong-hyuk Lee is an amazing thriller with a plot twist at the end that will make you cringe. The film is definitely riffing off the American psychological cop drama, namely Seven and the Silence of the Lambs. That's what makes this film great. It takes those films, and takes it a step further. First, the film is shot beautifully. Second, the story follows three detectives who are tracking the crimes of a murderer who kills pregnant women and slashes their stomachs. Some of the murder scenes are totally gory. The three detectives are rather atypical personalities but it works well for the story
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The woman is short haired and is quiet, calm, and always smoking cigarettes. She's tough like Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. She is the one who counters the main character who is more like Brad Pitt in Seven. He's the fast talking guy, he's often late to the crime scenes because he's just not on top of things. And the third guy is the fat klutz who always trips over things and he's the comic relief.
As the film progresses, we discover that the murders of the pregnant women are done in the exact same way as murders done years ago by a murderer who was put in jail by these same detectives six months ago. The fast talking cop becomes the Clarice Starling as he goes to interview this Hannibal Lechter type character. Through these interviews, he tries to track down the new killer who is copying the murderer's past deeds.
Ultimately the twist ending is really intense, and you probably wont guess what it is
.it's a lot cooler than putting the cop's wife's head in a box like in Seven. This movie is really creepy and the performances are great. It's definitely worth watching.
Samaria (2004)
Samaritan Girl - a sexy, arty flick with a message
Samaritan Girl is a really impressive film directed by Ki-Duk Kim. To end all the discrepancies about the title, the film has been illegally bootlegged as 'Samaria'. The real official title of this film in English is "Samaritan Girl". The film is coming out on official non-bootlegged DVD from Tartan's Asia Extreme...which I should add, have been putting out some awesome Asian films on DVD, not to mention they are the ones responsible for getting 'Oldboy' in the theater.
Anyway, Samaritan Girl is not like the rest of the Asia Extreme catalog. It's a sexy drama that is also a really interesting slice of life film. Most Korean films that have been picked up by American distributors tend to be horror or thrillers but maybe that's because blood/slasher movies sell really well. Samaritan Girl on the other hand is far from a slasher, and while there is some violence, some nudity, and blood, it's really more like a Korean interpretation of the American indie film.
The story is about two girls who are trying to save up money to get away from their town. They don't really have strong relationships with their families who are sort of out of the picture. It's like the Larry Clark film KIDS in the way that the parents aren't really there, or at least the parents think they know their kids, but they don't. Jae-Yeong, the prettier of the two girls decides to be a prostitute and makes her friend Yeo Jin, her business associate who sets up the meetings.
The film's opener is awesome, with a really great credit sequence over the girls on Korea's instant messaging program picking up a guy.
As the film progresses, there is some interesting sexual tension between the girls. They bathe together in a public shower house which is really sad and illuminates their aloneness. Yeo Jin tells Jae Young not to divulge to much to her 'clients'. Jae-Young who is clearly very childish, capricious, and obviously depressed and lacking self esteem, actually enjoys these encounters with men, as the attention is probably what makes her feel good about herself.
About halfway through the film, Jae-Young has an accident (I wont give anything away here) but Yeo Jin decides to switch roles and become the prostitute instead of the secretary. Yeo Jin's father gets wind of the whole thing and starts to follow her on her sexual encounters. He eventually catches her in the act...and I wont give away the end.
The film is really well done. And frankly, the two girls are really adorable and the film is really sweet and sad at the same time. It's also disturbing a lot of the time.
If you're not in the mood to see people getting chopped to bits, but would rather watch an awesome Korean indie film (With really cute actresses, I should mention) this film is a great one to check out.
Dopperugengâ (2003)
Doppleganger is a smart psychological thriller!!!
Doppleganger is a smart film and I think that people are selling it short by looking at the negatives like "lack of CG FX". Money doesn't make the best films. If you're looking for only horror films, this may not be for you, but to slander Doppleganger for bad marketing, too, is not the film's fault. Not every Asia Extreme film is going to be a horror-masterpiece. There has to be room for flexibility within the genres and this movie is one of those. It's a thriller, without the blood. You can't blame the film for that. And judging a movie by the box is just plain dumb. With that aside, yes, I did pop in the DVD assuming it would be horror, but the film impressed me nonetheless. It's actually more of a sci-fi psychological thriller. It reminded me of the cult classic 80's films like 'The Reanimator' except without the same "gore/slasher" aspects. To begin with the acting is amazing, but that's not even the best part. The director is really on top of his game.
What's amazing about these Asian directors like Kurosawa is that they're more versed in American cinema than the idiots directing for the big American studios these days. If you look at the way the story unfolds, and the movement of the camera, and music choice, not to mention the awesome split screen (which I thought was really advantageous to this movie) you can tell that Kurosawa has to have seen some classic DePalma movies like "Blowout" and "Body Double" (Blowout, 1980 -- Tarantino loved it...and was the reason he used Travolta in Pulp Fiction). It's also feels like there's a shadow of Cronenberg as well, and those robots look like "Johnny 5" from Short Circuit.
What you have to understand is that this film is looking at the idea of the doppleganger as a metaphor. A lot of people have trouble understanding the fact that these types of movies are psychological and often contain the unexplainable. Like in fight club with Brad Pitt's character, the doppleganger is not really real. He exercises control over Hayasaki because Hayasaki lacks the will to believe in himself and his science.
The movie really dissects the idea of what it means that we have a 'will' in the first place. That's what's going on in the 2nd scene where they're trying to adjust the controls. The intern kid is a weak person, without a strong will and he cannot control the robot device. The movie is ultimately about control. And Hayasaki's lack of control is what creates the doppleganger in the first place. The ending isn't really that ambiguous, either. I don't know why anyone would think it's ambiguous. I won't spoil it, though.
Anyway, here's the point. If you like psychological thrillers, you're a fan of cult psychological thrillers and science films, and you want to see a movie that is totally engaging, has some cool robot scenes and a solid plot, Doppleganger is a great film.
Yeogo goedam (1998)
Whispering Corridors is a classic Asian Horror Film
Whispering Corridors is a totally scary, and entertaining horror flick from Korea. It's easy to see why this was the first of an explosion of Asian Horror films like the Ring and the Grudge, because the director, Park Ki-Hyung is definitely well versed in American horror and uses his understanding of the genre to make the movie really appealing to any American horror fan. Whispering Corridors is the first in a trilogy of films. The first death in the movie and all of the rest are really reminiscent of the slashers like Friday the 13th and other late 70's early 80's American horror which are the staples of the genre. If you like horror films and have seen the best ones, you'll immediately see why this one fits right in to that group. What's really cool about it, is that there's no CG (computer generated effects). All of the blood and deaths etc. are all done with real actors, and it's almost more believable than the over-the-top current American horror genre. There's something so tangible about the blood in the film. It's bright red, and creeps the viewer out in a way that CG children running around (like in the Grudge) could never fully achieve.
The whole film takes place around an all girls school-- and with girls in uniforms and mysterious murders, you've got the makings of a great horror narrative. The first 20 minutes really suck you into the story as Ki-Hyung moves the camera much like 70's DePalma or Hitchcock--It's seductive. The school building becomes horrifying in and of itself. The way Ki-Hyung presents the school makes it like an evil edifice similar to the Overlook Hotel in Kubrick's The Shining.
The tone is similar to Rosemary's Baby in that the girls are consistently trying to figure out what the problem is-they want to get to the bottom of it, but the forces out of their control, i.e. the school teachers, get in their way, and they get in trouble. The grainy look of the film and the way the sound design/score are used is totally an homage to the classic horror films of the 70's. In the movie, the Korean school system is depicted as an evil force that represses the girls, abuses them, and ultimately is the motivating force that makes the one girl commit suicide and become the ghost who murders her enemies throughout the film. The performances by the girls are great. And the colors of the film are so dreary, that you can't help but feel like you're there. The end of the movie has a really amazing image of the two main girls alone in the classroom with blood pouring out of the walls and the ceiling. Overall, this film is really entertaining, and psychologically interesting, and will scare the crap out of you. The Tartan DVD release is pretty awesome. It has trailers for a lot of Asia Extreme films, 5.1 surround sound, photos, and English/Spanish subtitles.