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Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom (2003)
Slow paced but well thought out and executed
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring Directed by Ki-duc Kim
About a boy growing up and being raise in a remote area by his master. He spends "spring" growing and learning. "Summer" trying new things and having responsibilities. And falls for a girl who is brought seeking help. "Fall" he runs away for the girl and lives his life on his own, and tries the things of the world. "Winter" he comes back and his master dies and he repents. Late "winter" he begins training and helps a woman who comes seeking aid. She leaves boy and dies and he now trains boy as master did him.
This movie was extremely long, it seemed, and slow paced in the normal life of a couple of Buddhist males, boy and master. It was extremely well done and the more we critiqued it afterwards, it became more obvious that there was a lot of time spent on this film. The cinematography was amazing and exceptionally beautiful through out the film. The location lended itself to great shots of the landscape. I heard it stated and I would agree that in order to get the most out of the film it required some knowledge in Buddhist philosophy. Mainly to catch a lot of the symbolism used throughout the film; which I actually missed but was amazed at all that was used after discussion. The main theme of the movie as stated in the title is to emphasis the seasons and cycles of life. I would give the movie a 7 out of 10.
Geuddae geusaramdeul (2005)
Great Idea but poorly executed
The President's Last Bang Written and Directed by Sang-soo I'm
Overall, it was just a story about one of the men in the government who reported to the President, forgive me I don't know politics, felt that it the government had dictated the country too long needed to seek a democracy or something different than dictatorship. So he took it upon himself to be the hero and kill the president and eliminate the problem. But complications arose that would naturally and the man along with his crew were all put to death. I'm not sure if the main problem was the script or direction but the story didn't have any real dramatic emotional pullers. Usually in trying to make a point about something it's overdone, in a suspending disbelief type of way sometimes, to really make your point and pull the audience in, but it seemed that this movie was lacking in this area and was almost washed out in dynamics and plot twists. Overall, other than creating a more dynamic plot twist or dramatic events stirring the emotions of the audience, the direction and production of the film was average to professional level film with nothing especially significant. All the editing, cinematography, sound, and acting were all professional yet not extraordinary. I would give the film a 4-5 out of 10 since it lacked a good storyline, the single more important part.
Oldeuboi (2003)
Twisted film on revenge
Old Boy Director Chan-wook Park
The man Dae Su was kidnapped randomly when he was drunk in the beginning of the movie while he was on his way home to give his daughter her birthday present, angel wings. He was put into a locked room never to leave for 15 years. He went crazy while being detained and trained himself to seek revenge on the man who put him in there. While watching the news he finds out that his wife was killed and since he's missing they figure it was him. He was released and began the search for Lee Joo-Win, the man, who framed him, killed his wife, and locked him up. He met and fell in love with a girl while chasing Lee Joo-Win. Having caught him and having several confrontations with him and his men he found out he was hypnotized almost as an experiment, as was the woman he met, who turned out to be his daughter. The movie came to a climax at the ending and Lee Joo-Win killed himself. The whole thing is a humbling ride while rooting for Dae Su to stop Lee Joo-Win's disturbed ways. The acting was well done, other than the typically lame voice-overs, cause it was filmed in Korean, or whatever. The sound track was suiting and dynamic as well as the diagetic sound effects. Everything else was done typical and to a professional level, but nothing especially special like cinematography, lighting, and editing. Overall though, I would say that the characters of the protagonist and the antagonist really stuck out as being well written. Dae Su, as the protagonist, was written well, cause I could really feel for him and understand his feelings of going crazy and wanting revenge. I entered the story through him and was on his side of the plot. Lee Joo-Win, as the antagonist, was your typical opposition and suited it well. In my mind, he was pathetically evil and yet at times he was human as well. The scenes in the movie were written well and didn't lag on but got to the point and continued to the next, overall the flow of the movie was smooth and quick. I would give Park a 7-8 out of 10.
Fa yeung nin wah (2000)
Hit or Miss? (miss)
In the Mood for Love
I actually watched the semi-sequel, 2046, before I watched this film. I wish I would have known and watched them in order. So as far as the plot I was confused during 2046 and probably knew too much and it tainted my view when watching this movie. I think overall it was a different but well put together film. It was rather dry and very slow paced. I'm not too much into these types and I wonder if the whole point of the film could have been done in about 15 minutes and got the point across better. The acting was solid and done fairly well, nothing that really stands out. Actually it's quite hard to concentrate on the acting and expressions when your reading subtitles the whole film. The production quality was definitely more of feature film quality and I have really no complaints in this area. In fact I complement the sound track for this film. I thought it was used well and added to the dynamics well. I would not watch this film again and due to it's extremely slow pace I would hesitate to rememend. I give it a 5 out of 10.
2046 (2004)
Hit or Miss? (hit)
2046 I think that this was the best of the three movies that I have seen by Wong Kar-Wai for the fact that it was a well paced movie, mainly only cause the actors were always having sex, it was filmed beautifully, acted great, the audio both diagetic and non-Diagetic sound was exquisite to the film. The storyline was weird but interesting and kept me involved and I could understand were he was coming from. I've heard comments about the picture quality and the real art taken in the cinematography of this film and it was beautiful. Again I heard it said that you could pause it anywhere in the movie and make a poster/picture out of the shot because it was great and I would agree. It was something that kept me watching was my interest in just looking at the proportions of things in the angle of the shot and imagining operating a camera and making these types of shots. Overall I would give this movie a 6 or 7 out of 10 because it was decent but not a particularly awesome overall film.
Chung Hing sam lam (1994)
Hit or Miss? (MISS)
Chung King Express I wasn't really impressed with this movie in several aspects actually and I'm going to start by giving it a 4 out of 10. To back myself up I would like to first comment on the storyline, of which I think is the most important part of telling a story whether it be on film, book, music, etc. I thought it was poorly done and I had a hard time figuring out who the protagonist, main character, was therefore I had a hard time relating to that unknown person and didn't find myself getting pulled into the story. It went from the cop character to the woman back to the cop character to the new girl at the food stand then back to the cop. Poorly done in my opinion. Acting was done fairly well, but not extravagant by any means. Another big thing that was huge in my opinion was the poor job on the production and post-production work. The whole thing looked like it was filmed on a cheap digital camera as far a picture quality and the audio was terrible. Both the Diagetic and Non-Diagetic sound was poorly done. I really didn't like the sound track for almost all of the movie and one of the songs was way over used. Editing was another thing that really distracted me cause it was choppy at parts not flowing well and looked like amateur work. Anything else I try to remember about the movie is blurred because of the poor job on the few things I've already stated. I wouldn't recommend or watch again by choice.