The official list of Asian movies *you must see*

On a somewhat related note, Zhang Yimou's "The Story of Qiu Ju" starring Gong Li was recently put out on DVD by Sony Pictures Classics. It's nothing like Raise the Red Lantern storywise or period-wise, but I liked this movie a lot when I saw it many years ago and plan to pick the dvd up.

Movie description from Amazon:

Quote:

---

The kick is never shown, but the entire film is based around it. It's winter in the remote Shaanxi province. Pregnant Qiu Ju (Gong Li, 2046) is married to laidback farmer Qinglai (Liu Pei Qi). When village chief Wang (Lei Lao Sheng) kicks him during an argument, she sets out to ensure that her husband receives medical attention--and justice. Clad in a bulky jacket, face partially obscured by a thick scarf, the strong-willed woman, joined by sister-in-law Meizi (Yang Liu Chun), travels far and wide to find someone who can coerce Wang to apologize (she asked, he refused). All agree the chief was in the wrong, but each authority with whom she meets hands her off to another. Along the way, the couple is offered financial compensation (for medical care and lost wages), but an apology is as elusive as a dragonfly in December. Taking cues from both Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves), Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers) presents modern-day China as a country where bureaucrats run the show and the citizens--especially the women--must suffer the consequences. Fortunately, some are more persistent than others, and The Story of Qiu Ju is far from tragic. Just as their fifth pairing represents one of Yimou's rare contemporary efforts, the dressed-down title character is also an anomaly for Li, his real-life love at the time. The risk paid off and the result is one of their most cherished collaborations. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

---

Excellent. Please post impressions as soon as you get it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ssbomberman

MUSA the Warrior is cut in many releases, so make sure to get the full international Korean release. The movie is ok. Like a big budget, rather shallow period piece w/ a bit of Zhang Ziyi thrown in to help it sell. Worth watching, but maybe not owning...

---

Ah yes, MUSA... sorry aboutthat :) Anyway, Iwent to work yesterday and saw ANOTHER movie released called The Warrior, so maybe they were refering to that...which I have no idea what it is.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ssbomberman

Excellent. Please post impressions as soon as you get it.

---

Agreed. This is a must-buy for everyone IMO (one of the 10 best films evar).

'The Warrior' I was talking about was this one, : The Warrior

The sole review at Amazon.com says their's not any martial arts action. Even though I appreciate a good drama, I was hoping for some martial arts.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Blaster

'The Warrior' I was talking about was this one, : The Warrior

The sole review at Amazon.com says their's not any martial arts action. Even though I appreciate a good drama, I was hoping for some martial arts.

---

Yeah, that's the one that I saw we just got in at work. It's confusing since we already have another movie with that name in the same pocket.

Raise the Red Lantern is on my list, i need to get movin.

Got my remastered Raise the Red Lantern dvd yesterday and watched it last night.

Impressions:

First off, the movie itself. I haven't seen this since 1997 and really loved it then, but it didn't strike me as one of the greats. I was wrong, because this movie is meticulously incredible.

As for the dvd, I was worried because during the first scene where the main character is facing the camera talking about marrying to her mother who is off screen, it's grainy as hell. However, I swear I remember reading several years ago that this scene was actually a test reading for Gong Li. Regardless, blame it on the film stock and not the dvd quality. After those first couple of minutes, this dvd is nearly flawless. The picture has incredible depth, the colors are lush and supple, and the print is scratch free. Scratch free entirely. It's beautiful.

Anybody who's seen this before knows how incredibly photographed the movie is. Mainland China is one of the last places in the world to use the three strip process for color film (actually, I'm not sure they still do, but they did in 1991 when this was made). What that does is make the colors really jump out at you in an almost hyperreal way (think Hollywood golden age technicolor, though less fake looking). Man, I couldn't imagine how beautiful this was going to look on a good dvd, but all those lantern shots and roof tops took my breath away, especially when the red-orange lanterns were juxtaposed against the blue tint shingles. Wow!

The subtitles are 99.9% correct (I mean, I don't speak Mandarin, I'm talking about typos and English grammar here), which is always a big relief. There were only a couple of typo type errors and maybe a single grammatical one. Everything else was clear, precise, correct English. And they're removable too, not burnt in. I was worried at first because they are white, but the font is pretty bold and has the black shadow lining so there was never a problem with being able to read them.

The sound is digital 2.0. I was surprised at how good the mix is. It's incredibly clear with a huge range between highs and lows and has good spatiality, if that's even a word; I mean it's not all jumbled up, it has good separation and movement.

So there you go. By all means don't be afraid to order this.

My favorite HK films:

Shaolin Soccer (mentioned many times here already)

God of Gamblers

A Better Tomorrow

Once a Thief

Full Contact

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scourge

Got my remastered Raise the Red Lantern dvd yesterday and watched it last night.

Impressions:

First off, the movie itself. I haven't seen this since 1997 and really loved it then, but it didn't strike me as one of the greats. I was wrong, because this movie is meticulously incredible.

As for the dvd, I was worried because during the first scene where the main character is facing the camera talking about marrying to her mother who is off screen, it's grainy as hell. However, I swear I remember reading several years ago that this scene was actually a test reading for Gong Li. Regardless, blame it on the film stock and not the dvd quality. After those first couple of minutes, this dvd is nearly flawless. The picture has incredible depth, the colors are lush and supple, and the print is scratch free. Scratch free entirely. It's beautiful.

Anybody who's seen this before knows how incredibly photographed the movie is. Mainland China is one of the last places in the world to use the three strip process for color film (actually, I'm not sure they still do, but they did in 1991 when this was made). What that does is make the colors really jump out at you in an almost hyperreal way (think Hollywood golden age technicolor, though less fake looking). Man, I couldn't imagine how beautiful this was going to look on a good dvd, but all those lantern shots and roof tops took my breath away, especially when the red-orange lanterns were juxtaposed against the blue tint shingles. Wow!

The subtitles are 99.9% correct (I mean, I don't speak Mandarin, I'm talking about typos and English grammar here), which is always a big relief. There were only a couple of typo type errors and maybe a single grammatical one. Everything else was clear, precise, correct English. And they're removable too, not burnt in. I was worried at first because they are white, but the font is pretty bold and has the black shadow lining so there was never a problem with being able to read them.

The sound is digital 2.0. I was surprised at how good the mix is. It's incredibly clear with a huge range between highs and lows and has good spatiality, if that's even a word; I mean it's not all jumbled up, it has good separation and movement.

So there you go. By all means don't be afraid to order this.

---

Awesome news. Ordering it this week, along with Election 2. If you haven't seen Election, it is a great look at the Triad election system with the trademark Johnnie To style.

ssb