The 12th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (Open the link) will open Friday in the southwestern Seoul suburb of Bucheon for a 10-day run.
The festival organizers have invited 202 movies, many from genres rarely shown in theaters or other festivals. The following are five films hailed by leading critics for achieving a balance between easiness and an experimental spirit. Film critic Jeon Chan-il and festival programmers Park Jin-hyeong and Gwon Yong-min picked the films.
▽ Waltz with Bashir (Opening film from Israel)
"Waltz with Bashir" is an anti-war animated movie based on the story of the Israeli soldiers who backed the 1982 shooting rampage in Lebanon. This film also tells of the experience of director Ari Folman, who was an Israeli soldier at the time. It is rare for an animated film to compete at the Cannes Film Festival, but "Waltz with Bashir" did this year.
"`Waltz with Bashir` is a great film in that it is sensational, socially conscious and well-made. The film's color and the story's texture will provide a novel shock to Korean audiences, who are used to American and Japanese animated films".(Jeon Chan-il)
▽ Shadow Spirit (Japan)
The movie is based on a novel by Japanese mystery writer Natsuhiko Kyogoku. A vigorous man runs a bookstore but solves mysteries on the side. After the Second World War, corpses chopped to bits are discovered in Tokyo and police start an investigation, but the story enters an extraordinary phase beyond understanding.
"This film captivates the audience with a fabulous cast of Japanese television stars like Shinichi Tsutsumi, Abe Hiroshi and Kyoko Fukada, who are also well known in Korea, and a storyline highlighted by humor and thrills". (Gwon Yong-min)
▽ Om Shanti Om (India)
"Om Shanti Om" was the biggest hit from India's Bollywood last year. Set against the backdrop of the Indian entertainment industry in the 1970s, a famous star dies in a conspiracy perpetrated by a producer. Thirty years later, however, she is reborn as a famous celebrity and seeks revenge on the producer. "Om Shanti Om" is acclaimed for its well-crafted plot that tells the love story of a couple.
"Starring Bollywood's sexiest actor Shahrukh Khan". (Park Jin-hyeong)
▽ Cloud 9 (Germany)
A German remake of the Korean film "Too Young To Die", this movie is about a love triangle among aged people. A woman married for more than 30 years has an affair with a 76-year-old man. "Cloud 9" won the Heart Throb Jury Prize at Cannes this year.
"The film has a number of provocative scenes, but leads the audience to a fresh perspective that aged people can form love triangles and engage in passionate love". (Jeon Chan-il)
▽ Dream Team (Thailand)
"Dream Team" is a sports film set in a Bangkok kindergarten. Instead of the tension of competition that appears frequently in the genre, the movie focuses more on the humanism of coexistence.
"Dream Team is a sports film that makes the audience reflect on friendship, life and family. And it stars kindergarteners playing tug of war!"
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