Elisheva
Scotland
Acceptance of difference and problems caused by those quick to judge
Cho-san has both learning disabilities and autism, needs his routines and works in a supported facility. He also has a great mum and difficult neighbours.Every bit of this rings true with my experience working and volunteering with people with learning disabilities, including the complicated decisions aging parents make to ensure their sons and daughters are settled.
Please don't watch this to be heart-warmed. Please watch this to better understand a bit more of the extra difficulties so unnecessarily created by those who see difference and look for reasons to condemn.
(The tags currently include mental illness. There is no mental illness depicted in this film. The distress felt by Cho-san and some of the housemates when confronted by loud noises, angry neighbours or disruption to their routine is part of their learning disabilities, not mental illness. These are distinct things.)
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Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Far too many toxic elements in the story
Spoiler heavy. This could have been so much better. Cinematography and technical aspects were good. The mismatched friendship had promise at the beginning and could have been a good start but only to a completely different story. Ai Di's story could have been great if he'd been allowed to stay away and rebuild a better life.Instead we start with someone barely above the legal age limit but very inexperienced in relationships and an older mafia underling (actors' age gap is 10 years and if the novel made the characters' less it wasn't mentioned in the series) who really should know better. He gives some token resistance on age - enough to show he understands that it is wrong - and then dives in. He doesn't even do that on the risks his criminal family will bring to the kid he repeatedly calls Kiddo.
Add in (fake) amnesia, (not fake) short term memory loss (which they keep saying is temporary but show no signs of that), time jump for prison cause the kid was coerced by the mafia to take the blame for a murder he didn't commit, another young man who gets free from the mafia but is carried back in literally kicking and screaming but it's all fantastic because the man who dicked him around for years finally decided to kiss him.
Seriously? All for an absolute kitchen sink mess of a plot which says EVERYTHING will be forgiven for a first love.
The fandom really will ignore any red flag situation or behaviour if there are cute boys kissing.
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A series worth of feelings
This is a gentle, beautiful story of two high school girls and their feelings for each other. The lead actresses co-wrote and directed it. They're a couple in real life and their connection as friends and life partners shines through. It was lovely to spend some time with these engaging and charismatic characters.The writing on this is very clever. They were able to work a lot into the 38 minutes without it feeling rushed or incomplete. There's more of Mar & Lei's story to tell, but this was enough. Whether Ward and Klio return to these characters or start something new, I hope these talented writers/directors/actors have many more opportunities to share their vision and talent with us.
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Uplifting
I've seen this three times now. At 32 minutes, it's a beautiful pick-me-up for down days. Every time I see it, I find new interconnections in its meaning. The plot is simple enough but everything else intertwines.This is a small gem with many facets. One of the characters, Kei, is a painter whose home is filled with "her" work (a commenter on youtube credits them to Takuya Sugiyama). They're dynamic and vibrant and make a great setting for this story about creativity, authenticity and belief in oneself. Their confidence is everywhere in the flat. Kei is likewise visually striking, beautiful, stylish and charismatic.
Riko, the other main character, is in contrast to all of this. She is shy, inexperienced and still struggling to find her voice as a writer and, in many ways, who she really is herself.
Together they tell a gentle love story between two women, emphasising how the support of another can help you find confidence in yourself. It's ultimately about taking risks, both in love and art. As befits a story about a visual artist, there's a beautiful, sensuous love scene too, one many directors could learn from.
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Hanataba Mitaina Koi o Shita
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If you only watch one het love story this year...
I'm careful in what I watch by way of het romance and initially We Made a Beautiful Bouquet wasn't high up my list for this year's JFF Online. A J-drama fan I follow on social media had seen it before and I liked what he wrote about it so I gave it a go.It doesn't do the things I dislike about most het relationship story lines. The FL isn't cutesy or ditsy. Shared enthusiasms are central to the dynamic between the two characters and the framing is also balanced between their POVs. It's one of the most equal relationships I've seen. There's something else I want to compliment it on but that would be a spoiler.
All in all, it's an excellent film. Solid writing and acting so natural I managed to forget I was watching a film during some of it. Oh right, this isn't happening. If someone said, "I'm willing to watch one het love story this year" this is one of two I'd suggest.
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Cinematic poetry
This is both a family drama of changing times in early 20th century rural Japan and a beautiful, poetic melodrama depicting a romanticised and idealised version of the life of an idealistic young man who, after his death, became one of Japan's most loved poets and writers. It feels a very fitting tribute for Miyazawa Kenji.So far in JFF Online I've seen three films which include arts and creativity - The Lines That Define Me (sumi-e ink painting), Single8 (1979-era amateur movie-making) and this one. In all of them, characteristics of the art form shape and inform the ways the stories are told. If Miyazawa Kenji had been a different writer, this would have been a different film.
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An ancient dance tradition, a gentle but determined child, and his family
Because there's no synopsis, I'll start with one.A shy young boy, Orca, becomes interested in Khon traditional dance because of a school art project. His mum is raising him and his sister Fern on her own so money is tight. She also knows how difficult this style of dance is as her mother was a teacher and she has painful memories of that time. Orca is determined nonetheless.
The young actor who plays Orca is delightful. It's a sweet story about the value of traditions, love and family. As Orca learns about the dance, so do we.
Information about Khon dance, which dates to the 1500s if not earlier, via this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khon. It is based on the Hindu Ramayana and its style of masked dance combined with music and narration.
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Less is so much more
The story for this is rich enough it could easily have been made into a full length film or series.It would have been less if it had. The acting and directing are exquisite. They convey everything they need to tell this story through a look, or a few words. Together, this richness and brevity make for an emotionally powerful story. There is nothing extraneous to dilute its impact.
Cinematography and music complement it well, making the perfect atmosphere.
Cannot recommend this one highly enough. It is quietly, gently, heartbreakingly beautiful.
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Gentle story of friendship and love
This wasn't anything fancy, just a simple and gentle story of friendship and love between a living person and a ghost. They told it very well. It has humour and genuinely touching, beautiful moments. The two leads were perfect for their roles.It was filmed in Onomichi and the last half hour or so conveys a strong sense of place in its own quiet, gentle way.
I was fortunate enough to catch this via the JFF+ Independent Cinema 2023 festival. This ends 31st October so it will likely be over before any finds my comments. It's worth looking for elsewhere and I hope to be able to spend time with it again.
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Comrades: Almost a Love Story
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Deservedly well respected Hong Kong classic, with extra meaning for fans of Thai series
This is the film which means so much to Jim in Moonlight Chicken and by inference to screenwriter/director P'Aof. So not just a great recommendation for a beautiful film but also a way to more fully understand his character's inner life and the significance of the song he used for the opening theme.Comrades doesn't disappoint. It's set in crowded urban environments but much of it is tightly focused, concentrating on two characters at a time. A conversation in a narrow hall at a party, in a car, the McDonald's queue. Its story isn't complex and, like Moonlight Chicken, has few events external to the key relationships. I first wrote that there's more pain in Comrades but that's not true. Moonlight surrounds all of its pain with so much love while Comrades is far lonelier. Its main characters become close because they're all they have in this city.
The film is calm, gentle, and quietly poignant. It takes its time and it's well worth some of ours.
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Wow
This is both a gorgeous pair of love stories and a crime mystery that's so intense it's difficult to watch at times. It goes deep on all the emotions, but it's worth trusting in it and giving it time, attention and patience.The writers, film editors and cast made a complicated plot line harmonize beautifully. I keep trying to talk myself out of writing that it's the best thing I've ever seen, but honestly, I can't think of another. Can't recommend it highly enough.
The site wants 500 words and I have many to go :) So things I really liked about it: great use of the theme music to underscore key emotional moments; that I could feel both Wu Yu's love for Tan Jiao and how she felt being in that love; the secondary characters who had their own growth and change; that as uncomfortable as the lowest lows were I've forgotten about them for the happiness and love; the gentle emotional sensitivity of many scenes.
I've not rewatched it yet but I gave it a high rating because there's plenty of complexity and things to watch out for through all the twists and because I really liked spending time with the four main characters and the music <3
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Serious social commentary wrapped in comedy wrapped in lakorn
Did all the reviewers panning this for depictions of bad behaviour fail to realise how many of them were called out, whether in the dialogue, reactions, context or consequences? Sometimes the call outs were gentle, like Chon's maa telling him something he did was wrong, sometimes they were bold, like Chon's maa in the last episode. Always appropriate to the context.It's a clear critique of toxic masculinity in several forms, including misogyny, objectification, peer pressure, outdated attitudes and of course homophobia. It's full of good messages and positive examples too.
This deserves to be watched with more attention than most here seem to have given it, including those who see it only as light-hearted fluff. It's laugh out loud funny, with the warm, open-hearted generosity of Thailand's best comedy, but it's also delivering some important messages.
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Spell-binding
This is a story about women.Parents having to deal with and overcome cultural homophobia is at its core, and there's a beautiful romance between men, but these complicated, determined women using whatever resources they can find to negotiate life within the constraints of cultural sexism carry the lakorn. Li is ferociously strong, Jia's knowledge of herbs is magic, Chan is whatever the moment needs, and sometimes that's a touch of comic relief, Bua's strength is in her gentleness, Pin is plucky and resourceful, Cai is always paying attention.
It's melodrama so everything is exaggerated. Settle into its rhythms, it's a wild ride and well worth it.
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Creativity, ingenuity and determination
Inspired by the then newly released Star Wars, a high school student is determined to make a film of his own and is focused solely on the special effects. Along the way, he and his friends use a lot of ingenuity and a bit of advice from their history teacher and a university film student to solve the problems needed to make their vision a reality and to give the story they tell meaning.It's left me with a big smile :)
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Nakak = Masks
This is going to be a bit vague and brief. I haven't figured out how to touch on its themes without diluting its poignancy or giving important things away. If you're considering watching it, just go ahead. It's only two hours and, in my opinion, well worth the time.*This review is also written from the point of view of a western viewer who pays attention but still has much to learn. Some of my sense of disorientation came from the combination of a short story's brevity and it clearly being made for an audience who readily understands context I had to piece in from elsewhere, like SOTUS hazing, or wonder about. None of this was a deal breaker by any means - that sense of old but new-to-me things to learn about is lovely - and everything which needed to came clear in the end.
The beginning is uneven. A 40 year old actor plays a 1st year uni student in flashbacks. His SOTUS seniors look like they have lived. A lot. It skips around so it's not clear if it's a bit of a ghost story or what's really going on.* There's a brief touch of tourism promotion for the Dan Sai district (Loei province, NE Thailand) and a decent amount of education about one of their customs, the masks of its title.
As the series progresses though, it more clearly becomes a moving and poignant short story. I'm not telling you about what. If you want to know, watch :)
Perhaps it is also a love letter to the Dan Sai people. I hope to learn much more about them.
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