Don't really see posts that talk about Japanese and Korean films. I love watching movies and I'd even go for French, Italian or Spanish (provided the story/ plot is good) but I usually watch more English, Korean and Japanese film (occasionally HK films).

Recently on the flight to Japan and return, I managed to catch about 5 movies. Could have done more if it wasn't an overnight flight going to Tokyo need my beauty sleep so I tried to catch a snooze. Anyway had to wake up at 3.30am for breakfast so I got up and started watching shows.

Feel free to share yours Let's have a heart warming start with the one I watched most recently at home. The last 3 are 2018 movies and I watched it on SIA.

Japanese Films

The Miracles of Namiya General Store (ナミヤ雑貨店の奇蹟/ Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki)



Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki ©

In 2012, Atsuya (Ryosuke Yamada) and his 2 childhood friends do something bad and run into an old general store. They decide to stay there until the morning. Late into the night, Atsuya sees a letter in the mailbox. The letter is addressed to the Namiya General Store and the letter was written by someone to consult about worries. Incredibly, the letter was written 32 years ago. The mailbox is somehow connected to the year 1980. Atsuya and his friends decide to write a reply and place their letter in the mailbox.

POV: It's certainly one of my favourite film now. Mysterious, heart warming and filled with hope, this is a wonderful film. The plot is brilliant and you'll start to connect the dots toward the end. I definitely cried watching this but if you don't, you ain't got a heart. Made of metal ya know

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That Winter, We Parted (去年の冬、きみと別れ/ Kyonen no Fuyu, Kimi to Wakare)



Plot Synopsis:

Yakumo Kyosuke is a book author who is interested in a fire-murder case related to a blind model, whereby photographer Zakayudai Kihara is a suspect. As Kihara was an alleged suspect in the case, Yakumo seeks to find the truth of the case. He started investigating Kihara and as he got deeper, that's when things became dangerous. It's a mystery-crime-thriller - things are more than meets the eye.

POV: I recommend this film -the story is good and it's unexpected. The pace and setting is nice as well. Also, since I've met Saito Takumi personally, i could not pass on watching his films! I'll also recommend Blank 13 later on, which I watched in last year's Japanese International Film Festival - the movie he came to KL to promote.

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Impossibility Defense (不能犯/ Funohan)



Plot Synopsis (adapted from SIA site):

Tadashi Usobuki is a contract killer who carries out his killings using methods which are impossible to prove. If you have someone you needed to kill, just go to a designated phone booth and slip your contact details underneath the phone. He calls up his clients and voluntarily remove the target, with the exception the killing motive has to be 'pure' (eg. not for revenge or to evade the law by not dirtying own hands). His unorthodox killing method made it hard for the police to arrest him even when he got captured on the CCTV or camera. One investigator hopes to put an end to his reign of terror.

POV: I just realized I'm really into dark films. Seems like I can't pass off anything with a tinge of 'dark' or mysterious aura to it loll. Anyway Impossibility Defense is worth your time. See the dark and silly side of humanity from the eyes of Usobuki and the detective after him. The film does remind me a little of Jigoku Shoujo obviously if you're into Hell Girl, this is a movie for you.

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Moving on to something lighter

Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura (DESTINY 鎌倉ものがたり/ DESTINY Kamakura Monogatari)



Plot Synopsis:
I don't really know where to begin... I guess it's where the protagonist, Masakazu Isshiki - a mystery writer, came back to his home in Kamakura with new wife Akiko, who is much younger than him. As Akiko started living in the house, she sees and experiences the magic of Kamakura - all sorts of magical creatures, spirits including divine beings - surrounding Kamakura.

POV: It's a fantasy movie and has that humour element in it. Warm and full of live, it's a movie to watch if you're into stuffs like these. I find it average but not too bad, as I was going to visit Kamakura and no, I didn't see any creature. Not even a kappa hahahahaha

So if you're looking for something to humour yourself with and also check out Kamakura, this is the one for you. In fact, they also showcased the Enoden (train) which I also rode in my trip!

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Jun 12 2018, 09:07 AM

Have you watch the Korean Movie, luck-key (2016)?

I have heard of it, haven't seen it! Comedy right? Good?

Actually, Action comedy

Very good

Not your usual Hollywood fare

I also watched a fair share of Korean movies, some the title I can't recall. Will try to remember and add on to the recommended list.

Korean:

Forgotten



Plot Synopsis (taken from Asian Wiki):

Jin-Seok (Kang Ha-Neul) moves into a new home with his older brother Yoo-Seok (Kim Moo-Yul), mother (Na Young-Hee) and father (Moon Sung-Geun). Jin-Seok suffers from hypersensitivity, but with medication he is able to live normally. One rainy evening, Jin-Seok sees his older brother being thrown into a van by a group of men. After 19 days of silence, Yoo-Seok returns home, but he doesn't remember anything from his disappearance. Jin-Seok though notices enough changes in his older brother's personality and behavior that he begins to suspect that the person who has returned is not Yoo-Seok. Meanwhile, Jin-Seok keeps hearing sounds from a locked room temporarily storing the previous home owner's belongings.


POV: Brilliant. I love the movie *cough* Ha Neul *cough*

There's definitely a plot twist and you probably won't see it coming. Everything seemed to perfect and normal that you barely suspect anything. As usual excellent acting from Ha Neul and Moo Yul's part. So far Ha Neul's movies/ dramas have not disappointed me and yes, he's one of my favourite actor. Currently serving military, can't wait he's back into the acting industry. Fighting, Ha Neul!!!

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Vanishing: A Boy Who Returned



Plot Synopsis (from Wikipedia):

A 13-year-old boy named Sung-min and his two friends went missing after their venture into a cave in a forest, along with Su-rin. Later, a mysterious man in his 30s shows up and tells Su-rin that he is her friend Sung-min.

POV: I enjoyed this film. I refused to sleep even though it was almost 1.30am as I needed to know what happened and what's the ending. It was that good, and that engaging. At one point in the film, you'll be lost in the children's world where they were stuck in time. And then of course, tragedy strikes. Bad things happen to innocent children as well.

However, you'll also find a little bit of 'pedophile' element in the movie. Their love is pure though, so long you don't look at it in a strange manner, it's all innocent and beautiful. I chose to see it from the latter's angle

Also, I fell in love with Gang Dong Won after watching this movie. Since then, I always look forward to his movies on tvN

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A Werewolf Boy



Plot Synopsis (from Wikipedia):

Kim Sun-yi, an elderly woman in her sixties living in the US, receives a phone call about the sale of her old family home back in South Korea. Returning to her homeland, she's met by granddaughter Eun-joo, and they drive to the house in the country and stay the night. Sun-yi recalls how 47 years ago when she was a 17 year old girl in 1965, she moved from Seoul along with her widowed mother and her sister Sun-ja to a remote valley to undergo a period of convalescence after suffering problems with her lungs. The Kims lived in genteel poverty at the mercy of their arrogant and foppish landlord, Ji-tae, son of the business partner of Sun-yi's late father. Because of her delicate health, the beautiful yet introverted Sun-yi lives an isolated life in the country home, without any friends her age.

One night, Sun-yi glimpses a shadow in the outhouse; the next day, she discovers a feral boy of about 19 crouching in their yard. The boy's body temperature is 46 degrees Celsius, his blood type unidentifiable, and he can neither read nor speak. Even though he behaves like a wild beast, Sun-yi's kindhearted mother adopts him and names him Chul-soo, assuming he's one of more than 60,000 children orphaned in the Korean War.

At first Sun-yi considers him a nuisance, but eventually has fun taming him according to a dog-training manual. She teaches him how to wait patiently before a meal, how to wear clothes, how to speak, how to write and other human behavior so that he could one day live like a normal man. Chul-soo demonstrates unswerving loyalty and superhuman brawn, thus inspiring the envy of Ji-tae, who lusts after Sun-yi.

As Sun-yi attempts to "civilize" the beast, the two eventually become very close.

Pez: Watch it to know what happens later on and the ending!

POV: Yet another fantasy genre that captured my heart. How can I not watch this film that features 2 of my favourite actor? This is an infamous movie that many people would know even if they don't watch Korean films. Some would have probably seen it too.

By all means, as long as you have a pair of eyes, a beating heart and hand, please, watch this. One of the most moving, beautiful and touching movie. If you wanna talk about the ending, use spoiler.

Spoiler:-



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A Violent Prosecutor



Plot Synopsis (from Wikipedia):

Byun Jae-Wook (Hwang Jung-min) is a short-tempered prosecutor who only pursues the truth. He is notorious for his rough and tough investigations. A suspect who is a small-time criminal, under the interrogation of Byun Jae-Wook, is then found dead. All the evidence indicate Byun Jae-Wook as the criminal. Byun Jae-Wook is prosecuted and gets 15 years in prison.

At first he is ill-treated by the prisoners. He helps some guards to avoid court room fees and in other legal matters. This gains him a special position in prison. He helps out both the officers and prisoners who are in jail through his legal knowledge and experiences. This makes prisoners loyal to him and he treats them well whenever he receives gifts from the guards. People in jail call him “Sir Young Gam” which means clever person.

Five years later, Byun Jae-Wook meets young fraudster Chi-Won (Gang Dong-won), in prison. Chi-Won knows details about Byun Jae-Wook’s case. Byun Jae-Wook trains Chi-Won to carry out his plan outside of prison. Using his knowledge as a former prosecutor, he gets Chi-Won free. Byun Jae-Wook prepares a counterattack on those who framed him. Although Chi-Won takes the chance to get away from Byun Jae-Wook, the other prisoners whom Byun Jae-Wook has helped get an early release don't let Chi-Won get away. Byun Jae-Wook and Chi-Won get together and start planning against Jong-Gil (Lee Sung-min) who was the Asst. Prosecutor General during Byun Jae-Wook's trial period and the person who had convinced Byun Jae-Wook to defend himself in a self-defense manner which resulted in his jail time. It is revealed that Jong-Gil, who is running in an upcoming election now, then was working with a builder to encroach an ecologically significant land. The rest of the film follows how Byun Jae-Wook through Chi-Won piles up evidences against Jong-Gil and gains his freedom.

POV: Omg Gang Dong Won again nay, I'm not biased, definitely not hehe. No, not biased

As read from the plot, it's a crime-thriller-prosecutor-drama sort of stuffs. Comes in with a bit of black humour, warmth and suspense. You can call it a typical movie, but it always give me that satisfaction due to the feel-good factor from this kind of show. Yes, definitely recommended

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I have space for only 1 more movie so I'll go into something darker:

The Crucible/ Silenced



Plot Synopsis (from Wikipedia):

Kang In-ho is the newly appointed art teacher at Benevolence Academy, a school for hearing-impaired children in the fictional city of Mujin, North Jeolla Province. He has a dark past - his wife committed suicide a year ago, and his sick daughter is under the care of his mother. He is excited to teach his new students, yet the children are aloof and distant, trying to avoid running into him as much as possible. In-ho does not give up trying to show the kids that he cares. When the children finally open up, In-ho faces the shocking and ugly truth about the school and what the students have been enduring in secret: the children are being physically and sexually abused by their teachers. When he decides to fight for the children’s rights and expose the crimes being committed at the school, In-ho teams up with human rights activist Seo Yoo-jin, but he and Yoo-jin soon realize the school’s principal and teachers, and even the police, prosecutors and churches in the community are actually trying to cover up the truth. In addition to using "privileges of former post" (Jeon-gwan ye-u) the accused do not hesitate to lie and bribe their way to get very light sentences.

POV: It's a really disturbing film so I suggest skipping it if you can't take this. It's unbelievable that these a**h**** managed to get away. What is justice?
This film is based on a true story, thus making one feel even more disturbed watching it.

Hahahaha okay, I'll look for it! Thanks for the recommendation

modern taste ehh, no jidaigeki love?

Hahahahahahahaha Akira Kurosawa era eh? Too stronk for my taste unfortunately 😂 but if you have any to recommend, by all means!

ALONG WITH THE GODS: THE TWO WORLDS



Genre: Drama / Fantasy/ Afterlife

Plot Synopsis - AsianWiki

Following a person's a death, an Angel of Death escorts the deceased to the afterworld. There, the deceased person has 7 trials over a period of 49 days. At that time, the Angel of Death, who are not supposed to get involved in human affairs, unavoidably take part in human affairs. Gang Rim (Ha Jung-Woo) is the leader of the angel of deaths. He has an affection for humans. Kim Ja-Hong (Cha Tae-Hyun) receives his trial in the afterlife.

User Reviews - IMDB

#1 - This film tells the story of a firefighter who dies while saving a girl in a fire in a skyscraper. He is led by three grim reapers who guide him through the seven trials in the Afterlife. The story initially is predictable, as he breezes though the initial trials. Then the film gets increasingly engaging and captivating. The final trials are not predictable anymore, and there is much suspense. The visuals are great, and there is clearly a lot of thought going into the visuals. The ending is very touching, particularly when viewers understand the Oriental culture about filial duties. Lots of tissues were used in the cinema!

#2 - The film focuses on the inner story and the scenery of the protagonist who is transformed through seven trials. When a moment supports the ordinary character, at a certain moment, audiences put themsleves on the life of each person. As a result, this vast fantasy that transcends the boundaries of life and death between the world and hell, takes a leap into the tectonics of human life and death, the meaning of life and death, and the value of a given life.

Kurosawa's era might be a little to much for some, but a lighter ones by other directors might be okay to check out,

-Period drama-

Hana yori mo Naho (2006)

Love and Honor ~Bushi no Ichibun~ (2006)

The Twilight Samurai (2002)




-Modern dramas-

Always Sanchome no Yuhi (2005)

Be With You ~ Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu~ (2004)

Departures (2008)


Just some that I liked. Btw thanks for your list, a few of them looks interesting for me to check out.

This post has been edited by redart: May 31 2018, 08:39 PM

Another good Korean

I cried buckets watching this. It was superb but a movie that I cant watch a 2nd time, really way too sad.

Ah you are recommending dramas. Was thinking this thread more towards movies.

No worries, may be good reference to others too.

nah those are not tv series dramas, those were cinema films in drama genre.

I see. Probably better to label them as Genre: Drama ^___^

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: May 31 2018, 11:43 PM

Once again thank you for the recommendation and contribution to this forum, glad to have you as Moderator.

I will definitely download these movies tonight

No no, I would have done the same as a normal member just wanted to share the good films I've seen. I'll continue sharing, coz there's a lot (have to dig my memory). Taste in films are rather subjective, and it's not easy to find people/ kaki who share the same taste or genre. Am happy if there are people who enjoy some of these recommendations

And thank you, share your thoughts after watching them

Japanese

Blank 13



Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©
Koji Matsuda’s (Issei Takahashi) father goes missing. 13 years later, Koji Matsuda knows his father’s (Lily Franky) information, but he is suffering from terminal cancer. 3 months later, his father dies. At his funeral, Koji and his family learn from attendees about his father.

This is based on the true story of broadcast writer Koji Hashimoto. This movie is also the feature film directorial debut of actor Takumi Saito.

POV: It's a mellow drama that squeezes you emotionally dry. The drama takes on from the perspective of Koji - his character, love and childhood bond with his father. I enjoyed the film and got pretty immersed in it. It takes time for this film to sink in, so upon reading the synopsis - if this is not your type of a story, I'll say to give this a skip.

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The Projects [団地 (Danchi)]



Plot Synopsis:

What started as a light-hearted comedy turned into some sort of mystery and drama. [Danchi] means public community houses/ low cost housing. It is usually a close-knitted community with everyone knowing things about each other as places are small, locked in a small town (away from major city, thus cheaper) resides are small families. In this movie, you get to see a 'sample' of the danchi community in Japan. Takes place in Tochigi, it features this pair of elderly couple who stayed together in this danchi in Tochigi Prefecture. The husband is a traditional medicine maker/ seller and have his own regular customers. He makes his medicines at home and stores them in a small basement-like space he created.

One day, he heard a neighbour gossip something negative about him. Feeling belittled, he angrily told his wife that he will be "living" in the basement with his medicines. And thus, he started his 'hiding' and the neighbours started to suspect the wife may have killed and buried him somewhere.

POV: Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It won't be easy to find this movie if you want to watch it even have problems looking for the images via Google image. It works well when you use the Japanese characters (Kanji in the the title). I recommend when you're looking for nonsensical fun or laughter. Otherwise you'll be surprised at what happens in the end

The Ending

Finally had some time to spare last Saturday evening. Decided to watch Solomon's Perjury which I've downloaded months ago

And so I did. Excellent movie, that's 4.5 hours well spent. The movie is split into Part I (2 hours) and Part II (2.5 hours)

Solomon's Perjury

Solomon's Perjury 1: Suspicion (ソロモンの偽証 前篇・事件/ Solomon no Gisho Zenpen Jiken)
Solomon's Perjury 2: Judgment (ソロモンの偽証 後編・裁判/ Solomon no Gisho Kohen Saiban)





Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

On Christmas morning, Ryoko (Ryoko Fujino) and Kenichi (Koki Maeda) go to school and discover a dead boy covered in snow. The deceased boy is Ryoko's classmate Takuya (Ayumu Mochizuki). The police determine that Takuya committed suicide and his parents agree with the police report. Rumors though quickly spread about Takuya's death. Ryoko and Principle Masao (Fumiyo Kohinata) then receive anonymous notes. The notes claim that the sender witnessed three students, including Shunji (Hiroya Shimizu), throw Takuya off of the rooftop of a school building.

To protect the students, the police and the school hide the anonymous notes, but a reporter receives one of the notes. The situation then becomes uncontrollable. A student dies in a car accident and the other students become increasingly unsettled by the unknown. Ryoko decides to hold a trial by their peers to uncover the truth.

POV: In Part I - you'll witness the beginning of the "tragedy". Part II is where the excitement began - a court trial by the students, for the students. You will see the plot unfolds towards the end.

Typically Japanese film, the pace starts slow and some part of the movie was in fact a little draggy. But as they say, patience bears fruit. I was too absorbed into the film to mind the slow parts. The plot was interesting and you dive into all the characters' emotions and guilt throughout the whole story. Enjoyed the movie thoroughly and looking forward to watch the Korean drama's version.

I recommend this to people who likes mystery

I really wanna watch The Miracles of Namiya General Store, because the thematic is something that is bizarre yet intriguing for me at that time, but sadly it didn't get allocated in my nearest cinema branch(mmCineplex) sigh


i know the tidbits of story based on the trailers in youtube and after reading short snippets of it in wikipedia, but if you don't mind, can you spoil the ending/climax part for me? i'm dying to know because i don't read the novel so yeah i only know what's it about on surface, but i don't know what happens to the characters communicating within the different timeline..

Yeah I finished watching Miracles of Namiya General Store yesterday... I really like the plot on how they communicate between the present and past...

First time watching this kind of movie... but... yeah although I didn't really cry... but I did feel sad... and you're right... the movie will connect all the dots until the end... marvelously directed and brilliant plot as you mentioned...

But no... my heart ain't no metal... 😁

Anyway tried downloading other movies... seems like it's still too new to be available in the internet...

This post has been edited by besthanj: Jun 4 2018, 03:42 PM