Asian Drama

In the early days of the Republic, legendary martial artist Ye Ruzhou suffers a severe injury, losing her memory and winding up in the impoverished alley of Minfu Lane. By a twist of fate, she crosses paths with the carefree Chen Awang, and the two fall for each other. When local tyrant Zheng Juehou intensifies his hold over the neighborhood, Ye Ruzhou rises to defend her new community. Her actions, however, draw unforeseen danger, and together with Chen Awang, she faces the challenge to protect Minfu Lane’s hard-won peace.

A fatigued man wakes up at a bar with a bartender who will forever change his life as he gets to know more about her. Three criminals have somewhat accomplished their task of kidnapping their target, but their overall mission seems to go nowhere in the end. In the late 1970s, a mysterious woman runs a bar where a deadly situation will affect the lives of everyone. Two killers are looking for their faceless victim, who shows up at a diner every day at 6 o'clock sharp. Four incredibly talented Korean filmmakers, four intriguing cinematic visions, four astounding stories revolving around murderers for hire. (Source: fantasiafestival.com) ~~ Adapted from the short story "The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway. ~~ Release dates: Jul 24, 2024 (Festival) || Oct 23, 2024 (Cinema)

Duration: 1 hr. 59 min.

Content Rating: 18+ Restricted (violence & profanity)

The story follows a young man who has been single for a year after his boyfriend suddenly disappeared without a formal breakup. One night, while scrolling through a dating app, he encounters someone who looks strikingly similar to his ex. After a spontaneous hookup, he discovers that this new acquaintance is actually his ex’s twin brother. As he navigates this unexpected twist, he finds himself drawn into a complicated web of emotions. Will he end up choosing between the two brothers, or will he find himself entangled with both?

Duration: 11 min.

Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

The film depicts a coming-of-age story centered on the two sugar babies, Kotone, who is unemployed, and Sakura, a college student, in the coronavirus pandemic, as they try their best to live at the mercy of frivolous men.

Adapted from the novel "Tsuyu no Ato Saki" (つゆのあとさき) by Nagai Kafu (永井荷風).

Duration: 1 hr. 45 min.

Content Rating: 15+ - Teens 15 or older

A very casually-dressed woman who even in her early 50s looks unbelievably young is preparing breakfast for her son, Dong Woo. Jin Sook suggests to Dong Woo that they go out for a drive. She unexpectedly finds out that her son has a nice girlfriend. Soo Jin dreams of having a wonderful life after her marriage but feels very uneasy about her mother-in-law's behaviour. Jin Sook wants to be a woman to her son and feels as if Soo Jin is merely a plaything for him. Jin Sook finds it impossible to stop her son's love for Soo Jin and becomes obsessed with jealousy. Then, one day, in the absence of Dong Woo, Jin Sook exposes her jealousy to Soo Jin with a tragic consequence.

Duration: 1 hr. 40 min.

Content Rating: 18+ Restricted (violence & profanity)

Miyo Saimori was the unfortunate child of a loveless, arranged marriage. After her mother died, her father brought in his lover and her own daughter, Kaya. From then on, Miyo's life was reduced to that of a mere servant. Even worse, while Kaya inherited the family's psychic abilities, Miyo had none—she was truly the daughter with no merit.

After years of being treated like dirt, Miyo has learned to keep her head down, hide her pain, and obey every order. So, it comes as no surprise that she is arranged to be married to Kiyoka Kudou, a military captain rumored to be so cruel that he has driven away every one of his potential wives so far.

From a painful upbringing to a painful marriage, that's the future that awaits Miyo—or so she thinks. Contrary to her expectations, her new husband is actually kind-hearted. What really awaits Miyo is a blissful, everlasting marriage full of happiness!

Adapted from the light novel series "Watashi no Shiawasena Kekkon" (わたしの幸せな結婚) by Akumi Agitogi (顎木あくみ).

After an alien invasion threatens to annihilate the human race, a young Japanese girl, named Milly (Anne Suzuki), travels back in time from 2084 to October 2002, and enlists the reluctant aid of skilled Tokyo gunman, named Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro),...

Nam-hee (Shim Hye-Jin) is going about selling fruit from her truck, when she nearly runs over a young gentleman, Joon (Lee Sang-Woo). Joon finds his way to Nam-hee's house, where he meets her mother Gan-nan (Kim Su-Mi), and her 20-year-old daughter Na-rae (Da-hee Lee). Through a series of circumstances, Joon comes to live with the three women, and with the introduction of a handsome man in their house, the three use their own skills to vie for his attention and compete for his affection.

The movie is based on a true story retold in a Japanese novel by Ryohei Akimoto and Kengo Ishiguro.

It tells the story of a famous pastry chef who is going blind and the golden Labrador guide dog that saves him from suicide.

27-year-old IT manager Boku Sato works for a market survey company. One night, his boss Fujima was devastated over the disappearance of his family and damages some equipment. Sato, on the other hand, spills coffee over the servers causing them to lose their client's data. Due to the incident, he was demoted and was tasked to give out questionnaires at the Sendai station. Nobody was willing to participate in filling out the survey except Saki, a woman in a recruit suit with the word "shampoo" on her hand.

Another story is of Minako, a 27-year-old beautician. Kasumi introduces her to Manabu, her younger brother, but all Manabu ever does is call Minako on the phone. While she does enjoy their conversations, Minako finds it hard to take the next step and they never actually go out together. Kasumi tells Minako he intends to ask her to be his girlfriend if he wins the boxing match.

Midori Asakusa wants to create an anime, but she's too disheartened to make that first step by herself. By pure chance, she meets Tsubame Mizusaki, an up-and-coming socialite secretly dreaming of becoming an animator. Together with Midori's money-loving best friend Sayaka Kanamori, the energetic trio start the "Eizouken" club and slowly work towards making their "greatest world" a reality.

Although director Kumai's The Sea and Poisin won a lot of awards(10), both in Japan and Berlin, the uncomfortable nature of the subject matter for most Japanese did not help his popularity at home. Kumai as always tries to paint a completely honest and accurate portrait of the events covered by the film. The result is hard-hitting cinema that indicts the patronage system in Japanese hospitals of the time, the politicization of the medical profession and, most central to the film, the 'poisining' by militarization of the ethical culture of the medical profession. Kumai's direction is clean and straightforward. The story is told through the eyes of two interns and a nurse, who face interogation by the US Military after the war. Their responses to the interrogation generate flash-backs which show us the events in question. The film gives us a clear description of the system in which the characters found themselves, the varying moral decisions they were forced to make and their reasoning. The cast is superb and all are seasoned actors. Eiji Okuda and Ken Watanabe are both strong as the two interns. The part of the head nurse, though it's a supporting role, is played by Kyoko Kishida, who most will remember for her superb role as the female lead in Teshigahara's "Woman of the Dunes (Sands)". For the small supporting role of the poor elderly woman slowly dying in the ward who will likely never be considered important enough to warrant an operation, Kumai chose Noriko Sengoku. She has had a long career playing supporting roles, including in several films by Kurosawa and Naruse including The Seven Samurai, Floating Clouds and in Kobayashi's Kwaidan. Toshie Negishi plays the other nurse with a significant role. She has also had a long career working for the likes of Kurosawa, Imamura, Obayashi and Miike. All give strong performances under Kumai's direction. This is another strong film by Kei Kumai. I know I am biased by my admiration for Kumai's work, but he never lets me down and this is no exception. It's not a fun flic, but it draws you into the world and psyche of some well developed characters and their times. There are also some well shot and highly dramatic operating room scenes. Enjoy this when you're in the mood for some serious cinema.