Your Favorite Asian Films

[Crystoph]

Post what your favorite Asian films are. They can be old or new and from any country. My list is:



Barbie
Lifting King Kong
ONCE
Top Star
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

[reader17]

I have only watched two or three Asian films and the one that I really love is A Werewolf Boy. It was so good! Someday I will watch others. I want to see the new one with Kim Woo Bin 20 something I think it is. It looks like it maybe good.

[Fritz]

I haven't seen a lot of Asian films that have really stood out as great in my opinion.  One that does comes to mind is the Japanese samurai film, The Hidden Blade (2004).  It was much better than most.

[Deleted]

Awhile ago I came up with a list of all the Korean films I THINK I have seen. I must be missing some, but here are the ones that came to my mind after I thought about it for awhile. Pretty much it's in a favorites' order. The Classic will always be number one in my heart.

As for Japanese films that list would be even longer because I would have to include all the films of directors Ozu and Kurosawa and Kinoshita in the classic period, as well as newer stuff (most of which I watched on Instant Netflix). For Chinese films I've really watched an eclectic bunch of titles, many from Kyle on the old board who got me started on them in the first place several years ago.

The Classic
A Moment To Remember
A Tale Of Two Sisters
Ditto
... ing
Postman To Heaven
I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Okay
A Werewolf Boy
April Snow
The Harmonium In My Memory
Daddy Long Legs
Daisy
Spellbound
Sad Movie
Innocent Steps
The Shower (rare 1978 coming of age classic story in stunning Technicolor)

Blind
Almost Love
My Beautiful Girl, Mari (Korean anime film)
Oseam (Korean anime classic)
3-Iron
Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall ... And Spring
Hansel and Gretel
The Host
Phone
Happiness
Lump Of Sugar
Virgin Snow (combo Korean - Japanese production)
Il Mare
Epitaph
Welcome To Dongmakgol
The Good, The Bad, And The Weird
The Man From Nowhere
Open City
The Old Garden
Midnight FM
A Brand New Life

The Promise
Gabi
Aimless Bullet (1961 black and white Korean film classic)
A Petal (1996 a disturbing but revolutionary classic about the Gwangju
Massacre in 1980)
Always
The Tower
My Little Bride
Blood and Ties
Mother
Love Me Not
Marathon
More Than Blue
The Sword With No Name
The Fatal Encounter
Masquerade
Now and Forever
Steal My Heart
100 Days With Mr. Arrogant
Secretly, Greatly
Heartbreak Library
Architecture 101
Calla
The Way Home
My Tutor Friend
Poetry
A Bittersweet Life
Actresses
Very Ordinary Couple
Paradise
Lover's Concerto
Treeless Mountain
Small Town Rivals
My Sassy Girl
Traces Of Love
Lovers Of Six Years
Please Teach Me English
Once In A Summer
My Girl and I
All About My Wife
Finding Mr. Destiny
Love Fiction
Windstruck
Miracle In Cell Number 7
The Peach Tree
Harmony
Christmas In August
200 Pounds Beauty
The Beast and the Beauty
Time
Cello
Maybe
Portrait Of A Beauty
Bestseller
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
Secret Love
Tidal Wave
Barking Dogs Never Bite
Parallel Life
Love 911
A Millionaire's First Love
Sunny
Over the Rainbow
Lover (Aein)
Secret Sunshine
The Scam
He Was Cool
A Company Man
Chunhyang
Again
The Thieves
White Night
Romantic Island
My Girlfriend Is An Agent
Muoi: The Legend Of A Portrait
Yobi: The Five Tailed Fox (Korean anime film)
Doggie Poo (Korean anime film about a dog's poop falling in love with a
nearby dandelion, music by Yiruma!!! - which is the ONLY reason we watched
it!)
Take Care Of My Cat
Woochi
Lovers Vanished
A Better Tomorrow
Untold Scandal
The Housemaid (original 1960 black and white Korean film classic)
A Frozen Flower
Thirst
The Bow
Boat
M

[Deleted]

You guys would have laughed at me big time if you could have seen me collapse into bed at 3am clutching my Smartphone and to help myself nod off I went on Netflix and lazily scanned the "What's New?" section. Suddenly I let out a SHRIEK!!! and woke right up and JUMPED out of bed to turn on the TV!

PIRATES! THEY ADDED PIRATES!!!!!!

LOLOL! Was I dreaming? They just saved me 25 bucks for the DVD!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

I adore both Ye Jin Son and Nam Gil Kim who were the stars in my beloved Shark (2013) K-drama. Last summer I was dying when they said that the film was a blockbuster success and I knew that I wouldn't be able to see it for almost a year by the time they finally got it out on DVD. Turns out Lotte Entertainment sold the rights to 15 countries and Netflix for broadcast view.

The action takes place in the 14th century and shows 2 rival bands of pirates, one led by Ye Jin, the other by Nam Gil, who are out to capture a whale who has swallowed the King's seal which conveys to him the power of the throne. I thought the underwater scenes and whale chase scenes to be magnificent, even though intellectually I knew I was looking at CGI it still SEEMED real so I just went with the fantasy. About the only thing I would have changed in this film would be to add --- how shall I say it delicately? -- more "nugi nugi" between the leads. I've always been convinced these two had something going off screen though they always denied it, so I wondered if they cut back on that in the film because their relationship was on the rocks in real life. Oh well, whatever, I still enjoyed it. But tonight I need much more sleep! LOL. Ye Jin is my favorite actress. She really does not look one day older in this 2014 film than she did in 2003's The Classic.

[Deleted]

Peeing - 14th Century Korean Style

[Deleted]

I've never really studied the issue that in-depth, maybe Fritz knows. Why do they make such an issue over these two religions in Korea, especially the historical dramas? Is it similar to the arguments between Catholicism and Protestantism in the West?

This is from Pirates, where they are discussing it.

[Deleted]

Because it's leaving off Instant Netflix tomorrow, I watched the 2009 Korean film The Righteous Thief, a modern tale Hong Gil Dong story of a Robin Hood music teacher and his family who join forces to become a Robin Hood type of family, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. They have a brief Joseon era flashback to show their ancestors who engaged in the same activity. The film is a fast paced comedy and suspense yarn, where you wonder if the Hong Gil Dong family will ever be caught by the police. It just so happens that the rich guys they steal from are VERY VERY BAD people! So of course the audience sides with the thieving family.

Within the first ten minutes of the film I recognized all the actors' faces, main leads and supporting cast. It was hilarious. This is what comes from watching so many Korean dramas -- the same faces show up in both all the time. It just goes to show you how long these people have been acting! I recognized Lee Beom Su from The Prime Minister and I, Dong Il Song from It's Okay That's Love and Chuno, Hee Bong Jo who played Gianna Jun's agent in MLFAS, and Soo Ro Kim from A Gentleman's Dignity and Thank You, and many more.

I enjoyed it but it went so fast I feel like if I had blinked I would have missed it. It earned almost five stars out of five on Netflix, just a tad off, and not too many films get that highly rated; too bad it's leaving tomorrow; if you like cops and robber stories you'll like this one.  

  

[Deleted]

I watched on Instant Netflix a 2013 blockbuster Korean epic called The Flu, starring Jang Hyuk and Soo Ae and a wonderful child actress named Park Min-ha who played her daughter who almost stole the whole film from everyone in the cast. Everyone knows that I think it's painful to look at Soo Ae, that she isn't pretty, however she more than makes up for that with her excellent acting skills. I guess that's why she has nailed so many exciting projects over the years which other, far prettier, actresses don't nab.

The film was made in Bundang, about 15 miles from Seoul, a bustling city that suddenly comes under lock and key when an Avian flu bug is spread in the city by an illegal alien from Hong Kong. The war between local, state, and federal governments, plus the government of the United States and the United Nations, is almost as vicious as the war going on outside as the citizens are placed in different evacuation centers depending upon whether they have any symptoms. Death comes in about 36 hours after the first symptoms of rash and cough and fever and there's no antibody to this strain of flu available, so mass panic ensues. At several points the government turns its guns on its own people, and starts burying people in a mass grave dug out of a football stadium field, some of the people still alive. Gruesome!

Jang Hyuk plays a paramedic who develops a relationship with Soo Ae, a doctor, when he rescues her after an accident. He then meets her little girl and discovers her mother is divorced. As chaos looms in the city as thousands get sick and die both Jang Hyuk and Soo Ae struggle to protect the little girl when she starts to come down with symptoms. There might be hope in the first person to have contacted the flu and developed immunity to it, but will he be willing to cooperate in an attempt to develop a vaccine when he is terrified and has been threatened with death time and again by authorities?

One can easily see many of these panic situations arising with such a deadly scenario. It was a scary and powerful movie that actually holds some lessons for us regarding how to survive the spread of a deadly virus. Jang Hyuk and Soo Ae were great, especially Jang Hyuk. He's such a strong, masculine man that he was perfect for playing the part of a paramedic. He was also tender and sweet with the little child actress and I could tell he must be a wonderful father to his own brood in real life.

I give this film five stars out of five on Netflix. That's what it averages from all the other viewers too, so obviously a lot of people loved it.

[Deleted]

On Viki I watched a really old melodramatic film from 1990 called You Know What? It's A Secret. The print was a bit faded with age but I still enjoyed it. It must have been a big hit at the time, for a year or two later they made a sequel You Know What? It's A Secret 2. LOL.

I guess the film would be equal to Britain's To Sir With Love, for its shows some rather juvenile delinquent type students in high school under the influence of two solidly good, caring male teachers. They are able to reach out and humble a lot of the kids with their patience and wisdom and righteousness.

One especially difficult student is a 17 year old girl, daughter of a single mother, who smokes, drinks, hangs out at bars, and won't study. She gives her devoted mother a hard time and picks fights with the other girls in the classroom. Eventually she learns she may die and she starts to straighten up her act. She develops a crush on the teacher trainee who despite his better judgment starts to care for her as a person, not just as a student.

This actress was named Hee-Ra Ha and supposedly she was very popular in the 1990's. Maybe oldblueberry's Mom used to watch her in films back in the day.   I swear at many moments she reminded me of Ye Jin Son, my favorite Korean actress; I was rather freaking out. An expression would come over her face, or she'd move her head a certain way, or pout, and suddenly I'd get this huge wave of Deja vu come over me that she was Ye Jin Son's long lost twin or something. Haha! Today she is 45, married to an actor, with two kids.

 

I recognized several faces who are now veteran actors and actresses we see in our dramas and films and here they were so young I had to squint to ascertain who they were. Most of interest to me was the actor who played my favorite character in the show A Gentleman's Dignity, Min Jong Kim, who was only 19 years old in this film! I just kept grinning at how young he looked.

 

[Deleted]

Here's a link to watch The Royal Tailor (2014). For those who like sageuk or Park Shin Hye.

myasiantv.com/movie/the-royal-tailor/watch/

Depicts the love lives, jealousies and desires of those that work within the Sanguiwon during the Joseon Dynasty period. The Sanguiwon are responsible for the attire worn by royalty.

Dol-Seok (Han Suk-Kyu) is the best master artisan in charge of royal attire. He views set rules as paramount to his job. Kong-Jin (Ko Soo) is a genius like designer, born with dexterity and an excellent sense. He was brought to the palace by nobleman Pan-Soo (Ma Dong-Seok) who first spotted his talent.

The King (Yoo Yeon-Seok) and Queen (Park Shin-Hye) then become embroiled in a critical case because of the royal attire made by Dol-Seok and Kong-Jin.

[Deleted]

Just finished it. Sumptious clothes and visuals. Funny at times. PSH very good. It's actor Go Soo (Will It Snow For Christmas?, Call 911, Green Rose) who steals the show. I think he studied Bae Yong Joon's performance in Untold Scandal.  I've watched him mature as an actor over the years and this is probably his best performance.

[Fritz]

Last night I watched the big-budget Korean blockbuster The Admiral: Roaring Currents (명량). As gritty period war movies go, it was a good one.

The film is an in depth telling of the Battle of Myeongnyang (1597), regarded as one of legendary Joseon Admiral Yi Sun Sin's most remarkable naval victories, in which he led his only 12 remaining ships against the invading Japanese fleet that numbered in the hundreds.

From what I have read, the movie is fairly faithful to the history. It shows how Yi Sun Sin brilliantly used every tactical advantage at his disposal, choosing the narrow strait at Myeongnyang to nullify the numerical advantage of the Japanese (much like the Greeks did on land at Thermopylae) and used the local tide and the strong currents against them as well.

I imagine that a film like this would have pretty limited appeal to most female viewers. There was no romance and only one significant female character (the wife of a Korean scout) and she was literally mute. LOL!

[Deleted]

I watched a Chinese film made in Prague this year, on Instant Netflix, called Somewhere Only We Know. The average rating of this film was five stars out of five from all viewers, so I started watching it, expecting to see a masterpiece or something, but it was only so-so and very predictable. It seems like they were trying to film a Chinese version of Korea's The Classic, but changing the setting into a western one and making the secondary romance between a Chinese woman and a Western guy. I didn't know any of the actors because I don't pay much attention to Chinese entertainment these days.

A famous Chinese cellist moves to Prague for the summertime to appear in their national orchestra as guest artist. While there he meets and falls in love with a young woman who has taken a leave of absence from her job in China to go to Prague to take care of her late grandmother's items she left behind. She wants to investigate why her grandmother's heart always seemed affected by that city, or someone in that city. She ends up finding out about her grandma's long lost love through the items she left behind, and she meets this person, who is an old, old man now, and begins to suspect he might actually be her grandfather. Turns out he had thought his wife had died in a concentration camp, and he had had a romance with her grandmother, and then the wife was discovered alive and he has to leave his Chinese lover. All the flashback scenes were similar to the flashback scenes in The Classic but lacked the same poignancy. 

The summer ends and the couple have to make up their minds, will they try and stay in Prague or go back to China and get married? Or will they simply break up and go their separate ways, figuring it was just a summertime romance?

I ended up giving it 3 stars out of 5, don't know why Netflix people went gaga over this film. It was just okay to me, simply derivative of something else. They should watch The Classic instead.

 

[Deleted]

 "

Commitment - Korean Movie

War of the Arrows