CHINESE MOVIES
Bodyguards and Assassins (Action, Drama)
Nominations:
4th Asian Film Awards- Best Film, Best Actor, Best New Comer, Best Supporting Actor, Best Production Designer, Best Costume Designer
2009 Hong Kong Film Critics Society- Best Film
Awards:
2009 Hong Kong Film Critics Society- Best Actor, Recommended Film
Box office:
China Box office: Over USD42,000,000
Hong Kong Box office: Over USD2,120,000
Before Dr Sun Yat-sen can become the “father of modern China” by instigating the revolution of 1911, his life is almost cut short when he arrives in Hong Kong for a secret meeting to establish a united anti-Qing revolutionary front. Prior to his arrival, an elite army of assassins is dispatched by the Qing Court to ensure that Dr Sun does not leave the British Colony alive. Men with lethal weapons are posted across 13 blocks along the pier where Dr Sun is about to land.
Getting wind of the assassination attempt, a newspaper editor and a local tycoon (Wang Xueqi), who secretly support the revolution, take it upon themselves to protect Dr Sun at all costs. They recruit a motley group of ordinary-looking men and women who actually possess extraordinary fighting skills to protect Dr Sun from the moment he arrives at the pier.
Over the course of a single day, their friendships, convictions and abilities are sorely tested as they fight selflessly to protect a man they barely know. These bodyguards together fulfil their mission by saving Dr Sun’s life. They never consider themselves heroes or even revolutionaries, but their selfless devotion irrevocably changes the course of world history.
Cast: Donnie Yen, Wang Xueqi, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Nicholas Tse, Leon Lai
Director: Teddy Chen
Duration: 120 min (tbc), Edited
Category: PG-13
Language: Cantonese and Mandarin
Subtitles: Chinese and English
Territory: Limited Asia, Middle East, New Zealand and Australia only
JAPANESE MOVIES
Nodame Cantabile The Movie I (Romantic Comedy)
Box office:
Japan Box office: Over USD36,000,000
Japan’s most popular screen couple is back! Ever since the quirky piano wunderkind Megumi Noda and her brilliant mentor-conductor Chiaki splashed onto the pages of the comic book Nodame Cantabile, it became a cultural phenomenon. Followed by an immensely popular live action television serialisation, fans are now rewarded with a two part movie extravaganza from director Hideki Takeuchi.
Chiaki (Hiroshi Tamaki) has just won the prestigious Platini International Music Competition leading to his appointment as conductor of Le Marlet Orchestra. Despite the orchestra having had a previously exceptional reputation, he finds to his dismay nothing more than a ragtag group of lacklustre musicians with no unity or passion.
Meanwhile, Chiaki’s girlfriend Nodame (Juri Ueno) spends her days absorbed in piano practice. Along with friends Frank (Eiji Wentz), Tania (Becky) and Kuroki (Seiji Fukushi), all are pinning hopes on passing a tough examination at their music conservatory. When Nodame is asked to perform with the Le Marlet, she is beside herself with joy… until gifted pianist Rui (Yu Yamada) takes the part from under her.
For both Chiaki and Nodame, each face an uphill battle – the outcome of which could make or break their musical careers...
Cast : Juri Ueno, Hiroshi Tamaki
Director: Hideki Takeuchi
Category: PG-13
Duration: 119min, Theatrical
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: Chinese and English / English
Territory: Worldwide except Japan & US
The King of Jail Breakers (Drama)
Film Festivals:
2009 Okinawa International Movie Festival
2009 Pusan International Film Festival
2009 International Film Festival of Marrakech
2009 Asia Pacific Film Festival
After a long career as an actor, screenwriter and comedy performer, director Itsuji Itao presents his debut feature with this quirky and entertaining drama.
1920’s Japan. Masayuki Suzuki (Itsuji Itao) is a habitual fugitive, constantly escaping whenever incarcerated in prison.
His numerous break outs have earned him the title “The King of Jail Breakers”. But no matter how many times he flees, he always seems to end up behind bars once again. This cycle of escape and recapture baffles one of his prison guards, Kanemura (Jun Kunimura), who slowly starts to unravel the mystery of this peculiar character...
Cast : Itsuji Itao, Jun Kunimura
Director: Itsuji Itao
Duration: 93min, Edited
Category: PG-13
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English only
Territory: Worldwide except Japan
KOREAN MOVIES
Fortune Salon (Romantic Comedy)
In this lighthearted offering, funnyman Im Chang-jung partners with Korean cinema sweetheart Park Ye-jin in the slapstick comedy adventure, Fortune Salon.
Tae-rang (Park Ye-jin) is a gifted clairvoyant who runs a fortune telling service in Seoul’s upmarket Cheongdam district. With a client base of the city’s elite, she helps guide her customers in the matters of love. Despite her business success, her personal life is the opposite, having being doomed to bad luck when it comes to dating.
But there may be a light shining on Tae Rang’s future happiness, as her clairvoyant mother predicts her daughter will find contentment with a partner born May 16th, 1978.
Enter ex-jockey Seung-won (Im Chang-jung). This young man can’t believe his luck when he finds some money on street, but in his distraction is hit by a car driven by Tae-rang. Scruffy and not too sophisticated, Seung is hardly the man of Tae-rang’s dreams, but with his birth date an exact match to her mother’s prediction, she has no choice but to take a chance on fate...
Cast : Park Ye-jin, Im Chang-jung
Director: Kim Jin-young
Duration: 119min, Theatrical
Category: PG-13
Language: Korean
Subtitles: Chinese and English
Territory: Worldwide ex Korea, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore & Japan
