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"You are merchandise"
Mizoguchi Kenji’s Street of Shame was a chaotic stream of emotions. Women who worked as prostitutes for different reasons were faced with the loss of their profession when the government threatened to make it illegal.The Yoshiwara “shop” has been open for 300 years and is facing the end if the government makes prostitution illegal. The owners have loans to pay off and the women who work there are either living in poverty, providing money for family members, or are deeply in debt. With few good paying jobs for women available and sullied reputations, they are truly between a rock and a hard place. Yume is aging and wants to live with the son she has provided for since the death of her husband. Yorie has a boyfriend who makes clogs, but doesn’t know what she does for a living. Hanae has an infant son and ailing husband. Before her new job they had discussed family suicide as they couldn’t provide for their baby. Yasumi is the #1 Girl and uses her wiles to receive extra money from men. She ended up in the trade arranging bail for her father who went to jail for embezzlement. New girl Mickey, was a delinquent who acted out against her father and can’t stop herself from going into debt buying nice things. Shizuko’s family sent her to the house in order for her to send them money. The terrified girl has nowhere else to turn. No one really wants to be there but none of them have viable options.
The scaffolding of this film was the threat of making prostitution illegal thereby shutting down the “shops” and leaving the prostitutes debt ridden, homeless, and unemployed. The owner said he was running a social service by providing them with jobs. How magnanimous, especially with him taking the lion’s share of the women’s cut. The film briefly touched on the lack of employment opportunities for women and the dearth of social safety nets. As one prostitute found out, marriage wasn’t exactly a step up in some aspects.
The women were discussed as merchandise by others and themselves. When society offers women few alternatives, they can’t then demonize them for selling the only thing they have of value, even if it chips away at the fabric of their being. Mizoguchi didn’t shame the prostitutes, but that didn’t mean they didn’t suffer from it. “If I’m a whore, what does that make you?” When a woman is desperate enough to sell her only asset, the situation is usually dire. The shame is not on her, but on the society that created the untenable situation in most respects. The “shops” only increased the personal debt for most of the women as they became trapped in a vicious cycle.
The legislation threatening the women’s profession wasn’t the real problem, the real problem was far more difficult to fix, an underlying social framework that doomed these women to turn tricks to keep themselves and/or their families fed and sheltered. As much as I could appreciate what Mizoguchi was attempting to do, I found myself somewhat distanced from the women and their trials. I was not emotionally reeled in until near the end of the film when the bills came due, especially the final scene which was devastatingly poignant. Definitely worth a try if you enjoy old films or Mizoguchi in particular.
24 February 2026
Trigger warnings: Alludes to sexual encounters but nothing shown and no nudity. Attempted suicide and suicide alluded to.
Musical note: The music was odd to say the least. It sounded like music from an old UFO or sci fi film.
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"Sell your body, not your heart"
An Innocent Witch highlighted a problem that can arise when a prostitute works in a somewhat small city, especially when people are superstitious. In a place where everyone knows each other, townsfolk love to gossip and tear others down. Having lived in a small town during my childhood I can say it is the number one pastime. You don’t need social media or technology to destroy a person’s life.Due to a bad back, Ayako’s dad is unable to work as a fisherman. Not to worry, her mom has found Ayako employment in town…in a brothel. Ayako starts out as a maid and is later promoted when Kama-san, an older man who owns the lumberyard finds her and her virginity enticing. After a rough first sexual encounter, Ayako throws herself into her work and becomes the top girl. One night she pays it forward and helps a young man lose his virginity. Despite being warned to not lose her heart to a customer, Ayako and Kanjiro fall in love. Her life appears to be improving until fate jolts her like a cartoon anvil to the head. Ka-thwang!
Ayako was a fun and generous young woman who took pride in her work. She knew what people thought of her but keeping her parents fed overrode her embarrassment. Ayako fell in love not once, but twice. Every time hope was dangled in front of her, destiny cruelly yanked it from her hands.
The film didn’t spend a lot of time berating the women for their choices and lifestyles which was refreshing. Yet Ayako suffered from gossip and crushing loss. Shaming women in the sex trade to me is hypocritical. There are men in any economy who will seek out and find a way to pay for sex whether they are married or not. As one sailor told her, “I’d rather drop dead on you than get hit by a torpedo.” Given that women during this time period had few career options and starving to death was a drag, young women such as Ayako sold the only thing they somewhat owned---their bodies. Ayako was sending her money home to her parents who were somehow able to rationalize selling their daughter to a brothel to service men for money.
Yoshimura Jitsuko gave a splendid performance as Ayako. This character provided her with a wide range of emotions to play with as the young woman dealt with despair, passion, fear, and joy. The music was hauntingly beautiful. Director Gosho Heinosuke pulled together a bleak film with stunning shots and got the most out of his actors. Each scene was well framed and composed to elicit peak emotional responses.
I won’t spoil Ayako’s fate at the hands of a man, even though it was heavily foreshadowed in the opening scene. Poor, “cursed” Ayako tried to make the most of her caged life. Each moment of pleasure was harshly penalized when tragedy came knocking. If you needed to blame someone or something, the nearest women was usually the obvious and most pathetic answer.
18 February 2026
Trigger warnings: Implied rape. Suicide off screen. Tame sexual content.
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"A deep indigo blue...we're children of the sea"
The Naked Island was a 1960 black and white film with almost zero dialogue, save for a couple of “heave-ho’s.” Without the spoken word, Director Shindo Kaneto had to build his film frame by frame in such a way as to convey the meaning behind the characters’ actions. This slice of life centered on a small family living in poverty on an island without fresh water was compelling, if flawed.Senta's small family are the only inhabitants on a tiny island offshore. They are largely subsistence farmers and must travel to the larger island in order to obtain fresh water for themselves and irrigation. Several times a day, they row, refill their four buckets, and return to their island to water their plants. Their two small boys tend the home and animals, find firewood, fish, cook, whatever is needed.
The family didn’t talk or touch. On rare occasions, Toyo would allow a contented smile to escape. Mostly, they worked from waking until sleep. Lugging the heavy buckets up the narrow, rocky mountain path caused Toyo's legs and arms to quake, but she doggedly kept to her repetitive routine. Toyo and Senta exhibited unemotional stoicism most of the time. No gentle camaraderie and affectionate support slipped through regardless of circumstances except in one moment of joyful laughter. Only after the unthinkable happened did Toyo break, the grudging acceptance in her eyes turned to lifeless automaton. Despite living together, a bitter loneliness filled the quiet spaces.
Shindo did an excellent job of making a Groundhog Day scenario where every day was the same engrossing. The adult actors let their faces and body language tell the story. Otowa Nobuku conveyed a world of information in every flicker of her eyes and tired shrug of her shoulders. Even without dialogue--tension, urgency, desperation, joy, despair, heartbreak, and wounded resignation came across clearly. Hayashi Hikaru’s splendid score never overwhelmed the scenes, in fact, in the most dramatic scenes, Shindo often scored the moments in silence. One scene held my score back, I couldn't let it go. Senta had a violent response when Toyo made a mistake out of sheer exhaustion. I kept hoping she’d push him off the mountain, but she never did. There were also times it felt like they could have developed a few systems to make their daily grind a smidge less soullessly taxing.
Poverty can drive people to extremes in order to survive. Watching Toyo and Senta haul water up the mountain day after day with no end in sight reminded me of Sisyphus, only with knee buckling buckets instead of a huge stone. The weather, exhaustion, and a mind-numbing grind could not thwart their labor. Even when life felt like it shouldn’t go on, couldn't go on, the water must still be drawn and poured out on parched plants.
12 February 2026
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"Put a bar on your mouth"
Samurai Spy was stylishly shot and acted, but veered too often into style over substance territory. Set at the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate and based on the folklore hero Sarutobi Sasuke, director Shinoda Masahiro went for a noir mood to showcase the samurai and ninja spies crisscrossing the countryside.Sarutobi Sasuke belongs to the “neutral” Sanada clan. He travels gathering info on the Tokugawa and Toyotomi clans. He has no desire for war or classifying people as enemy or friend. There’s been peace since the Battle of Sekigahara, but hostilities under the surface are about to explode. Sasuke’s battle friend, Mitsuaki, who plays both side against the middle has a Tokugawa spy who wants to defect. Tatewaki Koriyama has decided to change sides, but his fellow Yagyu spy, Sakon Takatani is terrifyingly deadly and on their trail. Everyone wants Tatewaki and mistakenly believe Sasuke knows his whereabouts which leads to numerous deadly encounters.
For a samurai and ninja film, there was a surprising amount of talking in circles. Everyone was a spy or double agent. You know you need a score card and to pay attention when the first five minutes is exposition and character introductions. Most likely a translation issue, but it didn’t help when the characters were not consistent in what they called each other. I found parts of it needlessly confusing. There was a boy who carried around a dead crow who wandered in and out of important scenes but I’m not sure if he was supposed to symbolize anyone. A familiar character to Sasuke and to those familiar with the folklore appeared at the end of the film. So, if you are a fan of the characters there may be Easter eggs lurking about.
Takahashi Koji made for a striking Sasuke. Tanba Tetsuro as the deadly white ninja Sakon had fun chewing the scenery as he wielded a variety of weapons. Sasuke held his sword like a samurai but also utilized ninja weapons. The fights were highly stylized yet effective, using swords, chains, and throwing stars/darts. I would have loved for the characters to have been better defined but when dealing with spies, I suppose it was too tall an order to ask.
Samurai Spy was entertaining if lackluster at times. A working knowledge of the characters and history might enhance your viewing experience. I found Shinoda’s filming style often more compelling than the characters, which wasn’t a bad thing, it was interesting to look at. My biggest complaint was that during some of his super close-ups, I could see the wig netting on Sasuke. If the folklore or time period interest you, it’s one to try. Story 7.0, Style 8.0, final score 7.5
"War is created by man." "...war can be stopped by man."
12 February 2026
Trigger warnings: A few forehead impalement scenes, dismembered arms and legs.
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"...you're trying to catch the train of humanism before it's too late..."
The Human Condition 1: No Greater Love is the 3 ½ hour first installment of a 579 minute three part film. I will admit to being trepidatious at the running time. I may be The Butterfly, but I have the attention span of a gnat and 208 minutes for the first film was pushing it for me. Thankfully, Kobayashi Masaki and Nakadai Tatsuya did not disappoint in this anti-war film.During WWII, Kaji presents a report to his boss in Manchuria detailing how treating foreign labor humanely could result in a higher production for the company. His boss decides to either let him try or give him enough rope to hang himself. He’s also gifted an exemption from military service. The mine is in a remote section of Manchuria run by the Japanese but worked by the locals. Kaji marries his girlfriend and the two set off in the back of a truck on their honeymoon to the new destination. At the mining camp, Kaji discovers rampant abuse and corruption. Before he can actualize many changes, a feared Kenpeitai military officer delivers 600 Chinese POWs weakened by starvation and dehydration. Kaji’s only support against the vengeful pit bosses is a reluctant Okishima.
Nakadai was perfect casting for the idealistic and dangerously stubborn Kaji. While he attempted to implement better treatment of the workers and POWs, he was still required to do distasteful things, some of which were sanitized. One of those things was being in charge of the Chinese comfort women (I seriously hate that name), these sex slaves came across as cheerful brothel workers instead of the reality of being forced to service numerous men every day, Chinese and Japanese alike. The treatment of the POWs and laborers was rather gentle compared to what the history books imply. Despite my concerns regarding the kinder, cleaner treatment of the women and men forced to work at the mining camp, it was one of the few films I’ve seen where the Japanese acknowledged these humanitarian violations from the war.
While the film did touch on the conditions at the camp, it was Kaji’s external and internal struggles that were the highlight of the film. As anyone who has ever tried to enact a procedural change in an office can attest to resistance, this was similar only on a more violent scale. The Chinese were not seen as human so beating or killing them was not a concern for many of the pit bosses and slave handlers. The Japanese were also stealing the workers’ food rations and what they didn’t eat they sold for a profit. The Kenpeitai were of the mind that torture and execution were the most effective means of motivation flying in the face of Kaji’s more egalitarian beliefs. Kaji’s management style did result in higher production, but that was not enough to convince the pit bosses who preferred the whip. His marriage suffered as Michiko didn’t understand why he always came home late and frustrated. A gift of flour and sugar from the wife of a pit boss earned his ire as he knew that it was taking food out of the workers’ mouths. Ultimately, Kaji had to decide if his beliefs were worth his life.
Every shot was beautifully framed, designed to evoke the highest level of emotion. The film did dig into melodrama but watching Kaji fight to determine what his beliefs were worth even when he often failed was fascinating. Regardless of race, country, ideology, or religion, we all need reminders that everyone is human and deserves to be treated as human and humanely. Depriving others of life and dignity is not a reflection on their humanity, but the perpetrators’ instead. Once I’ve recovered from this draining film, I’ll move on to part 2. I have a bad feeling that part 1 was a just a warm-up for the pain to follow.
“You’ll either be revealed as a murderer wearing the mask of humanism or one worthy of the beautiful name…man”
5 February 2026
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"It will always be just the two of us"
Japanese Girls at the Harbor was one of Shimizu Hiroshi’s silent films. Two inseparable school girls find their friendship challenged when they both fall for the older bad boy on a motorcycle. He wasn’t worthy of either of them, but this was a male fantasy, not a female one.Dora and Sunako are two school girls and friends who love viewing the Yokohama harbor. As soon as Dora proclaims, “It will always be just the two of us,” Henry rides in on his motorcycle and off with Sunako. Now Henry and Sunako are inseparable…until Henry ghosts her for Yoko. Oh, poor Henry, never heard the song lyrics, “Don’t go around breaking young girls’ hearts.” Sunako makes an impulsive decision that changes everyone’s lives.
This is where I would normally rant about the patriarchy, but today, I’m going to take a different angle on this story of one man being loved by three women, two of which had their lives ruined. Both Sunako and Yoko claimed that God had not forgiven them and they were being punished. Both ended up in unsavory jobs. Now allow me to perform a thought exercise. If women are so emotionally unstable, unable to easily attain forgiveness from God and man, and immediately punished for transgressions, shouldn’t it be on men to be the responsible ones? Henry cheated on not one but three women! He ran around with hoodlums in the first part of the film and yet still found socially acceptable employment. He violated moral and social laws but suffered no punishment and was easily forgiven by God, society, and the women. In fact, despite his moral and social failings, all the women were still madly in love with him. Therefore, being on the untouchable moral high seat, and the one who destroyed two women’s lives and almost a third, he should have been the one to be punished and ostracized instead of rewarded. It was on him to not tamper with blatantly inferior creatures. Creatures who had only two paths in life-housewife or hooker. To shamelessly quote Spiderman’s Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Therefore, God and society should have taken the superior, and older, Henry to task for playing with the undeveloped feelings and minds of such inferior young girls. Knowing he was the vastly superior creature it was on him to not tempt weak girls with his glorious manhood and unlimited forgiveness and opportunities. Because he handed out and withdrew his vaunted affection and presence, the poor women had no choice in the matter and could not process such extreme magnificence and loss. Such feeble and ignorant creatures should not have been held liable for their innate physical, emotional, and moral frailty, as they were not designed to know any better. He was. I rest my case Mr. Shimizu.
Despite my eye-rolling regarding the fawning over pretty, but lackluster Henry, the film was beautifully shot for the time and wasn’t plagued by the salt and pepper pock marking of so many other silent films. Shimizu used a ball of yarn to denote the relationships’ status throughout the film--marital bliss, marital discord, entanglements, and friendship. Though I’ve banged on about the rigid traditional roles, a male painter entered the picture willing to take on women’s work in a role reversal in order to be closer to Sunako. Whether a more egalitarian take or that’s the best the damaged Sunako could hope for was a man who didn’t have any male dignity, I don’t know. After a long loop, the friends have to decide if there is anything left to salvage, all in the shadow of Henry. Even with my misgivings, for people who enjoy these old films, Japanese Girls at the Harbor is one to check out.
2 February 2026
A piano accompaniment was added that actually fit quite well, matched and enhanced the mood without being distracting. Sometimes music that is added later doesn't always fit the emotion of the scenes and draws attention away from the story.
Housekeeping notes: I was saddened to learn that the actress who played Sunako died a few years later of TB. I have now seen all of Inoue Yukiko's short list of silent films.
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"I'm asking you because I know nothing"
Itchan and Satchan was a short film focusing on two adult sisters as they prepare their grandmother’s house for renovations. Boxing up a lifetime of belongings is time consuming, especially when rounds of “Red Light, Green Light” have to be played as childhood memories come to the fore.Single, pregnant Itchan and her married sister Satchan are faced with the task of boxing up their grandmother’s belongings. Though the reason is that renovations on the house will soon begin, they don’t believe their grandmother will ever return home. As the two sort out toys and dishware, memories are unearthed as well.
Sorting through a family member’s things is nearly always a daunting task. What to keep, pack, give away, or throw away? Each item is imbued with a past and the feelings associated with it. A toy starter gun, a flickering ball, a marble, and a hula hoop, all cause the packing to halt. For a while the sisters were transported back to their past when life seemed simpler and they were closer. Adulthood magnified their differences and the distance between them. Background noises echoed the sisters’ exchanges-children’s laughter, howling wind, and the scraping of a marble rolling along the uneven floor.
Itchan and Satchan was a tiny slice of life between two women largely avoiding the task at hand and unsure of how to bridge the gap between them. The sisters packed up belongings filled with warm memories and unpacked grievances that had been hidden, but not forgotten. Heavy on symbolism and silences, this film could have used a few more honest conversations or maybe I just wanted to learn more about their lives. Worth giving a try if you like slice of life.
30 January 2026
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"We're all just part of the drama..."
Peking Opera Blues is a classic 1980s Hong Kong film by Tsui Hark. Set around 1911, the film starred Brigette Lin, Sally Yeh, and Cherie Chung as three women with vastly different backgrounds who were thrown together by fate. I'm always happy when women take the main roles and aren't continually shown as helpless victims or sex objects. My kung fu movie loving heart was also happy to see Ku Feng and Wu Ma along with a secret document added to the mix.Itinerant singer Sheung Hung swipes a box of jewels when the local warlord runs afoul of his men. They’ve learned he can’t pay them because he lost everything gambling with another “general.” Bai Niu works for her father who runs a Chinese opera troupe. She desperately wants to act which enrages her father as women are forbidden from performing. Cho Wan is the daughter of General Cho and has returned from abroad wearing men’s clothes and a cropped men’s haircut saying the style grants her more freedom by keeping people guessing. The women end up working with a rebel who is after proof that General Cho and Yuan Shi Kai are working together in a plot for corrupt power and wealth.
I loved Brigitte Lin in her gender bender outfits. She carried the look off with chic elegance. Her character, Cho Wan, was a boss. Lin expertly showed Cho’s toughness, vulnerability, and also her conflict over betraying her father. Sally Yeh’s Bai Niu had less to do as the frustrated actress wannabe though her turn at Peking Opera was entertaining. Cherie Chung’s Cheung Hung was the weak link for me. I’m going to blame the writers as I enjoyed her performance in 1987’s An Autumn’s Tale. I’m just not a fan of bumbling, selfish, comedic characters. Mark Cheng as the rebel Ling Pak Hoi was handsome and capable in the fight scenes. Speaking of the fights, the martial arts and gun fights were well choreographed but often pushed the bounds of belief. Lastly, Ku Feng flexed his bad guy muscles as Commander Liu.
Behind the action comedy, Cho Wan and Bai Niu pushed gender roles for the early 20th century. It was gratifying to watch a film with three women going after what they wanted and weren't reduced to victims. Tsui Hark wasn’t afraid to tweak historical figures and events with some political satire. There was also the subtle emotional tug that Cho was the idealist and devoted to making China a better place through her actions and sacrifice though whether they amounted to anything remained to be seen.
This is one of those films that wildly mashed story tropes together to see what stuck to the wall--friendship, torture, comedy, action, politics, espionage, Chinese opera, familial love, betrayal, defying boundaries, and even hints of romance. Some of it worked for me, some of it didn’t (Sheung’s “comedic” scenes). I’m not a huge fan of Hong Kong comedy yet I will say one scene had me laughing so hard I almost cried and is the reason I bumped my score up a half point. If you like 1980s Hong Kong films or are a fan of Tsui Hark, this is a film worth giving a try, keeping in mind that the production looks dated. Prior to 1990 so I graded it on a curve.
21 November 2025
Trigger warning: a rather intense torture scene
7.75 could be a 7.5 or an 8.0 in my rating system. I've changed it twice now. lol
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Bangoro saves a country couple from being killed by drunk samurai. Later, he fights a wrestler who cheated in a sumo match and uses his father’s Yawara Jutsu which gets him disinherited when the dastardly Tenzen tattles on him. Later he travels to the mountains to fight the Spider Demon not knowing that Tenzen and another cruel samurai have attacked his family.
This film was composed of several chapters which thankfully come full circle by the ending. Onoe Matsunosuke played the “young master” at the age of 47. He would die three years later after having played in 1000 films! Sadly, just six remnants of his films have survived. I have only seen him in Jiraiya the Hero (1921) which was a lot of fun to watch despite the film being badly damaged. The intro to SB was a reminder that only a tiny percentage of early films are with us today. It’s estimated that over 90% are lost worldwide, mainly due to the nitrate film that was used which was highly flammable and if not stored properly crumbled into dust. Couple that with WWII and a terrible 1923 earthquake in Japan and even fewer of their films have made it to the present so each one we can still watch is a treat.
SB was much like a Kabuki play only on studio sets and in natural settings as much of the action took place in the mountains and next to a river. The Benshi narration wasn’t original to the film as there would have been someone in the theater narrating the film during its run. Men played the women’s roles and everyone was in heavy theatrical makeup and wigs. There were numerous fights involving swords, the aforementioned martial arts, sumo wrestling, and brawling with fists and poles. As with the makeup the fights were more theatrical and dance style moves than actual fighting. The best fight, of course, was with the long-haired Spider Demon as she transformed back and forth from two-legged to eight, and spewed white webbing everywhere long before Silly String was invented.
Shibukawa Bangoro may have been heavily dated, but that was part of its charm. Bangoro was a virtuous hero, the villains were a real threat, and despite the ravages of time, the film had a proper ending. It might have been a Shaw Brothers abrupt ending, but still brought the story to a close. And did I mention there was a giant muppet spider?
12 November 2025
I gave it a small ratings bump due to its age
Trigger: Attempted sexual assault
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This review may contain spoilers
This hopper fell flat on its face
Shaolin vs Evil Dead: Ultimate Power was bound to receive a low score from me for the egregious error of not actually being a sequel to the first film Shaolin vs Evil Dead. Did I mention the first film ended on a cliffhanger? The makers of these films decided to give us a prequel-sequel that went in a completely different direction to the previous film. To quote a vampire, “Bite me.”Dragon and his wife Phoenix White are called upon to save a small village from a gang of roving bandits. While completing their task they end up poisoned. Phoenix’s unborn child also suffers from poisoning. She begs their elder to save her child against his better judgement as the child would be born with an evil poison in his heart. Years later the leadership of the clan is given to Chiu Yu instead of Innocent, sending him into a murderous rage like a good nepo baby. Chiu Yu must study to gain the skills to purge the evil from Innocent’s heart. (note of clarification Chiu Yu was Gordon Liu’s character from the first film who was named Pak, Innocent was Louis Fan’s character from the first film whose name was Hak/Black. Moon and Sun were also renamed with their roles reduced, Fire was completely missing)
First off, this film committed a cardinal sin in a jiangshi/hopping vampire movie---it was boring. The first hour dragged horribly. Being a prequel with melodrama doesn’t mean I will care about any of the characters. They could have summed up this material in 10 minutes. Gordon Liu didn’t arrive until after the hour mark which was too little too late. Fan’s Black and Shannon Yiu’s Moon were scammers in the first film but not completely malevolent. The character changes here were jarring. Unlike the humor in the first film, Ultimate Power went dark. Much of it made little sense.
The martial arts choreography was abysmal. The wire-work was awful, seriously, kung fu flicks from the 80s had better leaping and flying. Characters flipped and twirled near their opponents without connecting. When they did connect, the kicks and fists were more like gentle pushes. The moves were criminally slow for 2006. The first film had some CGI, the sequel was dominated by it. If filmmakers are going to use this much CGI, it better be good. And it was laughably bad.
Shaolin vs Evil Dead ended on an unresolved cliffhanger, this film’s ending wasn’t as awful, but it wasn’t great either. I actually laughed it was so dreadful and out of left field, or in this case--outer space. The acting, editing, writing, and continuity drove my score down, a painful thing because I like Gordon Liu and hopping vampires. Basically, this hopper sucked.
5 November 2025
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"Everything's fine
A Sun spanned several years in the lives of a dysfunctional family. One son shown like the sun, radiant and beaming. The other son lingered in the shadows, swallowed in darkness. Each would be envious of the other, unable to claim what they needed, both would suffer dire consequences for their unspoken desires.A Ho gets caught up in a violent event initiated by his buddy Radish and is sent away to a juvenile detention center. The criminal act is the last straw for his father who washes his hands of him. The father does, however, dote on his seemingly perfect oldest son, A Hao, who is testing for the second time to be accepted into medical school. The mother struggles to keep the family together and in the process the family is expanded when Ho’s girlfriend shows up with a surprise. When Ho is released, he works to take care of his family and put his past behind him. The darkness in his life, however, is not so easily eradicated.
The film hammered home that the two sons were a dichotomy of light and dark, good and evil, night and day, the sun and moon. Yet one yearned for the respite of the shadows, scorched to his soul by ever being the family’s light. Always giving himself away to others, with little leftover to nourish himself. The other son longed for the warmth of affection and acceptance from his family. Frozen from the darkness, afraid he’d never measure up, never feel the sun on his face.
The caretakers of the circus of light and darkness were the parents. Mother Chen fought tirelessly for her family. She tried to pierce the iron shield her idiot husband covered himself in regarding A Ho. With an open heart and open door, she accepted Ho’s girlfriend into their family and also trained her as a hairdresser. She even devised a better work situation for the two of them. Meanwhile, Papa Chen dug into his long-held prejudice against his youngest son. Prickly and recalcitrant, he distanced himself from everyone exasperating the situation. He was too often an impotent passenger at work and at home.
Along with the growth for the main three characters, the cinematography was gorgeous. This film was beautifully shot, including the all-important lighting in a film built on the metaphor. I also enjoyed the OST, especially a mournful instrumental that played during one scene. My biggest peeves were that in a 2 ½ hour film, Ho’s girlfriend was given almost nothing to do or say. Ho had very little interaction with her over the years. While she had a couple of key scenes, the character was badly underdeveloped. With all the time jumps and flash backs, I would have liked to have seen what caused A Ho to go down the criminal path he chose.
I may be a Butterfly but I have the attention span of a gnat and yet I was never bored with this film despite its length and slow burn. Most of the characters were deeply flawed and yet continued to move forward, refusing to give up when it appeared the easiest thing to do. There were moments of pain, humor, anger, and a gut level resiliency. If ever there was a film to express that “Everything’s fine” means exactly the opposite, it’s this one. Well-acted, well-written, painstakingly shot, A Sun shone brightly.
4 November 2025
Trigger warnings: Suicide. Dismembered body part early in the film. A short violent scene near the end.
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"Love is the strongest weapon of all"
Love is a twisted path when one person is a fraidy cat scholar and the other is a tantalizing ghost. 1987’s A Chinese Ghost Story set the bar for Hong Kong haunted offerings that would follow.Newly anointed tax collector, Ling Choi San, travels in tattered shoes with no money for food or shelter. The town he enters refuses to put him up for the night and sends him to the Orchid Temple. What Ling doesn’t know is that the monks there are no longer living and other creepy creatures have set up housekeeping, along with a virtuous Taoist swordsman. At the temple he meets a beautiful young woman who hides a deadly darkness.
Leslie Cheung made a great bumbling scholar who inadvertently saved himself and others through his clumsiness. The schtick only caused me to want his character to be eaten a couple of times with the rest of his screen time resulting in a more endearing response. Joey Wong’s ethereal Lip Siu Sin was believable as both the seductive and vulnerable ghost. Wu Ma stole the show with his bearded ghost hunting swordsman. Always confident and under control he looked out for the good-hearted, if not very bright, tax collector.
Tony Ching Siu Tung both directed the film and worked as one of the martial arts directors (there were five). Much of the martial arts was sword work (often magical) and/or wire-fu with Wu Ma carrying the load on the fights.
A Chinese Ghost Story offered ghosts, zombies, a powerful life-sucking tree demon, and the lord of the Black Mountain with his underworld army. Nothing an old swordsman, an inept hero, and a lovely ghost couldn’t handle. The special effects and storytelling may have been dated but the film certainly had its charms. As always, I rate older films in these niche genres on a curve.
4 October 2025
Trigger warnings: Snake, a tree with an enormous tongue, implied wolf killings, zombies, decapitations, and a brief sexual encounter.
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"The day will turn into night"
The Funeral was Itami Juzo’s directorial debut in 1984. In this instance, the film is exactly as described in the title. For three days a family gathers to mourn the death of the father, bringing together a peculiar yet largely relatable group of people.When Amamiya Shinkichi dies suddenly of a heart attack his son-in-law, Wabisuke Inoue is put in charge of the funeral. His mother-in-law, Kikue, wants the funeral to be held at the house near the Kamome Hot Springs. Inoue and his wife Chizuko know nothing about funerals and make a mad scramble to find help in figuring out all the customs and procedures. Everyone has an opinion on the various rituals, including which way the head should be facing and which way is north!
Itami showed many of the common funeral experiences regardless of customs--children unfamiliar with death playing in the background, laughter and tears as people process their complicated emotions, telling stories, arguing over procedures, and the financial costs. Then there were customs I was unfamiliar with—watching the loved one be cremated, salt being thrown on those returning from the crematorium, and the various Buddhist rituals. It was delightfully human that the relatives unused to kneeling for so long had cramping feet and knees. The funniest bit to me was when funeral novices Inoue and Chizuko consulted a video which might as well have been titled “Funeral Etiquette for Dummies.”
This appeared to be the first main film role for Miyamoto Nobuko, Itami’s wife. I found her face lovely and expressive. Ozu favorite, Ryu Chishu, played the ever-chanting priest with a fine eye for cars and expensive tile. Where the film lagged for me was a main married character dealing with his crazy mistress in the woods which included a fairly graphic sex scene. And she was cray-cray. The deceased was a serial philanderer that everyone accepted matter-of-factly.
The Funeral was a slow story with mostly gentle humor, showing both the reverence and irreverence that accompanies death and mourning. A far more pragmatic than sentimental experience-- because even at a wake, people need to know when to leave, how much money to donate, and how to tell a mistress to pull her weeping self off the casket.
27 September 2025
Triggers: Partial nudity and sex scene.
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Real estate mogul Vivian Rabaya grew up poor and now is merciless in business. Her ex-husband and son moved to the USA years ago and she hasn’t seen her son, Albert, since he was 17. After being diagnosed with bone cancer, she hires Jaica Domingo as her full-time nurse. At the insistence of Vivian’s right-hand man, Jaica calls Viv’s son, Albert, and tells him his mom has an architectural job for him. When that doesn’t work, she tells him she has cancer. Albert comes for the job but his anger toward his mother runs deep. Jaica believes he’s the best medicine for her boss and works to have them reconcile. Her mission is complicated by her attraction to the handsome architect.
I would have liked this film better if director Joyce Bernal had picked a genre and stuck with it. The romance was clumsy with cringey and obvious tropes. The comedy felt forced most of the time. It was better when it came from an organic place. What worked for me, was the enemies to friends relationship between Vivian and Jaica. It’s been done many times before this and better, but it was still entertaining to watch the two women work through their familial issues by leaning on each other. Vivian also realized she didn’t have much time to fulfill her bucket list spurring her to accentuate her altruistic endeavors. The son’s emotions were all over the place making Albert difficult to feel compassion for.
Everything About Her was at its best when the film focused on Vivian coming to grips with her new situation and Jaica helping her as she faced the medical fallout of treatments. Despite dealing with the side effects of the medications, Vivian was the usual healthy looking and energetic cancer patient often shown in movies. I always wonder if the writers have actually ever been close to someone who has suffered through chemotherapy and end stage cancer. Be that as it may, I would have preferred less comedy schtick and more authentic scenes between the characters as that was where the compelling moments came from for me.
19 September 2025
Triggers: Several vomiting scenes. F*cking cancer.
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"If I understood him I’d lose him”
Stolen Life starring Zhao Xun showed how being brought up without real affection and acceptance can lead a young woman to settle for whatever crumbs she can glean from a man who is the very definition of a red flag. People can perform all sorts of mental gymnastics to avoid facing the truth and in this tale, Yan Ni paid a heavy price for ignoring the glaring warning signs.Wu Yan Ni lives with her grandmother and aunt in Beijing. Her mother was an “intellectual” sent to the countryside where she met Yan Ni’s father. Quiet Yan Ni rarely sees her mother and meets her father for the first time when she’s fourteen. The women think she should learn a trade and marry. Her father declares she should go to college (university) so that her future would hold more opportunities than theirs. On her first day at the university, she meets a handsome delivery driver named Mu Yu. He showers her with attention and small gifts which causes Yan Ni to lose her heart…and her common sense.
This film highlighted the problems that can arise from not communicating. Yan Ni’s mom never told her why she was living with her grandmother leaving Yan Ni to believe she’d been abandoned. For fourteen years her father never made contact. Yan Ni was so afraid of being alone that she never asked Mu Yu any personal questions for fear of the answers or upsetting him. She knew instinctively and empirically when he was lying to her yet chose to ignore the facts in order to stay with him. It was like watching a person continually swerve into oncoming traffic and expecting to not get hit. The costs to her physical and mental health continued to grow.
Stolen Life was frustrating to watch, especially with most of Yan Ni’s feelings being explained by a voiceover, not shown through her actions and reactions. Whatever the artistic reason for the scene-by-scene narration, it cost the story emotional integrity and distanced this viewer from the characters due to the near constant interruptions. It really was a shame because the film discussed a couple of issues not normally seen in Chinese films and the actors were more than capable of handling the sensitive subjects. Aside from the lessons in communication and self-worth, the film also emphasized the old saying, “It takes a mighty good man to be better than no man at all.”*
15 September 2025
*Dixie Carter
Spoilery comments below:
Can a baby’s father and grandmother determine a baby will be put up for adoption without the birth mother’s consent in China?
Female students forced to leave school for being pregnant is ridiculous. It’s not catching! Plus, the mother will need the better opportunities higher education will give her in the job market to help her raise the baby.
Mu Yu was playing a ridiculously long con on the women he scammed. His doormat detector was honed to perfection. He could spot a woman desperately alone and without any self-esteem. This is why women without supportive families desperately need good girlfriends.
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