Oriental Charm of Asian Movies
...ovie is Love Letter. This film is remarkable as a real Japanese romance, like a one-sided love for classmate, or a cold but softhearted character of a leading actor. It was bought to show as a film in America in the title of “When I close my eyes”. The story is about Hiroko Watanabe's fiance, Itsuki, who died two years earlier in a mountain climbing accident. While looking through his high school yearbook, Hiroko who is in grief, decides to write a letter to him using his old school address. Surprisingly, she receives a reply, not from her dead fiance, but from a woman also named Itsuki whom had known Hiroko's husband in school. A relationship develops between the two women as they continue to exchange letters and share memories of the dead Itsuke. The last one is Be With You. This film has a simple structure expressing the nature of love between memories and the present. It is the third most-seen movie of 2004 in Japan which is directed by Nobuhiro Doi. The film is transformed from the best-selling novel “Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu”. The story is about the death of Mio, the wife and the mother of Takumi and Yuji. However, she promises them before her passing that she would be back again when the rains come. A year later, as the miracle brings her return again, she has lost her memory. Their family life is rebuilding happily until Mio finds her old diary, which reveals the secret of her past and they must say goodbye when the rainy season ends. Many Chinese movies express their own fantastic fighting; it is called “Kung Fu”. Kung Fu movies are full of wonder and excitement with various emotions such as adventure, action, fantasy, and romance. These three Chinese movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002), and House of Flying Daggers (2004), are well and widely know. They were nominated for Oscars awards. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee, is his most successful work by receiving 4 Oscars awards including Best Foreign Language Film. The story is about the disappearance of a magical jade sword that stimulates a wonderful quest for the missing treasure. Li (Chow Yun Fat) is sad because of the loss of his jade sword. His unrequited pursuit of Yu (Michelle Yeoh) is further complicated by the mysterious intrusion of an assassin. The identity of the assassin is gradually revealed as another poignant tale of love begins. Hero, directed by Zhang Yi Mou, is a film which is full of beautiful scenes, Chinese costumes and hidden philosophy. The story is begun when China is split in six kingdoms. The King of Qin (Daoming Chen) wants to unite them. He summons the nameless hero (Jet Li) that killed his three greatest enemies - Moon (Zhang Ziyi), Broken Sword (Tony Leung) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) - to visit him in his palace and tell how he defeated the enemies. In the end, the King questions the truth of the story told by the hero. He believes that the hero really wants to kill him. House of Flying Daggers, also directed by Zhang Yi Mou, is about when, in the Ninth Century, the Tang Dynasty in China is weak and corrupt. An army of rebels called "The House of the Flying Daggers" fights against the government military forces, and steals from the rich to give to the poor people. Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), two captains of the government army, plot a scheme against the rebels using the blind dancer Mei (Zhang Ziyi) to approach their leaders, but their love for Mei leads them to a tragedy. Kore...