Films recommended by PIFF officials

Gala Presentation

The Fair Love

Director Shin Yeon-shick / Korea / 115 / 2009

He is an older bachelor in his 50s. She is a bright-eyed college student in her 20s. He is 26 years older than her, and she is his friend’s daughter. An odd pairing, to be sure. Nevertheless, the two connect and feel that fate has brought them together. The film portrays the couple’s relationship in a lovable and comical way.

Korean Cinema Today

Tokyo Taxi

Director Kim Tai-sik / Korea, Japan / 76 / 2009

Ryo, the lead vocalist of a Japanese band, is terrified of airplanes. When his band has to fly to Korea for a performance, Ryo decides he will take a cab from Tokyo to Seoul. But will he be able to get to the venue safely all the way from Japan in a taxi, and just how will he accomplish this feat?

Wish

Director Lee Seong-han / Korea / 110 / 2009

When Jjang-gu enters a high school in Busan, he becomes a member of a gang called the Monsters. It’s not that he was dying to join. Rather, it was just a natural move for a high school boy at the time. By being one of the Monsters, Jjang-gu learns to be a real man.

A Window on Asian Cinema

Prince of Tears

Director Yonfan / Taiwan, Hong Kong / 122 / 2009

Based on a true story, the film is set in 1950s Taiwan during a period known as the “White Terror,” when fervent anti-communism campaigns and witch-hunts swept through the island. Four people - air force pilot Sun, his devoted wife Jin, the couple’s friend Ding and the general’s intriguing wife Ou-Yang - are caught in a drama of love, betrayal and compromise.

Judge

Director Jie Liu / China / 100 / 2009

A judge who lost his daughter, a woman whose lover is on his deathbed and a car thief who is sentenced to death - these three characters are all contemplating life, each for different reasons.

At the same time they are also trying to take life away from someone else. Through judge Lao Tien’s eyes, the film suggests that pain is aggravated when revenge is conducted in the name of the law and that it can only be cured by forgiveness.

Where Are You?

Director Masahiro Kobayashi / Japan / 104 / 2008

Ryo Kawai is a skinny teenager who’s just been fired from his job at a convenience store. He has no way to pay for his mother’s funeral or the two months’ worth of hospital bills she left behind. That’s why Ryo comes up with an intriguing idea to steal his mother’s corpse.

Karat 14

Director Parviz Shahbazi / Iran, Germany / 87 / 2009

Farid, an owner of a jewelry shop, is filled with fear. Five years ago, he turned over Mansour to the police for trying to sell stolen items. With Mansour released from prison, Farid is afraid that his enemy will come back for revenge.

Farid becomes extremely paranoid as time passes, but Mansour has other reasons for returning to town.

New Currents

I’m in Trouble!

Director So Sang-min / Korea / 98 / 2009

The main man in this film is a self-proclaimed poet who is adventurous and has a carefree spirit. He has an on-and-off relationship with his girlfriend and flirts with an editor of a publishing company.

Inspired by the director’s own experience, the movie has a cheerful and comical atmosphere.

World Cinema

Angel at Sea

Director Frederic Dumont / Belgium, Canada / 86 / 2009

Bruno and Marie take their children and move to Morocco. One day, Bruno calls his youngest son Louis and tells him in confidence that he will soon commit suicide.

From then on, Louis becomes devoted to saving his father. Meanwhile, Marie gets tired of putting up with a husband with a mental disorder.

The White Space

Director Francesca Comencini / Italy / 98 / 2009

Maria is a single, divorced woman who is working as a teacher at a night school.

After a date with her new boyfriend, Marie unexpectedly gets pregnant but decides to end the relationship.

The baby is born prematurely, and as she stands in front of the room of incubators, Marie feels as though she has entered a “white space” in her life.

Z

Director Costa Gavras / Algeria, France / 127 / 1969

During a peace conference in 1963 Greece, left-wing Congressman “Z” gets killed in a car accident. A young prosecutor investigates the case and finds out that Z was in fact murdered by the police and radical rightists. This film is a classic that won the Jury Prize at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival and the Best Foreign Language Film at the 1970 Academy Awards.

Special Programs in Focus - Dario Argento Falling in Giallo: Truth of the Invisible

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

Director Dario Argento / Italy, Germany / 96 / 1969

Sam Dalmas, an American writer living in Rome with his girlfriend, witnesses an attack on a woman by a mysterious black-gloved assailant. Spurred by what he’s seen, Sam cooperates with the police to find out who the murderer is. But soon he discovers that both he and his girlfriend are the killer’s new targets.