Need more film? Try the Wisconsin Union’s East Asian Film Festival

Submitted by E Rasmussen on Fri, 2008-04-18 09:15. Arts | Film

In case the Wisconsin Film Festival wasn’t enough to satiate cinematic appetites, the Wisconsin Union’s East Asian Film Festival began Thursday. Five films total (one Thursday, two Friday, and two Saturday) will be shown for free at the Frederic March Play Circle in the Memorial Union. The lineup and synopses, which can also be found on the Wisconsin Union’s website are as follows. I haven’t seen most of the films, but I’ve added italicized comments on the films I have seen because I think they’re phenomenal and definitely worth seeing – especially for free.

Paprika | April 17 | 7:30pm | Japan, 2006 | 90 min | dir: Satoshi Kon | 35mm | Rating: R |
In this bone-crushingly awesome anime tale, reality and the dream world are on a collision course after a DC-Mini — an experimental device that can record dreams — is stolen from a psychiatric research facility. When the thief begins intertwining the patients’ nightmares with the staff’s dreams, it’s clear that the DC-Mini has fallen into dangerous hands. Can Dr. Atsuko Chiba and her alter ego, a sprightly avatar named Paprika, stop the madness?

Blind Mountain | April 18 | 7:00pm | China | 2008 | 95 min | dir: Yang Li | 35mm | Rating: NR | Winner of Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival 2007. | Young student Bai Xuemei is sold as a “wife” by human traffickers to a remote village. Raped and beaten, she leads the life of a sex slave and child-bearer with no hope of escape because of the villagers’ apathy and selfishness. This controversial film remains focused on the captive, even as it tears at the audience and pokes at political points. In Mandarin, with English subtitles.

Nobody Knows | April 18 | 9:30pm | Japan | 2004 | 141 min | dir: Hirokazu Koreeda | 35mm | Rating: PG-13

Based on a true story, four siblings are abandoned by their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo and must gradually learn to make their own way. Beautifully shot and brilliantly acted, Koreeda’s fourth film is at once harrowing and tender; an urban horror story with overtones of fairy tale. In Japanese with English subtitles.

This film combines the lighthearted playfulness of children on an unsanctioned holiday with the heartbreaking immediacy of abandonment. If you can’t make it to the festival, this is one to rent! I first saw it four years ago and I still mention it in conversation whenever I can because I’m annoying and like to encourage everyone to see the films I love. The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. The film’s young star, Yuya Yagira won Best Actor at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Im Kwon-taek’s ninety-fifth film, Chihwaseon (Painted Fire), tells the story of renowned nineteenth-century painter Jang Seung-up (Choi Min-Sik), an artist whose revolutionary work — and persona — has forever changed the face of Korean art. Mr. Im is a visual artist inspired at times as much as his subject matter: for this film he won Best Director at Cannes Film Festival 2002. In Korean with English subtitles.

With typical high-color Korean storytelling, 19th century Seoul comes alive in all its artistic and political turmoil. The acting is delightfully exuberant, and the art featured in the movie is incredible. It’s basically the story of a drunk, womanizing genius who must wrestle with artistic integrity, honor and freedom.

Sunflower is a powerful and touching look at the compelling inner dynamics of one post-Cultural Revolution family in Beijing and their struggle over thirty years to adjust to each other as the fabric, politics, and social mores of Chinese society change ever so rapidly. Written and directed by Zhang Yang, Sunflower parallels the upheavals in Xiangyang’s life with those of his country, exploring the tension between tradition and modernity with insight and intimacy. In Mandarin and English with English subtitles.

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