my first taste of eiga sai : GLASSES

japan foundation, shangri-la plaza and UP film institute
present this year's japanese film festival - eiga sai 2010 (in celebration of the philippine-japan friendship month). as always, my newfound movie buddy - irene sy never hesitated to inform and update and ask me to see at least one of the many japanese films to be shown from july 1st to the 11th in shangri-la cinema 4. so i did. and GLASSES (megane) there was.

'the title is a whimsical touch on a whimsical film' so i quote from the flyers given. it was only when i finished watching that i realized why 'glasses' was its english title. all the major characters (taeko: kobayashi satomi, yuji: mitsuishi ken, haruna: ichikawa mikako, yomogi: kase ryo and sakura: motai masako) wear prominent eyeglasses... they looked at the place (a small island in the south of Japan, where there's no cellphone reception) and did their 'twilighting' through it (their eyeglasses).

the story is about a stressed-out career woman who leaves her city life for an island vacation. she brought with her a suitcase of books to be read but she ended up knitting... she expected to be left alone but she ended up lovingly disturbed by the kindness, country-style warmth of the people in the beach hotel - the fresh food eaten by guests and hosts altogether, the famous shaved-ice as a pre-requisite to really being good at 'twilighting' (imho, this is their nickname for daydreaming or reflecting or meditating or just being nothing but one with the sea), the 'merci-exercise' (intriguingly funny and worth trying), and more.

while some of the audience felt the movie was boring, i enjoyed every scene. perhaps it is because i easily have placed myself as one of the characters and already imagined being there--- seeing the sea, tasting the shaved ice (with slow-cooked kidney beans beneath and sugar syrup on top), chatting with them and feeling the the peace and the mystery of it all. i'd keep sakura's words to my heart forever, remember: "it is important not to rush"...the movie was neither heavy nor light (a minimalist even) ...and should i decide to see it again, i'm sure there will still be questions that will be left unanswered in the end.

glasses (megane - japanese title) was nominated for the grand jury prize at the sundance film festival and won the manfred salzgeber award at the berlin international film festival in 2008. as for me, i'm giving the movie-glasses my 3 out of 3 shares of frozen yogurt for a score (or in case, shaved ice *winks*).

(picture from www.asianmediawiki.com and www.baf-bcn.org)

22 bullets - a father's day movie

it took me only 22seconds (trust me, i was holding a timer then coz i'm decorating my laptop with sticker-tatoos) to say yes after being invited by dear friend- irene sy to at least see one movie in the french film festival at shangrila plaza. little did i know that those 22 seconds would be equivalent to 22 bullets.

yes, the film's english title was '22 bullets' but literally it should have been 'the immortal'. that got me more excited to see the movie. will it be about love and immortality or would it be about guns and gang wars??? hmmmm...

the plot : a retired mobster (charly mattei, played by jean reno) goes on a revenge-spree after being left for dead (almost) with 22 bullets in his body by his former childhood friends. luckily, one of the killers intentionally (as theorized by the police) didn't hit the right spot, leaving him only semi-paralyzed in the left and strong enough to think and act like his old bad-boy self. the director- richard berry knew how to keep the audience to the edge of their seats as if watching a suspense thriller but at the same time, wishing a kleenex was near to wipe a tear or two when feelings for innocent loved-ones and betrayed friendships are shown.

the camera rolls were excellent (no need for 3D). for one, you can see the age lines in the grandma's face as she kissed charly's litlle boy in the beginning of the film. the script (i trusted the subtitles) was almost poetic yet very human in most ways. the movie tackled sensitive issues in several sectors of the society yet it always lead me back to remembering friendships and promises made in its name.

but what i liked most is the part where charly did his best to go through layers of what seemed-like-a-barbed-wire to go save his son from being killed, it was the longest 'few minutes' of my day. as it goes, no matter how bad you were, or how changed you intend to be, when your son's life is on the line, you can't help but be a father, even if it means being 'bad' for that moment.

halfway in the film, i came to understand the title choice...as it is, charly survived the '22 bullets', so he was named 'the immortal' (L'immortel) by the press. the crime drama scored 2 and a half over 3 frozen yogurt servings-- meaning? i liked it!