Tag Archives: Real-life incident

Starring Jerry as Himself (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little family project

Posted on February 16, 2025 by kaist455

Documentary film “Starring Jerry as Himself” works as a sort of sincere public service while also being a little family project for its main human subject. For showing what happened to him a few years ago, the documentary takes a … Continue reading →

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September 5 (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): The Munich Massacre of 1972 via live TV 

Posted on February 8, 2025 by kaist455

It is always interesting to watch professionals doing their best, and “September 5” is one of such prime examples. Here are a bunch of professionals simply trying to do their job well under one extraordinary circumstance which drew the attention … Continue reading →

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Black Box Diary (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): As she steps forward as a survivor

Posted on February 3, 2025 by kaist455

Documentary film “Black Box Diary”, which received an Oscar nomination a few weeks ago, is a personal chronicle of one young female journalist who courageously stepped forward in public as the survivor of a high-profile case in Japan several years … Continue reading →

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Dahomey (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The return of stolen artifacts

Posted on January 5, 2025 by kaist455

Mati Diop’s documentary film “Dahomey”, which won the Golden Bear award when it was premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival early in last year, mainly revolves around a number of stolen artifacts finally returned to their home country. As … Continue reading →

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Harbin (2024) ☆☆(2/4): A piece of dry and mediocre seriousness

Posted on December 29, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Harbin” is so serious and ponderous that it often forgets engaging or entertaining its audiences. I do understand that it attempts to be a grim and gritty period drama about one famous real-life national hero and his … Continue reading →

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Blitz (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): A boy and his mother under the Blitz

Posted on November 26, 2024 by kaist455

Steve McQueen’s latest film “Blitz”, which is currently available on Apple TV+, tries to bring some new and interesting elements into its familiar genre territory. Although it does not always work, the movie often distinguishes itself with a number of … Continue reading →

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Breaking (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A desperate man driven to the breaking point

Posted on September 10, 2024 by kaist455

“Breaking” is a small but tense drama about one desperate man who resorts to a drastic measure as driven to the breaking point. Inspired by a tragic real-life incident which did happen in Marietta, Atlanta in 2017, the movie patiently … Continue reading →

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Land of Happiness (2024) ☆☆(2/4): A tediously fictional presentation of one big trial

Posted on August 24, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Land of Happiness” is a tediously fictional presentation of one historical trial which does not interest me much on the whole. Mainly because recent other South Korean film “12.12: The Day” (2023), which is incidentally set in … Continue reading →

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Hijacking 1971 (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): An intense South Korean hijacking drama

Posted on June 27, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Hijacking 1971” almost made me forget that it is actually the heavily fictionalized version of one real-life incident. While I and many other audiences knew where it will eventually land, we all were gripped by its dramatic … Continue reading →

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Soup and Ideology (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Eating together as family despite all that

Posted on May 29, 2024 by kaist455

Documentary film “Soup and Ideology”, which I belatedly checked out yesterday, presents a modest but intimate personal story closely associated with the dark past of the Korean history during the 20th century. As its Korean Japanese director tries to understand … Continue reading →

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