Sorry guys, I forgot about this thread.
Mardock Scramble: The Third Exhaust (
Susumu Kudo, 2012)
A good conclusion to a so-so trilogy. This time, the pacing of the events feels right, and so does the development of the main character. The problem it has is as a part of a trilogy... specifically, that I haven't cared about the character of Rune in the previous two movies and this attachment is important to give emotional significance to this ending. So while I feel that this wraps the story up fairly well, it lacked in the emotional department and in the end was forgettable.
The flower girl -
Kotpanum chonio (
Choe Ik Kyu & Pak Hak, 1972)
This is the first North Korean movie I have ever watched. As expected, it is strongly politicized, to the point that looks a lot like a blatant pamphlet. This in some points becomes an issue because the insertion of this message looks artificial and cheapens the writing, but I think that it is easy to ignore due to the classic scheme of the story which makes it work on other levels. It works well, for instance, as a fable and as a story about a woman's suffering. The main acting is very good, so the emotional attachment is surprisingly solid with some intense scenes. In the end the biggest issue this movie has is in the way it tries to convey the emotional scenes, the abuse of characters screaming and falling dramatically ends up becoming annoying.
The wind rises -
Kaze tachinu (
Hayao Miyazaki, 2013)
The last Miyazaki movie is a quite odd farewell. I think it is clear that it is a very personal work, probably more than any of his previous ones; this in that sense is positive, and I'd say that one of the greatest qualities of this movie is that it transmits this feel of being deeply personal. On the other hand, it is different to the other Miyazakis in some points, it is darker and more disenchanted, which has become an issue for many people who expected a different kind of movie from this director. Not in my case, but I can understand the complaints. The biopic story is, however, a topic Miyazaki hadn't touched yet and this becomes its main and probably only weak point. It looks obvious to me that the director is not fully comfortable with the storytelling that is brought here; not being used to this fragmented biopic narrative makes room for irregularity and the work doesn't look as solid as it should be. Still, there is enough quality in here to make this an outstanding piece; starting with the wonderful, visually and story-wise, depiction of flying. While I don't share his tastes on this matter, Miyazaki always manages to transmit this genuine fascination to me in his movies. The love story on the other hand is nothing short of great and the paper glider scene, simply awesome. Adding to this there is the personal feeling for being able, for once, to watch a Ghibli movie in a theater, making this a very significant experience for me.
Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
Well, what can I say about
Stalker, a movie that contains so much beauty in every one of its frames that they could make the experience worth alone. Visually stunning, and in terms of its science fiction and the moral implications of the Zone, amazing. I would also like to mention that, even taking into account the slow and sort of heavy going pacing of this storytelling, the elements it throws, visual and conceptual, make this an almost constantly fascinating experience to me. In the end this first approach was satisfying enough for a movie I had built ridiculously high expectations on, and I assume this will be a great source to rewatch due to the many interpretations and intricacies this story allows, so I'm looking forward to further digging into its content.
My Asian movie count: 7
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I didn't actually mind it but pretty sure I was a bit biased and focussed on it's good points. I feel as though he got sucked into making an "American" movie and it just didn't work. If you look at Fallen Angels so much of it was about what the characters did - not what they said. But in MBN there was far too much talking and it's not what he is good at IMO.
