The Pop Five is a series of reader-created top five lists. Today's contribution comes from Lynn S. :
Around the late '90s, I became engrossed with Asian film: It all began with
Jackie Chan, and from there, it led me on a journey from Hong Kong to Tokyo to Shanghai to Seoul to Bangkok.
Out of my collection, I want to share my current
Top Five Asian Film Favorites:
1. The Good, The Bad and The Weird -- It's spaghetti western, Korean style. Starring the fabulous
Jung Woo-sung,
Lee Byung-hun , and
Song Kang-ho , it's an exciting, clever film set in the wilderness of 1930s Manchuria. The grand pursuit is treasure, of course. Taking a note from
Sergio Leone, this movie is packed with clever action, wit, fantastic backdrops, epic chases and teases. I haven't been this thrilled about a Western in a long time.
2. In the Mood for Love -- This Chinese film by auteur
Wong Kar-wai stars two legendary Chinese film stars,
Tony Leung Chiu Wai and
Maggie Cheung. What makes this film amazing is not only the collective talent of the director, actors and crew but its palpable, sumptuous spontaneity of direction and what isn't said. The film made me appreciate the subtle behaviors of people, unspoken absence of pretentious, zealous romanticism and the forms of light, color, shape and atmosphere. Tony and Maggie are a favorite pairing of many Chinese directors, and I think in this movie we come to understand why.
3. Red Beard --
Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard features the magnificent
Toshiro Mifune. It examines the problem of social injustice and how transformation occurs through hardship. Kurosawa's films are instructive and a speak a personal philosophy that embraces humanism and existentialism. We may not always like change, but every now and again, our comfort zones need to be erased to experience what it means to be human and grow.
4. Come Drink With Me -- The Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong was once the equivalent of Hollywood, and its movies have inspired filmmakers all over the world. Come Drink With Me stars
Pei-Pei Cheng, who you may remember as the Jade Fox from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Come Drink With Me is a martial arts action film directed by
King Hu and is considered one of the best Hong Kong films ever made. Set during the Ming Dynasty, Cheng plays a general's daughter who sets out to rescue her brother from bandits. What's remarkable to me is that Pei-Pei Cheng, like Jackie Chan, hailed from the Peking Opera. She was a trained ballet dancer and not a martial artist. Watching her performance is like watching a grand, action-packed ballet.
5. The Way Home -- The Way Home is an emotional and poignant film. The story introduces us to 7-year-old Sang-woo, who is left with his grandmother in a remote village while his mother looks for work. Sang-woo, a child of modern convenience, quickly conflicts with his old-fashioned grandmother and the rural surroundings of South Korea. He lashes out in anger, perceiving that he has been abandoned. This movie is about a boy and his grandmother carving out a new relationship. Sometimes it's painful to watch, and sometimes you find yourself yelling at the screen. It plucks the heartstrings in a genuine and unpretentious way.
Want to contribute to the Pop Five? Send your list to
popcandy@usatoday.com with your name, screen name and city.
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