The Empty Hands (2017)

Director: Chapman To

Notable Cast: Stephy Tang, Chapman To, Yasuaki Kurata, DaDa Chan, Stephen Au

OSAKA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2018:

One of my absolute favorite guys in Hong Kong, funny man (typically) Chapman To, continues his directing career with his sophomore effort, the karate focused arthouse drama, The Empty Hands, an uneven but ultimately satisfactory film about a downtrodden woman who rises back to strength through her martial arts outlet after her father (Kurata) passes away and an estranged man (To) shows up to challenge her in ways she never expected.

Right off the bat, to shine on the positives, The Empty Hands has a lot going for it: martial arts, sleek cinematography, a very unique sounding score throughout, and a very strong performance by Stephy Tang, who will win over some naysayers after this one. I really enjoyed (most) of Chapman To's direction and choices, but where the film shines more or less it also fails in the same departments: overstated symbolic shots, melodramtic orchestral swellng to sell emotionl beats and a few cartoonish acting bits throw this one off-kilter too many times to count.

It is sort of mind boggling to see the film show such skill in craft while simultaneously being jarred by some amateurish editing and fight choreography. In the same fight scene, I'd be wowed one moment and shake my head in embarrasment the next. It was a really odd mixed feeling felt througout the entirety of its short ninety minute runtime. I felt is if I knew as much about the characters as I did as little as well. Again, it's good, but so up and down with its quality.

Another great performance is by Yasuaki Kurata, who is able to deliver his entire performance in Japanese, as he is Japanese and the character of Stephy's is of Japanese ethnicity in the movie. The two shared some truly quiet and beautiful moments together. I also really enjoyed the element of karate and how serious the film took its philosophy, although a much better film on such a topic comes to mind, but that is for another discussion.

Ultimately The Empty Hands left me feeling mixed as I repeat myself here, but I did enjoy my time with the film. I think it could have used a little better craft and the screenplay could've been fleshed out to a stronger degree, but where it stands, the movie falls a little more than it stands and that's a real shame. I am still quite excited to see where To goes next as a filmmaker, as he most certainly has the potential to be great.

Written by Josh Parmer

Bad Poetry Tokyo (2017)

 Director: Anshul Chauhan
Notable Cast: Shuna Iijima, Takashi Kawaguchi, Orson Mochizuki

OSAKA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2018:

Bad Poetry Tokyo is a somewhat obscure project that only came to my attention when a Facebook page suggestion popped up in my feed, saying that a friend has liked 'Bad Poetry Tokyo'. With virtually no interest I clicked out of boredom and found myself suddenly very curious about the film due to the constant updates and intriguing behind the scenes stills leading up to its premiere at another festival. When I realized I would be covering the film, I found my excitement peaking. What followed was a 2 hour masterfully shot and executed mental beatdown at the hands of first time director, Anshul Chauhan. With only a handful of short works under his belt, I was completely taken aback by the sheer craft and thought put on display here.

Neomanila (2017)

Director: Mikhail Red
Notable Cast: Eula Valdez, Timothy Castillo, Rocky Salumbides, Jess Mendoza

OSAKA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2018:

Being only his third feature, with a ripe 25 years of life under his belt, Mikhail Red is quickly making his name as one of the hottest Asian filmmakers to look out for, particularly with his previous work, Birdshot, being selected as The Philippines entry to last year's Oscar's Foreign Language competition. Young, yes, but there is no doubt that Red is a cinematic force to be reckoned with, and there is no question in my mind that if Neomanila is presented to the right set of eyeballs, it is bound to become an international hit. Going toe-to-toe with the giant industry known for cranking out the best modern thrillers, South Korea, Red and his crew crafts one of the finest thrillers to emerge out of Asia in many years.

種をまく人 (2016)

Director: Takeuchi Yosuke

Notable Cast: Kentaro Kishi, Sozuno Takenaka, Tomumitso Adachi


2017年の年度末に、SNSである男性が彼の撮った映画を送ってくれた。その時私はまだその年一番良かった日本映画の候補となる映画を探していたため、喜んで受け取ってその「種をまく人」という不思議な映画を何の前情報なしに見始めた。それがこんなにも幸せな体験になるとは。

私がここ10年見た中で一番胸がえぐられるような映画であり、同時に監督としてのデビュー作品の中で最高レベルの映画の一つだった。比較できるような他の監督や自然についての映画は別として、これは私にとっては一番の褒め言葉だが、この世にはイ・チャンドン監督のような人物がもう一人いて、彼の名前は竹内洋介だ。 これは彼らが同じであるという意味では全くないが、彼は真のヒューマンドラマの新たな達人として姿を現し、大衆から注目を浴びるべき人物だ。

竹内洋介はジャン=フランソワ・ミレーやフィンセント・ファン・ゴッホなどの有名な絵画からアイディアを得ている。映画のタイトルが二人の画家の絵画にちなんでいるように、「種をまく人」は親密だった家族が、子供たちの叔父で疎遠になっていた光雄がある日現れたあとに起こる悲劇によって崩壊していくことに焦点を当てている。ネタバレせずに言うと、ここで見えるのは私が見た中で最も美しく、ピュアで自然体な演技の一つである。演技は正に真に迫っており、時にドキュメンタリーを見ているように感じる。映画全体を通しても、不自然であったり、失敗したような展開などは一つもない。

この作品はあまり派手さもなく、とても静かな映画ではあるが、家族という名の絵画を巧みに描き、家族であること、それに伴う幸と不幸をとても繊細に表現している。不運なできごとがすべての歯車を動かしていくが、それによって試される信用やその影響は、一つの出来事がどれだけのことを引き起こしうるのかを、見る者に教えてくれる。この作品はたまらなく悲しいが、同時に同じだけ魅惑的で、美しい。映画でこれほど悲しみと幸せを同じくらいの度合いで感じたのは随分と久しぶりだ。

私は種をまく人が類を見ない映画体験であり、映画ファンは全員見るべきだと間違いなく言える。
どこかのインディーズレーベルがこの作品を見つけて正当なリリースをすることを本当に願っている。素晴らしいヒューマンドラマの中の上位にふさわしい作品。人間の影も光も全て、ありのままに描いた作品である。（翻訳 山口彩花)

Originally Written by

Josh Parmer

Translation by

Yamaguchi Ayaka