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Cine-East: East Asian Cinema

a Spring 2009 film series at Duke University

"Seven evenings of great films from and about China, Japan, and South Korea!"

Films will be screened in the Griffith Film Theater
in the Bryan Center on Duke's West Campus
and are free and open to the general public.

Sponsored by
the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute
and the Arts of the Moving Image Program

with support from
the Dept. of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

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Tu Feb 3 (8pm): [Japan Foundation Film Festival 2009]
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Mikio Naruse, 1963, 111 min, USA, in Japanese with English subtitles, B/W, 35mm)

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs by Mikio Naruse is a delicate, devastating study of a woman, Keiko (played heartbreakingly by Hideko Takamine), who works as a bar hostess in Tokyo's very modern postwar Ginza district, and entertains businessmen after work. Sly, resourceful, but trapped, Keiko comes to embody the conflicts and struggles of a woman trying to establish her independence in a male-dominated society. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs shows the largely unsung yet widely beloved master Naruse at his most socially exacting and profoundly emotional. Made possible by the Japan Foundation (NY Office).

 

W Feb 4 (8pm):
Shower (Zhang Yang, 1999, 92 min, China, in Mandarin with English subtitles, Color, DVD)
-- Introduced by Prof. Carlos Rojas (Asian & Middle Eastern Studies)!

A beautifully crafted, almost perfectly sustained little drama that skillfully makes a subtle, bittersweet point. Shower is the story of Da Ming (Pu Cun Xin), a successful young Chinese businessman who returns to Beijing from his new home in Shenzhen, in booming south China , after receiving a cryptic postcard from his mentally challenged brother (Jiang Wu) indicating their elderly father (Zhu Xu) has died. It turns out to be a false alarm, and the rest of the movie deals with the way fate conspires to force this somewhat arrogant and emotionally controlled protagonist to come to terms with his family, his lower-class origins and the vital function his now-endangered, family-owned bathhouse served in the vanishing Beijing neighborhood.

Awards:

• International Critics' Award (FIPRESCI) at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival
• Best Film & Best Director at the 2000 Seattle International Film Festival
• Audience Award at the 2000 Rotterdam International Film Festival

 

M Feb 16 (8pm): [Japan Foundation Film Festival 2009]
Age of Assassins (Kihachi Okamoto, 1967, 99 min, Japan, in Japanese with English subtitles, B/W, 35mm)

A darkly comic spy movie spoof, complete with extraordinary gadgets, femme fatales (Reiko Dan) and supervillains. The film follows Shinji Kikyo (Tatsuya Nakadai), a humble criminal psychology teacher who has in his possession a large diamond originally stolen by the Nazis. Mizorogi (Eisei Amamoto), an ex-Nazi mad scientist who trains patients in his lunatic asylum as assassins, finds out about the diamond and sends his men to hunt down Shinji so he can have the diamond all for himself.

Yet Shinji proves to be more than able to defend himself against these professional killers, leading Mizorogi to believe that Shinji is not just a humble teacher after all. Nakadai's nerdy, aloof, and deadpan teacher works brilliantly in contrast to all the bizarre assassination attempts he and his goofy friend Automo Bill (Hideo Sunazuka) find themselves in. Scenes such as their escape from an artillery target site during a shooting practice blend together clever parody and pure slapstick in ways that only Okamoto could achieve. Made possible by the Japan Foundation (NY Office).

 

M Feb 23 (8pm): [Japan Foundation Film Festival 2009]
Postman Blues (Hiroyuki Tanaka, 1997, 110 min, Japan , in Japanese with English subtitles, Color, 35mm)

An inspired parody of the gangster genre on the one hand and a virtuoso exercise in storytelling on the other, Postman Blues is a funny, inventive and winning charmer from start to finish. Sawaki is a postman who's less than thrilled with his humdrum existence. But all that changes when he delivers some mail to his old schoolmate Noguchi, who is now a member of the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) and has just finished cutting his little finger off. During their brief encounter Noguchi manages to smuggle a package full of drugs into Sawaki's bag, and his separated finger accidentally falls into the bag as well. Because Noguchi has been under police surveillance the whole time, Sawaki himself comes under suspicion. And when Sawaki befriends a fatally ill hit man, Joe, the police soon have him pegged as a perverse drug dealer, murderer and even Yakuza terrorist! Made possible by the Japan Foundation (NY Office).

 

Tu March 17 (8pm): [Japan Foundation Film Festival 2009]
Mind Game (Masaaki Yuasa, 2004, 103 min, Japan, in Japanese with English subtitles, Color & B/W, 35mm)

This award-winning film is a journey of self-discovery based on Japan 's cult underground comic "Mind Game" by Robin Nishi. The story follows Nishi himself through the life experiences that directly inspired the semi-autobiographical "Mind Game" comic. As a college-age loser addicted to porn and aspiring to write seedy adult comics, Nishi aspires to overcome his addiction to perversion in a tale that is lighthearted yet painful and touching.

What starts off as an innocent meeting between old friends quickly turns into a psychedelic extravaganza, filled with violence, sex, love, redemption, and the infinite possibilities of the human mind. Director Masaaki Yuasa rejoices in experimental animation techniques, filling the screen with virtuoso wackiness, mixing in rough lines and storyboards, then inserting photographic touches. Co-sponsored by the Duke Anime Club. Made possible by the Japan Foundation (NY Office).

 

M April 20 (7pm):
Waikiki Brothers -- Followed by a Q&A with director Yim Sunrye!
(Yim Sunrye, 2001, 109 min, S. Korea , in Korean with English Subtitles, Color, 35mm)

An intelligent, funny yet ultimately tragic film about chasing after an unattainable dream. In the days before karaoke, the members of a band which started out playing high-school hops have parlayed those beginnings into a career of sorts touring the rock-cabaret circuit

Now the band, down to a trio, is reaching the end of the line. They find themselves with a residency at the Waikiki Club in the town where it all began (Suanbo, a once fashionable hot-spring resort) and where Sung-Woo, the only founding-member left, faces constant reminders of the idealistic kid he used to be. -- Note earlier starting time (7pm)!

 

Tu April 21 (7pm):
Forever the Moment -- Followed by a Q&A with director Yim Sunrye!
(Yim Sunrye, 2008, 124 min, S. Korea , in Korean with English Subtitles, Color, 35mm)

Forever the Moment is a fictionalized account of the real-life Korean women's national handball team which against all odds reached the finals at the 2004 Athens Olympics Game. The world witnessed a true miracle as these fierce underdogs strode past the nonbelievers and proudly battled it out against the powerhouse Denmark team in a decisive game. Director Yim Sunrye (Waikiki Brothers) presents an inspirational saga that travels beyond the typical sports film, weaving a touching humanistic tale about ordinary women and their remarkable journeys.

Kim Hye-kyeong stars as a retired handball player who has been successfuly coaching in the Japan Handball League. When the coach of South Korea 's women's national team suddenly quits, she is asked to fill in, but is faced with an undisciplined squad of players. Hye-kyeong tries to improve the team by recruiting some of her old teammates, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Han Mi-sook. However, Hye-kyeong's aggressiveness causes friction amongst the players, and she is replaced by former men's handball star Ahn Seung-pil, though she decides to stay with the team as a player. Seung-pil introduces modern European training methods which brings him into conflict with the older players, and things get worse when they lose a game against a high school boy's team. -- Note earlier starting time (7pm)!
-- Winner for Best Picture at South Korea 's Blue Dragon Film Awards!

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Have questions about our schedule? Contact Hank Okazaki at hokazak@duke.edu

Return to the current Screen/Society screening schedule