Udine’s Far East Film Festival is Europe’s most important Festival for Asian Cinema. It covers pictures from Hong Kong, China, Japan and Korea to Thailand and the Phillipines. In a nine day period 73 (30 of them european premiers) movies were screened, including the retrospective Asia sings ! A survey of asian musical films. I had to leave two days earlier, so sadly i missed Tokyo Zombie and Welcome to Dongmakgol ... anyway here it comes, a short look at the movies i saw.

RULES OF DATING (Han Jae-rim) - South Korea, 2005
Rules of Dating, the feature debut from Han Jae-rim, is a story about a High School Teacher (Park Hae-il, seen in Memories of Murder) who gets involved in a relationship with his student Teacher (Kang hye-jung, Oldboy’s Mido). The movie is everything one wouldn’t expect judging from a title like this. Forget your typical movie-romance, Rules of Dating is more of a black-comedy with some social elements thrown in. The actors are fine and the story is well told (and like the majority of korean movies beautifully shot), but in the end the movie doesn’t completely succeed. The biggest problem is that Han seems not to be sure when to finish the movie and the moment he ends it, is ten minutes too late. Average.

MASTERS OF HORROR - IMPRINT (Miike Takashi) USA / Japan, 2006
By now everyone should have seen Miike’s Masters of Horror output, if not you should check it out as soon as possible, cause it kicks ass. The first 20 minutes are just there to set the mood, but then everthing goes totally out of control. I won't spoil to much, but Miike throws in everything from abortion, incest, child abuse and something that reminded me a little bit Hennelotter’s Basket Case. A dense, atmospheric movie, stunnigly shot, that delivers everything you’re expecting from Miike. Especially the central torture scene is really unpleasant to watch, but for someone who is familiar with the director’s work this should be no surprise. Without any doubt one of the best Masters of Horror episodes (well, not that the level was that high) and an interesting trip inside the human evil. No wonder Showtime hadn’t the guts to show this. During interviews somone asked how Billy Drago could end up in this and Miike told that he choose Drago because he reminded him of some japanese actors (by the way, Miike was the only person on the set who could not speak english).

ISABELLA (Pang Ho-Cheung) Hong Kong, 2006
Director Pang is a regular presence at Udine’s Far East Film Festival. Last year he was there in person presenting two of his movies, AV and Beyond our Ken. To tell the truth I’m at a point were I’m not totally sure how good of a director Pang is, but Isabella is a terrific movie. The story about a daughter who meets (and everything that follows) for the first time with her father at age ninteen, is certainly not new but told in a way that makes it really touching and emotional. Chapman To, different from his usual characters, gives a fine performance and Isabella Leong is just marvelous. Some unforgettable scenes, an incredible editing job, great actors and the nice Macao setting make Isabella not to be missed.

SHINOBI (Shimoyama Ten) Japan, 2005
I haven’t read the manga on which Shinobi is based, but i doubt that it would have made any difference, because Shinobi is a bad movie (but not so bad that it’s good). Let’s forget that the story is terrible thin, the acting not that good and the special effects just mediocre, but this could have been fun on an other level ... that of kick-ass characters fighting the shit out of themselves. For a moment i thought of Ninja Scroll, but that moment lasted just some minutes, cause then it turns more in something like the awful Stormriders. The fight scences are definitely too short and ruined by massive use of CGI. Everything that’s between is terribly boring and two hours is really too long.

BANGKOK LOCO (Pornchai Hongrattanporn) Thailand, 2004
Probably many of you have already seen this, but on the big sreen it’s an total fun experience. Bangkok Loco is a nonsense-comedy movie and it’s really, really silly. Think of the dumbest ZAZ jokes in a Thailand location, 70ies style clothing and haircuts, stupid (but funny) musical numbers and awesome opening credits. Definitely not for everyone’s taste, but if you had fun with movies like Mr. Suave or M.A.I.D go for it. Very pop.

SEE YOU AFTER SCHOOL (Lee Seok-Hoon) South Korea, 2006
This is a comedy about a day in the life of a typical High School Loser and it’s very funny, at least for the first part of the movie. After that it’s till funny but the director, Lee Seok-Hoon (wo creates a sort of empahty for the main character and some of the other students) at his feature film debut, seems to loose focus and tighs the ends up very bad. Don’t get me wrong, Bong-Tae-gyu in the lead role is great and much of the movie works thanks to him, but at the end you stay back with the impression that something better was possible. Despite of that it’s the korean movie of the Festival i liked the most.

THE SHOPAHOLICS (Wai Ka-fai) Hong Kong, 2006
Wai Ka-fai (who was one of this year’s special guests) has at least one masterpiece on his record, the incredible Too many way to ne muber One (1997), but with Shopaholics he goes for the fun. The story shows the life of four people with different phobias and how they get along with them in today’s Hong Kong society. Shopaholics is not a great movie, but watching this crazy characters getting freakin mad and involved in the strangest situations is fuuny, sometimes even hilarious. The picture is a 90 minutes rollercoasterride, a sort of screwball comedy on speed, that looses it totally in the last 20 minutes. If you liked others Milkyway comedies, you should check it out.

ALWAYS - SUNSET ON THIRD STREET (Yamazaki Takashi) Japan, 2005
I liked this movie a lot. Before the screening it was announced like one of Japan’s last years blockbuster and really heavy on CGI. That’s the same stuff we heard last year before the screening of Lorelei - The witch of the Pacific Ocean (2003) and that movie was terrrible. Always on the other side is a really good, very touching picture about a group of different people living in the same street, around 1958 (you can see the building of the Tokyo Tower in the backround, completed in the end of the movie). The characters are heartwarming, the story is nice and the two kids in the leading roles are really charming. The GC is not bad and makes the setting more believable, without relying to much on it. A nostalgic look on the postwar generation and the japanese society of the fifties.

ART OF FIGHTING (Shin Han-sol) South Korea, 2006
Judeging by the title I was expecting a cool movie or at least something in the vein of Arahan (2004). Instead you get your pretty standard Master-Scholar relationship, where the rules of fighting become rules of life. There are really not that much fight scenes, which would have been no problem would the rest just be a little more interesting. Art of Fighting doesn’t work on any level, either as action film, nor as a comedy. Like many other recent korean movies it’s just a nice package, but when you look inside there’s nothing.

HOME SWEET HOME Soi Cheang) Hong Kong, 2005
From the director of New Blood (2002) and Love Battlefield (2004) comes this bad horror-thriller. It’s all about the violation of the most private space, the own apartment, with some really thin social elements thrown in. Of course there are some nice ideas and scenes, but in the end, Home Sweet Home doesn’t tell anything new. Asian horror is actually not in the best conditions. Forgettable.

MURDER, TAKE ONE (Jang Jin) South Korea, 2005
I hate this movie. I lost two hours of my life for Murder, Take One and i will never get them back. It’s so bad it caused me physical pain, especially in the last 30 minutes. I won’t even try to tell the story of this, more than stupid, serial killer movie. It’s enough to say that you have seen this all before a dozen times and much, much better. I like korean movies, but when they are just dumb style-over-thin-as-it-can-get stories like with this picture it’s really sad, cause one Hollywood is more than enough. Somone after the screening said that it was meant all to be ironic, maybe i didn’t get it, but i doubt it. Judge for yourself, you’ve been warned.

EXODUS - TALES FROM THE ENCHANTED KINGDOM (Eric Matti) The Phillipines, 2005
From Eric Matti (Pa-Siyam, 2004) comes this children-movie with little story and dialogue. Exodus is a cheap-looking fantasy picture with some charming stuff, but if you’re over six years old you get tired very soon. If you have to, watch it with your kids.

THE HOUSE (Ng Man-ching) Hong Kong, 2005
Hong Kong nowadays is just a sad reflection of what it used to be and producing movies like House sure doesn’t help. A terrible Dark Water rip-off, including every stereotype seen a thousand times before in asian horror movies. The opening and ending shot are a total mystery, cause they are absolutely senseless and have just the effect to get the person who watches the movie really pissed off. A waste of celluloid.

DRAGON SQUAD (Daniel Lee) Hong Kong, 2005
Oh man, you can’t be serious ... Dragon Squad is an old movie in the conception and it’s pretty awful too. Seeing this picture is like being send back in time, to the late ninties, when Media Asia was putting out some of the worst movies Hong Kong has seen in the last ten years (think Purple Storm (1999) or Gen X Cops (1999) - brrrrr !). It’s hard to believe that this is the same director of Black Mask (1996). As i said, everything is old in Dragon Squad, the story, the characters, the situations. If as that was not enough you get terrible flasbacks put in without any logic and the worst use of slow-motion seen in the recent years. Sammo Hung kicks ass, as always, but can’t do little to help the movie and don’t get me started on Michael Biehn, poor guy. Out of time.

M.A.I.D. (Yomgyoot Thongkongton) Thailand, 2004
What a silly movie, but what a funride too. Think of Charlie’s Angels spoof with tons and tons of demented humor. M.A.I.D. is fast, funny and has lots of hilarious scenes in it. The first half, at least, is defintley a winner. Sure, it’s not for every taste and the comical parts are not particulary sofisticated, but for a nice viewing it’s more than enough.Yomgyoot Thongkongton is the director of Iron Ladies 1 & 2, so you know what to expect.

LINDA LINDA LINDA (Yamashita Nobuhiro) Japan, 2005
In this year’s line up, Udine had 3 or 4 really great movies, but for me this film by Yamashita Nobihuro is without any doubt the festivals winner. To begin, the movie is beautifully shot and has great acting, but there’s so much more. Linda Linda Linda tells the story of 4 high school girls (three japanese and one korean) who start a band to play at the school’s festival, overcoming all sorts of personal problems. Yamashita takes his time to describe the characters making them believable and adding some subtle humour to it. The title song, a cover of the japanese band The Blue Hearts, gets played to death but even if you hate punk you will sing it at the end of the movie ... and the days after. This picture is so good i couldn’t belive it. Recommended.

THE GLAMOROUS LIFE OF SACHIKO HANAI (Meike Mitsuru) Japan, 2005
I’m not a great Pinku fan. I mean i have seen some, but they’re not really my kind of movies.
Meike’s picture is not too bad and has some funny scenes involving George W. Bush plus some nice punches on the US goverment, but that’s it. And 90 minutes is half an hour too long.

A WATCHER IN THE ATTIC (Jissoji Akio) Japan, 1994
MURDER ON D STREET (Jissoji Akio) Japan, 1997
RAMPO NOIR (Takeuchi Suguru, Jissoji Akio, Sato Hisayasu, Kaneko Atsushi) Japan, 2005
This year Udine had its focus, among others, on japanese director Jissoji Akio. The movies that were screened are all based on the writings of Edogawa Rampo, whose stories are dense, atmpospheric mystery-tales, heavy on S&M, bondage and kinky sex. Not my cup of tea to say the truth. Asano Tadanobou fans should at least see Rampo Noir, who stars in all the four episodes.

These are the final results of the Public Choice Award (the rating goes from 1 to 5):

1) Welcome To Dongmakgol
4,543

2) Always - Sunset On Third Street
4,365

3) Linda Linda Linda
4,104

4) Loach Is Fish Too
4,032

5) Nana
4,029

6) You Are My Sunshine
3,945

7) You and Me
3,878

8) When The Show Tent Came To My Town
3,834

9) Hello Yasothorn
3,811

10) See You After School
3,748