Fantasia 2015 festival in review

Fantasia 2015, total films seen: 30

This has certainly been one of the best years in terms of the Asian film selections since I began extensively covering it starting back in 2011. I didn’t realize it until now but I actually saw the most films this year than any previous year and it could’ve been more if it weren’t for other activities and fatigue. It’s impressive that I feel this year also had the fewest duds for me. I would probably say only a handful of films were very disappointing and/or not enjoyable. This was coming off last year, where I didn’t like many of the films.

Fantasia 2015 mini reviews

Mini reviews of Big Match, Shinjuku Swan, Battles without Honor and Humanity, Crimson Whale, Office, La La La at Rock Bottom, Deadman Inferno, Ryuzo and the Seven Henchman and Kung Fu Killer after the jump.

Assassination Fantasia 2015 review

Assassination / 암살 / Amsal (2015)
Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Screenplay: Choi Dong-hoon
Cast: Gianna Jun, Lee Jung-jae, Ha Jung-woo, Oh Dal-soo, Cho Jin-woong

The title for this period piece is as accurate as can be. It takes place in the 1930s when Japan was ruling Korea. A small group of Korean independence fighters are tasked to assassinate a pro-Japanese Korean businessman and a Japanese commander. The head of the group of assassins, An Ok-Yun (Jun Ji-Hyun aka Gianna Jun) is an expert sniper but it is quickly revealed that the businessman is her father. To complicate matters, there is a traitor who hires a couple of contract killers, Hawaii Pistol (Ha Jung Woo) and his partner to go after Ok-Yun.

Socialphobia Fantasia 2015 review

Socialphobia / 소셜포비아  / Sosyeolpobia (2014)
Director: Hong Seok-jae
Screenplay: Hong Seok-jae
Cast: Byun Yo-han, Lee Ju-seung

Note: The next screening is on Tuesday August 4 at 12:30pm.

This is an independent film that looks into the effect of social media on the lives of youth. An online argument spills overs into real life when a group of netizens target a woman who made negative comments about a soldier. They decide to track the woman down in person only to find her dead by hanging in her apartment. While it appears to be a suicide, the group thinks it was a murder and decide to investigate more. It focuses on the investigation by two friends in the group, Ji-woong and Young-min who aspire to be policemen.

Poison Berry in my Brain Fantasia 2015 review [Recommended]

Poison Berry in My Brain / 脳内ポイズンベリー  / Nounai Poizun Beri (2015)
Director: Yuichi Sato
Screenplay: Tomoko Aizawa, Setona Mizushiro
Cast: Yoko Maki, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yuki Furukawa, Songha, Yo Yoshida

I guess I could start this review by listing every brain related pun I can think of but instead I’ll just say that this is not only a funny film but possibly the most scientifically accurate portrayal of what happens in the brain. In particular what happens when one is in love. Based on a manga (Heartbroken Chocolatier), the story centers on Sakurai, a 30 year old woman whose decisions are made by a five member committee that reside in her head. The members are Yoshida (The chairman, main speaker and initiator of meetings), Ishibashi (An optimistic man), Ikeda (A pessimistic woman), Hatoko (An impulsive child) and Kishi (The note-taker who retrieves past memories). Sakurai falls hard for Saotome, a much younger 23 year old man but soon another prospect arrives in nice guy, Ochi.

Port of Call Fantasia 2015 review [Recommended]

Port of Call / 踏血寻梅 / Daap6 Hyut3 Cam4 Mui4 (2015)
Director: Philip Yung
Screenplay: Philip Yung
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Jessie Li, Elaine Jin, Michael Ning, Patrick Tam

This is a sad, depressing movie but also quite engaging. This should be no surprise since the film focuses on the grisly murder of a 16 year old girl who was chopped to bits. The crime is based on a real life murder from 2008. Detective Chong is a veteran detective who’s tasked to investigate the crime, there is no body but the large amounts of blood indicate a death. Finding the body would be difficult but then the killer turns himself in and proves that he is indeed the real killer by indicating where he dumped the body parts. But it does not end there as something about the case causes Detective Chong to investigate further despite his colleagues telling him to close the case. Various flashbacks occur throughout the film showing moments from both the victim and the killer’s pasts and eventually how they came to meet.

Gangnam Blues Fantasia 2015 review [Recommended]

Gangnam Blues / 강남 1970 / Gangnam 1970 (2015)
Director: Yoo Ha
Screenplay: Yoo Ha
Cast: Lee Min-ho, Kim Rae-won, Jung Jin-young, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Seol-hyun

This is a sprawling crime story that centers around two childhood friends, Jong Dae and Yung Gi who are both orphans. After the house they are squatting in gets demolished while they’re still inside, they get recruited by a gangster to disrupt a political meeting. However a large fight ensues with other gangsters and in the confusion the friends are separated. Years later, Yung Gi is working for another gang while Jong Dae has been adopted by a former gang boss, Gil Su who runs a laundromat with his daughter. Jong Dae eventually gets involved in gang activities related to real estate and scamming farmers out of their land in an attempt to save enough money to pay off Gil Su’s debt. Jong Dae and Yung Gi do eventually reunite and decide to cooperate to attain a better life.

Haemoo (Sea Fog) Fantasia 2015 review

Haemoo / 해무 / Sea Fog (2014)
Director: Shim Sung-bo
Screenplay: Shim Sung-bo, Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Kim Yoon-seok, Park Yu-chun, Han Ye-ri, Moon Sung-keun, Kim Sang-ho

This film uses a real life event as the basis for its story. That event being the death of illegal Chinese Korean immigrants on a fishing vessel. We first get introduced to the crew of a ship and the financial troubles some of them have that force them to take an illegal smuggling job. When the immigrants they are trying to smuggle die due to a malfunction of the old ship, the members of the crew react in different ways leading to violent conflict.