Dekada Cinemanila: 10th Cinemanila International Film Festival – Oct 16-29

Ok time out from Aladygma for a bit.

So many films, so little time!

To be honest I’ve never attended a single Cinemanila film fest event– somehow Gateway seems so faaar away ,albeit being only an MRT ride away from my house. But the lineup this year looks like a good one– it’s 100 films for Cinemanila’s 10th year to be shown in a time frame of only TWO WEEKS. TWO. WEEKS. ONLY. Can you say overwhelming.,! If I stuck to my happy bum life I would’ve been at Gateway right now. Anyway all that aside, I’m still hoping to catch at least some of the films there– so far, here’s my must-watch list:

Band’s Visit

A small Egyptian Police band arrives in Israel. They are suppose to play at an initiation ceremony but instead are left stranded at the airport. The band tries to make their way on their own, only to find themselves in a desolate, small Israeli town, somewhere in the heart of the desert. A lost band in a lost town.

(I saw the trailer to this movie on a DVD a longlonglong time ago., it’s been on my must-watch list for more than a year now)

 

Sukiyaki Western Django | 121 min | DIRECTOR : Takashi Miike | Japan | 2007

Set during “The Genpei Wars” at the end of the 1100s, the Minamoto and Taira gangs face off in a town named Yuda, while a deadly gunman (Ito Hideaki) comes to the aid of the townsfolk.

(I heard from a friend that this isn’t one of Miike’s best works. No wait, let me rephrase- he said it was really bad. Oh well,. will just have to see it myself)

I’M A CYBORG, BUT THAT’S OK | 105 min | DIRECTOR: Park Chan-wook | South Korea |2007

The film takes place in a mental institution. Young-goon, a young woman who believes herself to be a cyborg, refuses to eat and instead administers electric shocks to herself. Il-sun, a young male patient hospitalized for anti-social behaviour and schizophrenia, who believes he can take other peoples souls, befriends Young-goon. After Young-goon is given shock treatment, she believes that she has been recharged and fantasizes about killing the hospital staff who had previously taken her mentally-ill grandmother away. In reality, her physical condition begins to deteriorate rapidly. By convincing her that he had installed a food-to-electrical-energy converting unit (a rice-megatron) in her back, Il-sun gets Young-goon to eat.

(This Chan-wook Park movie had me at the title. heehee)

See the complete list of Cinemanila movies here -http://www.cinemanila.org.ph/films.htm

Now I don’t understand why the ‘Schedule’ portion of the Cinamanila website leads to the main page. It’s the second day of the fest and still no viewable schedule. Not good at all !

The 10th Cinemanila International Film Festival runs from October 16-29 at Gateway Cineplex 10, Araneta Center.

Crumb-y Korean Horror

Entertain us

Hansel & Gretel (2007): 2/5

There’s something about Korean films that’s just innately weird and unpredictable (this one reminded me of ‘Cut’ in the Three Extremes trilogy)- and it is precisely in those qualities where its predictability stems from. Its story is bleak, in spite of the highly paradoxical (yet appropriate) and picturesque rainbow-doused color scheme glaring out of the screen- too bad, really, because behind this curtain of hopeful possibilities for a classic horror story lies a dragging narrative devoid of any grotesque, overt scares and cheap thrills (which I think I was initially after- haha). In the end, I felt deprived of any such catharsis as the odd and surreal twists and turns lead to an ambiguous (not in a good way) conclusion.

The Three Extremes (2004)

‘Saam gaang yi ‘ aka ‘Three Extremes ‘ is a trilogy of horrific films that normally wouldn’t attract the everyday moviegoer but throw in the credentials, you can’t go wrong. It’s actually a sequel to ‘Three’ done 3 years ago, this time consisting of three horror tales from three different countries directed by three noted men (yes, the 3 extremes!).

Dumplings, Cut

‘Extremes’ starts off with ‘Box’ by my man, the amazing Takashi Miike. It’s an involving film indeed, and tells the story of a woman who dreams about the accidental murder of her twin sister with an underlying complex plot involving a circus performer and pedophilia. As expected from the great Miike it succeeds in cinematic artsy-ness with real care to production design, imagery, juxtaposition, and whatever possible elements to create mood. With a perfectly crafted ending, we then come to learn that things aren’t what they seem (a cliche done the Miike way!) and then kicks in the psychological, elegant, and slick style.

The second story in the film is ‘Dumplings’ by Fruit Chan (I didn’t even know this guy could do horror) . It’s a story about an aging actress who searches for a way to hold on to her youth as well has her cheating husband. I wasn’t at all suprised when I learned that ‘Dumplings’ was shot by famed cinematographer Christopher Doyle of 2046 as its clever visual style contradicted the dark, dark territories that this film ventures into. Bai Ling and Tony Leung make appearances in this 40min film, too. Bai Ling+ Tony Leung+ unborn fetuses = Dumplings. Stick it through the end and you will be… shocked (though it’s a bit of an understatement).

Dumplings, Cut

The last segment and by far the most entertaining for me is a film entitled ‘Cut’ written and directed by Chan-Wook Park (can’t wait to see his next project). ‘Cut’ is a story about a hotshot film director who comes home only to get knocked out. He wakes up and finds his wife strung up by wires with her fingers superglued to a piano while he has a rope tied around his waist to limit his movements. The culprit? A vengeful movie extra whose gotten it into his head that the director is too successful, too rich, and too handsome and thus needs to be taught a lesson. Its plot structure is all-too familiar (see Phone Booth, Saw, and One Hour Photo) but what follows is a sort of twisted social commentary on the frustrations of every man whose life doesn’t turn out as grand as expected.

This film, and the whole trilogy all together literally blew me away; it’s just so weird and absurd that there’s never a dull moment in this shocking, evil, yet elegant compilation of horrific tales sprinkled with my favorite type of dark comedy.