Nina's tragedies

Made in 2003, this is a the most refreshing and rich in texture film I have ever watched in recent weeks. A real eye-opener.

Sopyonjie

It took enormous patience to sit through this slow pace film featured by regular and lengthy performance of a dying art form pansori. Accompanied only by a hint of drum, the traditional solo recital can sound rather monotonous, especially when the performer has to remain absolute passive throughout and voice becomes the only vehicle they can resort to. But despite the challenge to a foreign audience, it has a drawing power to keep you stay on to see what happens to those wanderers and guardians of a dying art. This is unexpected rewarded when the two siblings reunited briefly after years of separation and sat in the small rundown inn to perform the most challenging piece in their repertoire in great harmony and with repressed longing for each other. This is an exquisite film.

Down in the Valley

It made me realise why all the fuss about Evan Rachel Wood.

Half Nelson

Ryan Gosling gives a mesmerising performance as a drug-addicted school teacher in an inner city school. He makes the character so human that you just want to step in and pull him out from the mess he is so steep in. It is poignant that his 12 year old student seems to be the only one who cares enough to give him the help that the tough journey might need.

Fear and Trembling

Can we claim that we know the cultures of a country if we speak its language? This hilariously funny film poses a poignant question as we witness the Belgium girl who can speak fluent Japanese sinks to the dark pit of a Japanese company.

Stripes

I thought Bill Murray was good in Lost in Translation. But it is Stripes, his second significant film role, that makes me a fan of this talented comedian.

13 Tzameti

This is one of the most enigmatic and compelling films I have watched lately. I am not always a great fan of thriller, but I love every bit of it: its soundtrack (that piqued me instantly), its scripts, its supreme performance, and the stark black and white cinematography. An intelligent and poignant critics on the crude side of human nature, its gripping power keeps you guessing to the last minute.