ACF 114: Azumi DVD Reviewed!

Azumi

Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura

Japan, 2003

It's been a bit under two years since Urban Vision Entertainment released Azumi on a Two-Disc Collector's Edition DVD. I got a screener ahead of that release, watched it and intended to review it. So why the long wait?

Well, the end of that film leaves the story only partially told, and I didn't want to tackle it until the sequel also was available on DVD. Urban Vision recently released Azumi 2: Death or Love on DVD (single disc) so now it's time to look at the total Azumi saga. I'll write about the first film and DVD package here, then look at Azumi 2 in my next post.


In October, 1600, the forces of Tokogawa Ieyasu defeated those of the Toyotomi clan at the Battle of Sekigahara and began to unite Japan under his leadership. However, three daimyo (feudal lords) remain loyal to the son of the deceased head of the Toyotomi. They constitute a threat to the Tokugawa Shogunate, a threat that may lead to further civil war. In the aftermath of the battle a samurai is charged with finding some orphan youths and training them as assassins to kill these Toyotomi loyalists and thereby ensure peace, stability and unity for the country.

Azumi is the only girl among the group of ten youths who are schooled by Ji, their master, in total isolation from the outside world. When they are in their teens, Ji decides that they are ready for their mission. However, first they must engage in a brutal elimination to determine the five who will actually carry it out.

The storyline thus is basically simple: find each warlord, kill him. The first daimyo is located while he is fishing, and Azumi's looks and feminine charm are utilized to get to him. However, some things that she and the others are forced to do, and some that they are not allowed to do (namely saving some villagers who are attacked by bandits), cause Azumi to question both her master and the mission. In fact, at one point she leaves the others, but like Michael Corleone in the Godfather trilogy, she keeps getting drawn back in.

Bijomaru Mogami (Jo Odagiri)

The climactic battle takes place in a village that looks like a feudal Japanese version of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. After dispatching dozens of enemies, Azumi faces Bijomaru Mogami (Jo Odagiri), a crazed killer who dresses in white and who has a fondness for roses. Their fight scene, like a great boss battle in a videogame, is directed with great energy and inventiveness by Kitamura. It's followed by a coda in which the second warlord is dispatched. This leaves one remaining. His demise will be the subject of the sequel.

The only thing I knew about Azumi when I first watched it was that it had a hot young Japanese woman who fought with a sword. Reason enough for me to be interested. Part of my initial reaction to the film, however, was the feeling that the movie primarily was developed to showcase some young Japanese pop-star types. I also was bothered by the cape that Azumi wears at the end. Knowing a bit about martial arts, I know it's not the kind of thing one would don when actually going into combat, even if, as in this case, it was a gift from a good friend.

In watching the extras I learned that the movie actually was based on a very successful manga by Yu Koyama. Though as far as I know there's no English version of it available, I understand that in the comic there are actually eleven boys who train with Azumi, not nine as in the film. So the idea of teen-age assassins comes from the comic, and the movie actually has fewer youths. The cape is also from the manga, and there was some consideration to not using it in the movie because it was so unwieldy. But the director and star wanted to be faithful to the comic and managed to pull it off.

All of which just goes to show that while I was sort of right, I was actually wrong in the larger scheme of things. More importantly. it demonstrates how great DVD extras can really inform one's opinion of a film.


Aya Ueto, who was 17 years old when production began in 2002, is perfectly cast. She's sweet and innocent looking, with a terrific smile and luscious pillow lips that rival Angelina Jolie's. She's also a very game gal. A scene in the Fighting on the Edge featurette shows her taking a hard whack to the forehead from a sword. She returned to the set and soldiered on, earning the admiration of cast and crew.

The special features (listed below) on this 2-disc release are great. I especially enjoyed Azumi in America which is primarily concerned with dubbing the dialog into English. I pretty much listen to the original dialog version with English subtitles first and a dubbed version (when available) second, if at all.

This featurette made me appreciate the effort that goes into making a good dub. Variations of the dialog are tried until a good fit is made between the movements of the mouth of the actor on screen and the words being said by the voice actor. Now I'll sometimes listen to a dubbed version with the English subtitles displayed on screen, just to see how much the wording has been changed.

The Battle of the Creators reveals conflicts between director Kitamura and producer Yamamoto. I think it's pretty safe to say that what we hear in this featurette has a lot to do with why Kitamura did not return to direct the sequel.

Azumi, with its cast of teenage assassins, is highly entertaining and provides a distinct twist on the chambara (swordplay) film. My ACF rating for the movie: 3.5 out of 4 stars, highly recommended.

I rate the special features at 4 out of 4 stars, outstanding and exceptional.

DVD Special Features:
Disc 1
- Japanese language 5.1 Surround
- English language 5.1 Surround
- Optional English Subtitles
Disc 2
- Fighting on the Edge: The Making of Azumi
- Azumi in America: The U.S. Production
- The Battle of the Creators: Kitamura vs. Yamamoto
- About the Actors Featurette
- Cast and Crew Profiles
- Hidden Music Video
- ... And more!

Links:
Azumi - movie - imdb; wikipedia
Ryuhei Kitamura - director - imdb; wikipedia
Yu Koyama - manga writer - imdb;
Aya Ueto - actress [Azumi] - imdb; wikipedia
Yoshio Harada - actor [Gessai] - imdb; wikipedia
Jô Odagiri (a.k.a. Joe Odagiri)- actor [Bijomaru Mogami] - imdb

ACF 113: Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan on DVD!!!

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan / Ai Nu

Directed by Chu Yuan a.k.a. Yuen Chor
Hong Kong 1972

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan is a rare blend: a relatively straight up martial arts revenge film and a lesbian themed "love" story, with a smattering of female nudity thrown into the mix. The film begins in the aftermath of a murder, with scenes of green-tinted monochrome. The Liao family butler has found his master dead in his study. Liao was one of four men who "shared" Ai Nu (Lily Ho), the daughter of a poor teacher. She had been kidnapped and forced to serve in a brothel, which here substitutes for a martial arts school.

In a series of flashbacks, we learn of her arrival there and of her "indoctrination" in the ways of servicing a man. Her mentor is Lady Chun (Betty Pei Ti), the lesbian mistress who owns the brothel. Chun is totally hot for Ai Nu and there are several very sensual scenes of the two of them kissing and embracing. (Note that the female leads are never nude; we only see the breasts of some extras cast as other prostitutes.)


There are some rather tacky freeze frame shots as each of the four men go at Ainu. Like Liao, the other three men are also murdered by her. She has faked subservience in order to achieve her revenge, both for what has been done to her and to a male brothel worker who at one point tried to help her. Ai Nu's final target, naturally, is Lady Chun.

The film has some weaknesses. The fighting scenes are certainly decent, but they're nothing to rave about. There are some primitive "crash zooms," rapid zooms that sometimes go back and forth and not just in one direction. And though I don't often notice "background" music, some rather incongruous jazz horns caught my attention. 

On the other hand the film's faults are more than balanced by the two tall, young and gorgeous actresses (both from Taiwan), the interesting twist on a familiar plot device, and the absolutely stunning costumes and sets. Plus, you got to love a film that includes a line such as: "The likes of you don't deserve my love."

Intimate Confessions was shocking when it was released. Never before had lesbianism been so directly depicted in a legitimate Hong Kong martial arts film. I first saw the film at Lincoln Center in the fall of 2004 as part of the program Elegance, Passion and Cold Hard Steel: A Tribute to Shaw Brothers Studios. Now it's available as a single disc DVD from Image Entertainment as a Shaw Brothers Collection in the Eastern Masters series of releases. The transfer is first rate.

The best extra is the "Intimate Confessions of 3 Shaw Girls" Featurette, which focuses on Lily Ho, Betty Pei Ti, and Candice Yu (a.k.a. On-on Yu). The latter starred in the 1984 remake called Lust for Love of a Chinese Courtesan, which was also directed by Chu Yuan. There are also a Production Stills Gallery and a collection of trailers from other Image Entertainment Eastern Masters releases. Normally trailers don't do much for me, but these gave me lots of ideas of other films that I really would like to see and review.

Both the original Chinese soundtrack and a very well done English-dubbed version are available, as are optional English subtitles.

Intimate Confessions is an important film in the Shaw Brothers Studio canon. But more than that, it remains great entertainment even after over thirty-five years since it originally came out.

I give the Image Entertainment DVD release a 3.5 out out 4 star rating, highly recommended.

ACF 112: Maiko Haaaan!!! in L.A.

Maiko Haaaan!!!
Directed by Nobuo Mizuta
Japan, 2007, 120 min

Having already played in New York and Seattle, this hilarious Japanese comedy about the obsession of salaryman Kimihiko (Sadawo Abe) with maiko (apprentice geisha) is coming to the last stop in its three city theatrical run. From Friday, May 23rd through Thursday, May 29th it will be playing in Los Angeles at:

The ImaginAsian Center
251 South Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

The screenplay is by Kankuro Kudo, who was also the scribe of such fare as Ping Pong and Takashi Miike's Zebraman. Director Mizuta has done a fine job bringing this pop concoction to the screen, imbuing it with lively colors and wonderful pacing, which is essential if a comedy is to succeed.

I urge you Asian film fans in the Los Angeles area to check this one out. I can pretty much guarantee you'll have a fun time with this odd-ball look at the unique world of maiko and geisha.


For my original review of Maiko Haaaan!!! in ACF 103, click here.

For further info about showtimes at the ImaginAsian Center, click here, or call 213.617.1033.

P.S. Exte - Hair Extensions will be opening at the ImaginAsian Center on June 6th. It's another great film that you should definitely check out. It's about a morgue worker who harvests the hair of a dead woman and fashions it into hair extensions that take on a murderous life of their own.

ACF 111: Death Note @ 300+ theaters!

Light (left) and the enigmatic detective known as L (right)

Death Note / Desu noto
Japan, 2006
Directed by Shusuke Kaneko

Death Note was a big hit at last year's New York Asian Film Festival. On Tuesday, May 20th and Wednesday, May 21st, VIZ Media and NCM Fathom will present the film at over 300 theaters across the United States! The film will be shown at 7:30 pm local time both nights at each theater.

When Ryuk, a Shinigami God of Death, drops his notebook, it's found by a young law student named Light, whose father just happens to be a cop. Light has become cynical about the normal legal system's ablity to mete out justice. When he discovers that he can kill criminals by remote control, as it were, simply by writing their names in the notebook, he embarks on a mission to rid the world of crime.

Ryuk hangs out with Light in his bedroom

Seeking to arrest this vigilante, the police enlist the aid of legendary detective L, a youth who likes to squat barefoot on furniture and who has perhaps the world's biggest jones for sweets. Soon Light and L are engaged in a battle of intellects, one to carry on his own brand of justice at all costs, the other to hasten his arrest.

This special two-night even will feature an English-dubbed version of the film, which was based on the manga written by Tsugumi Oba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I've only seen the subtitled version, so I can't attest to the quality of the dub. However, VIZ is pretty conscientious about their product, so I'm optimistic that it'll be of good quality or better.

I rate Death Note at 3.5 out of 4 stars (highly recommended), and I hope that lots of you manga, anime, and Asian cult film fans out there will go see it in a theater. This special event, multi-city distribution marks a departure from VIZ's past practice of a limited release, usually three cities (New York, Seattle, and L.A.). So if you want to see a really fine film in a theater with like-minded fans, make plans to attend a screening.

To find a participating theater, click here for the NCM Fathom website.

P.S. I recently learned that select Hot Topic stores are doing a special promotion in connection with these screenings. While supplies last, customers who purchase a Death Note t-shirt or DVD (I think this refers to the anime DVDs that are already out) will receive a free ticket to attend the film event.

ACF 110: North Korean Film Series @ The Korea Society

The Korea Society's Classic Movie Night, held the third Thursday of every month, is one of the treats among myriad offerings of Asian films in New York. Next week, in addition to the regular screening (more of that at the end of this post), a special presentation of three North Korean films will be held from May 12th to 14th at 6:30 each night.

While South Korean films have garnered international support and recognition in recent years, little attention has been given to the admittedly lesser cinema from the other half of the peninsula. This mini-series offers a rare opportunity to see these North Korean movies.

Schedule:

Monday, May 12

6:00 PM Opening Reception, with talk by Prof. Charles Armstrong, Columbia University

6:30 PM Hong Kil Dong (1986, 104 min.)

A mix of Hong Kong-style kung fu and a socialist ethos, the Robin Hood-esque Hong Kil Dong helps farmers fend off feudal exploitation. When Korea is invaded by Japanese ninja, he must unite with his perennial enemies to defend the fatherland.

Reportedly a big hit in Bulgaria in the late 1980's!

I am so going to be there for this one!

Tuesday, May 13

6:30 PM Bellflower / Dorajee ggot (1987, 83 min.)

In this very popular North Korean production of the 1980s, Jin Son Rim (O Mi-ran, the "People's Actor") endeavors to transform her humble mountain hometown into a model socialist village. Released as the economy of the DPKR tanked, Bellflower "praises the spirit of workers who accept their roles and work for the greater good of the nation."

Wednesday, May 14

6:30 PM My Look in the Distant Future (1997, 102 min.)

As North Korea was ravaged by famine in the mid-1990s, tens of thousands of urban residents were mobilized for emergency agricultural work in the countryside. My Look in the Distant Future depicts that dire period with an optimistic gloss. One transplanted young, urban loafer is inspired by a stalwart village leader to become a model worker himself.

These three special presentation Classic Movie Night screenings will be at The Korea Society, 950 Third Avenue, 8th Floor (entrance on 57th Street). Price: $7 each (members), $12 each for $30 for all three movies (non-members).

To order tickets at The Korea Society's website, click here.

Also, on Thursday, May 15th at 6;30 PM, the regular Classic Movie Night series will present The Ball Shot By A Midget (1981, 100 min). Directed by Lee Won-se and based on a best-selling novel by Jo Se-hee, it's about a family struggling to get by in the ironically named neighborhood of Haengbok-dong (happy street).

For info about The Ball Shot By A Midget or to order tickets, click here.

ACF 109: Lee Chang-dong Retrospective - Secret Sunshine

Jeon Do-yeon (left) and Song Kang-ho (right)

The Asia Society's Lee Chang-dong retrospective continues tomorrow night with a screening of Secret Sunshine, his fourth and most recent film, made after he served as Korean Minister of Culture and Tourism from 2002 until 2004.

Lee Shin-ae ( actress Jeon Do-yeon) and her young son move to Miryang, the rural Korean city which her deceased husband was from and which gives the film its name. There she hopes to start a new life giving piano lessons. When their car breaks down, Kim Jong-chan (Song Kang-ho), who owns a garage, brings them and their car into town.

It's immediately obvious that he's attracted to her and that she is indifferent to his interest. Perhaps because I'm so accustomed to what Hollywood would do with such a situation, the film seemed to be starting out as a romantic comedy. You know, the guy keeps after the woman until she finally realizes that he's her "Mister Right."

Then a crime takes place. My initial reaction was that perhaps this was an incident that was gong to play into the thwarted romance. But it soon turned out to be for real, and to have dire consequences for Lee Shin-ae. The remainder of the film is an incredibly powerful exploration of human suffering, as Shin-ae searches for spiritual peace in the face of one of the worst tragedies that can befall a person. Throughout it all, Jong-chan continues to be there for her.


Like all of Lee Chang-dong's films, Secret Sunshine has won numerous festival awards. Last year at Cannes, Jeon Do-yeon received the award for best actress. Her performance, like Moon So-ri's in Oasis, is one of those rare, magnificent thespian tour-de-forces that I can only term "beyond incredible."

At the inaugural Asian Film Awards earlier this year, the movie won for best film, best director, and best actress. And Song Kang-ho has not come away empty handed. He won the prize for best actor at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Complete info about the film's wins and nominations can be found at this link to imdb.com.


Secret Sunshine further solidifies Lee Chang-dong's place in my list of great film directors. Though an emotionally demanding film to watch, it deserves to be seen by anyone who appreciates magnificent film making and story telling.

Screenings for it and the two other remaining films in this retrospective are at Asia Society, 725 Park Ave (at 70th Street), Manhattan. The schedule for the three remaining films, each of which will be shown at 7:00 pm, is:

Secret Sunshine
2007, 142 min
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
- This screening is co-sponsored by The School of Visual Arts
- Director Lee is scheduled to be present

Peppermint Candy
2000, 127 min
Thursday, May 8, 2008

Green Fish
1997, 111 min
Monday, May 12, 2008

For more information or to order tickets, click here.

ACF 108: Lee Chang-dong E-Interview

Renowned South Korean Film Director Lee Chang-dong

In conjunction with the retrospective of his four films at Asia Society in New York, which begins Monday, May 5th, I was given the opportunity to submit an email with some questions for director Lee Chang-dong. This method does not allow for follow-ups or for asking about things that come up in a response, as a normal face-to-face interview does, but I think it worked pretty well nonetheless.

At the end of this post, after my questions and his responses, I've provided a link to the Asia Society webpage about the series.

ACF: I understand that you had achieved success as a writer, then, when you were not yet 40 years old, did your first work on film as one of the screenwriters of Director Park Kang-soo's To the Starry Island.

How did your involvement with that film come about?

Lee: Actually at that time, I was in considerable doubt both as a writer and as a person stepping into his late 30s. Perhaps you could say I wanted to punish myself. And so I wanted to do something like hard physical labor, and what I chose was to work as an Assistant Director. Director Park Kwang-soo had just suggested that I do the scenario[script] for 'To the Starry Island,' and I made a kind of 'deal' with him to use me as an Assistant Director. Of course at the time, my filmmaking experience was nonexistent and I was in no way qualified to AD. In a way what made me a director today is very much indebted to Park Kwang-soo's gamble to use me as First Assistant Director.

ACF: After writing another screenplay (for A Single Spark, 1995), you wrote and directed your fist film, Green Fish (1996).

How did you come to direct? Was it something you had been considering for some time? Did you want to make a personal statement rather than have another director produce his own interpretation?

Lee: How I came to be a director results from a few unexpected coincidences. Because I wanted to 'punish myself' I worked very hard on the set, and it seems that made a good impression on some of the staff and cast members that I didn't expect. After that, those people kept suggesting that I become a director, and eventually helped me to debut as one. Of course, it's not as though I had never had the desire to become a director. I had always been curious about the distance between film and reality, and had questions about the apathy of movies (whether commercial movies so-called art films) that were growing farther and farther detached from reality. I wanted to make films that closed the distance a little, between film and reality.

ACF: Both Green Fish and Peppermint Candy, which followed, allude to the economic and political situation in South Korea. While they, like all your films are primarily about individuals and their stories, did you deliberately set out in Green Fish and Peppermint Candy to portray the economic and political problems that South Koreans faced in the 80s an d 90s?

Lee: There's no question that 'Green Fish' and 'Peppermint Candy' draw on the political and economic problems of Korea. But they weren't my main focus. My main interest has always been human beings. I believe film is the best medium to show something about human beings. But people can't be separated from the environment (including the political and economical reality) that surrounds them. Man is affected by his reality, and in fighting against it finds meaning in his life. Those are the kinds of things I wanted to show.

ACF: I loved the train footage used between segments of Peppermint Candy. As I recall, they were filmed from the back of the train as it traveled forward, but the film was run backwards in the movie so it looks like we're going forward, but we're actually going back time, in terms of the train's "real movement." How did this idea for using this device come about?

Lee: 'Peppermint Candy' is a film about a sort of time travel. And so I needed a way to visualize time. That's the train. Actually, time and trains have several similarities. You could say that mankind's perception of time changed with the invention of the train. Film is, of course, a medium that deals with time, and in that sense, the fact that one of the first films ever made is the Lumiere Brothers’ 'Arrival of a Train' is very symbolic. Trains are also linked with memory. That's probably why the image of a ‘train journeying to the past’ came to mind.

ACF: In both Green Fish and Oasis, there are characters with Cerebral Palsy, though the male in Green Fish is of far lesser plot significance than Moon So-ri's Han Gong-ju in Oasis. In Green Fish the character is cared for and loved by his family, whereas in Oasis, Gong-ju is exploited or ignored. Does this have to do with your belief in a difference in approach to family in more traditional, rural-rooted families (Green Fish) vs urbanized, Westernized families (Oasis)?

Lee: It's possible. Another reason could be that there is a mother in 'Green Fish,' and in 'Oasis' there are no parents. I think it's very difficult, a strain for brothers and sisters to care for a sibling with cerebral palsy, even more so than for parents to care for such a person. But I don't think the two individuals with cerebral palsy in the films are in such different circumstances from each other.

ACF: You have been described as "an actor's director," much as Sidney Lumet has. While your films all tell compelling stories, and tell them marvelously, you have clearly elicited incredible performances from your actors and actresses, who have been nominated for and won numerous awards. [I personally thought that both Moon So-ri, for Oasis, and Jeon Do-yeon, for Secret Sunshine, should have at least received Oscar nominations, but such are the vagaries of Hollywood.]

Are you comfortable with being considered "an actor's director"? Are their certain things about your approach to filmmaking that you think especially contribute to such outstanding performances?

Lee: Though I'm not exactly sure what 'an actor's director' means, it's clear to me that of the many things shown on the screen, the human being is the most important thing. There are probably a million things a director can do to draw out an actor’s performance. These words also mean that there is no particular method to it at all. I often tell my actors "Don't act." I tell them instead to instead "experience" the character's emotions. I only help them to the extent that they can feel and experience those emotions.

ACF: Are there any things that you accomplished as Minister of Culture and Tourism about which you are particularly proud?

Lee: Though I did my best as a Minister, I’d prefer not to talk about it right now. Others will be able to judge the things I did.

ACF: The publicity materials for Secret Sunshine indicate that you were planning Peppermint Candy even before Green Fish had been released, and that Secret Sunshine had been, as you put it, "in my head ever since 2002." after Oasis came out.

Is something already in the works for your next project? If so, can you say something about what it will be about?

Lee: There is something I'm thinking about. But I don't think it’s the right time to reveal it yet. Before I start any film, I ask myself 'Why do we need this film right now?' I'm looking for the answer to that question these days.

Most sincere thanks to Director Lee for taking his time to consider and respond to my queries, to Ernest Woo for his terrific job translating the questions and answers, and to Helen Koh of Asia Society and Jenny Lawhorn of fatdot.net for arranging this interview.

For more information about the Lee Chang-dong film retrospective or to order tickets, click here.

ACF 107: Lee Chang-dong: A Retrospective

A fantasy sequence from Lee Chang-dong's Oasis

New Yorkers rejoice! Soon we'll be treated to the four film retrospective of this brilliant South Korean director that was part of the still ongoing Korean Film Festival DC 2008 in our nation's capital.

Oasis will be the first film shown. It happens to have been the first of his films that I saw. Sol Kyung-gu stars as Jong-du, a young man of limited mental abilities who's just been released from prison for vehicular manslaughter. After re-uniting with his family, he goes to visit the victim's family, where he meets Gong-ju, played with incredible intensity by Moon So-ri.

Both are shunned or exploited by their respective families, depending on circumstances. The relationship that develops between them is remarkable, and the acting is fabulous.

I've seen the film at least two or three times, and each time I've been haunted by it for days afterward. "Haunted" in a good sense, a wonderful sense, as in unable to stop thinking about the story and the performances. This is the mark of truly great cinema.

Sol Kyung-gu (l) and Moon So-ri

Oasis garnered 11 of the 13 awards for which it was nominated at various festivals, and deservedly so. Lee won eight awards and was nominated for two others. Moon So-ri won two, and Sol Kyung-gu, one. (For complete awards information at imdb, click here.) Although his first two films each won several festival awards, for me Oasis marks Lee's true arrival as a master director on the international film scene, a position he has further solidified with last year's Secret Sunshine.

The four films in the retrospective will be shown at Asia Society, 725 Park Ave (at 70th Street), Manhattan. All showtimes are 7:00 pm.

The complete schedule is:

Oasis
2002, 133 min
Monday, May 5, 2008
- This screening is co-sponsored by The Korea Society
- Director Lee and Ms Moon are scheduled to attend and participate in a Q&A after the screening

Secret Sunshine
2007, 142 min
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
- This screening is co-sponsored by The School of Visual Arts
- Director Lee is scheduled to be present

Peppermint Candy
2000, 127 min
Thursday, May 8, 2008

Green Fish
1997, 111 min
Monday, May 12, 2008

For more information or to order tickets, click here.