Yasukuni [靖國神社]. Dir. LI Ying [李纓]. Perf. Naohara Kariya, Ryuken Sugahara, Ciwas Ali/Kao Chin Su-mei [高金素梅]. Dragon Films: 2007.

An important and emotionally difficult documentary on the Yasukuni War Shrine in Tokyo, where soldiers who died in service of the emperor are enshrined. Li Ying begins with an interview of the last surviving Yasukuni swordmaker -- a hale, stately, and reticent old man. "Please share your memories," pleads the filmmaker. "Your memories are important." For all that the swordmaker is unwilling to verbalize, the director tries to show. Much of the footage is captured on-site, centering on the controversy around Prime Minister Koizumi's "personal" visit to honor the dead at the war shrine in 2005. Citizens who get screen time include other Yasukuni worshippers, protestors, local politicians, tourists, aged militants and right-wingers, and more.

Director Li Ying has managed to pull together an impressive range of funding from his native China, Japan, as well as Korean sources [to be confirmed? I thought I saw funding from the Pusan Film Festival in the final credits...]. Nevertheless, to even broach this subject outside of domestic context is to invite controversy. ( more )

In the Soul Ultimate Nation [Qiji shijie, 奇蹟世界]. Dir. NING Hao [寧浩]. Ninth Field [第九城市]: 2007. (China)

San'er, a petty thief released on parole, is hanging out at a net bar when he receives an emergency plea from an MMRPG friend. The player's boyfriend has just been killed and her own life is in eminent danger. She begs for help from whomever might be on the other side of the screen, giving her name and address. San'er attempts to borrow a phone from a stranger to report the case, but a plainclothes cop who had been shadowing him misunderstands the situation and thinks San'er's up to his old tricks again. A chase ensues, with a chilling finale.

Overall, very well done. Director Ning Hao and the actor who played San'er managed to unsettle me deeply, without overdoing any of the action or violence. The topic itself seems timely and new... but the line between sponsorship and inspiration is blurred, given the prominent blurb for the MMRPG featured in the film (and the title), flashing across the screen at the end of the film.

Speaking Up -- Mainland Primary School [Wen -- Dalu xiaoxue, 問 -- 大陸小學]. Dir. Tammy Cheung [ZHANG Hong 張虹]. Perf. Students of Qiaoqi Elementary School [峭歧小學]. Reality Films, 2008. (Hong Kong)

Eye-opening, tightly-edited interviews with Chinese elementary school students from Jiangsu. The children, first graders to fifth graders, talk about their ideals, aspirations, observations of their own parents, conceptions of gender differences, impressions of the world including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States, their heroes, understanding of history, society, the future, and more.

My favorite of the five shorts in this set. Cheung seems like a very thoughtful director with an earnest interest in education. She has previously made a documentary interviewing either middle school or high school students (?), and has plans to create documentaries interviewing students at all levels. In the post-screening discussion session, she mentioned that she's currently having the most difficulty finding a suitable and willing pool of candidates for a university-level documentary. University administrators are the least willing to cooperate, it seems.

Documentaries like this really make you realize how little the average person really sees and understands of children, at least on a collective level as educators might see them. Since obviously not everybody can be in the system, we must count on the efforts of directors like Cheung to penetrate barriers.

Jump [Likai diqiu biaomian, 離開地球表面]. Dir CHEN Muh [陳奕仁]. Perf. Mayday [五月天]. B'in Music [相信音樂]: 2007. (Taiwan?)

Sorry, but this flashy, over-stylized commercial for local rock band Mayday [五月天] had no business being in this lineup (I forget the actual English title that appeared in the credits, but it did include the band's name). The program guide completely neglected to mention how prominently the band appeared in this 13-minute film, which served little purpose except to advertise the image and music of this band. There was some semblance of a post-apocalyptic story, in which a "black-eye plague" is wreaking havoc on the earth in the year 2057 AD... but little else was clear. Except for the fact that the movie was actually about the perfectly coiffed, fashionably punked out personas of the band members.

Title?. Dir.?. (Taiwan)

I need to check details on this one, since it didn't appear in the program. A boy falls sick one afternoon and his mother lovingly reassures him that things will be okay, even if he succumbs to the illness. Something about the close miking and unnatural acting and physical gestures creeped me out -- made it seem more Oedipal than tender and motherly, but this uncomfortable, claustrophobic feeling might actually have been what the director was aiming for.

Grandma [Ah Ma, 阿嬷]. Dir. Anthony Chen [Chen Zheyi, 陳哲藝]. 2007. (Singapore)

Grandmother is dying, and the family assembles to pay their last respects. Intimate, quiet, simple, but genuinely moving. Also interesting to hear 閩南語 spoken in a context outside of Taiwan.

三更 (Three). Dir. Ji-Woon Kim, Nonzee Nimibutr, Peter Chan. Perf. Hye-sun Kim, Bo-seok Jeong, Suwinit Panjamawat, Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, Eugenia Yuan, Ting-fung Li. 2002.

Conceptually, this is definitely something to get excited about: three scary movies directed by three Asian directors from three different countries. Ji-Woon Kim's "Memories" comes from highrise suburban Korea, Nonzee Nimibutr's "The Wheel" features creepy Thai puppets, and Peter Chan's "Coming Home" seems to be set in a alternatate Hong Kong. On execution, these three films have uneven success. All of them have great camera work, but the storylines and pacing could have been better planned, I think.

"Memories" was good, though predictable. "The Wheel" was disappointing, though it had the potential to be the scariest of the three. I've always been a little bit frightened of puppets and masked dancers myself, and the soundtrack, which could have been used to heighten the effect so much more, ended up being irritating and obnoxious as the story dragged on. "Coming Home" was probably my favorite... just downright creepy, yet touching.

I'd say these three shorts were tied together pretty well. What this 'series', if you can call it that, seems to be about is not screaming shockers, but psychological, spine-tingling creepiness. And it's good. It's a really awesome idea, and I'd be delighted if they could crank out several more of these, bring in new directors each time, maintain the super sharp production work, explore new ideas. For now though, the thing that struck me about both this set and Three Extremes is that plot-wise, neither set is particularly new. It's more like an exhibition of psychological film technique, rather than story. And maybe that's why both sets felt so uneven to me.

台灣黑電影 (Taiwan Black Movies). Dir. 侯季然 (Hou Chi-jan). 2005.

Taiwanese cinema's period of "black movies" is a nearly-forgotten, brief era in the late 70's to early 80's (approximately 1978 to 1982?), when gangsters and underground society members started heavily funding and thus influencing the content of Taiwanese movies. These films were filled with gratuitous violence, sensationalized depictions of sex, gambling, and all the corruptive elements your average movie-goer could desire. Thus, they easily became box office hits, and tons of copycats were churned out in this short period of time.

However, the main reason that this period of Taiwanese cinema history met such an abrupt end was government restrictions. These films would be heavily censored when shown in Taiwan, but luckily for the producers and distributors, unedited films were usually allowed to be shown and distributed in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and other Chinese emigre communities overseas. Consequently, audiences outside of Taiwan became the primary targets, so overt references to Taiwan were often erased or minimized. This resulted in some local criticism, which would eventually spawn the native film movement of New Taiwan Cinema.

Hou does a good job contextualizing these movies, however, suggesting that the violence of political affairs at the time might have influenced the moral nihilism and thematic trends in these films.

Another reason Black Movies were criticized was for being too lowbrow, needlessly graphic and appealing to the lowest common denominator. Mass media is so often positioned at the other end of scholarly criticism... what's appealing to too many people must be bad, in some way, and therefore must be ruthlessly attacked or ignored. But in retrospect, what a stark contrast long-lost commercial films like 1981's 女王蜂 (Queen Bee) are to the fluffy romantic dramas I've been plugging through from the same period, or even to Tsai Ming-liang's latest films. This documentary is really going to change the way that I look at those "Classics" of Chinese film (as they are titled by the distribution company re-releasing them), as opposed to the commercially successful films of the past.

The "what if..." question that haunts the directors' minds is... what if those kind of films hadn't been censored? Sure, they were formulaic, sure, they were sensationalized and reliant on fantasy and cheap thrills to make a quick buck. But that's the same way that Hong Kong built its movie industry, and despite some of the generic schlock that Hong Kong still produces, it is now an internationally-recognized, locally dominant, self-sustaining industry that garners respect and even produces true artistry. If Taiwan had been allowed to continue without such severe government restrictions, and the industry had been allowed to flourish according to its own commercial standards, would Taiwan have a mature movie industry by now, instead of a handful of directors that only appeal to art critics?

Golden Horse Animation Set G: Color.

Der Floß (The Raft). Dir. Jan Thuring. Filmakademie Baden Wuerttemberg: 2004. (Germany).

Slow Bistro. Dir. Ivan Maximov. 2002. (Russia).

Grasshopper. Dir. Bob Sabiston. 2003. (USA). A 15-minute interview with Amrit J. Vadehra that could have fit easily into Waking Life. oh, wait. he was the animation director for that movie. makes me rethink that one -- was it more Sabiston's film or Linklater's, eh?

One Door. Dir. Maya Yonesho. 2003. (Japan/Estonia).

South of the North. Dir. Andery Sokolov. 2003. (Russia). funny siberians, trying to get back home...

Puleng, Bringer of Rain. Dir. Ali Taylor. 2004. (UK). too short!!

Taps. Dir. Matthew Gravelle. 2003. (UK).

ZZZ. Dir. Seung-Wan Yang, Hew-yong Jung, Docki Park, Sun-young Park, Houn-won Choi. 2003. (Korea.)

Falling. Dir. Peter Kaboth. 2004. (Germany).

The Diary of Tortov Roddle. Dir. Kunio Kato. 2003. (Japan). surreal travel journal, tries to be Edward Gorey, Lemony Snicket, Neverending Story, somehow doesn't succeed and leaves the viewer feeling sleeeeepy...

You Are My Friend. Dir. Yuichi Ito. 2004. (Japan). Ken Hirai's booming, mainstream backup sound is way too peppy -- which is too bad, because this could have been a more majestic short. it's about a boy and his dragon, fucking shit up. one day, they accidentally smash down a temple, inciting the wrath of the heavens.

Golden Horse Digital Shorts Competition Set D:

Workin' Progress. Dir. Geordie Vandendaele, Benjamin Flinois, Gabriel Garcia, Benjamin Fligans. 2004. (France). set to Glenn Miller's version of "Over There", this computer-animated short totally reminded me of old Bugs Bunny cartoons -- assembly line construction site hijinx, loose cog included.

Exit. Dir. Anett Vietze. Filmakademie: 2003. (Germany). stop-motion live action makes for creepy flow.

** The Regulator. Dir Philippe Grammaticopoulos. 2004. (France). like animated lithographs, all black and white with splashes of red. It's about a hausfrau-ish woman and a Buckingham Palace guard-type going to the baby factory to pick out their child. Stylish.

*** 黑吉米 (Hey Jimmy). Dir. 宋明杰 (Sung Ming-Chieh). Perf. Jimmy, Jimmy's mom. 2004. (Taiwan). This is good Taiwanese independent filmmaking/documentary. Its title subject is a half black/half Taiwanese gay drag queen, Jimmy, but what is special to me is the relationship between Jimmy and his Taiwanese mother. Jimmy's father, an African-American G.I., is out of the picture -- after he returned to the States, he never came back for his family. Consequently, Jimmy and his mother had to deal with the racism (which Asians are notoriously awful about, when it comes to blacks) on their own, but she's really strong-willed, really atypical, unconditionally loving and sounds like she defended her son at any cost. After all, she insists that she really, really loved his father -- and their son, no matter if he's dark-skinned or drag queen, is the product of their love. I also find it interesting that this documentary has been made with international audiences -- the festival circuit, at least -- in mind. There's about a minute's worth of introduction, which includes placing Taiwan on a map and explaining why American troops were in Taiwan ("America is a country that likes to fight wars. In the 1950's and 60's, Asia was filled with Communists, and America felt it needed to send troops to Taiwan to stave off the invasion.")

Obras. Dir. Hendrik Dusollier. 2004. (Spain). Fantastic 3D, single-shot animation/collage about the life and death of some Barcelonan buildings.

The Alien Invasion. Dir. Rich Ho Kok-tai. Richman's Club: 2004. (Singapore). This was a painful 18 minutes. This is what happens when you watch too many blockbuster movies, when even spoofs have no power, humor, or originality. Embarrassing student film, but it's not even film students -- it was a cast of a dozen or more business students, so as the director said, the most difficult part was getting everybody to act. I don't think he succeeded.

* Birthday Boy. Dir. Sejong Park. 2004. (Australia/Korea). set in South Korea, 1951. quite powerful. I voted for this not because I want to encourage more South Korean computer animation -- I've seen a lot, and there's something still too fluid about a lot of it that I dislike -- but because I want to encourage this kind of storytelling.

* We can cast three votes from each set, for the Digital Shorts Competition - Audience Award. These are the ones I picked (in order of preference, *** being the one I liked the most).

三更2 (Three Extremes). Dir. Takashi Miike, 陳果 (Fruit Chan), Chan-wook Park. Perf. Kyoko Hasegawa, Atsuro Watabe; Bai Ling, Miriam Yeung Chin Wah; Byung-hun Lee, Hye-jeong Kang, Won-hie Lim. 2004.

the best kind of value for your theater dollar -- three short films under one title. all three purport to be "horror", but i think the audience was a little disappointed with the lack of shock. i'm thinking that everyone else in the theater was more accustomed to Asian horror than i am. there are at least two horror flicks running at any given time, so the Taiwanese audiences are well-primed, knowing what to expect and desperate for ingenuity. unlike the rest of the audience, i was unable to laugh outloud at some of the more hackneyed moments -- i.e., the creepy, hair-draped little girl standing at the end fo the hallway (Miike's), or the hyperbolically overacted psychopath (Park's). but i could see that they were overused themes, if only by how audience response corresponded to the most overt cliches.

"Box"
i've disliked Takashi Miike for some time, but this short was reminiscent of the one of his films i do like, Audition, in that it focused on a tortured dancer with a sexualized, traumatic childhood. styltically, the most suspenseful of the three. way too much girly screaming at the climax -- that shit overwhelms and annoys, especially when the rest of the film has been built up on an ambient soundtrack. and a suckerpunch surrealist ending that i did not expect.

"較子 (Dumplings)"
Fruit Chan ranks as one of my favorite directors, so i was predisposed to liking his segment the most. add to the fact that Christopher Doyle was cinematographer -- making this full of his signature green/red/orange compositions -- and there was almost no way for me to dislike this. the premise is soft, psychological horror: ground up baby fetuses are used to make dumplings as the ultimate beauty restorant. Bai Ling plays the wealthy and desperate customer of Miriam Yeung, the eccentric and witchy dumpling-maker. in the end, the story was more sad, ominous than truly horrifying -- but its pacing and amazing lenswork made up for any deficiencies. i wished it had gone on longer.

"Cut"
contrast Chan's subtle use of humor with Chan-wook Park's over-the-top, almost slapstick deployment of psychopath gags. a film director is taken hostage by a movie extra who's played in all five of the guy's films. his wife is gagged and bound to a piano by an elaborate system of wires. the crazed kidnapper threatens to cut off his wife's fingers, one by one, for every five minutes the director deliberates over the kidnapper's ultimatum: strangle a stranger (a random child brought in from the streets) or watch his wife get her digits chopped off. so that's the setup. the moral and physical struggle that ensues drags on a little long to be subtly thought-provoking, though it was pretty gripping and mildly gory.