Asian Cinema on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Eric.]

Hey Juan,i got a copy of Chihwaseon a few weeks back and i think that would be his next best movie.After that i would say you have to get Happy End and Failan.
As for Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance that is an absolute must own for Chan-Wook Park fans.Be warned though it's a lot darker than Oldboy (yes i'm not kidding),this movie is way to hardcore for a mainstream audience.It is stunning and uncompromisingly brutal yet somehow serene and beautiful at the same time.The type of movie that would never get made in Hollywood if you know what i mean

 

[ThomasC]

Shit, I hate being a member of the HTF. I'm going broke. It looks like Oldboy will be my next DVD purchase. Which DVD option is the cheapest?

 

[Juan M. Rico]

Eric:

Thanks for the recommendations. Dark is good. As much as I love all the Hollywood mainstream films, I also love the unconventional stuff coming out of other areas of the world. And as of now, the freshest ideas are coming out of Korea. I also have Silmido but haven't watched it yet. Also for those who love epic films, Musa is a great film

 

[jason:g]

Looks like the Director's Cut (2-Disc "Final Edition") will be the version to get, and it will be available in November...

 

[ChrisBEA]

I just posted my review of The Isle. check my sig for the link.
I liked the film, not what I expected, but sometimes that's a good thing!

I haven't seen Oldboy or Sympathy yet, but I hope to soon!

 

[Matthew Brown]

Thanks to Ron and Parker for giving the OK to post the following!

Since it's inception, my web site, Love and Bullets has been a one person operation. Do to a lot of factors I think it's time (again) to recruit some reviewers for the site. This will prevent lulls in updates and also freshen things up a bit. While reviewers can't be paid, it won't be entirely rewardless. What will the rewards be? It will vary. My goal is to make sure that consistent reviewers get something at least once a month. Most likely, the reviewers will get to pick a DVD or 2 a month of their choice.

The ideal qualifications would be :

Some knowledge of Asian cinema. As long as there is a passion for Asian movies, it doesn't matter to me if you've been a fan since Bruce Lee first hit the screen or if you became interested because of The Matrix. It doesn't matter how you got here. You're here now.

Equipment -
16x9 Widescreen TV
Dolby 5.1/ DTS capability
DVD Player with zoom feature
Ability to take screen captures

While the equipment part isn't mandatory, it will help. Equipment is always listed in each review so readers can gauge what they have against it.

There are a few things that I do feel is needed of each reviewer. There few simple rules will maintain the integrity of the site and all involved.

If anybody is interested, please let me know. Don't want to write reviews? Essays on Asian Cinema or related topics are also welcome. I am looking for two or three people that will be fairly consistent with reviews.

Thanks again to Ron and Parker for letting me post this.

 

[David Lawson]

I just thought I'd pass along a list of changes between the theatrical and director's cuts of My Sassy Girl. The tenth post (by Schmilsson1969) on this page details the differences. Spoilers abound.

 

[ThomasC]

Has anyone watched the music video for My Sassy Girl? I would've thought it was pretty well done, had it not been for the part where it cut out of the song and in to the girl on the mountain. I think that was a really poor editing decision.

 

[Rich Malloy]

I've got a "Tale of Two Sisters" dvd comparison question, and I really hope Brian Thibodeau might be reading this!

I'm trying to decide between the 2-disc Korean vs. the barebones HK version of this movie. So long as the transfers are comparable, more or less, I usually go for the cheaper barebones edition since Korean discs rarely have English subs for the extra features. However, the deleted scenes for "Two Sisters" appear interesting, and especially after reading some comments in this thread, but not reading them *too* closely for fear of spoilers. Would you recommend that I spend the extra for (subless) deleted scenes, or are these more of a very minor interest?

Thanks!

 

[David Lawson]

Thomas, I completely agree. It grinds the video to a halt, and I don't think the scene works in that context very well at all.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

Watched a couple of lighter Korean films on the weekend:

MARRYING THE MAFIA (2002) D: Jung hung-sun is a somewhat-above-avarage romantic mob "Jopok" comedy, made at a time when such films were in vogue (see MY BOSS, MY HERO, MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER, and SAVING MY HUBBY, among others) in which a straight-laced business executive Dae-suh (Jung Jun-ho of MY BOSS, MY HERO) and a somewhat mousy lab tech Jin-kyung (an absolutely charming Kim Jung-eun) wake up in bed together with no recollection of how they got there or what they did. They part company in a rather disgusted huff, but he's soon visited by her three brothers, low class members of a local crime family, who inform him of her family lineage and forcibly encourage him to pursue the relationship with their sister...or else! Meanwhile, the relationship proceed in fits and starts with neither Dae-suh or Jin-kyung aware of the behind-the-scenes machinations that are drawing them ever closer to true love. High-concept, if conventional, story is somewhat undermined by an uninvolving side-story detailing older brother Park Sang-wook's attempts to woo a pretty schoolteacher, as well as the increasingly ubiquitous need in Korean gangster comedies to have a nasty rival gang with which the good guys are forced to wage bloody, baseball-bat-swinging war, this time at a dance club and climactic family event. The situational humour shines through, though, particularly in a scene where Dae-suh's parents meet their soon-to-be in-laws, in another where Jin-kyung confronts Dae-suh's sneaky ex-girlfriend and in various vignettes in which the three brothers go to great lengths to create ideal "romantic situations" to help further the relationship. Overall an enjoyably cute comedy with not-unexpected sidesteps into moderate violence and an overly contrived climax, but also an interesting take on the common Korean filmic theme of "constructed relationships," hardly surpring, once supposes, in a country where arranged marriages were for many years the norm: essentially this film and many like it simply dress up old-school thinking in new clothing, but with a winning wink-wink sensibility. This was the top domestic movie of 2002. 7.

http://www.dddhouse.com/dddhouse/en/...productID=3238

SAVING MY HUBBY(2002) D: Hyun Nab-seob In Korea, a not-uncommon cash-grab scheme for unscruplous bar owners is to drug already-tipsy patrons, then bill them when they wake up for ridiclous amounts of booze they never drank. On a night out with his new employers, business man Jun-tae (Kim Tae-woo of JOINT SECURITY AREA) is the victim of just such a con, and the only way out is for his wife Geum-soon (Bae Doo-na) - a former volleyball champ sidelined into a domesticity she wasn’t prepared for after a shoulder injury - to stalk through a seedy, after-hours entertainment district, evade the minions of a gang boss she inadvertently pelted with a tomato, find the elusive bar, pay the debt with her fists and drag her childish husband back home before his parents arrive for dinner - all with her chubby little year-old baby daughter (who everyone assumes is a boy, much to her dismay) bouncing on her back in a baby-strap! Winning, high-concept race-the-clock action comedy allows for the heroine to cross paths with many of society’s less fortunate souls and repeatedly outrun a handful of relentlessly altruistic henchmen, and one tellingly wordless encounter with a humiliated PR girl that speaks volumes about the treatment of immigrant bar hostesses in the country. Mild social commentary aside though, there’s much to enjoy here, and though many of the supporting characters represent the broadest mob comedy stereotypes, the entire secondary cast is memorable, right down to the cute old couple that runs the tent bar where Geum-soon spikes one of her husband’s sexist co-workers clear across the room. Bae once again nails another quirky, tough-but-vulnerable role as a woman who battles through hell, often using cinematically enhanced techniques, for the sake of an existence she never truly expected, while Kim Tae-woo essays pitch-perfect man-child naivete as here weak-willed but loyal hubby. Only the ending seems somewhat fantastical. 8.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

I tend to go for the more-expensive Korean releases for the prestige pictures, a group in which I'd include TWO SISTERS, and get the cheaper Hong Kong versions for the smaller films I'm less stoked to see. That's just me.

The additional scenes for TWO SISTERS are indeed excellent supplements to the main feature, especially when compared to deleted scenes included DVDs for many a less worthy film, and even if their excision from the completed picture was ultimately necessary. Had they been left in, they would have tended to fill in more blanks than necessary, particularly the alternate version of the stepmother's confrontation with"the cabinet." That said, I'm somewhat fond of the making-of material included on Korean DVDs (as well as the usual trailers and such) largely because its much less glitzed-up than the same material on many U.S. discs and is actually more enjoyably pedestrian in its presentation. As such, the behind the scenes stuff on the TWO SISTERS set is worthwhile to me, and therefore I'd recommend it if you loved the film and want to know more about the choices that went into making it. There's also, if I recall correctly, featurettes on the subtle psychological use of CGI in the film, which I found quite enlightening. All in all, a very illuminating package in ways that fail the producers of many DVD supplements.

Hope that helps...

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

While we're on the topic of Korean entertainment, I'd like to mention I had the good fortune of watching one incredibly high-strung episode of a popular Korean TV soap opera called STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN on the weekend and was wondering if perhaps one of our Korean members, or anyone who’s familiar with Korean soaps in general, could tell me if they’re all so staggeringly over the top and downright addictive:

http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.asp...ection-videos/

My girlfriend has seen nine episodes out of 28 so far, and it was this ninth episode she offered to show me, in the certainty I’d find it as ridiculous as she did. She filled me in on the back story, which goes something like this: Little adopted girl meets little rich boy. When they’re older they fall in love. They Lover Guy leaves the country for five years, during which time the girl gets amnesia when her Psycho Stepsister, who also loves Lover Guy, runs her down with a car. Psycho Stepsister’s Tortured Artist brother (Shin Hyeon-jun from BICHUNMOO), takes Amnesia Girl in, convincing her that, in fact, she’s a completely different person and she’s been his girlfriend all along, much to his own internal suffering and to his sister’s eternal delight. Then Lover Guy comes home and, thanks to the machinations of Psycho Stepsister, ALSO becomes convinced that his one true love is dead and that this girl that looks exactly like her and sounds exactly like her and feels exactly like her is, in point of fact, someone completely different, SO HE HIRES TO WORK AT HIS COMPANY AS A DESIGNER! Then, Amnesia Girl regains her memory, discovers Tortured Artist’s ruse, realizes Lover Guy reluctantly loves Psycho Stepsister, is repeatedly reminded of it BY Psycho Stepsister, and in spite of all the hints that they SHOULD be together, never actually TELLS Lover Guy her real name!!! And if that’s not complicated enough, I’m told later on she goes blind from cancer, which requires Tortured Artist to give up his own eyes so she can see the world long enough to die from cancer in the arms of Lover Guy, who apparently grows a brain by that time and figures out what’s been going on right under his nose!

The production values on Korean soaps, perhaps because they’re filmed more like American prime-time dramas, is quite high compared with America’s daily daytime soaps. But the plots, oh MAN, the plots.

I swear to whatever God you want, this one 60-minute episode had the heroine crying in virtually every scene but two, and my girlfriend assures me that the previous eight showed no lower level of histrionics, from the single tear down the cheek to outright bawling from humilation or various other hurts. And it’s not just the heroine who cries. With the exception of Psycho Stepsister and her Souless Celebrity Mother, virtually everyone, male or female, cries. The emotional catharsis that must go with watching the entire series must be truly deadly! One could argue the gag reflex might also have a similar effect.

At one point there’s a scene (of many) that had us in stitches: Amnesia Girl decides to confront Lover Guy and reveal her true identity. To do this she much catch up to him as he and his business hangers-on walk in slow motion through this giant mall (a rebadged Lotte Centre,I think) his family owns. Naturally, she ansiously and constantly comes THIS CLOSE to catching up, only to be foiled by pillars, elevators, planters, escalators, multiple levels of shopping enjoyment and the collective ability of the group to stay a few feet ahead of her at all times, with Lover Guy repeately cocking his head back as if he knows something’s amiss, but continuing on his stroll nonetheless. Naturally, he gets away, since there’s still several episodes to come.

Not to take the thread in a whole new direction, but I thought some of you might find this stuff amusing if you ever get a chance to see it subtitled. And as I mentioned, I’m wondering if any one here is already familiar with Korean soaps and knows if they’re all as overblown as this one. As crazy as it is, you just can’t turn it off! I fear for my manliness.

Besides, I’m dying to see Episode 10. Episode 9 ends with Tortured Artist getting his hands smashed by gangster who bought his fakes, and I just GOTTA know what happens next.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Thanks, Brian! I tend to agree with you, generally speaking, about the "special edition" thing -- there's a nagging sense of unease I get whenever I become aware that there's a better version of a DVD I have of a film I love. The only cure is upgrade. Still, I wonder how much I'd get out of these extras...

But, given my language barrier, would I find these features comprehensible at all, much less enlightening?

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

The commentary is not subtitled. Most Korean commentary tracks are unsubbed, which is a real shame considering the wealth of creative directors who've popped on the scene in the last five years or so, and how many of them actually provide commentary tracks for their films. But, then again, most American commentaries don't get subbed in other languages for other countries, so I guess we can't point fingers.

As for the deleted scenes, I can't honestly remember if they are subbed or not. I don't believe they are, but several of them contain no dialogue anyways, so you're not missing anything without the subs, particularly as many of them are extended versions of existing scenes (for which you'll already be familiar with the dialogue) or slightly alternate versions of existing scenes. There are some completely deleted scenes, though.

All in all, I have Korean special "deluxe" editions for quite a few films, including SHIRI, JSA, JAILBREAKERS (3-disc), FUN MOVIE, TWO SISTERS, PHONE, YESTERDAY, WONDERFUL DAYS, 2009 LOST MEMORIES, SPARK THE LIGHTER, MUSA, NATURAL CITY, TUBE, VOLCANO HIGH, BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE and LIBERA ME. As you can tell, most if not all of these are genre "event" pictures, not all of which were box-office blockbusters (though they were virtually all designed to be).

Having read about and then seen what the Korean filmmakers can do on budgets wouldn't cover the salaries of most Hollywood A-list stars, I tend to gravitate to the deluxe treatments of films in genres I enjoy, and stick to the Korean single-disc releases or the cheaper Hong Kong releases down the road for nearly everything else. My Korean DVD collection only numbers about 70 at the moment, but I suspect I'll continue on this path for the time being, as it's the most economical for me, as I don't have to double dip later for titles I strongly suspect I'm going to like, such as those listed above, all of which I enjoyed immensely.

It's a crapshoot sometimes, but if you're leery of springing for the more expensive set, maybe the HK edition is the way to go. I have seen HK and Korean versions of certain films, and to be honest, I'd be hard pressed to spot significant differences in picture, and only minor discrepancies in the quality of the soundtracks.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Thanks so much for the in-depth insight, Brian! I'll be placing my order tonight... leaning towards the 2-disc Korean version...

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

It also comes with a film frame from the movie in a nice cardboard presentation sleeve. If that doesn't make all the difference, I don't know what will!

 

[ThomasC]

The audio for the scene is also on the soundtrack as an intro to a song, and I think the inclusion of it also doesn't fit at all. It must be the Koreans and their melodrama.

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Anyone know what is cut in the HK dvd of MARRYING THE MAFIA? The Korean dvd is 113 and the HK is only 99 minutes.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

I can't say exactly what has been cut from MARRYING THE MAFIA as I haven't seen the Korean version, but I do know the HK edition omits what I've read is a scene where the older brothers brassy wife beats up a teacher at the local high school, probably over something to do with the son. A scene with the older of the three brothers talking to his son outside the school is still there, as is the scene of the him joining the anti-school-violence protest, yelling to his minions on a cell-phone to "kill the motherfucker," and scaring a couple of the female teachers. This whole section of the film feels like something's missing.

Same goes for the second-to-third act transition, where there's a very abrupt cut from the scene where Dae-suh chases down Jin-kyung, who's running away from all the craziness (and Dae-suh), to the third-act climax that closes the film (which I won't describe since it would be a major spoiler).

In fact, the cut is so abrupt, I actually thought I was watching some kind of fantasy sequence before getting to the real ending!

It actually seems as though some major kiss-and-make-up dialogue between the two leads was taken out of this part of the movie, but I don't know why, considering all the bat-swinging violence was left intact.

I would only recommend the HK version because it's cheap. The cuts, unfortunately, make the director seem like he has a bad sense of pacing, which I highly doubt based on the majority of the film. I would have to think the Korean edition is a much better experience, plus it's loaded with extras.