Sunday 9 January 2011

Bong Hit & Wild Wood

Korean director Joon-ho Bong has made some great films so I'm a little embarrassed about my tardiness in watching his latest feature Mother. Like Memories of Murder before it Bong infuses this film with a strange melange of comedy, tragedy and thriller as Mom starts investigating a seedy murder her simple son has been arrested for. Beautifully shot and perfectly balanced this is a sinister, darkly comic thriller that's pinned by an amazing performance by Hye-Ja.

Funky Forest is an extremely odd comedy that could really only come from Japan. Comprising a large number of disparate vignettes - think Python's Meaning of Life on shrooms - there's a bit of everything thrown in during it's 150 min runtime: there's animation, sketches, musical numbers, stand up routines, aliens, short stories and sitcom scenes oh and some really peculiar Cronenberg-esque musical instruments. It's genuinely funny but be prepared to be befuzzled like never before.

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