Tenshi 天使 [movie]

Fukada Kyōko as an angel; I died and went to heaven

Tenshi – Fukada Kyōko                 Tano – Izumiya Shigeru

Emi – Kobayashi Akemi                 Chii – Morisako Ei

Kasumi – Nagasaku Hiromi              Yoshikawa – Masatoshi Nagase   

Natsu – Naomi Nishida                  Mizuho – Saori  

Miho – Satō Megumi                          Kato – Uchida Asahi

Cat Woman – Wanibuchi Haruko    Yumi – Ōtake Yuki

Fukada Kyōko, who might actually be the most angelic person alive, doesn’t even speak a word in this movie, which I was grateful for as she was so stunningly beautiful without her cute voice that I may well have died if she spoke.

For whatever angelic purposes us mere mortals can never understand, an angel looks down from above on the humans below with love and intrigue. This particular angel decides to make herself known to a chosen few that for various reasons need her beautiful spirit to help them through their troubles.

We follow a young child and her father and father’s girlfriend, two sisters, a bullied school girl, and a shop boy who falls for a girl looking for her lost cat.

The angel turns up in a nightclub and steals the boy’s lime gin, then becoming attached to the drink and later stealing it from a pair of sisters (plunging them into a paranoid confusion of who the hell keeps drinking the drink left on the table).

Of the child, father, and girlfriend, it is the child who can see the angel – and at one point they have a little bizarre musical number while they go flying off into the sky.... I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on then but it was in keeping with the oddness.

It is a pretty film and basically there is nothing else to say but that it has Fukada Kyōko playing an angel. What else do you need to know?

My favourite bit is when she finds a little plushie of kure kure takora and gets annoyed by its very presence and throws it on the floor in a strop.

I like how cat like she is, I died of cuteness over and over again. I have nothing to say – this post is really just for the pretty screen shots – she is so beautiful.

If I can ever bring myself to finish the last episode of friends I will blog that with pictures as she looks adorable in that too. She will brighten up this blog with her innocent pure cute massive eyes and warm smile.

I swear she is an actual real angel.

I should explain something about the film, but nothing much really happens. Plus I’m listening to sorashige book at the moment so I’m a little distracted by Shige laughing at nothing like an utter moron as per the norm.

But back to the point, nothing really happens, it isn’t really tense or one of those movies that throws you up and down as the characters struggle through their lives – yes they are each going through their owns problems but it fades into the background, over shadowed by the non gay fuwa fuwa and blindingly adorable light shining around the cutest actress in the world (with the possible exception of Nagasawa Masami) I just love this girl for roles like these. I don’t think it gets much more fitting than this.  

Ah this really isn’t a review it is a rant about how cute Fukada Kyōko is, I should probably leave it here as I can’t really think of anything else to add. Just watch the bloody film. Surely she should be enough to make that happen.

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The art of fighting 싸움의 기술 [movie]

I couldn’t stop thinking about how much JaeHee looks like Ishigaki Yuma…

For some reason I started this movie when it was already far too late in the evening, but as I became really tired I didn’t notice, until the movie ended and I realised it was 2.30 in the morning and my eyes were killing me. I was sucked into the film, giggling like an idiot and also engrossed in the main character’s emotion plight.

It is listed as an action film or martial arts movie, and some people have even described it as a comedy, but all that sounds misleading as it conjures up a ‘madcap’ sense of either the violence of humour that doesn’t match the movie. It is very funny but subtly so, and there is a lot of fighting in it but mostly just ByungTae getting beaten the living sh*t out of. it is definately not a martial arts movie, and personally i wouldnt call it an action or comedy either. But then again, i dont know what i would call it. It reminded me of Holyland (Japanese drama) not only for the fact that in this movie JaeHee looks ridiculously like Ishigaki with his massive eyes and floppy hair cut, the story reminded me of Kamishiro’s difficult journey into his world of self respect and determination from a background of fear and avoidance.

What is different about this movie to the myriad of other works it reminded me of, is that we don’t see much of ByungTae’s physical progression. Really, he could already fight as well as anyone else – the guys he fights are not trained either, it is not necessary to learn martial arts to overcome them. Taking this into account, you can see how the thing he most needs in his training is mental strength and fearlessness; to stop cowering in the hands of his aggressors.

I like that his training consists of a little wax-on-wax-off-karate-kid style laundry just to make him a bit stronger, but mostly advice on how to look at each dangerous situation. This brings me to his mentor, Oh ManSu.

ByungTae has sought advice from various people on how to fight, only to come up short, receiving unhelpful bravado ridden tips based on an idolised view of fighting. Eventually he meets ManSu and sees his restrained manner is one of absolute power and confidence. He pleads with the man to teach him how to fight, hounding him at every corner with puppy like innocence and relentlessness. ManSu, who obviously has a less than black and white life gives in and decides to show ByungTae what it means to be strong.

Through many cringingly comical situations ByungTae learns that preconceived ideas of fighting do not work and his instincts are already good enough to trust. He has strength but is too afraid to use it. This is what he must counter in order to protect him self against the constant abuse from his peers. His bullies are relentless and torment him continually; even throughout his training he can barely fight back. But as his friend gets pulled into the mess something snaps, or rather, becomes clear, and ByungTae begins to understand the ebbs and flows of fear, pain, anger, revenge, regret, determination, strength, weakness, and everything in between.

ByungTae, played by the wonderful Ishigaki lookalike JaeHee, evolves thanks to his mentor ManSu, played by the indescribably brilliant Baek YunShik. ManSu is just as lovable somehow as ByungTae, and their friendship is believable even as unlikely as it is. I really did think it was all set to end in tears but keeping true to the strength of both characters the overall story sticks to its adorably amusing path and even after things look like they have taken a major turn for the worse, it pulls back to a warm hearted end that certainly didn’t leave me feeling sad or disappointed. I will be watching this movie again, there’s no doubt. It is so sweet, considering the harsh subject matter of bullying, and those guys are quite savage, I spent most of the movie smiling.

I really do rate this movie highly – I expected it to be interesting but it brought more to the pot than just that. It is bizarre to feel warm and fuzzy from a film that contains more scenes of bullying and yankii scuffling than the whole of the 3 series of gokusen put together, especially as there was no pigtailed yankumi to storm in a save poor beaten ByungTae. Personally I feel this movie never loses momentum, even though it changes pace here and there, it kept me involved the entire time and I was totally invested in all the characters.

I do have to give a little ureshii squee for ByungTae’s friend who gets transferred in to his school and then gets tangled up in his fights. For some reason the dynamic of that friendship holds the balance of the rest of the movie on its shoulders. It is such a small but pivotal part, mirroring the sweetness of ByungTae and ManSu’s relationship, but also vastly countering the emptiness and lonliness felt by ByungTae at the beginning of the film. It is his friendship with his class mate which teaches him most about letting go of fear and to fight for those you wish to protect. For ByungTae it is almost impossible to fight for himself, but watching through the window his friend being beaten on his behalf – what a brilliant scene that was, if not a little sick. Boys are so horrible to each other *pouts*

ManSu says that as ByungTae has always been hiding from these bullies, he has never had the chance to see who he really is. The events of the movie are the point in time where he challenges that state of being and lets his feelings and personality surface. That is why many people have pegged this as a coming of age movie, and in that way I guess that is totally right. It is funny how diverse those types of movies can be – I was just thinking of boys of tomorrow with Yoo AhIn, how different the stories are and angles which we see them from.

This film has a lot to offer, but I guess it may not be everyone’s taste. People who like Korean movies in general would appreciate many things about it, but I think the characters are so likable that this film may appeal to lots of people who wouldn’t normally put in for this type of story or style, so I would say give it a try. Korean film makers never cease to amaze me. A colourful subtlety that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.

Gush gush gush. You should come to expect this by now.

promo posters:

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coma 코마 [mini series]

genuinely creepy and brilliant

5 episodes, each shot like a feature film, really creepy, emotional, stunning, a perfect example of how brilliant Korean Cineam and tv are. I don't know what else to say other than how impressed i was with this. I love horror series' and there seem to be so few of them around.

Lee YeRim - Joo Hee
Lee SeEun - Yoon Young
Myung JiYun - Nurse Kang SooJin
Lee JungHun - Doctor Jang SeoWon
Lim WonHee - Detective Choi
Cha SooYun - Lee SoHee

Coma includes the budget and style of a movie, but is made up of five pieces to create the whole. We see the happenings inside this run down hospital from a different person's perspective each time round, and eventually develop an understanding when all points combine. i like how some things happen differently in one episode to another - the memories of one person make the incidents change often in motive but sometimes even in outcome - it is cleverly and subtly done.

We have a hospital which had ruined its reputation gone out of business and begun to close down, and relocation of patients has almost been completed. in the dirty scag-house like surroundings it is hard to believe a patient still remains but there is still just one, Lee SoHee.




Everything seems to center around this patient, but there is a tangled mess of secrets trailing back years, gradually unfolding as the corridoors and rooms are emptied and the ghosts quite literally emerge from the locked doors.

i would usually explain a little more than this but im just not going to at all, i think it is far better to let it unfold without knowing any more than this. it isnt like you wont see it coming, but it should be completely left up to the movie to tell the story. it is so well done that i wouldn't want to ruin it by explaining it in the shabby way i go about things.

The style of the series is just like the horror movies we know and love. The familiar look of the ghosts, the sounds, the colours, everything is lush and grimey - how can they make things so disgusting but yet so vivd? This will be one of those series' i plead with people to watch and lend out to anyone i can at any opportunity i think.

 i love Korean ghosties.

promo posters:

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