Thanks Maa is a realistic tale based on 12,660,000 true stories about children abandoned by their parents. Throughout the film we see how street children find a home, a mother, and an environment which cares for their existence in a metropolitan city like Mumbai.
Counterfeit recounts the true story of villagers that resorted to counterfeiting recently introduced 1,000 yen bills to help save the village. Throughout the film, we see how the villagers accomplished this and the consequences of their actions.
Dear Doctor is a simple film about a small village that has lost one of its most important members and is thus trying to discover the cause of his disappearance. As the film progresses, we understand his importance to the village and why they feel so connected to him.
Fantasia may be over, but we’ve still got a couple of reviews, so why not post them?
Make no mistake, Genius Party Beyond is pretty. In fact, it’s often gorgeous. If all you care about is seeing something pretty and well-animated, then you don’t really need to read this review. You will like Genius Party Beyond. On the other hand, if you seek something more than just pretty visuals, well…you’re not exactly going to be satisfied. In fact, if you come into this collection of animated shorts from Studio 4°C expecting a satisfying narrative or interesting characters, you’re going to be pretty disappointed. All five of the shorts that make up the film are nice to look at, but only the fourth, directed by Tatsuyuki Tanaka, is actually nice to watch.
Fine, Totally Fine, directed by Yosuke Fujita, teeters on the balance between slice of life and zany comedy, reaching a sort of compromise between the two that fully satisfies neither but ultimately won me over anyway. The film tends to fall too easily into the realm of the overly quirky but redeems itself by the end through some understated and observant turns in the characters’ relationships.
Hectic. That word best describes Crazy Racer, directed by Ning Hao. The film punches through its slightly overstuffed plot with a speed and manic energy, constantly burning through exposition and throwing out new crazy concepts. It is likely to leave audiences entertained but also tired, slightly worn out from all its twists and turns.
It is easy to make an entertaining film that seems to endorse or condone police brutality. Much more difficult is making an entertaining film that remains ambivalent on the subject. The Chaser, directed by Na Hong-jin, is just such a film, a morally complex and extremely tense thriller that captivates the audience until the very end.