A guide to films that express social realism or escapism; and a guide to culturally important films that may reveal a character's thoughts, dreams, or motivations.
Image from Yojimbo from giphy.com at http://gph.is/2uHnIaK
Asia: Thai, Japanese, South Korean and Chinese Movies
Black Coal, Thin IceAn ex cop and his ex partner decide to follow up on investigation of a series of murders that ended their careers and shamed them, when identical murders begin again.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonTwo master warriors track the mysterious and highly skilled thief of the legendary sword Green Destiny who they suspect is hiding in the governor's household, while the governor's beautiful daughter, who is keeping secrets of her own, fights against her coming marriage as she admires the freedom of the wudan masters.
Call Number: MOVIE CROUCHING
ISBN: 9780767861441
Publication Date: 2000
Kaidan/ KwaidanConsists of four stories of the supernatural based on Japanese folk material. In The black hair, a poor young samurai leaves his first wife to marry a rich woman. When he is unhappy in his second marriage, he returns to his first wife, who at first appears unchanged from when he last saw her. In The woman of the snow, a woodcutter is spared by a mysterious ghost-like woman in the snow, but must promise never to tell anyone what he has seen. In Hoichi, the earless, a blind musician-monk named Hoichi is commanded by a gathering of ghosts to sing the saga of their ancient deeds. The head monk paints Hoichi's body with prayer verses to protect him, but unfortunately overlooks Hoichi's ears. In In a cup of tea, a writer wonders what would happen to a person who drinks another's soul and finds out.
Call Number: MOVIE KWAIDAN
ISBN: 9780780023550
Publication Date: 1964
Oldboy/ Oldeuboi!After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Daesu is released and sets out to find his abductors.
Call Number: MOVIE OLDEUBOI!
Publication Date: 2003
Pale FlowerIn this cool, seductive jewel of the Japanese New Wave, a yakuza, fresh out of prison, becomes entangled with a beautiful yet enigmatic gambling addict. What at first seems a redemptive relationship ends up leading him further down the criminal path.
Call Number: MOVIE PALE
ISBN: B004NWPY6Q
Publication Date: 1964
Parasite / Kisaengch'ung / 기생충Kim Ki-teak's family are all unemployed and living in a squalid basement. When his son gets a tutoring job at the lavish home of the Park family, the Kim family's luck changes. One by one they gradually infiltrate the wealthy Park's home, attempting to take over their affluent lifestyle.
Call Number: MOVIE PARASITE
Publication Date: 2019
TampopoThe tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe.
Call Number: MOVIE TAMPOPO
ISBN: B01N126609
Publication Date: 1985
Tokyo StoryA self-centered couple is inconvenienced by a parental visit. When the mother falls ill, her children hasten to be with her.
Call Number: MOVIE TOKYO
ISBN: B019WMTWJ6
Publication Date: 1953
Tsubaki SanjūrōA group of young men set out to clean up the corruption in their town. They are joined by a scruffy, cynical samurai who doesn't fit their concept of how a warrior should look and act.
Call Number: MOVIE SANJURO
ISBN: B000K0YM0O
Publication Date: 1962
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past LivesA unique tale of a man embracing life's greatest mystery. Choosing to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside, Boonmee is visited by his dead wife as a ghost, and his lost son as a strange hairy beast with red glowing eyes. They've come to guide him to his final resting place, a cave where his first soul began. With a wry sense of humor and a humanist spirit, it's a magical tale of reincarnation, karma, and nature.
Call Number: MOVIE UNCLE
ISBN: B004Q0CHB0
Publication Date: 2010
Yojimbo"To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, the wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage."--Container.
Call Number: MOVIE YOJIMBO
ISBN: 0780022513
Publication Date: 1961
Image from AGirlWalks Home Alone At Night from giphy.com at https://giphy.com/gifs/film-a-girl-walks-home-alone-at-night-ana-lily-amiour-DtN1uKSucxxsY
Asia: West, South Asian and American Asian Movies
24 FramesIn his final film, Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami created a dialogue between his work as a filmmaker and his work as a photographer. A sustained meditation on the process of image making, 24 frames is a graceful and elegiac farewell from one of the giants of world cinema.
Call Number: MOVIE 24
ISBN: B07J3KHVRX
Publication Date: 2017
The Big CitySet in mid-1950s Calcutta and directed by Satyajit Ray, this story follows the personal triumphs and frustrations of Arati, who decides, despite the initial protests of her bank-clerk husband, to take a job to help support their family. With remarkable sensitivity and attention to the details of everyday working-class life, Ray gradually builds a powerful human drama that is at once a hopeful morality tale and a commentary on the identity of the contemporary Indian woman.
Call Number: MOVIE BIG
ISBN: B00CUKTGQM
Publication Date: 1963
CharulataSet in late 19th-century, pre-independence India, this film is about a woman's artistic and romantic yearning. It is about the lonely wife of a workaholic newspaper editor, Charulata, whose beautiful face masks a burning creativity. When her husband's poet cousin comes to stay with them, Charulata finds herself both inspired by him creatively and dangerously drawn to him physically. A delicate tale of a marriage in jeopardy and a woman taking the first steps toward establishing her own voice.
Call Number: MOVIE CHARULATA
ISBN: B00CUKTH34
Publication Date: 1964
A Girl Walks Home Alone at NightThe first Iranian Vampire Western ever made. A joyful mash up of genre, archetype, and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films and the Iranian New Wave.
Call Number: MOVIE GIRL
ISBN: B00SV06W4E
Publication Date: 2014
The Music RoomDirector Satyajit Ray brilliantly evokes the crumbling opulence of the world of a fallen aristocrat desperately clinging to his way of life. His greatest joy is the music room in which he has hosted lavish concerts over the years, now a shadow of its former vivid self. An incandescent depiction of the clash between tradition and modernity, and a showcase for some of India's most popular musicians of the day, The Music Room is a defining work by the great Bengali filmmaker.
Call Number: MOVIE MUSIC
ISBN: B004WPYO7Y
Publication Date: 1958
A River Called TitasThe Bengali filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak's stunningly beautiful, elegiac saga concerns the tumultuous lives of people in fishing villages along the banks of the Titas River in pre-partition East Bengal. Focusing on the tragic intertwining fates of a series of fascinating characters - in particular, the poignant story of an entire community's vanishing way of life.
ISBN: B00006IXD0
Publication Date: 1973
TaxiJafar Panahi drives a yellow cab through the vibrant streets of Tehran, picking up a diverse group of passengers in a single day. Each man, woman, and child candidly expresses his or her own view of the world while being interviewed by the curious and gracious driver.
Call Number: MOVIE TAXI
ISBN: B0167PDLVQ
Publication Date: 2015
The Wind Will Carry UsWhen an engineer and his colleagues from Tehran arrive in a remote village in Iranian Kurdistan, the locals assume they are archaeologists or telecom engineers. Even though they form an ambivalent relationship with the community, the visitors' behavior and keen interest in the health of an ailing old woman appear strange, and their true motives are shrouded in mystery.
Call Number: MOVIE WIND
ISBN: B00006ADES
Publication Date: 1999
Image from Tampopo from filmlinc.orgat https://www.filmlinc.org/films/tampopo/
Image from Black Coal, Thin Ice from thecinemaspacecake.wordpress.com at https://thecinemaspacecake.wordpress.com/tag/black-coal-thin-ice/
Image from Parasite from twitter.com at https://twitter.com/lostinfilm/status/1211444987721928704
Image from Oldboy from giphy.com at https://giphy.com/gifs/arrowvideo-movie-film-oldboy-L331Yd0FFfYvHklzvy
Image from Oldboy from /film-grab.com at https://film-grab.com/2014/02/28/oldboy/#bwg1254/77816