jowang Reviews

A Scene at the Sea (1991)

The silence is beautiful and poetic

[10/10 · 25 November 2002]

The silence is beautiful and poetic. The wave of the sea is the heartbeats of the hearing-impaired young couple, that only the people with beautiful mind can hear. The audience view the story from a distance but is consciously involved with things go. This is the best film from Japanese comedian/director Takeshi Kitano.

The Father (1996)

This movie is calm and beautiful.

[10/10 · 4 April 2002]

After the death of his father, 14 year old Mehrollah traveled to the southern town to find a job to support his mother and three baby sisters. Upon his return to his hometown with some gifts and the money he had saved for his family, Mehrollah was furious and confused to find the fact that his mother had remarried to a policeman and lived in a new home. Although the policeman was a man of kind-hearted, Mehrollah refused to accept him to be his step-father. Mehrollah refused to go home to live with the new change, instead, he decorated and stayed in the old house that used to be his birth-father's.

Mehrollah tried everything to fight against his step-father, and even worse, he stoled the police-hand-gun from his step-father and ran away to a far away town. The policeman was mad and rode on his motocycle to the town, and caught Mehrollah. On the home-bound road, they had a hard time lost in the wide desert and had to give up their broken-down motocycle. They walked on helplessly, thirsty and starving. The boy and his new father began to help each other under the hardship, and started a new relationship...

Director Majid Majidi is an expert who knows how to tell a simple story with deep meaning, with excellent camera language and very little dialogue. This movie is calm and beautiful.

The Father (1996)

This movie is calm and beautiful.

[10/10 · 1 April 2002]

After the death of his father, 14 year old Mehrollah traveled to the southern town to find a job to support his mother and three baby sisters. Upon his return to his hometown with some gifts and the money he had saved for his family, Mehrollah was furious and confused to find the fact that his mother had remarried to a policeman and lived in a new home.

Although the policeman was a man of kind-hearted, Mehrollah refused to accept him to be his step-father. Mehrollah refused to go home to live with the new change, instead, he decorated and stayed in the old house that used to be his birth-father's.

Mehrollah tried everything to fight against his step-father, and even worse, he stoled the police-hand-gun from his step-father and ran away to a far away town. The policeman was mad and rode on his motocycle to the town, and caught Mehrollah.

On the home-bound road, they had a hard time lost in the wide desert and had to give up their broken-down motocycle. They walked on helplessly, thirsty and starving. The boy and his new father began to help each other under the hardship, and started a new relationship...

Director Majid Majidi is an expert who knows how to tell a simple story with deep meaning, with excellent camera language and very little dialogue.

This movie is calm and beautiful.

Willow and Wind (1999)

Masterpiece by Iran director Mohammad-Ali Talebi

[10/10 · 25 February 2002]

A young school boy was ordered to walk a long way to purchase a piece of window glass larger than he could carry back to his school. The weather was bitter and the wind so strong that he almost failed on the road. He tried hard and finally moved the load back to the classroom where he was supposed to fix up a broken window. He was all alone and no one to turn for help. The glass blew crushed in pieces by the wind...

This is the best film I've seen in recent years. It gives helplessness and uncertainty a wider view, in isolated mountainy landscape. This one is a seamlessly made masterpiece by Iran director Mohammad-Ali Talebi. The child actor is very creditable.

Little Cheung (1999)

Fruit Chan is the best Hong Kong film director

[10/10 · 3 January 2002]

Fruit Chan is undoubtedly the best Hong Kong film director of noir.

Started with 'Made in Hong Kong'(1997), Chan's small budgeted Hong Kong trilogy series have been the most heart-touching movies. In Chan's movie, you're confronted with hard-working, low-earning people live behind the sky high buildings in this capitalistic island of Oriental Pearl. Most dream dies as the day goes by.

'Durian,Durian' is also a must see.

Land and Freedom (1995)

great movie dealt with class struggle since Bernardo Bertolucci's1900

[10/10 · 17 December 2001]

Political idealism is always unfortunately beaten, but the war fought against fascism will never die. Ken Loach's Land and Freedom is the great movie dealt with class struggle since 1900(Bernardo Bertolucci). Thank God, we have great film makers like these masters.

Pixote (1980)

Thanks to the publishers for the recent DVD release

[10/10 · 17 December 2001]

I first saw this masterpiece on VHS 10 years ago, and the powerful interpretation on angry-kid-painfully-against-established-society it carried stayed in my heart since then. Director Hector Babenco is such a good humanity, who finds a delicate angle to tell the story of how urbanity kills the childhood of the kids from poverty class. Even the outcast kids have their innocent beautiful dreams. But the corrupt reality never gives a chance...

Thanks to the publishers for the recent DVD release, I now can keep this great movie to my favorite collection.

Not One Less (1999)

Director Yimou Zhang's alive again with his Masterpiece

[10/10 · 7 October 2001]

Director Yimou Zhang has come back alive again with his masterpiece, and this time, so wisely, without casting international big stars such as Ms.Li Gong. After his draining years, and after a long run, Zhang seemed to understand that Simplicity is the most brilliant philosophy. He has become more mature dealing with real people and the fact of life in rural part of modern China. And most of all, with human touch.

This is a must see. Don't miss it or you'll be regret.

A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)

A best movie you must see

[10/10 · 16 September 2001]

The life of hardship in Iran/Iraq mountainy border shown in 'A Time for Drunken Horses' is certainly far beyond our capitalistically dominating imagination, but it's so real.

Director Bahman Ghobadi has left the ending open to the audience, and I found myself unable to stop worry about young Ayoub Ahmadi and his family, and the Kurds. God bless them.

Simple story, plain plot, amateur actors, real persons,low budget, and with a great originality...Iranians has made several best films that broaden the view of world cinima. And that's what our western film industry should learn from.

A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)

Pure and outstanding

[10/10 · 14 September 2001]

Iranians really know how to make unique movies without being polluted by the capitalistic dominating western cinima. The respectable Abbas Kiarostami has opened the eyes of the world cinima viewers.And now Bahman Ghobadi follows by his outstanding "Time for the drunken horse". It's low budget, simple story, amateur actors, real persons...and it's a great cinema. There're a lot for the western film industry to learn from the iranian films.

Malena (2000)

A story of woman that worth to see

[8/10 · 14 September 2001]

A sad story of a beautiful married woman told by her secret admirer, a 12 year old boy. This is a proper way of telling a story like such.>

We see also how Sicilians lived during the war and reacted toward the military controlled government. The ending is exceptionally well done with soulful kindness. I adore this romantic movie.

Gummo (1997)

Not for fun, but great and very challenging

[10/10 · 10 September 2001]

This is absolutely not for those who go to the movie house for entertaining or for cheapy fun, but THIS IS A GREAT FILM. Director Harmony Korine is challenging the audience if the audience comes to this movie with a conventional attitude toward cinima art. All the actors here are inexperienced but so natural, especially Jacob Reynolds(the lonely boy Solomon). This is a brave, dark, unhappy movie. But I like it very much.

The City of Lost Children (1995)

An Amazing and beautiful masterpiece

[10/10 · 9 September 2001]

This is one of the best movies that I've seen. It's full of imagination and Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro have done a great esthetical achievement on the movie screen. It's an adventure with intellectual sci-fi sense of fantasies that's acceptable for all ages.

Detroit Rock City (1999)

A stupid movie

[1/10 · 6 September 2001]

Everything in this typical American style teen comedy is a boresome. You"re fed up with cheap jokes,jumps and bangs,yelling and fooling, and after a few minutes,you began to hate it. It's a torture to hang up with it to the end. Edward Furlong was once a promising child actor in 'Client', but he's exceptional ugly and has become a clumsy actor.

Stand by Me (1986)

I hope someone can re-make this movie someday

[27 August 2001]

Steven King's 'The Body' is a good boyhood story. It's a sensual adventure for boys coming of age. River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton and other boys are brilliantly talented actors. But this movie was a little too busy with disney kind of fun and thrill, and a great part of tenderness that Steven King's pen brought to the story was missing. And the ending is even worse. A good memory needs no conclusion.

I hope someone can re-make this movie someday.

Angela's Ashes (1999)

The story is acceptable but the movie is very square

[5/10 · 15 August 2001]

Alan Parker was once successful with his early movies,such as 'Fame','the Wall', and 'Birdy'. But unfortunately, He failed this one. It's not easy to picture a desperate story that poverty and class struggles involved. Bille August is more heartful dealing with hopelessness in his Pelle the Conqueror(1988).

Come and See (1985)

the best of few movies I've ever seen about World War II.

[10/10 · 8 August 2001]

This is no doubt the best of few movies I've ever seen about World War II.

Director Elem Klimov is indeed salutable It strikes me with its stunning visiual innovation. I can't get myself away from the innocent eyes of Florya (brilliantly played by Alexei Kravchenko), one of the millions of victims that suffered from Wars..

West Beirut (1998)

political but humanizing

[10/10 · 30 July 2001]

This movie is among the best movies dealt with civil war.

Director Ziad Doueiri's political but humanizing, plotting the story by the eyes of two teenage boys, witnessing the struggle between the lebaneses, and the strategic involvement from the western countries, especially USA, the awful monster.

Rami Doueiri(Tarek)and Mohamad Chamas(Omar)are very talented young actors.

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

One failure from a talented director

[1/10 · 13 July 2001]

I thought Lars Von Trier as a talented and breaking-tie director with his movie "Idiot". But this one did disappoint me. Even though the main actresses in this movie all were very good, this movie was unfortunately distortedly made. The plot went ultimately dull, and overly self-serious, especially when it'd dubbed with it's musical scenes.

The Hanging Garden (1997)

This movie is nervous and uncomfortably over-acting.

[1/10 · 4 June 2001]

This movie is nervous and uncomfortably over-acted. A story of hatred like such is not at all surprising nowadays. But the director seems too restless to do a good film.

I have seen many of gloomy movies and liked some of them, but not this one.

When Night Is Falling (1995)

Square movie

[27 May 2001]

This movie is sort of Disney fairytale kind of lesbian love.

The director is certainly not a cleaver one, making Petra a symbolized Demon. But the actresses are good acting.