Free Lecture: The Power of Japanese Animation

Nobiyuki Tsugata knows a lot about anime. In fact, he lectures about it in two Japanese universities (Osaka University of Arts and Kyoto Seika University). Also, he has written three books on the subject, which is roughly three more than you or I. Where am I going with this? Well, one more interesting thing about Nobiyuki Tsugata is that he's also coming to Dublin to talk on the subject, and if you want to go and hear what he has to say, you lucky devils get to go for free!

For those of you with an interest in Japanese animation, this promises to add bucketloads to your background knowledge of the subject from a real expert in the area, and all this at a price that can't be beat.

The lecture is in Trinity College, Dublin, in the Jonathan Swift Lecture theatre (ground floor of the Arts building) on Wednesday 3rd October at 18:30.

To register for places, you'll need to contact the Cultural/Information Division in the Embassy of Japan (tel: 01-2028305, or e-mail: cultural@embjp.ie)

The Host

The verdict: A light-hearted monster movie from Korea, but the occasional laughs are outweighed by a meandering, ponderous storyline.

The rating: 5/10

Ah yes, the monster movie. Hollywood has churned out it's fair share of em, and Asian cinema is probably renowned for the genre. But it's been more than a few years since the threat of a big bad monster could capture the imagination of cinema audiences on the scale of some of the recent Hollywood Cinematic behemoths. So, while 'Transformers' brazenly rakes in the box office takings, a fun monster movie like 'Slither' humbly sneaks into the DVD bargain bin with nary a whimper.

The movie critics may bemoan this fact, studied as they are in the history of trashy cinema from 1950's Hollywood and Japan, where monster movies were a staple of the art. However, this style of movie harks back to a simpler time, when broadband was a type of y-front waistline, and a gigabyte was something Gojira did to Mothra. The heyday of monster movies recalls a time when going to the movies of a Saturday was an event, and seeing Godzilla trash a cardboard city on the big screen was new and exciting. These days, we mock poor special effects, used as they are even in music videos.. (such as this Beastie Boys classic) No, in the 21st century, we like our monsters to be real, and if possible, graphically violent, if the huge success of the recent crop of 'torture porn' style horror movies is anything to go by.

The Host is an old-school monster movie, in that the monster isn't simply attacking and killing innocent victims. In this type of monster movie, the creature is created by humans, and simply tries to survive. Godzilla was a product of nuclear explosions, but this creature is caused by an altogether more mundane human failing, when chemicals are dumped into Seoul's Han river.

Rather than building tension as to what the monster looks like, or perhaps give us the occasional night-time glimpse for the first half an hour or so, the makers of 'The Host' take the ballsy approach of revealing the creature in the first ten minutes of the movie. This scene is one of the best in the film, where the creature goes on a large-scale river-side rampage, trashing all in it's wake.

The plot centres around the hapless Gang-Du, played by the ever-versatile Kang Ho-Song. This guy has really mixed it up over the years, and features in two previous reviews from PCMR's Asian Season: 'Shiri' the popcorn cop flck, and 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance' the nightmarish revenge fable. In this movie, Kang Ho-Song's character is something of a loser and a dimwit, but as we learn later, there's a reason for his dopey ways. He lives with his young daughter, athlete sister and browbeaten father in a trailer by the bank of the Han river selling snacks, the Korean equivalent of an ice-cream truck I guess, if the ice-cream was fried squid that is.

Aanyway, Gang-Du's daughter Hanseo, is taken by the creature, and he has to get her back. And therein lies the story of 'The Host'. His sister's archery skills come in handy, as do his father's wiles (and life savings) and eventually the creature is faced down.

The creature itself is done well, and the scenes where it rampages through the crowds are excellent, but there is far to much of the movie where the monster isn't even a threat. Also, there is a lot of comedy in this movie, and I'm afraid the effect of it was lost on me a little, given that I was watching the dubbed version, and all the male characters sounded quite similar (rounded and well pronounced generic american accents... tsk).

So the tension is created with the reveal of the monster, but relieved once we find out Hanseo is alive. From that moment on, the movie just seemed to meander. In a format as tried and tested as this, there needs to be a few surprises involved to hold the interest of the audience, and, sadly, there weren't many to be found in this movie.

There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of 'The Host' on these shores, but sadly, in my opinion, the strong opening scenes promise much but deliver little, and this film is ultimately a little more Godzuki than Godzilla.

Audition

The verdict: When Harry met Sally and Hallucinated and Sally went Bananas and Tried to Kill Harry

The craziness: Piano wire, nightmarish hallucinations, dismemberment, decapitation, needles where they shouldn't be and a dead puppy.

The rating: 5/10

Folks, I have to say, this box of Asian DVDs is suddenly throwing out some pretty extreme stuff, and there's only one man to blame: Takashi Miike. I had previously said Ichi the Killer was now the second most extreme movie of my brief viewing career. Well, I spoke to soon, because Audition is a new entry in my all-time-crazy-extreme top five, and it's also directed by Mr. Miike. All I can say is, his parents must be proud.

This dark, nightmarish tale of two perspectives is like a David Lynch-inspired bad trip. There are similar themes in here to Ichi, with childhood traumas triggering violent adult behaviour, and pain being inflicted in copious amounts, but 'Audition' is a very different prospect to the comic-book style ultra-violence of Ichi.

For the first hour, things move along at a pace so pedestrian, you wonder why it's considered a horror movie in the first place. Aoyama's (Ryo Ishibashi) wife has passed away seven years ago, and a passing remark from his teenage son prompts the lonely old middle-aged codger to get back on the wagon and start dating again.

When Aoyama discusses this prospect with a movie producer friend Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura) the buddy thinks it would be a good idea to advertise a non-existent female role in a movie, and use the audition to choose a girl for Aoyama to go out with...

So, this is not a decision loaded with moral fibre, but if it means he doesn't have to go speed-dating or a traffic light ball then it's a winner, right? Well, Takashi Miike doesn't make things quite so clear cut.

When Aoyama sees Asami's application for the part, he instantly falls for her, and even though the letter accompanying her picture makes her sound like a dangerous serial killer, and her references don't check out, he decides to date her. You sense that things might not go well for this guy, and, well, not to spoil things at all, you'd be right. As I mentioned, for the first hour, the proceedings plod along, until the couple decide to go away for a weekend, and suddenly it's 'Twin Peaks', drunk and in a contrary mood.

I have just watched Audition, and have not yet slept, but I will bet money that the final scenes are going to give me nightmares. Quentin Tarantino caused a global scandal by not even showing an ear getting chopped in a torture scene, and then we have this. Let's just say these scenes are in the same ballpark, but if you thought Reservoir Dogs was shocking, then Audition definitely won't be for you.

So the violence will probably shock most, but the hallucinatory dream sequences leave us in some doubt as to whether Aoyama's actions were as pure as we were lead to believe in the first hour. However, the punishment meted out to him in the last fifteen minutes is, well, a little excessive I reckon.

If you're looking to interpret proceedings, Miike is perhaps extolling the virtues of telling the truth, looking after kids in case they grow up as violent killers, and only dating girls whose references check out. However, I found this movie to be too slow at first, then too weird, then too violent. Where Ichi the Killer was fun, in a strange way, this wasn't half as enjoyable.

Recommended for fans of Manga and David Lynch, this won't be suitable for most, and for this reason it does not get a PCMR recommendation. If you're collecting extreme movie experiences, then you might possibly be drawn to watch Audition for sheer curiosity value. However, if you want to get a little more enjoyment from your ultra-extreme movies, I'd suggest you partake in something else, like 'Oldboy', or 'Ichi the Killer'.

Ichi The Killer

The verdict: Two hours of shock and awe. Takashi Miike is pushing the extreme envelope with Ichi the Killer.

The craziness: Torture, arterial spray, sado-masochism, rape and an assortment of other depravities I'm trying to put out of my mind to be honest.

The rating: 6/10

Right... well, where to start with Ichi the Killer, but with the other movies I've seen that come close in terms of extreme shock value? Irreversible remains the most difficult movie I've ever watched, and Oldboy had previously come a close second. The difference between the two was the level of entertainment to be found in Oldboy, which even managed to include one or two darkly comic moments amidst all the mayhem. Irreversible offered no such respite, and that still remains the most affected I have ever been by a movie, in that it made me feel physically ill.

Takashi Miike's movie sits somewhere between the two of these, and is in the same vein of 'extreme' film. It is ultra-violent and horrific, but not completely devoid of a sense of humour, albeit a very very dark one.

Some of the bloody action sequences are just so over the top that they have the comic value of something like Peter Jackson's 'Braindead' or maybe 'The Story of Ricky'. These scenes include the liberal use of aterial spray and severed limbs, and the rather clever device of initially just following the people who 'clean up' after Ichi has done his killing... these scenes show us Ichi's aftermath, organs and entrails make the floor slippery and give us a sense of foreboding about this mysterious assassin.

The story (for what it's worth!) centers around a bunch of in-fighting Yakuza gangs. When the boss of the Anjo gang goes missing, his number 1, a thoroughly despicable torturer named Kakahari - the man in the poster above - sets about trying to find him, using any means necessary.

We are introduced to Kakahari immediately after seeing the after-effects of Ichi's handiwork for the first time, and while we are wondering what kind of ruthless killer Ichi is going to be, we soon learn that Kakahari enjoys pain. Not just inflicting pain, but having pain inflicted on him. His face is horrifically scarred, and we gradually learn that these marks were inflicted by boss Anjo, and that Kakahari has a bizarre attachment to the boss as a result.

While this maniac tortures other mob bosses to find his own, we learn a little more about Ichi himself. This character is truly bizarre, and will defy explanation, but I'll attempt to do him justice as briefly as I can... Right, so he was bullied as a kid, and witnessed a rape, which he actually enjoyed watching. Now grown up, he is being controlled by an enemy of the gangs - a guy named Jijii - who has somehow programmed Ichi to hate and want to kill the Yakuza bullies. When Jijii sends Ichi into a yakuza apartment to take out the bad guys, he dons his black leather superhero costume, replete with blades in the heels of his boots. When his victims inevitably make the mistake of mickey out of his appearance, Ichi burts into tears, but, Incredible Hulk-style, crying triggers his programming, and he literally tears the bad guys to shreds.

The thing is, Ichi is reluctant to inflict violence, while Kakahari revels in it. In fact, Kakahari is addicted to pain, whether it be the giving or receiving. Ichi meanwhile, is in constant trauma about the violence he is inflicting on others, seemingly without any conscious decision on his part. Their separate paths seem on an inevitable collision course, but what will happen when these two incredibly different insane killers meet?

And that's about the size of it... Ichi is thoroughly extreme and not for the faint-hearted. It's nowhere near as good as Oldboy, but marginally more enjoyable than Irreversible, mainly because Ichi's blood-letting is generally way over the top... apart from a few highly questionable scenes involving women. (Women don't generally do to well out of this movie by the way). Kakahari's scenes are far less enjoyable though, given that they involve rather imaginative and nightmarish torture methods. (Including one scene with a scissors that Robert Rodriguez shamelessly lifted for 'Planet Terror')

The following people will almost certainly enjoy 'Ichi the Killer':
1. Asia extreme collectors
2. Horror movie fans
3. Manga fans

If you're not any of those things, you won't like this movie. If, on the other hand, you partake in one of the three activities mentioned above, you'll find a lot in Ichi that you might not have seen before. At the end of the day, it's pretty much a kooky video nasty that kids and students will use to try and gross out their mates after a few pints. High-brow dramatic art it most certainly ain't, unless I missed something when I was watching from between my fingers...

Nausicaa

The verdict: Another mind-blowing animated fable from Studio Ghibli, whose output routinely bursts with imagination.

Craziness: Hmm... quite a lot really. How about.. giant insects taking over the world with berserker rage? Don't worry though there's waay more!

The rating: 8/10


If you're going to sit down in front of a few movies to try and get a flavour of what Asia really has to offer, it would be remiss to omit an animated tale. Most of us late twenty/early thirty-somethings will have grown up with Saturday morning cartoons imported from Japan, and if you have kids of your own, you may routinely wonder how your weans aren't fitting and frothing at the mouth while watching the strobe effects in some of the more recent offerings.

Japan has a history of quality animation, and a formative movie-watching experience of mine growing up was a Japanese animated classic, a certain 'Akira'. I can safely say that the reason I watch so many movies these days is to try and catch the sensation that Akira produced on the first viewing. The words 'awesome' and 'mind-blowing' have lost currency these days, being used to describe everything from 'The Incredibles' to , somewhat predictably, 'Shrek'. However, Akira was that most unique of movie experiences, creating images that even your unconscious brain had never conceived, and delivering them in a package of confusing adrenaline-fueled action - a heady mix for a twelve-year-old, I tell thee!

As far as Japanese popular animation went, the category of Manga promised much, but delivered little to be honest. The advertising would have you believe it was edgy, dark, and mature, but in reality, the majority of manga was puerile or silly, with the animation coming nowhere near the quality of Otomo's masterpiece. There are certain exceptions though, and I'd heartily recommend dipping your toe into the Manga pool of insanity with 'Blood: The Last Vampire', 'Perfect Blue', or perhaps a little bit of existentialist fun provided by 'Ghost in the Shell'. Heed my advice here though folks, and stay away from the 'Legend of the Overfiend' franchise ... it's just perverted and bizarre. (Ah yes, featuring the extremely dodgy penis demon, almost definitely post-watershed stuff that is - Ed)

While wading through the questionable delights of what Manga had to offer though, I somehow remained ignorant of Studio Ghibli, until recently going to see Miyazaki's Spirited Away when it was released in cinemas here, and I was instantly hooked. Ghibli's output is altogether more wholesome and rewarding, and I've indulged in a couple more of their offerings since, (Princess Mononoke and Kiki's Delivery Service). So, I was looking forward to watching - and I'll give it it's full title here - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Incredibly, this film was made in 1984, four years before Akira, and is entirely hand-drawn. This is a signature of Studio Ghibli, which has only recently begun to embrace computer-aided animation.

It's not easy to summarise the story, but Nausicaa tells the story of a planet which has survived a great war. The people of the valley, led by Princess Nausicaa, live close to a poisonous jungle, that is slowly spreading across the earth. The jungle is populated by insects, and these babies are big. In fact, one single 'ohmu' - as they are known - would wipe out the entire valley if it went on a charge. Unfortunately, other kingdoms want to wipe out the forest, but Nausicaa believes that if they try to burn the forest, they will anger the insects, and bring about the destruction of humanity.

So, 'Nausicaa' is a fable about being part of a community and man's relationship with the earth. Most of the people of the valley have a fear of the insects, but the princess seems to have the ability to empathise with, and communicate with these creatures.

But that description doesn't do justice to the visual feast on offer. 'Nausicaa' really is a pleasure to watch, with the landscapes of the valley, and the poisoned forest providing fantastic natural backdrops to the action, and constantly surprising with their level of detail and imagination.

The characters, too are various and good to watch. Our hero has an little animal companion - which seems to be a signature of Miyazaki's - named Teto, a little yellow squirrel who should at least keep the kids happy. (given that he looks like a skinny bearded Pokemon - Ed). In addition though, Nausicaa's valley is populated by an array of decent folk, including of course Lord Yupa, the great old swordsman.

The bad guys are represented too, but they're not properly frightening really, the main threat in this movie comes from the insects to be honest. We're told that when the Ohmu are about to go into a berserker rage, their eyes turn red, so when this signal is up there on screen, we know something bad is about to happen.

Kids should relate to Princess Nausicaa's ability to talk to animals, and you would expect that they'll tap into the fear of the insect swarms quite quickly! The message in Nausicaa is very positive though, and good for kids to be exposed to. It's all very Al Gore really, but in the current climate, it's very relevant, and not to be found anywhere in Pixar's movies. This is a big difference between Pixar and Ghibli, and one which I reckon reflects a major cultural difference between the U.S. and Japan. Where Japanese animation is all about man's influence over nature and vice versa, U.S. animated features are just about how being an individual is a good thing. The Japanese have always considered their place in their environment, and this comes through very strongly in 'Nausicaa'.

The two hours flew for me to be honest, and I'd recommend it for actual kids too. It's imaginative, beautifully animated, and delivers a whole lot of positive messages, including environmental ones. What more do you need from a kid's movie really? (Er, how about computer graphics!? A terminator? Light-sabers? Harry bleedin Potter!?) - Ed)

Shiri

The verdict: Cheesy Hollywood-style action from Korea.

Craziness: Buddy-cop action, shootouts and explosions. Oh, wait, that isn't crazy at all...

The rating: 5/10

There's a song from 'Team America: World Police' that tellingly reveals a device oft over-used in movies: the montage. When you need to move things along, the song goes, you need a montage.. and of course fading out from the montage shows that time is passing... Shiri opens with a training montage, with a nameless female soldier graduating from a rain-soaked uber-badass military training school in North Korea. The montage shows us in around 90 seconds that she's a sharp-shooter, separated from her family, and so damn hard that she's graduating top of her badass class. Then, a second montage shows us what she's managed to achieve since graduating, and it's a pretty impressive hit list. Cut to present day, and agents Ryu and Lee are secret agents, partners, and on her case.

Shiri, features two veterans of Chan-Wook Park's revenge trilogy: the instantly recognisable Oldboy himself Min-Sik Choi, and one of the leads from 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance' Kang-Ho Song. Their presence in this movie is proof, at least, that paycheck movies aren't just a Hollywood phenomenon. This isn't just any paycheck movie though, as it is still the highest grossing Korean movie in history.

Ok, the story goes: a dissident North Korean regiment, led by Oldboy, are using grasses in the South to gain access to confidential military information about a new technological development: CTX. CTX is a liquid explosive with identical properties to water, bar one rather important one: when it is exposed to enough light and heat, it explodes with a force ten times greater than any other explosive previously seen.

As the secret agents investigate the movements of the North Korean bad lady, named Hee, they uncover evidence linking her to this regiment, and things really start kicking off.

Shiri is pretty action-packed, but the action sequences are out-of-the-box and everything in here has been done many times before, with bigger budgets and more imagination, by the likes of Jerry Bruckheimer, for example. The action tends to take the form of prolonged confusing shoot-outs between goodies and baddies, and the body count starts mounting right from the opening scenes.

The two partners are buddies right from the start, and this relationship has a conclusion to it that is so inevitable it isn't funny. If you've seen an action movie before in your life, you'll see this coming from about ten minutes in... All that is missing from this element of the film is someone screaming: 'NOoooo!!' (Er, in Korean though - Ed)

Where Shiri almost gets away from cliché is in the love interest, but the dialogue between Ryu and fiancée Hyun is genuinely nauseating. She runs an aquarium and talks about a type of kissing fish called 'Kissing Gourami'. These fish live in pairs, and if one dies, so does the the other. This, if you are asleep, is called a metaphor. It would be a nice one if it wasn't repeated so bloody often throughout the movie.

There is a political context to Shiri, that is possibly the reason it attracted so much domestic interest. The action set-piece that frames the finale of the movie is an historic friendly football match between North Korea and South Korea. The presidents of both Koreas are attending, and Oldboy's dissident military unit want to blow up them both up and start a war.

So, it's laden with action movie clichés, and the love interest side of it is sickly sweet, but is it any fun? Well, there is the occasional moment of comedy, but a movie this ridiculous should have its tongue firmly in its cheek... think 'Face/Off' and how the two leads hammed it up so much that the premise actually became a bit of fun. Unfortunately, Shiri takes itself a little too seriously for that. Possibly due to the importance of the political element to the story, and the desire to make the plot laden with emotional connotations, it just gets tiresome, and long before the end.

Perhaps a guest appearance from 'Team America's' Kim Jong-Il would have livened things up... (I'm so rone-ree... mwaa haa! ... ahem.. - Ed) but given that he's a renowned film fanatic, I think he would have taken offence at his image being used in a film that is quite simply a below-par popcorn actioner.

Returner

The verdict: Stylish honest-to-goodness unapologetic comic book science fiction. And it's pretty damn good to boot.

Craziness: Not much, really. Bullet-time effects?

The rating: 6/10




Is it nerdy to like science fiction? I would say… not always. You see, in any area of life where nerds are involved, there is a certain hierarchy in place, and in reality, there are often very explicit rules to guide you as to when activities are nerdy or not. Once this is established, you can then use any number of benchmarks to find out who is nerdier than you. For example, to like the first Matrix movie is fine, but to like the second movie almost definitely makes you a nerd. And as for the third one, well if you like that, you actually enter into geek territory, which even nerds sneer at. (A geek is worse than a nerd? – Ed)

But then there are science fiction movies that transcend the Nerd Circles, such as Richard Linklater’s recent 'A Scanner Darkly', the universally lauded 'Donnie Darko', and even more recent movies such as Stephen Soderbergh’s 'Solaris' and Danny Boyle’s 'Sunshine'. These movies should be good enough to move out of the student science fiction club and into the mainstream. Also, some of the Hollywood event movies in recent years (Terminator 2, Independence Day, Transformers this year) have been science fiction at it’s overblown best and worst.

So why the stigma? Well, first off, it’s kind of a lads’ genre. Girls just tend not to go for science fiction, especially if it’s called sci-fi. Donnie Darko somehow manages to be an exception, possibly because that Zoolander guy is in it (Jake Gyllenhall?! – Ed). Also, science fiction is not quite like any other genre, in that the merest flaw will make the whole enterprise seem ridiculous. A defining characteristic of a nerds is to take glee in the smallest plot points of science fiction movies, so in this genre, credibility is only established by scoring 100%. 2001 achieved it, but Kubrick was an insatiable, obsessive perfectionist. Tarkovsky’s Solyaris also managed it, but these guys are the best of the best... Lastly the main problem faced by sci-fi relates to suspension of disbelief. The writers are telling us that this android has travelled back in time to save the world from self-aware Commodore 64s and we’re prepared to accept that, but if the guy’s motorbike manages to jump the exploding truck, we’re all 'awww, come on!'. There’s a difficult balancing act here, and in general, it has to be said, science fiction rarely gets it all right.

So where does Returner fit into the genre? Well, first off it’s a Japanese science-fiction movie, so I’m already a nerd for telling you about it. (Ha ha! – Ed). Returner is definitely more comic-book sci-fi than science-fiction, so the girls might not go for it. The plot – girl sent back in time to save planet from alien invasion – suspension of disbelief, and there are some rather large holes in the plot, but it does have a great deal of stylish action scenes, right from the kick-off, so these are somewhat forgiven.

The opening scene sees Milly arrive in 2002 just as Alfa-Romeo-driving, spaghetti-eating Europhile Miyamoto has finally cornered his nemesis Mizoguchi, a Japanese member of a Triad, and a harvester of homeless children's organs (guess he might be the bad guy so? – Ed). Miyamoto is pretty much kicking some serious Triad, and is about to finally do away with his nemesis when Milly drops into the scene, startling him into accidentally shooting her, and letting the bad guy get away.

So the scene is set for a kind of sci-fi by the numbers. Milly’s mission is to prevent the war, and she enlists Miyamoto’s reluctant help, because his ass-kicking looks pretty useful. The idea is to find a crashed alien spaceship and kill the instigator of the human-alien war – a certain alien named Daggra – before the war properly kicks off, and the human race gets wiped out.

Along the way, there are some great special effects, with a nice variation on the bullet-time effects of the Matrix that works very well. There is a also fair dose of kick-ass chop-sockery, but thankfully not an overdose of wire-work, just the occasional super-slo-mo shot of some large group of goons all getting it in the neck from a single mid-air sortie of Miyamoto. There are no super-powers, no messianic delusions, it’s just a people-trying-to-save-the-world type of deal.

The script is decent enough, and moves along at a trundling pace. It’s uncomplicated, and just about keeps you interested in the outcome. It’s well acted by the three main leads, and the bad guy in particular is a properly nasty piece of work.

There’s nothing massively profound on offer from Returner, but the 90 minutes or so in its company should keep you entertained, with only a few cringe-worthy moments to speak of. Of those are a number of scenes in English, or should that be Engrish, where even the apparently American actors are speaking in the forced, alien tones of Bill Murray’s Santori whiskey adverts from 'Lost in Translation' (Roger Moore!? - Ed)

That said, Returner is unpretentious and unashamedly entertaining. It’s stylish, well-constructed with a good solid beginning, middle and end, and likeable lead characters. Unlike recent Hollywood sci-fi movies, this one has a very good idea of it’s own scale, never attempting to be too expansive. The set-pieces are quick, deadly and action-packed, with a good balance between crazy special effects and genuine action.

Without a doubt, the nerds will love this one, but I seriously doubt it will transcend those circles without the inevitable Hollywood remake. I'm actually surprised that hasn't already happened. My suggested Hollywood cast: Matt Damon as Miyamoto, Gary Oldman as Mizoguchi and Jessica Alba as Milly. Now that would be a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. Right, I’m off to ring Harvey Weinstein...

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance

The Verdict: Dark, unflinching, and relentless thriller from the man who brought us 'Oldboy'. This nightmarish spiral of revenge will leave you meek and sobbing in the foetal position, begging for the 'Shrek' DVD to be put on before you go to bed.

Craziness: Bloody, revenge-fuelled violence, and lots of it. Let's see, there's suicide, drowning, electrical torture, arterial spray, baseball bats, organ theft and self-mutilation... (So it's not a kid's movie then - Ed)

The Rating: 6/10


One of Chan-Wook Park's more recent movies somewhat unfairly hit the headlines over the last few months in the wake of a spree killing in the United States, where the perpetrator was pictured imitating certain images from the film. For those of you yet to see 'Oldboy', I recommend two things: first, you should prepare yourself mentally for what will be a psychologically jarring couple of hours. Then, give it a watch when you think you're ready. You won't be ready though, because 'Oldboy' is a monster, albeit a brilliant one.

There is a similar theme of revenge running through the predecessor to 'Oldboy', and indeed, the follow-up, named 'Sympathy for Lady Vengeance'. In this, monikered his 'revenge trilogy', Park takes an unflinching look at the basic human impulse for revenge and the effects of extreme emotional trauma and wrong-doing on otherwise normal people.

There are two main plot threads in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. The first follows deaf-mute Ryu (Ha-Kyun Shin), who is caring for his ill sister in their crummy one-bedroomed apartment. She is in urgent need of a kidney transplant and requires constant care. An chain of events leads Ryu to the desperate situation where he considers more unconventional means of acquiring thre required kidney for his sister. There's a very foreboding moment where Ryu is using a public toilet, and his eye is drawn to a poster reading simply: 'organs for sale'. You just get the feeling that things aren't going to go well for him after that, and they certainly don't.

After that episode, Ryu ends up being offered a genuine hospital transplant, but has no money to pay for it. His girlfriend Yeong-Mi (Du Na-Bae) persuades him to consider kidnapping his former boss's six-year-old daughter, considering he got laid off from his factory job recently. She is convinced they can pull off the kidnapping in a good way. Simply take the kid, demand the required 26 million won (that's roughly €20,000 - Ed), and return the kid, unharmed, without involvement from the cops.

If only things were that simple. When an accident results in the young girl's death, a chain of events is set in motion that sends the two men, Ryu and his former boss, Mr. Park (Kang-Ho Song) on a spiralling spree of revenge that eventually culminates in their meeting, not before much blood has been spilt along the way.

Chan-Wook Park carefully constructs this chain of events to convince the audience that these characters motives for revenge are pure. In both cases the protagonists are not bad guys, not even particularly hard men. This is not Steven Seagal the firefighter, taking on the crime organisation to avenge the death of his wife and kid, but bizarrely it is in the same ball park. The difference is in the realism, both in the construction of the protagonists' relative motives for revenge, and also in the graphically illustrated situations that ensue. Park does not offer his characters or the audience the luxury of a dry witty one-liner when his 'heroes' dispatch their nemeses. Instead, they are plunged deeper into the darkness that has pushed them to that point in the first place, and the audience is pulled along with them.

Let me follow Chan-Wook Park's example and make it explicit: 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengenace' is not for the faint-hearted. It is loaded with nightmarish images, dark events, and an ending that will not send you home with a smile on your face. If you thought 'Se7en' was dark, then you may rethink your mental categories after watching this one. However, the level of intelligence in the construction of those two movies is congruent.

The most extreme movie I have ever seen to this point is a certain 'Irréversible'. That movie is one I would not even think of recommending, simply because it takes the audience to the darkest places where movies really have no right to. With the narrative unfolding in reverse, the end at the beginning and vice versa, the violence in that movie begins in the first ten minutes with the most graphic murder sequence I have ever seen on celluloid. Vincent Cassel's character's motives for the killing are revealed as the movie unfolds in reverse, but even at the end (beginning) I was left feeling disgusted with the film, and wholly unrewarded for putting myself through the experience. There was a little of the same feeling with 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance', but at least I got the impression that the two main characters were somewhat justified in their relative quests for revenge. In both cases, the titles suit the subject material perfectly, and in both cases, the violence is very very graphic.

Of note is one special effect which I have never seen done quite so well elsewhere. When one of the genuine 'bad men' realises he has been stabbed in an artery, there is a dramatic close up of the wound, with the artery shown pulsing behind the wound, the knife still lodged. His compatriot warns him "it's in an artery, don't pull it out..." You can guess the rest...

And yes, folks, this is an indication of what's on offer with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and definitely not one for a quiet night in with the wife, or the kids, or granny and grandad (unless you want to traumatise your loved ones.) However, if dark cinema is your cup of tea, and you like your movies intelligent, well-crafted, and a little bit on the bloody and violent side, then this one may be for you. I can honestly say it is adrenaline-fueled in the same manner as 'Oldboy', if not at the same level of quality.

So this is 'Asia Extreme'. Bloody hell, I'm not sure if I'm going to survive this Asian Season! Still have Takashi Miike's movies to get through, and 'Ichi the Killer' is in there... might have to counteract this stuff with a Disney season afterwards or something, just to balance things out a little! (Wimp - Ed)

Iron Ladies

The verdict: It does have some redeeming qualities beyond the novelty value… it’s fairly well acted (except for the coach) and the theme of acceptance is handled well for roughly half the movie, getting heavy-handed towards the end, where the zaniness also ruins it a little.

Craziness: It’s pretty crazy, but not always in a zany sense, just the concept (which is a true story)… and most of the characters… and, um, the musical number.

The rating: 6/10


'Iron Ladies' is the true story of the male volleyball team that won the Thai National Championships in 1996 against all the odds. So you might be forgiven for thinking it's in the mould of inspirational rise-of-the-underdog Hollywood sporting stories such as 'Remember the Titans' or 'Coach Carter'? Weeellll… not… quite. I might defer to the blurb on the back of the DVD case here, and I quote: "Their skills and talents of playing volleyball are second to none. What matter is that most of them are gays."

Ahem... 'nuff said really. Essentially Iron Ladies tells the story of a group of guys who were good at a particular sport, but not allowed play because they batted for the other side. (And not in a sporting sense. Mwaa ha! – Ed). Not to be put off though, the lads clubbed together, and formed a team good enough to win the national championships, and gain massive media attention, winning over the Thai nation in the process.

The team members pretty much represent the entire spectrum of homosexuality, from the token straight guy, to the guy still in the closet, the openly gay one, the flamboyantly open, the flamboyantly feminine, the transgender one, and of course the camp triplets. I didn’t make any of that up by the way, and neither apparently did the film-makers, as this story can be verified by the archive newsreel footage that plays during the closing credits. These guys are represented pretty faithfully by the looks of things, and the archive footage is almost better than the movie to be honest.

The story is from a very familiar boiler-plate, but with such a fundamental variation from the traditionally alpha-male dominated sports flick, that it almost manages to hold the interest through to the end, despite being eventually loaded with clichés, bad acting and one very sketchy musical number.

The first half of the movie is the stronger, with two friends Mon and Jung deciding against a move to Bangkok because they want to try out for the district 5 volleyball team. Mon is used to rejection for being gay, despite being great at the sport, and is ready to quit, but Jung, an irrepressible flamer - pardon the expression - with a mouth as foul as a Glasgow welder, persuades him to stay and try out for the district 5 team.

The lads try out, and are picked, but the macho alpha male Mann persuades everyone on the team to quit, possibly in protest at having to play for a team that isn’t quite sure which showers to use after practice. Actually, not everyone quits, one guy stays because he can’t stand the homophobic views the posturing Mann. (So he ends up being 'the only straight in the village?' Tee hee – Ed) So, the lads are forced to assemble a team themselves, and this leads to the eventual assembly of a crew so damn motley, even Tommy Lee can't watch.

'Iron Ladies' plays with the audience's curiosity factor in the team's novelty value, in that there is a real sense of awe that this film is actually unfolding on screen in front of your eyes, but also the double whammy of it actually being a true story. This reflects the media treatment the Iron Ladies got when they went on to go on a successful run in the Thai National Volleyball championships in 1996.

There are themes going on here too though, mainly in the first half of the movie. Jung's parents are totally accepting of their son's situation, and are great with him, but Wit – the kid still in the closet – isn’t so lucky, and the media coverage the rest of the Iron Ladies enjoyed didn't work out quite so well for him. The acceptance of the tournament organisers is questionable too, and this leads to some fairly predictable panto-style cum-uppances in the second half of the movie. (Ooh, pardon? More tea, vicar!? – Ed)

So it does descend into sports movie cliché eventually, but the first hour of the film is very likeable, with the main characters not just comically camp cardboard cutouts, but actually displaying genuine personality under the flaming facades.

The musical number towards the end is kind of car-crash viewing, but I don’t know, maybe that’s normal in Thai films… (Not in Tony Jaa movies – Ed). Thankfully, either the lighting is so bad, or the international DVD quality so poor that I couldn’t really see it all that well. Unfortunately, the sound was fine….

Eventually it all becomes a 'be yourself and you can achieve anything' Hollywood-style movie in the same vein as something like 'When Saturday Comes' except with Sean Bean replaced by Dale Winton, and the rest of Sheffield United team played by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Pet Shop Boys, and those lads from Little Britain. (Sounds like a Bafta vehicle to me – Ed)

Unsurprisingly, given its domestic success, Iron Ladies has spawned a successful sequel (prequel actually - Ed) in Thailand. However, though this one had serious novelty value, I won’t be rushing out to get my hands on the next Iron Ladies outing. (Oooh, Pardon!? More tea Vicar!? … ahem – Ed)

PCMR's Asian Season!

So, for no legitimate reason other than I've moved into a new gaf recently and got a house-warming present of a box of crazy Asian dvds (that's actually a good reason - Ed) I've decided to share the best, worst and the rest of this little Asian treasure trove! Rucky you! (Ahem, that's enough of that now - Ed)

And I might have an inkling of what you're thinking, it'll just be a collection of crazy J-Horror and ultra-violent Korean weirdness... and you might have a point, there are a few shady J-Horror offerings lurking in the box of derights (Stop that! - Ed). However, amidst all the psychological extremes of 'Ichi the Killer' - reportedly the most extreme movie ever made - 'The Eye' and 'Audition', there is also some light-heartedness, provided by Takashi Miike's uncharacteristic 'The Happiness of the Katakuris' - which looks genuinely off the wall - and also the highest grossing Korean movie of all time - 'Shiri', which looks more like a Jerry Bruckheimer-style action-fest (and doesn't appear to be on iMDB!? - Ed). The Korean Extreme are represented by Chan-Wook Park's 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance', and if it's anything like Oldboy, I'm not sure if my mental preparation will be good enough to prevent permanent psychological scarring...

There'll be a few surprises in there to boot, but I'll be kicking things off with a review of the most successful Thai movie of all time, a certain 'Iron Ladies', which is kind of like 'Cool Runnings', except if all the Jamaican bobsledders were Volleyball players, and very gay... What can I say? It's a true story, and a quality opener to what promises to be a real mixed bag of crazy imports from the East.

So forget about the hoity-toitiness of the Cannes film festival, with all those ultra-self-conscious art-house offerings. (Didn't get invited then? - Ed) No, instead, I propose that you sit back, relax, and let the Asian invasion begin...