Tony Rayns Movies
- 2001
Jang Sun-Woo is one of Korea's most acclaimed and controversial filmmakers, dealing with such taboo subjects as sexual fetishism (Gojitmal, Indian Fetish Cult), teenage delinquency (Bad Movie), and political and military corruption in Korea (A Petal). British film critic and documentarian Tony Rayns directed this documentary, which examines Jang Sun-Woo's career, the themes of his work, and the philosophical undertow of his films. Along with extensive interviews with Jang Sun-Woo, Rayns also speaks to the director's colleagues and admirers, and features extensive clips from his work, as well as footage of the man working on his next picture, a lavish martial arts drama. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jang Sun-Woo, Park Joong-Hoon, (more)
- 1998
- NR
Photographer Chris Doyle, who along with his own still work, has served as a cinematographer for Wong Kar-wai, Chen Kaige, and Edward Yang, makes his directorial debut with Away With Words, a very loosely plotted story that concerns what Doyle has called the two most important things in his life -- women and beer. Asano (Tadanobu Asano) hops off a ship in Hong Kong and makes his way to The Dive Bar, owned by a gay alcoholic named Kevin (Kevin Sherlock). Asano starts knocking back brews with Kevin and two of his friends, Susie (Mavis Xu) and Georgina (Georgina Dobson), and each begins to drift into flashbacks about their childhoods and previous experiences. Away With Words had its world premiere at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened in the Un Certain Regard category, provoking a wildly mixed reaction from critics and audiences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tadanobu Asano, Kevin Sherlock, (more)
- 1996
This entry in the British Film Institute-sponsored international centenary celebration of cinema, in which noted directors presented a documentary or feature film exemplifying their country's cinematic history, represents Russia and was directed by Sergei Selyanov. A personalized entry, it features film clips of some of the country's greatest films between the late 1800s and 1940 including those of Eisenstein, Dovzhenko and Pudovkin. The only post-1940 clip comes from Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker. The clips are grouped together in eight segments and are designed to illustrate the Russian character as described by Nikolai Berdayev in his turn-of-the-century book Russkaja Ideja. According to Berdayev, to be Russian is to be simultaneously cruel and kind, despotic and anarchistic, religious and atheistic, eager to serve and equally rebellious. Selyanov found Berdayev's theoretical paradox in the Russian soul inspirational and it led him to try and illustrate it through film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tekst chitaet Alexei Petrenko
- 1996
This entry in the British Film Institute-sponsored international centenary celebration of cinema -- in which noted directors presented a film exemplifying their country or region's cinema and its origins -- represents China, or rather one aspect of the country's large body of work as seen through the eyes of Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Kwan. Kwan uses the film as not only a means to examine the role of homosexuality and transgender issues in the films of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, but also to look at the evolving roles of family and cultural attitudes in Chinese society. Kwan begins the film on a personal note by recounting a number of early and innocent encounters with men that led to his fascination and love of them. As a film-buff Kwan was fascinated by the almost exclusively male world of Hong Kong action cinema and by the almost homoerotic (in his opinion) bonds formed by the heroes. To further his theories, Kwan also cites the widespread use of swords, knives and other phallic symbols in the story. From there Kwan moves to films in which women portray men and men portray women (as in Farewell My Concubine), ending the film on a more personal note. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
