Movie Challenge

[Ruth]

See what great movies and shows you can find from Korea & Japan and let us know what you think of them.

Here are some links to get you started:
http://www.netflix.com/WiGenre?agid=5...
http://www.netflix.com/WiGenre?agid=1...
http://istanbulfilms.blogspot.com/201...
http://istanbulfilms.blogspot.com/201...
http://istanbulfilms.blogspot.com/201...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
http://www.imdb.com/country/

[Ruth]

Movies I have seen from Japan & Korea:

'Nobody Knows' - 5 stars - A heart breaking but beautifully filmed portrayal of kids making it on their own in the big city.

Any animation by director Hayao Miyazaki will make you joyful. The artwork is lush, detailed and inspiring. The plots are unique, the characters endearing. One of the only animators that I would consider buying artwork from to hang on my walls.

'Spirited Away' was the first one I saw. I remember I got up for a bowl of cereal in the beach house I shared 7 others in Australia. The 4 year old was on the couch in her jammies watching cartoons. I prepared for a dull but easy introduction to the day. These were no ordinary cartoons however and I soon found myself enraptured.

That remains a favorite as well as 'Howl's Moving Castle', 'Castle in the Sky', and 'Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind'.

If you are not yet familiar with Mr. Miyazaki's work I recommend searching it out as soon as you're able!

'Lost in Translation' - 1 star - I feel like I should have loved this movie because it is about traveling and cultural exchange, but for some reason it left me flat. I found it dull.

[Ruth]

Krishna- Let us know when you remember the name so that we can look for it!

[Ruth]

We watched a couple of shows on Netflix last night:

National Geographic: Inside North Korea (2006) - An American journalist and team follow a Nepalese MD on a charity mission to North Korea. He does surgery on over 1000 blind North Koreans in 10 days to remove cataracts and restore their sight.

Frontline: Secret State of North Korea (2014) - Based upon illegal film footage smuggled into South Korea, this film aims to expose the contrast between real life in North Korea and that which is shown to outsiders. The smugglers also sneak footage of the outside world back in to North Koreans.

It was interesting watching these 2 shows to see how much change has occurred in the past 8 years. In the first show cell phones were not permitted in North Korea. By 2014 millions of North Koreans have cell phones. They are not permitted to call outside of North Korea, but people modify them to do so illegally. Their culture bit by bit is becoming a bit less isolated.

In listening to the stories of defectors, a recurrent them is hunger. Repeatedly defectors speak of leaving to achieve their dreams of being able to eat whatever they want! Although the famine that killed millions has past. Malnutrition is still rife. Initially I was jaded by the films of street children, there are many countries where poor children struggle in the streets unfortunately. Hearing defectors time and time say that the best thing about leaving North Korea is being able to eat, makes me think the problem must be more widespread there.

This brings up thoughts about the morality of government sanctions. I wonder how everyday North Koreans lives would be different if there were more trade with other nations. I don't know how much of this is due to their government policy of juche or self sufficiency, and how much is due to sanctions?

The level of brainwashing is impressive in the NG show. As the patients who have regained their vision cry their praises to the Great Leader. It doesn't seem that they are faking for the cameras, they really seem to hold the Kim family in a god like reverence. It's a strange sight.

In the Frontline program, the mission of the smugglers is inspiring. Perhaps if North Koreans hear enough about the outside world they may rise up against their leaders and get their freedom. The glimpses of North Koreans in their homes and their natural reactions to the smuggled films are fascinating.

This brings to mind the tendency of Americans to judge those who engage in illegal activities. Would you consider these smugglers to be evil because what they are doing is illegal? What about the illegal filmers?

[Ruth]

The Wind Rises"The Wind Rises" - 4 stars

We topped off our Japanese dinner with the last film by Hayao Miyazaki. This was more adult than his others. The animation was beautiful as usual and made me want to visit Japan. When it wasn't on fire or earthquaking, it was portrayed as lush, green and filled with wildflowers.

The story brings up some interesting issues such as what it is like to build war planes when you do not support the war (like Einstein the pacifist?).

The film can be a bit disconnected and rather dreamy. Several times we are watching Jiro as he stares meaningfully in to the distance and left to imagine what he might be thinking. There are leaps in time that sometimes left me disconcerted. Taking in the pretty pictures I'd suddenly realize I'd lost the plot 'wait where are we and what were we doing again?'

Then TB is introduced into the mix. The love story is beautiful, but I can't help but wondering whether loving someone who's illness may kill you is romantic or suicidal?

Apparently, this part of Jiro's life is fictionalized from a novel by Hori Tatsuo - 'The Wind has Risen.'

Interesting that Miyazaki should merge a story about a real person with that of a fictional character. The results are dramatic, but perhaps a bit awkward at times and this could contribute to the occasional lost feelings I had while following the film. Was Jiro's real life not interesting enough? Miyazaki must have been very inspired by Tatsuo's story. His is the 3rd movie based upon it. Click the link above to learn more about the book.

Hearing another story which features the wind as integral to human drama (like last month's Shadow of the Wind), makes me wonder what is it about the wind that affects humans so? What does the wind make you feel? Frequently repeated is the line 'the wind rises, we must try to live'. What do they mean by this? Is it a call to meet life's challenges in order to reap the benefits of a happy existence? I would love to hear your take on this line and what it meant to you in the film.

In conclusion, Miyazaki's animations are so sumptuous and beautiful I would never regret spending time with them. This one was slower, more dramatic and adult than those I have seen in the past. It still includes some funny moments and characters (the boss with the bouncy hair) and is worth a view. Tatsuo's writing style has been described as 'plotless and impressionistic,' perhaps they tried to mimic this style in the film.

[Ruth]

"The Interview" - 4 stars - Ok this wasn't Korean, but is a spoof on North Korea so I decided to include it. At first I was shocked that a movie would center it's plot on taking out a currently sitting world leader, but it sounds like the North Koreans have made plenty of movies about taking us out so perhaps we are even. This movie was hilarious in a stoner sort of a way. Like Harold and Kumar go to North Korea instead of White Castle.

"Werewolf Boy" - 3 stars - This was a very unusual movie that was sometimes touching and sometimes a bit dopey. The premise is a bit out there and they put it right in your face so you are forced to choose whether you buy it or not. Overall, it was worth watching. At the end we were still trying to figure out whether it was real or a dream - I think it was supposed to have been real?