The Olympics opening ceremony has me thinking about Asian cinema. I’ve seen almost none — no horror, almost no anime, nothing obscure, nothing that isn’t Chinese or Japanese — but with those limitations here’s my favorites.
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Unrequited love. Check. Kick-ass women. Check. Beautiful people. Check. Heartbreaking ending. Check.
- In the Mood For Love. Sexual tension thicker than Hong Kong humidity. Languid, evocative and sexy as all hell.
- Infernal Affairs. Without this movie, Scorsese would not have an Oscar.
- Hero: Jet Li is the Keanu Reeves of Asia. He’s a perfect blank slate against which others act.
- House of Flying Daggers: More beautiful people fight, fly and fornicate.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Esther // Aug 13, 2008 at 8:55 am
I’ve never seen “in the mood for love.” I’ll have to check it out, thanks. I’d aslo add to your list the movie “Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles.” It’s the story of a Japanese fisherman who goes on a quest to a distant province to fulfill his son’s dream. The cinematography in it is amazing and you would never know that the only trained actor in the film is the one playing the main character.
2 urbanmenno // Aug 13, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Warning on Mood for Love. It’s not very fast moving so be prepared. And I’ll put Riding Alone on my Netflix list.
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