Powerful film, with its power bound up in and permeating through its subdued nature.
The two little girls who portray the sisters Jin and Bin bless the screen with amazingly true-to-life, naturalistic performances. You won't sense any "acting" here. I fucking love that the narrative is told from their perspective, and how they experience--and are forced to make the best of--the callous world they're trapped in.
I also LOVE how the director (So Yong Kim) masterfully portrays Jin slowly "working…
This film rocked my world.
Heart-wrenching. Tragic. Sweet. Heartwarming. Special.
While its narrative centers issues we've all seen addressed countless times before--the isolating and harrowing nature of bullying, as well as the tender and inspiring nature of love--it's executed in a way that's intensely affecting.
E V E R Y T H I N G about Better Days works for me: The masterful directing, the magnificent performances (as well as the magnetic chemistry between the leads), the incredible writing, the…
I enjoyed the hell out of this from beginning to end. I mean, you have cops and gangsters teaming up to catch a psychotic serial killer - 'nuff said!
Also, Ma Dong-seok once again proves that (a) he is a whole fucking unit and that (b) he's an incredibly charismatic on-screen presence that consistently elevates whatever project he finds himself in. I love this man! I'm going to make more of an effort to watch more of his films.
🌟Added to Why I Love East Asian Cinema list🌟
This is stupid and dull and I just don't get why so many people seem to hold it in high regard.
It's weird. I used to exclaim that horror was my fave genre. I haven't completely given up on it, but I find myself watching less and less of it over time. It seems that my tastes are such that I find most horror movies silly, aggressively mediocre, or just plain bad.
I'm tired of being disappointed. Ugh.
This is my 12th Kenji Mizoguchi film. And I can now say that Mizoguchi is one of my favorite directors (maybe in my top 5; idk, I've never really ranked them).
Portrait of Madame Yuki showcases why I deeply appreciate Mizoguchi's work so much. Like most of the films that I've seen from him, the narrative centers the plight of a woman (Yuki) who endures mistreatment, contempt, and victim-blaming due to patriarchal norms.
While there is nuance to the story,…
