Zero Focus (Japan, 1961)

Kenichi and Teiko Uhara are one week newlyweds. Promoted to his company Hakuho Ad Agency's Tokyo headquarters, Kenichi heads on a short business trip back to Kanazawa, where he was that branch office's manager, to wrap up his business there, leaving Teiko alone in Tokyo to unpack their apartment. Although he is reported to have left Kanazawa to head back to Tokyo on the day planned, he doesn't come home on the scheduled day, without anyone in his and Teiko's personal life or his business colleagues knowing what happened to him.

Zero Focus unravels like an Hitchcockian ball of yarn, slowly putting the pieces together and never gives away too much. If this film had been made in the west it would've had James Stewart and Grace Kelly in the lead roles. Director Yoshitaro Nomura is considered as a pioneer of Japanese noir and also worked with Akira Kurosawa on The Idiot (1951), while himself directed as many as 89 films in total.

Genre: Drama/Mystery

Microhabitat (South Korea, 2017)

Mi-So has worked as a housekeeper for the past 3 years and she makes 45,000 won ($40) a day. Mi-So loves drinking whisky and smoking cigarettes. Her boyfriend is Han-Sol and he wants to become a webtoon writer. Even though Mi-So is poor, she is happy as long as she has whisky, cigarettes and her boyfriend. Unfortunately, the prices of cigarettes go up on the first day of the new year. Mi-So has to give something up and she decides to give up her apartment.

In my ongoing search for female directors I discovered this lovely work by Go-Woon Jeon, where she tackles the disconnect in urban society and focuses on a struggling woman, Mi-So. The setbacks keep piling up but Mi-So manages to stay afloat, moving from place to place and taking one day at a time. A film that deals with relatable, modern problems 

Genre: Drama

The Ghost of Yotsuya (Japan, 1959)

This horror tale relates the consequences of a Japanese legend which tells of a man who has to betray his wife in order to achieve power.

Based on one of the oldest ghost stories in Japanese mythology, The Ghost of Yotsuya blends dreamlike  and beautiful visuals with restless spirits and nasty gore. It's director Nobuo Nakagawa's (Jigoku) take on the rich kaidan folktales, and it comes off as not just a spooky ghost story but a strong Edo period film as well. If you love Kwaidan (1964) and want more of that, The Ghost of Yotsuya will quench any thirst for malevolent spirits and vengeful phantoms from beyond the grave.

Genre: Horror

The Inheritance (Japan, 1962)

A dying businessman intends to will two hundred million yen to his three illegitimate children, but his associates scheme to take advantage of the situation.

In 1962, Masaki Kobayashi (Kwaidan, Harakiri) crafted this slick and thought provoking story where everyone's driving force is greed. There's been many films where characters are double-crossing each other for the sake of more money but few treat the lust for wealth as such a natural instinct. Kobayashi's outstanding camera work is present full force and it's obvious how he reached the same heights as his western contemporaries such as Alfred Hitchcock.  

Genre: Drama

House of Hummingbird (South Korea, 2019)

Set in 1994 in Seoul, a touching coming-of-age drama centered around the quiet, unexceptional eighth-grader Eun-Hee. Struggling to make passing grades and subject to non-stop screaming at home, she spends her time finding meaning in the love and friendships of her peers, in shoplifting, and in karaoke bars. It's in her cram school professor Yong-Ji, however, that Eun-Hee finds the answers that she seeks, as the two form an unlikely friendship.

Female director Bora Kim drew a lot of inspiration from her own childhood when writing the coming of age drama House of Hummingbird, and she wanted to highlight the all too rapid modernization of South Korea through the eyes of a young woman going through her own early stages of womanhood. The cinematography was carefully designed to evoke the correct time period and when talking about camera techniques in an interview, Kim gave the following statement: "In terms of camera movement and shot size, we followed her face and emotions and her body movement. Eun-hee’s way of seeing life was our intention and we tried our best to be very honest about camera movement and camera language throughout the film because this film is a realistic film, and we didn’t just want to zoom in and move in the camera to make it fancy". 

A lot of film makers definitely has a very pretentious way of shooting their films so it's great knowing Kim didn't want to overthink it but instead rely on the characters to express themselves. House of Hummingbird won a slew of awards at film festivals around the world and hopefully paved the way for not only Bora Kim but other female directors as well in a male-dominated industry.  

Genre: Drama

Pom Poko (Japan, 1994)

As the human city development encroaches on the raccoon dog population's forest and meadow habitat, the raccoon dogs find themselves faced with the very real possibility of extinction. In response, they engage in a desperate struggle to stop the construction and preserve their home.

I've mentioned it before, but Pom Poko is my favorite film from animation giant Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away), as unconventional as that may be. The amount of heart and soul in this story is staggering and by the end you desperately want to see all the tanuki's live happily in peace. Director Isao Takahata shows the real life expansion of  Tama New Town in the 1960's, only it's through the eyes of those we rarely think about when a new development project takes place. Takahata's love for Japanese history and folklore shines through in every nook and cranny, and the huge number of references to iconic Japanese spirits makes it seem like a real-life fairytale. 

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Drama

Butter Lamp (China, 2013)

A young itinerant photographer and his assistant photograph Tibetan nomads in front of various backgrounds.

Short films can always impress me with how much they manage to express in a very limited amount of time. Butter Lamp may have a lot people wondering why we're watching a bunch of people getting their pictures taken, but others may find a lovely portrayal of a rich foreign culture, capped off with an ending which effectively comments on how the old meets the new and urbanization.

Genre: Short/Drama

Taipei Story (Taiwan, 1985)

Lung, a former member of the national Little League team and now operator of an old-style fabric business, is never able to shake a longing for his past glory. One day he runs into a former teammate who is now a struggling cab driver. The two talk about old times and they are struck by a sense of loss. Lung is living with his old childhood sweetheart Ah-chin, a westernized professional woman who grew up in a traditional family. Although they live together, Ah-chin is always weary of Lung's past liaison with another girl.

Hsiao-Hsien Hou, director of films such as The Assassin (2015) and Café Lumière (2003), stars in this gorgeous film made by the late Edward Yang (Yi Yi) which lay bare a not-so-perfect relationship between two people in their thirties. Yang is a master at portraying the emotional weight the lovers carry, and making the characters speak without words. We also get the chance to revel in his beautiful cinematography which is a constant reminder of his ability to look at people, urban landscapes and the smallest but most intimate moments.

Genre: Drama

Scattered Clouds (Japan, 1967)

A husband and wife's love for each other and plans for the future are shattered when the man dies in a car accident. Misery is compounded when the man's parents disinherit his now widow and their former daughter-in-law. In the meanwhile, the chauffeur who accidentally killed a man is racked with guilt. In the melee, the driver and the widow begin to develop feelings for another.

Scattered Clouds (a.k.a. Two in the Shadow) explores the complex feelings following a tragedy and how we humans are not always driven by our minds but by our hearts even when it's not logical. I appreciated the very focused storyline and lack of unnecessary characters and side-plots, director Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs) knew exactly what he wanted to tell and he did it. Naruse is known for mostly making films centered around women, spotlighting their struggle and setbacks in a patriarchal society. Director Akira Kurosawa once described his films as "like a great river with a calm surface and a raging current in its depths."

Genre: Drama/Romance

Heat Wave (Japan, 1991)

A woman follows in her late father's footsteps and becomes a gambler, only to meet her father's murderer at a game.

Heat Wave (a.k.a. Kagero) doesn't bring a whole lot of new twists to the world of cinema but it's still a tense thriller which after a fateful confrontation ends in a flaming and well-choreographed brawl. The setting of a suspenseful card game is definitely reminiscent of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale, and I think it's a brilliant concept when two adversaries have no choice but to fight each others wits when there's people and witnesses around. I also enjoyed the surprise of seeing Tatsuya Nakadai in a prevalent role. 

Genre: Crime/Drama

Moonlight Serenade (Japan, 1997)

A journalist is reporting on the 1997 Kobe earthquake, as he remembers a trip made as a young boy. Then, he and family took a boat trip from Awaji to Beppu in order to bury the ashes of his elder brother, killed in the just-ended WWII. The lad spends much of the trip trying to talk his elder brother out of running away. They encounter an array of characters on the journey. Most prominent among them a black marketeer who, like the elder brother, feels that the "new ways" can only benefit him, and work against the boys' father, who is strict and traditional.

I've always had a soft spot for films that delves into feelings of nostalgia and old memories. It resonates with me more on a personal level and makes me reach back far in my own memory and remember things I'd thought was forgotten. Moonlight Serenade is about remembering ones childhood, both the hard times and the joyful moments too. 

Director Masahiro Shinoda was 15 years old when the war ended and one can imagine he drew a lot from experience when depicting a nation trying to recover from disaster, and also how American culture was seeping into Japan. Shinoda mainly focuses on portraying family and the different directions children take. 

Genre: Drama 

Samurai Trilogy (Japan, 1954-56)

The Samurai Trilogy, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, was one of Japan’s most successful exports of the 1950s, a rousing, emotionally gripping tale of combat and self-discovery. Based on a novel that’s often called Japan’s Gone with the Wind, this sweeping saga fictionalizes the life of the legendary seventeenth-century swordsman (and writer and artist) Musashi Miyamoto, following him on his path from unruly youth to enlightened warrior.

When talking about some of the best Jidaigeki-films of all time, Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai-trilogy is sure to always come up. In the role of the eponymous Musashi Miyamoto we see Toshiro Mifune once again honing his sword skills, and we follow him from his early years as an aspiring warrior, up to the moment he becomes a true samurai. The grainy Eastmancolor is a true favorite of mine and makes the cinematography truly come alive, and I can't help but think that this is what cinema always was supposed to look like. The story goes through some ups and downs during the trilogy but it starts out great and ends fantastic. 

Genre: Action/Adventure/Biography

On the Beach at Night Alone (South Korea, 2017)

After an affair with a married man, actress Younghee decides to take some time out. She travels to the far-off, city of Hamburg. In a conversation with a friend she asks herself if her lover will follow her and whether he misses her as much as she misses him. During her long walks through wintry parks and along riverbanks, she attempts to make clear of this illicit relationship with the director.

Hong Sang-soo (The Day He Arrives, Grass) keep pumping out those dialogue heavy, intimate films that we're used to see from him. His films seem to be sort of hit or miss with me, but On the Beach really struck a great balance and didn't make me loose interest. As usual with Hong's films we see his partner Kim Min-hee (The Handmaiden) in the lead and she's great at making conversations flow in different directions. Some dinner scenes gets really uncomfortable, and when some characters don't know when to stop you almost want to avert your eyes to avoid the embarrassment, which of course is fantastic. 

I've read reviews who've praised this film to the skies and others who were bored to tears, and as always it just comes down to taste. I personally thought is was more engaging than some of Hong's other films but then again I don't mind when nothing's really happening as long as the script and acting holds up.

Genre: Drama

Equinox Flower (Japan, 1958)

A business man is often approached by friends for advice and help regarding marriage as well as family and romantic relationships. He is always very calmly and objectively able to give great insight and assistance to these particular situations. However, when it comes time for him to be objective regarding his oldest daughter, he finds it very difficult.

Equinox Flower was Yasujiro Ozu's first film in color, and wow is it gorgeous. He chose Agfa film from Germany over Kodak or Fujifilm, as he felt that it conveyed red colors better. Here, Ozu tells a story of the hard grip parents can have of their children's life, and how wanting so much control over them they only distance themselves further from the ones they love. Is it worth alienating your daughters just so you can have a piece of mind regarding their marriage? Ozu digs deep into family ethics and the courage to break free from other people's expectations of you, while framing his shots beautifully and spoil us with delicious cinematography.

Genre: Drama

High and Low (Japan, 1963)

A wealthy businessman is told his son has been kidnapped and he will have to pay a very large sum for him to be returned safely. It is then discovered that his son is safe at home: the kidnapper took his chauffeur's son by accident. The kidnapper says this makes no difference: pay up or the child dies. This leaves him with a moral dilemma, as he really needs the money to conclude a very important business deal.

Akira Kurosawa thought his big thriller High and Low was gonna reduce the number of kidnappings in Japan and act like some sort of deterrence, instead, to his big surprise, he was criticized for their increase. High and Low is a suspenseful detective story where everything that easily could have been a slog to watch are exciting and really invites you to follow the bread crumbs. The cast is once again a Kurosawa's Greatest Hits with Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai and Takashi Shimura in the lead roles, all contributing in making this noir something truly special.

Genre: Crime/Drama/Mystery