Hiff 2008 continued
Tokyo Sonata (Japan, 2008) – 4/5
I always thought Kiyoshi Kurosawa might be able to pull out a great movie if he left the ghost out. That’s exactly what he does here. The director crafts a slightly satiric downfall drama that becomes increasingly humoristic, even absurd. It all begins when a white collar father loses his job, and is too embarrassed to tell the truth to his family. Some of the plot turns don’t even attempt to be believable, but Kurosawa evens the affair with restrained visual style and relatively slow pace. The soundtrack works quite well. After halfway, during Koji Yakusho’s comedic appearance, there’s a long continous take where Kurosawa’s skill really shows.
Secret Sunshine (South Korea, 2007) – 1/5
More Cannes glory. Do-yeon Jeon scored the best actress award for her role as a suffering single parent in this film. She gets to display some drastic changes in her character, but the performance is a bit hard to enjoy when every turn only aims at cheap melodrama. It’s a shame, as there are some good elements, like the first, humoristic 50 minutes, and Kang-ho Song, who is very good as a likable loser who falls in love with the lead character. Unfortunately, the majority of the film is so incredibly shabby that it buries all the positives. 2½ hour running time doesn’t make it any easier to endure.
Sky Crawlers (Japan, 2008) – 3,5/5
Initially I saw this as a potential crowd pleasing effort by Mamoru Oshii. That is fortunately not the case. Sky Crawers doesn’t go overboard with philosophing, but it’s pure Oshii from themes of identity and soul to lack of comprehensive answers. It’s not Oshii at his most effective, and suffers from some over-length, but it’s a fascinating piece set in unidentified time and place in the future. The numerous air battles are well done, and the final touch is given by Kenji Kawai’s terrific score.
Ashes of Time: Redux (HK, 2008)
The availability of Ashes of Time will finally improve thanks to this revised version, but that’s where the good news end. The new remastering is a disaster. The image is now glazing orange / green, even dark at times. Dirt and scratches are gone, but so is film grain, at expense of sharpness of course. Digital touch shows in numerous new reflection effects. In the beginning there’s an apocalyptic cgi sun added next to the swordsmen.
Perhaps even worse is the â€
