Just Another Pandora's Box (2009)

Just Another Pandora's Box (2009)


March 31st, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

When a fairy in ancient China decides to go in search of a popular hero, she instead misidentifies a unscrupulous bandit as the man. Faced with her attentions he makes use of magic to escape into the distant past, and the era of the Three Kingdoms.

Although relatively unknown in the west, director Jeffery Lau has a three decade record of producing popular Hong Kong comedies. One sub-type that he essentially created is a kind of outlandish fantasy film based upon and satirizing traditional Chinese legends. These include the Chinese Odyssey series (1995) in which Stephen Chow starred in a time traveling, irreverent prequel to the novel A Journey to the West about the journey of the Monkey King to help a holy monk retrieve Buddhist scrolls. This film is something of a loose sequel both in tone and the inclusion of several secondary characters.

While Jeffery Lau is not well known in the West, he has a nearly three decade record of hit comedies and it a longtime collaborator of director Wong Kar Wai. His style in this kind of film is similar to the Zucker Brother’s style of American comedies, that is, a dozen jokes a minute and a eye toward popular culture. In this case parodying many of the biggest Chinese films of the last fifteen years.

The most gratuitous subject of parody would have to be John Woo’s two part Red Cliff (2008) film series. While generally popular in the west, there is some sentiment that it takes an overly serious and melodramatic tone, which Lau is quick to parody. The film also includes a wide range of cameos including but not limited to Li Yixiao, Alex Fong, Yuen Biao, Kenny Bee, Cory Yuen, Stephy Tang and Sandra Ng. This helps to maintain the light atmosphere that is the secret of Lau’s popular comedies.

Hong Kong, Director Jeffery Lau, Cast Ronald Cheng, Sun Li, Huang Bo, Eric Tsang, Patrick Tam and Gillian Chung, 96 minutes, in Cantonese with English subtitles.

GHAJINI (2008)

GHAJINI (2008)


March 17th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

For those not accustomed to Indian cinema, GHAJINI is a film that really tests perceptions and prejudices. The masala style that became incredibly popular in the 1980's and has been a dominant force ever since is an old if not alien idea to most other cinemas. In basic terms this broad genre seeks to mix a range of genre and emotions into one grand show, which is typically a minimum of three hours long. This is similar to American cinema of the 1930's which would include shorts, news reels and or a cartoon, a B-picture and the main feature all as part of one big show. In the case of India it is encompassed into a single feature. Because of this, strict notions of narrative logic are sometimes tested in order to give everyone what they want.
GHAJINI is a remake of a Tamil film of the same name with the tittle referring to a King who continued to do battle even though he continually lost. Besides that both films are loose remakes of the American film Memento (2000) about a man with no short term memory who is driven to find a murderer. While this basic plot point is identical, the film quickly journeys very far afield.
India, Director A. R. Murugadoss, Cast Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat, 183 minutes, in Hindi with English subtitles

Prince of Tears (2009)

Prince of Tears (2009)


March 10th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

This recent film by the director of Bishonen (1998) focuses on the so called White Terror of the late 1940's and 50's. During which thousands of Taiwanese were executed or imprisoned by the KMT government. It also marks the beginning of the long standing period of martial law.
These events are set in a small village and seen through the eyes of an Air Force officer and his family. While not the first Taiwanese film to deal with this subject matter, that would be City of Sadness (1989,) it has never the less acquired a degree of controversy of its own.
This controversy principally deals with the striking cinematography which is a trademark of the director. But some prominent critics have stated that the exquisite beauty and perfect composition found in nearly every shot takes away from the emotional impact of the film and its subject matter. In any case it is a provocative entry into recent Taiwanese cinema.

Taiwan, Director Yon Fan, Cast Fan Chih Wei, Terri Kwan, Joseph Chang, Jack Kao, Lin Yo Wei and Oceane Zhu, 123 minutes, in Mandarin with English subtitles

Special Screening

Special Screening
See bellow for details

This Thursday (March 3) the Asian Film Series will be temporarily suspending to support a screening of Once Upon A Time in China (1991) presented by the UWM Chinese program.

The screening will be at 7 PM at Curtin 219. The screening is free and open.

Once Upon A Time in China is director Tsui Hark’s reworking of the long running Wong Fei Huang film series starring Kwan Tak Hing as the Chinese doctor and Confucian scholar. Beyond this the film works as a complex allegory for the approaching 1997 handover of Hong Kong back to Chinese rule. It helped, along with another film of Tsui’s Swordsman (1990), to reinvigorate the martial art action film creating something of a wave in the early 1990's before dying out mid decade. Today it stands as one of the great classics of Hong Kong cinema.

Hong Kong, Director Tsui Hark, Cast Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, Yuen Biao, Kent Cheng Juk-Si, Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau, Yang Yee-Kwan, Jimmy Wang Yu and Wu Ma , 134 minutes

The Monkey Goes West (1966)

The Monkey Goes West (1966)

February 24th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)


The Monkey Goes West is an adaptation of the classic 16th century novel A Journey To the West, which is generally regarded as one of the four great classics of Chinese literature. It is based upon the 7th century journey of Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk who illegally traveled from China to India in order to bring back early Buddhist texts. This accomplishment was instrumental in reversing the anti Buddhist stance of the then ruling Tang Dynasty.
In this fictionalized account of the journey, human involvement is largely curtailed in favor of a wide range of magical beings. It seems that the flesh of the monk will grant great power to whatever creature eats it. To protect the monk, his phantasmal allies capture the Monkey King, a mischievous being possessing great power. Later others join the group and together they journey through one danger after the other.
This particular adaptation of the story was created by the Shaw Brothers studio, which dominated Hong Kong film production of the era. It recounts early events in the novel, including the capture of the Monkey King. It was latter follower by two sequels, Cave of the Silken Web (1967) The Land of Many Perfumes (1968) based around other major events in the novel. In tone they are primarily children’s films, although the outlandish sets and costumes make it appealing to those of any age.
Hong Kong, Director Hoh Mung Wa, Cast Diana Chang Chung-Wen, Ho Fan, Yueh Hua, Paang Paang and Fan Mei Sheng, 111 minutes, in Mandarin with English subtitles

The Discarnates (1988)

The Discarnates (1988)


February 17th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)






Japan, Director Nobuhiko Obayashi, Cast Morio Kazama, Kumiko Akiyoshi, Tsurutaro Kataoka and Toshiyuki Nagashima, 108 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles.

Chaos At The Graveyard (2003)

Chaos At The Graveyard (2003)

February 10th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

While critically acclaimed films from dynamic, growing national cinemas such as Thailand are now seen on a world stage, there is another type of film which remains nearly invisible. This second type is the average film, or even the flop. But it could be argued that such films can open up a window into a society in ways that an acclaimed film might be self consciously above. Chaos At The Graveyard is one such film.

The story revolves around developers who want to build a housing development in a rural area containing an old graveyard. Plans to relocate the graves run afoul of the ghosts who exist there. But the film really transcends any kind of plot with its inept acting, jumpy editing, unconvincing FX and uncertain sensibilities. On the face of it, the story is a horror comedy, but the content is so strange and uneven that it might just as well have been a failed melodrama. But just as Plan 9 From Outer Space (1958) maintains a resonance in American cinema, Chaos at the Graveyard is for better or worse, a kind of window into Thai culture.
Thailand, Director Jarun Wongsatja, Cast Kanchai Komnerdploy, Onhatal Suesrisawad and Chatchadaporn Thananta, 119 minutes, in Thai with English subtitles.