Lady vengeance research

http://thoughtsonstuff.blogspot.com/2005/12/sympathy-for-lady-vengeance.html

Mark Hannaway

How many research methods have i used?

-Internet --> "iMDB" was useful a useful website as it provided us with core information and reviews about our chosen films such as who the producers and distributors are.
--> Wikipedia is also a useful internet source as it contains information about all the films such as when it was made and any dilemmas.
--> "Facebook" was very useful as it contains various discussion groups and message boards for all our chosen films.
--> We found a useful sight that contains statistical data regarding films within the UK.

-Textual Analysis --> Between my group we all have the DVD videos for our chosen films and have watched trailers for all of them

Which Have been most useful?

I personally found the most useful method of research so far to be the internet, however the internet is very random and often contains unimportant information. The "iMDB" film site and "Facebook" have been the most useful sources so far as on facebook there is a wide range of groups some consisting of over 1000 members.

Which other methods am i going to use?

• Myself and my group despite having watched the film trailers which has provided us with a brief outline of the story line and film content still need to watch the actual films.
• We still need to formulate a questionnaire and to arrange an interview.
• We still need to look at more secondary research methods such as books and magazines.
  

5 most frightening japanese films

Japan's Five Most Frightening Horror Movies Of All Time!
by Steve Levenstein, October 23, 2007


Japanese horror cinema, or "J-Horror" has been making a name for itself in recent years. Hollywood chillers The Ring and The Grudge are adaptations of recent J-Horror flicks and their success will surely spawn others. To get the full impact of what J-Horror really means, you've got to go to the source.

We'll start our list with a true classic, then move to the modern age and a more insidious form of horror. First though - and fifth on the list - is the one that started it all...

5) GODZILLA
Oh no, there goes Tokyo...
No discussion of Japanese horror flicks would be complete without referring to that campy classic, the original Godzilla from 1954, or "Gojira" to use its Japanese title. Sure, it looks cheesy today, but back in the early fifties the special effects were state of the art, even in Black & White.

Though later sequels did much to dilute the power and the presence of Japan's greatest movie monster, the big guy has still got what it takes to flatten a city - and nobody chews the scenery with more gusto! (iimage via Pacific Asia Museum)

It's for you...It's for you...
"One Missed Call" sets the bar for modern Japanese horror flicks with its distinctive, unsettling plot outline that's quite different from today's too typical slasher flicks Hollywood insists on churning out. If anything, One Missed Call shows some similarities to scary ghost stories past and older Hollywood films like 1967's "Wait Until Dark".

Very little blood, only brief nudity and an overall eerie atmosphere are the backdrop for one of the most chilling films you'll ever see. Titled "Chakushin ari" in its home country, One Missed Call was released in 2003 and its popularity has led to sequels in 2005 and 2006. (image via moviesonline.ca)

4) ONE MISSED CALL
It's for you...It's for you...
"One Missed Call" sets the bar for modern Japanese horror flicks with its distinctive, unsettling plot outline that's quite different from today's too typical slasher flicks Hollywood insists on churning out. If anything, One Missed Call shows some similarities to scary ghost stories past and older Hollywood films like 1967's "Wait Until Dark".

Very little blood, only brief nudity and an overall eerie atmosphere are the backdrop for one of the most chilling films you'll ever see. Titled "Chakushin ari" in its home country, One Missed Call was released in 2003 and its popularity has led to sequels in 2005 and 2006. (image via moviesonline.ca)

3) AUDITION
Dating is such a pain...Dating is such a pain...
1999's Audition, or "Odishon" in romanized Japanese, is a chilling femme fatale flick with the emphasis on the fatale. One look at the actress holding a hypodermic needle on the movie poster had me horrified before the darned thing even started!

Somewhat Hitchcockian in scope and format, Audition features few special effects because they simply aren't needed. It's one of those films where you know you're going to be shocked, but you're shocked anyway, over and over again. (image via cartelia.net)



2) JU-ON
What goes around, comes around...What goes around, comes around...
You may have seen ghost stories before, but they never had ghosts like the ones in "Ju-on". Crafted with exquisite care by director Takashi Shimizu, Ju-on is an unrelenting 90 minutes of terror that will leave you gasping - for more!

"Ju-on" can be translated to mean The Curse or The Grudge, and it was indeed this film that was remade & Americanized in 2004, then released as "The Grudge" starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr and Bill Pullman. The original Ju-on is much more effective at synthesizing classic horror and delivering it, drop by excrutiating drop. (image via Toei Video Company)



1) RINGU
You wish you had Betamax now...You wish you had Betamax now...
Remade in 2002 as "The Ring" starring Naomi Watts, the original 1998 Japanese "Ringu" is said to be creepier, scarier, and more shocking in every way. Though both films employ the same "One curse, one cure, one week to find it" plotline, director Hideo Nakata manages to create a palpable sense of horror tinged with depression, a fatalistic cocktail that will seep into your senses, leaving you cold - and in a cold sweat.

Having achieved lasting fame as Japan's top-grossing horror flick ever, Ringu was followed in 1999 by a sequel, also directed by Nakata, and a prequel in 2000 helmed by a different director. Though videotapes are rapidly fading from the A/V media scene, the VHS cassette has achieved lasting notoriety thanks to its use in Ringu (and The Ring) as a central plot device. Absolutely terrifying! (image via Max Bossa)

And there you have it. Japan may be all cute-like and Hello Kitty sickly sweet to some, but a far different aspect of the nation's culture lurks beneath. Think you have the guts to go there? Buy or rent any one of these J-Horror flicks and find out!

European Cinema - Pan's Labyrinth

Research -

UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook-

Country of origin - Spain/Mexico/USA
Gross Box Office (in UK) - £2.6 million
Distributor - Optimum
Language - Spanish

Spanish films have the largest Gross Box Office income in the UK (out of European countries) for 2006 - £5.6 million.
There were 10 Spanish releases shown in the UK in 2006.
Top Spanish performing title - volver

Films in 30 different languages (including English) were released in the UK, a decrease from 33 in 2005.


Official Website-

Director & Writer - Guillermo del Toro
Main Actors - Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Sergi Lopez

Articles

Asian cinema information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_cinema

Asian cinema's influence on hollywood articles, interesting!

http://uniorb.com/ATREND/movie.htm

http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p113530_index.html

Asian films being remade by hollywood:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i031ff237a5776b51ad5175d6ec6bd7b4

http://arainyday.wordpress.com/2007/08/04/leave-the-asian-films-alone/

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0215asianinfluence15.html

Important facts and magazine articiles

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/search.php

Awards
Oldboy(2003):

57th Cannes Film Festival
Won: Grand Prix of the Jury – Park Chan-wook
Nominated: Palme d'Or – Park Chan-wook

Grand Bell Awards – South Korea 2004
Won: Best Director – Park Chan-wook
Won: Best Actor – Choi Min-sik
Won: Best Editing – Kim Sang-beom
Won: Best Illumination – Park Hyun-won
Won: Best Music – Jo Yeong-wook

Asia Pacific Film Festival 2004
Won: Best Director – Park Chan-wook
Won: Best Actor – Choi Min-sik

37th Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya - Sitges 2004
Won: Maria Award (Best Film)
Won: José Luis Guarner Award (Critics' Best Film)

Bergen International Film Festival 2004
Won: Audience Award

British Independent Film Awards 2004
Won: Best Foreign Independent Film

European Film Awards 2004
Nominated: Screen International Award


Lady Vengeance(2005):

8th Cinemanila Film Festival 2006
Won Best Actress (International Competition): Lee Young-ae

Bangkok Festival 2006
Won "Best Director"

Spain Film Festival 2005 (Sitges?)
Lee Young-ae won "Best Actress"

Venice Film Festival 2005
Won "Little Golden Lion"

Lee Young-ae won "Best Actress" at Sitges Film Festival 2005
Lee Young-ae won "Best Actress" at Blue Dragon Awards 2005


Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance(2002)
Sight and sound - July 2003/Volume 13/issue 7
page 58-59

Asian cinema!

An interesting article written on Asian Cinema,

http://www.fest21.com/blog/afi/its_a_small_world_asian_cinema_it039s_day_3_at_afi
As a second generation Japanese-American, I spent much of my youth sitting next to my mother and pretending I could understand her Japanese soap operas and melodramatic samurai serials. What my mother and I laugh about to this day is how I "get" Japanese film and TV more than she does. I will guffaw at SMAP's sketch comedy when I don't understand a word and I will cry over an emotional monologue in a tearjerker Tokyo TV show as Mom takes a break to check dinner. She follows the dialect, but I follow the emotional language of my generation across the sea.
I now own more Japanese horror than my mother will ever know with Takashi Miike topping the list, but Azumi is next to Audition in the DVD library to show I am not above a good dose of Japanese pop culture. And as an Asian-American, I have broadened my cinematic interests to the rest of Asian film. Chinese dramas, Korean thrillers, Thai documentaries - all of the Asian cinema realm is such a bounteous treasure of culture as well as a lesson in universality.

Viewing the films as a group, you can't help being struck by the richness of global culture. Even with a film as distinctly Japanese as Mika Ninagawa's lush period piece SAKURAN, or Sherwood Hu's Hamlet adaptation, PRINCE OF THE HIMALAYAS, it is easy to see intercultural influences. When asked the difference between audiences across the globe, Hu simply stated, "Sometimes audiences respond to sensation and other times it is the suspension of reality. Worldwide, all audiences respond to good storytelling."

The beauty of Asian cinema is that filmmakers have a rich influx of foreign films to glean from. While Americans can feast on studio fodder their whole lives many Asian communities have European and American entertainment thrust upon them. Most of the filmmakers listed an American or European filmmaker as an influence next to an Asian one. Sherwood Hu mentioned Martin Scorsese and Akira Kurosawa and SOLOS co-director Kan Lume mentioned Krysztof Kieslowski with Wong Kar Wai on his laundry list of influences. And this cross-cultural influence shows in everything from lighting to editing. Watch the darkness of Diao Yi Nan's NIGHT TRAIN and see the lack of sentimentality in Robert Bresson's classic films along with Bresson's shadows and light to emphasize the criticism of an unbending cultural structure with malleable victims.

The best thing about film is that, as a visual medium, humor can translate across languages. If you are a fan of the Wes Anderson quirk + character dimension, you can find it beyond the States in films like FUNUKE, SHOW SOME LOVE YOU LOSERS! The film made me laugh and cry and squirm. While a line may be lost on an American, the characters are not. We are all from the same mold and it is best seen in the humor and romance of each story.

However, there is a difference. It is in a slight shift in focus. The proverbial light is moved just a hair on these characters. A spoiled aspiring actress in Tokyo (FUNUKE) will be explored more as a monster of manipulation than a vapid, yet skilled, whiner. The Ophelia character of PRINCE OF THE HIMALAYAS is shown more to sacrifice than madness. In NIGHT TRAIN and SOLOS, the silence is louder than words can be. In many of the films, the background sound of the city is part and parcel of the ambience. All this is not because Asians are more manipulative or loving or quiet, but because the filmmakers have geographic and political influences that flavor their style, different challenges to confront, different social secrets to bring to light. As Kan Lume pointed out "Every country with a thriving film industry began with films that pushed the boundaries and broke the rules...found ways to circumvent their constipated system."

To sum it up best, when asked if the filmmakers "think in another tongue," Zihan (SOLOS) stated, "I think filmmakers think in a whole variety of tongues which we can't verbalize and that's why we make films." The bridge is not language, but passion and visual communication. And NIGHT TRAIN director Diao Yi Nan spoke similarly, "...[T]hinking with images is crucial. I like it when a particular space can decide the texture of the entire film. A sequence of interesting images can make me change the story in my script." So after seeing these films and hearing these filmmakers, I am realizing how much of an influence watching foreign films can have. Of course, I took for granted my "other" heritage and how Japanese and other Asian films influenced me. But now I see how foreign films influenced these filmmakers, added to their cinematic currency. Maybe just as I laughed and cried without subtitles as a child, I can experiment with turning off the subtitles of a German film or a Nigerian film.

So, what does the Asian film fan have in store for them at AFI FEST this year? Well, when I was given SAKURAN to watch, I expected it to be the guilty pleasure one would expect from a Tokyo pop diva trying her hand at acting by playing a period-piece hooker based on a popular manga. I was pleasantly surprised by not only a strong dose of eye-candy, but also a hearty serving of filmmaking acumen flavored with Tokyo punk attitude. The vibrant cinematography, catty characters, and Harajuku punk-pop score mixed amazingly well. One caveat: this is not a movie to see with Orson Welles junkies. This is one to see with your bitch-fest girlfriends. Taste the culture, guzzle the camp. It's been years since I've seen a "normal" Japanese film. By that, I mean it's not about geishas, samurais, or pretty women with corpses in their spare bedrooms. FUNUKE, SHOW SOME LOVE YOU LOSERS! is a refreshing return to "normal" by being far from it. A sort of Royal Tenenbaums set in Japan, this film journeys from quirky to twisted while staying relatable throughout. While some of thehumor may be inside jokes to the Japanese, the characters are across the board relatable in their obsessions, secrets, and manipulations.

Next up is the Chinese action thriller MAD DETECTIVE. Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai don't disappoint by balancing corruption of people and distortion of the mind. While the premise has been done (crazy cop comes out of retirement to help newbie cop find a serial killer), the style and character development takes some new and interesting turns. And someone cuts off a body part. Which I love.
Finally, of course, as AFI FEST always does, there are many good arthouse Asian films. Sherwood Hu has done an amazing piece of work with PRINCE OF THE HIMALAYAS. He has dropped the characters and premise of "Hamlet" into an ancient Himalayan kingdom. The rich scenery and costumes are impressive, but it is obvious that Hu's theatrical background has made him put his laser focus on character and story. Hu varies (or sometimes clarifies cinematically) the relationships and arcs of these Shakespearean archetypes.
NIGHT TRAIN explores the world of sexuality in a setting of sexual persecution. While uniquely Chinese in plot, the desperation and darkness of the heroine's sexual hunger and loneliness lets director Diao Yi Nan stand tall next to the likes of Troussard, Bresson, and Fellini.
The very first AFI FEST entry from Singapore (SOLOS) is well worth the wait. Loo Zihan and Kan Lume's daring film traces the remnants of a gay teacher-student affair and the mother of the student who fears her son is lost to her forever. More than a twist on a triangle, the film shines an uncompromising light on the principals that illuminates their loneliness.
Finally, both documentaries on my list, PLEASE VOTE FOR ME and HOLLYWOOD CHINESE (Latin Cinema) BY JUAN PACHECO (Asian Cinema) are not to be missed. PLEASE VOTE FOR ME is beyond compare in how frustratingly involved the audience can become with these ambitious children. The drama of competing for class monitor - who knew? And I will dare to say that HOLLYWOOD CHINESE should be viewed by every casting director, filmmaker and writer. The journey of Asians in the Hollywood wheel can be enraging. While there is a long road ahead, the Asian American film community is getting stronger and wiser and that spreads hope to cinema around the globe.

Links for other interesting reads:-

http://roadrunnerreview.blogspot.com/2007/11/andy-says-re-this-post-why-is-asian.html

http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/ghy-941.htm