Three, Monster, a compilation of short films by East Asian directors, is probably the most aesthetic of horror films to open in theaters this year. The three directors who participated in this project _ Park Chan-wook of South Korea, Takashi Miike of Japan and Fruit Chan of Hong Kong - figure out ways to not as much terrify the audience as attempt to disturb them on a psychological level.
The films of ``Three, Monster’’ all work from the same premise _ that the source for the horrific lies not outside but within the individual. The results have somewhat of a biblical feel, with the directors casting their interpretations on greed, envy, desire and other deadly sins that can transform people into monsters.
The most original and polished of the three is the first. Cut,’’ directed by Park, is a continuation of the revenge theme that the filmmaker has been exploring in his recent films Chiltunun Naui Him (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance)’’ and Old Boy. The short film, however, takes a slyer approach than his features, and gives center stage to the black humor Park only hinted at previously.
Cut’’ is a <B><s>[b]</s>literal theater of cruelty<e>[/b]</e></B>, in which a failed actor credited only as the Terrorist (Yim Won-hee) holds a director (Lee Byung-hun) captive at a film set, a recreation of the Director’s own home. There, the Terrorist has elaborately tied up the Director’s wife, the Pianist (Kang Hye-jeong), in front of a piano, and a random child on a sofa. He then gives the Director a choice - either strangle the innocent child or watch as he chops off one of the Pianist’s fingers every five minutes.<br/> <br/> It may seem odd that Park would <B><s>[b]</s>find humor in such a situation<e>[/b]</e></B>, but the director does so with gleeful abandon. The situation is taken into absurd territory, revolving mostly around the game between the Terrorist and the Director, and aside from the unnecessary twist at the end, the film succeeds in keeping the audience in uncomfortable laughter throughout.<e>[/i]</e></I><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <B><s>[b]</s>BOX made by MIIKE<e>[/b]</e></B><br/> <I><s>[i]</s>The director fills his surreal narrative about a young woman writer with such <B><s>[b]</s>evocative images<e>[/b]</e></B> as a circus act starring twin teenage dancers, bleak walks through the snow and repeated dreams of being buried alive. It’s certainly beautiful to look at in a melancholy sort of way.<br/> <br/> directed by Takashi Miike of Japan, tackles mythical and dreamy theme of horror that haunts Kyoko (Kyoko Hasegawa), a successful and renowned beauty.<br/> <br/> The main character is trapped in a web of claustrophobic scenes, which chug along at a painfully slow pace, with Kyoko confined to a solitary and secrecy-laden life.<br/> <br/> On the surFace, Kyoko has ambivalent feelings toward her editor who has a crush on her. But she hesitates to open her heart to him because of a traumatic childhood experience.<br/> <br/> Deploying techniques that can be defined as a minimalist fantasy, the film shows what really happened. At the tender age of 10, Kyoko accidentally caused her twin sister Shoko - a rival for the affection of their surrogate father Hikita - to be burned to death.<br/> <br/> Stricken by grief, Hikita vanished shortly afterwards. Adding to the tangle, the editor looks exactly like Hikita. Meanwhile, Kyoko has been struggling to fend off the recurring dreams and memories of her twin sister.<br/> <e>[/i]</e></I><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <B><s>[b]</s>DUMPLINGS made by Fruit Chan<e>[/b]</e></B><br/> <I><s>[i]</s>Less elaborate but perhaps more frightening than Cut’’ is Fruit Chan’s ``Dumplings.’’ The story, about a woman (Yeung Chin Wah) who tries to recover her youth by eating dumplings made of aborted fetuses, seems like something that could unfortunately occur in our youth-obsessed society. The short film, which includes excellent performances by Ling Bai, as the ruthless dumpling vendor, and Leung Ka Fai as the husband who chases after young women, falls short of meaningful social criticism, but its close resemblance to our world makes it more disturbing than any ghost story.
Under Fruit Chan’s re-telling of Lillian Lee’s well-etched characters, comedy actor Miriam Yeung is inducing frights instead of laughter this time as she portrays the darker side of human nature. As the ageing, insecure ex-starlet Ching Ching, Miriam is determined to turn back the hands of time ? seemingly at any cost - to regain the passion of her typhoon husband. She goes to find former mainland doctor Auntie Mei (Bai Ling) not for surgical reasons - but for her “special” dumplings. The mysteriously carefree Auntie Mei steams, boils, and serves little delicacies for Ching Ching to swallow (and gulp, once she finds out the secret ingredients) down. Although not quite mouth-watering, can these pinkish, crunchy, chewy and juicy “special dumplings” really be the foundation of youth for Ching Ching? Or are they just a mass of fetal tissues?
I bought the hk dvd (by Mega Star) and my version turned out to be 1 disc version with no extras. Well, at least all three films were in excellent quality.
What’s your favourite episode (note: poll added)? I liked ‘Cut’ the most. Box was nice and clever, but it wasn’t until the end when it started working 100%. Dumplings was pretty straight forward, but worked nicely. Chan-wook Park was the only one who got everything right. Cut was both clever and entertaining throughout.
I have seen a few Fruit Chan films. He makes mostly documentary style movies and uses non-professional actors/actresses. Threes Extreme is actually considered his first mainstream movie. What I like about Chan’s short is that he brings a sense of realism. Like in the beginning scene at the ghetto building we see this old woman getting removed the spots on her face, that’s Fruit Chan’s style. I thought that was cool.
Personally I like Park’s film among the three, but I appreciate Chan’s risk to create a sense of realism in a surreal story.
As for Chan’s movies, I recommend Made In Hong Kong, cus it seems that all of you like gangsta punk movies. But it’s my least favorite. I actually like Little Cheung and Durian Durian and Hollywood Hong Kong. His films are all concerned about the political/social conditions in Hong Kong after 1997 handover in China, and the messages are very pessimistic, just like SPL.
I just saw this yesterday and it wouldn’t be fair to say im disappointed because I honestly didn’t know what to expect so ill say that i wasn’t all that surprised - its just I didn’t find some of them all to original, that all said they were good anyone who’s touchy about abortion might find dumplings a little more confronting, and Cut had a little of the vengeful feel of some of Park’s films, and box?.. well it was pritty artistic for a Miike film… ahh no that doesn’t do it justice… anyways these films are really different so comparing them is difficult so i just voted for the one i liked the most on its on merits…