Asian cinema

[Kryzantine]

It's funny, really. I think there's a lot more interest in movies that are made across the Pacific, definitely starting around 2000. Of course, there were some movies before then that were popular worldwide, but honestly, I think cinema is starting to come into its own in mainland China and South Korea. Certainly, the influence that Asian cinema is having is profound - The Departed, which won an Oscar for best picture in 2006, was a remake of Infernal Affairs back in 2002. Oldboy regularly appears in top 10 movie lists. Slumdog Millionaire just cut out the middleman, though I honestly had East Asian movies more on my mind.

So I guess the question is, what is your favourite Asian movie and why?

I saw Let the Bullets Fly today, and while I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it, my favorite movie is still probably Taegukgi. Something about the Korean War gets to me.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

I did a thread just like this a few days ago!

OT: Oldboy hands down.

 

[Blue_vision]

Probably Rang De Basanti (aka Paint it Saffron.) Just a really amazing story that carries a lot of significance through the world.

I like pretty much all Asian cinema, but I like Indian cinema the best, especially Bollywood. I've seen a few Korean movies, and I like a lot of the stuff that comes out of China and Japan as well.

 

[Sp3ratus]

Search bar is your friend: Same thread, different title. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.291029-What-are-your-top-5-Asian-movies?page=1] The last post was just four days ago.

And as for why Oldboy is my favourite Asian movie and indeed of all time? Because it's so well directed and actors all do an excellent job. The subject matter is really, really fascinating and the film is brutally honest in it's depiction, not censored like it most likely would have been, had it been a Hollywood flick. At the time I saw it, it was the first South Korean movie I had seen and it blew me away. I had never seen anything like it before and I loved every second of it.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

Kurosawa, anything Kurosawa, you haven't lived until you've seen Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and/or Hidden Fortress.
And to this day Kurosawa's Ikiru is the only film to have made me weep.

 

[Anachronism]

Generally speaking, I tend to really like Asian films. Oldboy's already been mentioned, and I also particularly enjoy Chinese wuxia and Japanese chambara films. I watched an example of the latter just a couple of days ago, as it happens: 13 Assassins. If you get a chance, definitely go and see it. The plot is pretty straightforward, and there are too many main characters for a two-hour film, but it's so well-acted and the action scenes are so spectacular that you just won't care. The final battle is pretty much 45 minutes of uninterrupted mayhem, and it's one of the best battle sequences I've seen in quite some time.

I think there's a lot more interest in movies that are made across the Pacific, definitely starting around 2000

I think it's fair to say that we have Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to thank for this. It created an interest in Asian cinema that there simply hadn't been in the West before.

Kurosawa, anything Kurosawa, you haven't lived until you've seen Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and/or Hidden Fortress.
And to this day Kurosawa's Ikiru is the only film to have made me weep.

I don't have much to add to this, other than that, in my opinion, Seven Samurai is the best film ever made. And if you don't cry at the end of Ikiru, there's something very wrong with you.

 

[Zac Smith]

Ip Man looks pretty epic

 

[Colour Scientist]

Battle Royale: Directors Cut. Just so full of fucked up awesome that its hard not to love.

That film is amazing! I was severely disappointed by the second one, it seemed more watered down.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

The effed up-ness of Battle Royale pales compared to the level you find in the original novel, or the manga based on it, if you really want to see the premise taken to its original extreme. =p

 

[clipse15]

Honestly I like Asian cinema but not as a whole. I think South Korean films are amazing and just have this quality about them. With the exception of the terrible film The Man From Nowhere.

Chinese cinema has the potential to be good except lately every chinese film i've seen is just drowning in propoganda so obvious that it takes me out of the film. What I watch Chinese films for are the brilliant choreography but things like story and depth? Forget about it.

I actually think Japanese Cinema is really not that great, I know that puts me in the minority but in general the over the topness of Japanese Cinema doesn't really do it for me.

To answer the question my favourite Asian film is easily Sympathy For Mr Vengence. It's the first part of the vengence triology and I think its miles better then Oldboy