YAJI/KITA (2005) [Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san, Yaji & Kita: Midnight Pilgrims] (Japan)
director: Kankuro Kudo [Asmik]
starring: Tomoya Nagase &
Shichinosuke Nakamura
There’s never been anything like this. Period. A description is next to impossible. And no description could do justice to the film. Some people will compare it to Survive Style 5+, yet – amazingly – Yaji/Kita manages to trump that unconventional entry. Without question, this movie will never find a mainstream audience; but, one can’t help but wonder, is it even TOO BIZARRE for the cult crowd?
Take elements of dark-humor, pathos, musical-productions, fantasy, violence and convoluted logic. Swirl everything together into a samurai actioner (Chambara), but then set it in contemporary times. The result is a demented "road trip" movie, both literally (as Yaji and Kita travel from ancient Edo to the Ise shrine) and figuratively (a major portion relies on drug induced hallucinations). Oh. I forgot the mention... it's also a gay love story. No one will ever forget the opening credits as samurai Yaji and Kita jump on their heavily customized motorcycle (think Easy Rider) while the soundtrack booms "Born To Be Gay."
There's lots of surreal mayhem – too much to mention in this space as we’re already pushing the limits of “capsule review” – but the trip begins in Edo and ends in Hell (or, rather, just north of Hell). During the journey, the landscape is peppered with an unparalleled parade of quirky characters. For example, consider the iron-fisted border boss (played by perennial tough guy Riki Takesuchi) who only lets people pass if he judges them funny enough. You'll also find... a flamboyant playboy police detective, office-ladies-on-parade, a bevy of schoolgirl groupies, a zombie bartender, self-destructing souls at the mouth of the River Styx, a wandering standup comic called Hot Sandwich looking for his lost sidekick, a living laugh-track, a tone-deaf girl warbling a performance at a dinner club on the base of Mt Fuji. Plus more. So much more.  Click to see more photos!

LOVE SO DIVINE (2002) (Korea)
director: Huh In-Moo [Spectrum Video]
starring: Kwon Sang-Woo & Ha Ji-Won
A young priest falls in love with a chic young woman! Not the typical plot for a romantic comedy (especially by Western standards), this one finds a young Catholic priest having a difficult time choosing between his religious calling and the charms of a sexy parishioner.
Yu (Kwon) is a serious young man who has always worked towards his life ambition... to serve God as a Catholic priest. When he gets assigned to a small church in rural Korea, Kyu meets the Pastor's niece, Bong-Hee who has just come back from the United States... You know what happens next. The far-reaching curse of My Sassy Girl is now affecting the religious sect.   Click to see more photos!

SEVERELY RAPED (2004) (Hong Kong)
director: Lam Yee Hung [Universe Video]
starring: Wu Wing Keung & Yuko Wada
Exploitive title; lame execution. Two prostitutes – Ling and BoBo – set a trap to fleece savings from some middle-age men who just arrived in Hong Kong from China. One of the victims is Fok, a forty year old virgin. After he discovers sex with Ling he finds himself to be insatiable. So what else is new? 

CELLO (2005) [full title - CELLO: MURDER
STORY OF HONG MI-JOO FAMILY]
director: Lee Wu-Cheol [CJ Entertainment]
starring: Sung Hyun Ah &
Park Da-An
Starring the beautiful Miss Sung (from last year’s Scarlet Letter), this is the story of a family seemingly tormented by the murderous sound of a cello. Could it be that the instrument itself is possessed and causing people to die in ultra bloody fashion? or is there a bloodthirsty psycho involved?
Cello is one of four Korean horror films to play the theaters during the Summer of 2005. Like the others (Scary Hair, Voice and Red Shoes), this one relies on nubile teen girls and their unconventional “objects” for the thrills. Regardless of the obvious inherent problems caused by a cello that’s bigger than the girl, the overall results here are more definitely chilling – and more bloody..  Click to see more photos!

NATURAL CITY (2003) (Korea) [Tartan Video]
director: Min Byung-Chin
starring: Yoo Ji-Tae &
Yoon Chan
The year is 2080. Physical labor has been relegated to a unique workforce of cyborgs, human clones with artificial intelligence. These beings are created with pre-assigned expiration dates, but few willingly accept their imposed termination. A need exists for government intervention in the form of special “MP” police units assigned to the eradication of expunged cyborgs. Agent “R” works as such a cop. But he finds himself in a deadly predicament after falling in love with one of the expired female clones.
It’s been called ‘the Korean Blade Runner.’ And not without good reason. Natural City – with its eye-popping special effects and mutant robot narrative – is reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s SciFi classic. But similarities churn much deeper, actually within the soul of the film. No, this movie isn’t really about cyborgs and futuristic mayhem, it’s about detachment, loneliness and ultimately the deterioration of humanity.
As such, the film ventures through the same territory as Blade Runner but, oddly, it distants itself from writer Philip K. Dick’s original source material (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). As a result, Natural City has more in common with Lawrence Sander's hammy Tomorrow Files. The result is ‘Natural” but rather hollow.   Click to see more photos!

AN ADOLESCENT (2001) [Shoujyo aka Shoujo]
director: Eiji Okuda [KSS Films]
starring: Eiji Okuda & Mayu Ozawa
Japanese actor Eiji Okuda makes his directorial debut with this Lolita-esque film adapted from a book by Mikihiko Renjo. Tomokawa (Okuda) is a hard-nosed cop who gets solicited by a 15-year-old girl. She offers sex for cash but he declines. Later, their paths cross once again. The result is an illicit relationship with damning repercussions.  Click to see more photos!

WAYWARD CLOUDS (2005) (Taiwan)
director: Tsai Ming-liang [Arena Films]
starring: Lee Kang-sheng & ChenShiang-chyi
Offended people walked out of showings in Film Festivals around the world. Visionary director Tsai is shaking up the "art crowd" with this perversely erotic, nearly pornographic tale (featuring mind-boggling musical numbers) of the sex industry in the near future.
Hsiao-Kang works as an actor in low budget sex-films. Meanwhile, neighbor Shiang-chyi (and many others in the city) are hoarding bottles of water as they try to cope with a severe drought. The government recommends that people turn to watermelons to keep from dehydrating. The melons serve as an ongoing motif – as do more standard symbols like intersecting corridors – which bring people together but also keep them apart. Of course, this is a highbrow interpretation of the film. But don't be misled. It is also gritty, ugly and totally outrageous. The controversial ending, while profoundly beautiful, is perhaps the most disturbing footage ever produced for a commercial motion picture.  Click to see more photos!

Last update September 4, 2006
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