Hi everyone, and welcome to Asian Screens, a blog created for an English course at INAsup. The aim of this website is to share some "miscellaneous observations on Asian film industries" as the tagline states. Well, ok, but what does it mean exactly? To explain it, allow me a short self-introduction. My name is Lila, … Continue reading Introduction
The Great Wall of China
One of the first posts of this blog was about the Chinese box-office, and it would be sad to bring this WordPress to an end without bidding it farewell. Which is why I'm about to explain a few of the things that make it so special. You might have heard about it, but China now … Continue reading The Great Wall of China
Obsessive Takashi(s) – Part 2: Shimizu’s never-ending Grudge
With this Takashi, we'll get to explore what is known around the world as J-horror: Japanese horror fiction. Indeed, the horror genre is said to have its own peculiar treatment in Japan, focused on psychological horror. Obviously, it also draws from the local folklore. One of its major figures it the yurei, a revengeful spirit … Continue reading Obsessive Takashi(s) – Part 2: Shimizu’s never-ending Grudge
Obsessive Takashi(s) – Part 1: Miike’s never-ending frenesy
A couple of months ago, we talked about a two-faced Takeshi (namely Kitano). This time, I'll tell you about two obsessive Takashi. Yes, I know, it's easy to get confused. What is the first name that comes to your mind if I talk about Japanese cinema? If you're not an afficionado of L'Etrange Festival and … Continue reading Obsessive Takashi(s) – Part 1: Miike’s never-ending frenesy
How zombies are biting their way into Korea – Part II: Invasion
Yesterday, we talked about the possible decline of thriller as a major genre in South Korea and the success of Train to Busan at the domestic and international box-office. Today we'll see how it has impacted subsequent film production. Obviously, there is talk of a Train to Busan 2. But even before the development of … Continue reading How zombies are biting their way into Korea – Part II: Invasion
How zombies are biting their way into Korea – Part I: First Bite
The Korean film industry is largely recognised as one of the best these days, which I'd say is quite impressive considering it doesn't have much of a cinematic heritage to promote. I mean, of course there are old Korean movies, there's even a whole YouTube channel dedicated to share them. However, there was no Korean … Continue reading How zombies are biting their way into Korea – Part I: First Bite
The Curious Case of One Cut of the Dead
Today is the French release of the Japanese zombie comedy One Cut of the Deadby Ueda Shin'ichiro. But did you know that before invading our country, those creatures had a pretty incredible trajectory? Here's the story of how they got to infect the whole world. 25 000$. No, it's not missing a zero anywhere. That's … Continue reading The Curious Case of One Cut of the Dead
Two-faced Takeshi
In Western countries, Kitano Takeshi is known as a critically acclaimed actor and director, whose movies are imbued with melancholy and a deadpan sense of humour. Among his most notable works, we could name Violent Cop (his first feature film as a director), Sonatine, Brother, the Outrage trilogy... All are yakuza movies in which he … Continue reading Two-faced Takeshi
3 Chinese movies that shouldn’t have grossed that much
For over a year, I've been entrusted with a very tedious yet fascinating task at EastAsia: writing for the box-office column. Every Thursday evening, I am to check which movies are trending in either Japan, South Korea or China and write a report about it. While each time I get to be more enthusiastic about … Continue reading 3 Chinese movies that shouldn’t have grossed that much
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