East Asian Film Series: Fall of 2002

*All Films are Free and Open to the Public*

-These Films are not suitable for a young audience-

October 26: Onibaba

7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Japan, 1964, Dir. Shindo Kaneto, 103 min. A chilling tale of lust, murder, and the supernatural. The setting is late medieval Japan, during a period of incessant civil war. A poor woman, whose husband has gone off to war, and her mother-in-law eke out a miserable existence by murdering wounded samurai in order to sell their arms and armor. One warrior manages to escape this fate by seducing the younger woman, but this only spurs the mother-in-law’s jealousy and brings forth a demonic revenge. A Freudian vision of medieval Japan. In Japanese with English subtitles.

November 9: Interview

7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Korea, 2000, Dir. Byon Hyok, 107 min. A feature debut of Byon Hyok (Daniel Byun), Interview is marked by its experimental structure that combines a fictional narrative of a young director representing an alter-ego of himself. The film uses alternating documentary footages of interviews with real people that invite the audience to question the truthfulness of reality on screen, whether in fiction or documentary formats. This film continually explores and challenges boundaries between reality and representation, and truth and construct. Interview has been acknowledged as Korea’s first Dogma film. In Korean with English subtitles.

Novemeber 23: The Personals

7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Taiwan, 1998, Dir. Chen Kuo-fu, 104 min. Du Jiazhen (Rene Liu Jo-yin) is a single businesswoman who places a personal ad in the newspaper and receives over 100 answers. The film follows her meetings (which all happen in the same teahouse) with the respondents. She meets a broad variety of characters, including a writer who takes his mother along and a lesbian. During the many interviews, Jiazhen and her potential suitors disclose their emotions with humor and sadness. The director of the film has made a rare and successful move from film criticism to filmmaking. One can detect a self-reflective, but never invasive, style and structure. The famous Taiwanese rock star Wu Bai plays a cameo role. In Taiwanese with English subtitles.

December 7: From Beijing with Love

7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Hong Kong, 1994, Dir. Stephen Chiau Sing-Chi and Lee Lik-Chi, 89 min. One of the most popular actors in Hong Kong, Stephen Chiau stars as the unlikely super spy, Ling Ling-chat. In fact his name sounds like “007”, but it actually means “Frozen Frozen Rain.” Searching for a man with a golden gun who has stolen the cranium bones of China’s only dinosaur fossil, the Chinese 007 is sent to Hong Kong to work with a beautiful and dangerous local agent, Siu Kam (Anita Yuen). A film that is visually fun and self-ironic. In Mandarin with English subtitles.