Tag Archives: Prostitution

Flowers of Shanghai (1998) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Distant but exquisite anyway

Posted on February 15, 2026 by kaist455

Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 1998 film “Flowers of Shanghai”, which was released in South Korean theaters in last week, often requires some patience from you for good reasons. As your average arthouse movie, it is slow, distant, and opaque in terms of … Continue reading →

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The Pregnant Tree and the Goblin (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A haunting invocation between documentary and fiction

Posted on February 2, 2022 by kaist455

It is not so easy to categorize South Korean documentary film “The Pregnant Tree and the Goblin”, which was finally released in South Korean theaters in last week despite having its local premiere in 2019. At first, it simply seems … Continue reading →

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Blow the Man Down (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little crime comedy drama in Maine

Posted on April 1, 2020 by kaist455

“Blow the Man Down”, which won the Best Screenplay award at the Tribeca Film Festival early in last year and then was recently released on Amazon Prime Video, is a little crime comedy drama packed with enough local mood and … Continue reading →

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The Bacchus Lady (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): Miss Yoon Abides

Posted on October 10, 2016 by kaist455

Here is to you, Miss Yoon Yeo-jeong, who is indubitably the best thing in South Korean film “The Bacchus Lady”. While the movie itself often steps back from its main subject and stammers around other things, this wonderful actress did … Continue reading →

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The Immigrant (2013) ☆☆☆(3/4): A rich, somber classic melodrama from a bygone era

Posted on October 12, 2014 by kaist455

 Right from its evocative opening shot, “The Immigrant” takes us into the era when many poor, desperate people struggled hard in a world which was not as generous to them as they hoped. They might have some bright hopes about … Continue reading →

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Fading Gigolo (2013) ☆☆1/2(2.5): A little more than sex for cash, so to speak

Posted on September 21, 2014 by kaist455

 As a comedy about the world’s oldest profession(and the second one), “Fading Gigolo” caresses, curdles, massages, and tickles its story and characters while not going a lot into its carnal affairs. Although it occasionally shows humor and poignancy while handling … Continue reading →

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Concussion (2013) ☆☆☆(3/4) : Deviation with coffee, talk, and sex

Posted on June 27, 2014 by kaist455

 It has been a good life for her and her family, but now she finds herself getting suffocated by her daily life. As she feels her discontent growing inside her day by day, she decides to try something different, and … Continue reading →

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Life, Above All (2010) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : This girl’s hard life

Posted on April 2, 2012 by kaist455

Looking back at when I watched “Life, Above All”(2010) in last December, I can discern that I am a more jaded adult than I think. At one point in the story, I wondered for a while if its heroine really … Continue reading →

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