Whale Rider
How to see it: in select indie theatres
Genre: drama (made in New Zealand)
My review:
In this film directed by Niki Caro, Paikea (Keisha
Castle-Hughes) survives although her mother and a twin brother die
during their birth, to her grandfather's disappointment. Her
grandfather, Koro (Rawiri Paratene),
shuns Paikea at birth because he is waiting for the first-born boy who
will lead their village out of trouble. Her father defies his
father's wishes by naming his daughter Paikea after their great
ancestor who rode on the back of a whale and led their tribe to New
Zealand. Unable to deal with the loss of his wife and his son,
Porourangi ( Cliff Curtis) flees the island to go to Europe.
Paikea is left to be raised by her grandmother and a begrudging
grandfather who grows to love her. When Porourangi comes home to
visit, Koro's disappoinment with his own son leads him to open a school
for all the first-born boys of the village to study the ancient
practices, hoping this will lead him to the boy meant to be
chief. Paikea herself is admonished when Koro finds her
practicing these ancient techniques. In the end Paikea must prove
that she is the one meant to be the leader, even though she is a girl
and not the boy her grandfather expected to find. Caro does a
great job of directing the film, especially the newcomer Keisha
Castle-Hughes, and the cinematography is enough to make anyone want to
visit New Zealand for themselves.
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Internet
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My Sassy Girl
How to see it: available on dvd (only in
South Korea)
Genre: comedy/ Korean with English subtitles
My review:
A hilarious film about
love and odd relationships, this film is based on the internet posting
of Ho-sik Kim describing his relationship with his girlfriend, later
made into a comic book called "My Sassy Girl". The film, directed
by Jae-young Kwak, follows Kyun-woo (Tae-hyun Cha) on his journey with
an unamed girl (Ji-hyun Jun), from their horrendous first meeting to
the end of their relationship. Kyun-woo is shamed into helping
the girl when he is mistaken for her boyfriend on the subway, right
after the drunk girl vomits all over a man. Their relationship
includes many ups and downs, mostly downs as Kyun-woo puts up with her
abuses as she constantly asks him "Wanna die?" anytime he waivers in
complying with her wishes. Kyun-woo spends many a night in jail
for this girl, deals with a suicidal awol soldier who almost kills him,
and puts up with wearing high heel shoes at her request, among other
things. Although he sets out to cure the girl of whatever grief
seems to be ailing her, he soons realizes that he has real feelings for
her with his planning of her birthday surprise and their 100th day
anniversary celebration. With her parents disapproval of the
relationship and whatever hidden sadness ails the girl, the two decide
to take a break. They bury a time capsule with two letters about
how they really feel and they promise to come back to read them
together in two years. The film is very funny as it follows
Kyun-woo and the girl through their relationship, but deals with the
sadness that comes with giving your heart to someone else. A
great film with a sweet ending, as long as you can put up with the
cheesy antics throughout.
For more reviews:
Internet
Movie Data Base for everything you ever wanted to know about any movie
ever made.
Amazon.com if you want to buy the comic book - the movies only available in South Korea