JUST ONE LOOK (YAT LUK CHE)
Director: Riley Ip
Hong Kong | 2002 | 96 mins | 35mm | color | Cantonese with English subtitles | Cast: Gillian Chung, Charlene Choi, Shawn Yu, Wong You-nam, Anthony Wong

A valentine to 70s Chinese cinema - from Bruce Lee mania and Chang Cheh kungfu flicks to the Taiwanese melodrama tearjerkers - Riley Ip's Just One Look evokes a time past with a loving eye for details and an infectious sense of wonderment. Set in the sleepy island of Cheung Chau in HK, the coming-of-age film follows Fan (Shawn Yu, Infernal Affairs 2) who sells sugar cane sticks outside a cinema. Growing up believing that his policeman father was killed by the local thug (Anthony Wong), Fan enrolls in a martial arts school and vows revenge. As Fan slowly faces up to the truth of his father's death, he finds himself caught in a romantic tangle with two girls (Chung and Choi of Canto-pop sensation Twins). Ip peppers the film liberally with film clips from that era, as well as treasured paraphernalia like hand-painted billboard posters and tinted photographs of stars. Just One Look is a paean to one of the golden ages of Chinese cinema, a period gone but not forgotten. A treat for everyone who loves Chinese movies - and movies for that matter.

"An utterly charming retro romancer set against a background of '70s movie going. Full of lovely touches and well-etched performances." - Variety

"One of the best Hong Kong films of 2002... Sometimes hilarious, sometimes melodramatic, Just One Look always rings true." - San Francisco Chronicle

155 East 3rd St, NY
(between Aves A & B)
Tel: 212-591-0434

August 5, Friday, 7:30pm

The Oho State University
1871 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio
Tel: 614.292.3535

November 22, Tuesday, 7:00pm

The winner of the Crystal Bear Award for Best Feature Film at the Kinderfilmfest of the 2004 Berlin Film Festival is a heartwarming fable about the redemptive power of selfless gestures. In a poor village outside of Manila, nine-year old Magnifico does his best to bring joy to his family despite difficult circumstances. His sister is handicapped, his brother just dropped out of college, his parents struggle to make ends meet, and his grandmother thinks the end is near. But Magnifico remains optimistic. He secretly prepares for his grandmother's death by tailoring a dress for her and building and painting a beautiful coffin. He takes his sister to a street festival, which pleases her so much that she actually speaks for the first time. Time and again, Magnifico's kindly actions help his loved ones rise above the squalid conditions in which they live - until an unexpected tragedy changes everything. - Tribeca Film Festival 2004

"Fine, understated performances." - New York Times

July 1, Fri, 7.30pm

July 6, Fri, 7.30pm

A box-office hit in Indonesia that features a taboo-breaking gay kiss, ARISAN! is a feel-good satire that works on every level without sliding into sentimentality. While the kiss between the two male characters may seem mild by Western standards, it is nonetheless groundbreaking for a film that depicts gay life from the largest Muslim country in the world. Arisan! follows three thirty-something good friends who, when faced with crises that threaten to cripple their lives - one is forced to come out to his mum - have to make tough choices. The film gently pokes fun at the pretensions of the nouveau riche, as Nia diNata's light touch keeps the picture humming along.

"Deftly combining playfulness with a strongly affirmative look at gay life." - Variety

"I do not want children until there is peace" - a verdict inflicted on Shyama, a Sri lankan Tamil woman, by her rebel husband just before he disappears to fight. In this masterwork, auteur Mani Ratnam tackles the bloodcurdling strife between the Sinhalese Buddhist official state government and the Tamil Hindu separatist minority in Sri Lanka. He skillfully fuses popular song-and-dance, melodrama and a political conflict to comment on how the personal is deeply affected by the heavy, violent hand of the political. Applying the rousing music of the brilliant A.R. Rahman to the beauty of Buddhist iconography, Ratnam has painted in lush color landscapes of the heart.

"Inhabiting a stylistic space somewhere between the Hindi mainstream and artier New Indian Cinema... Mani Ratnam comes up with another enjoyable melange of socially aware entertainment." - Variety

"A rare, highly innovative and often excellent new movie... writer-director Ratnam realizes it with great flair and potent lyricism. The acting is intense, the visuals sumptuous and thrilling." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

May 6, 7:30pm

May 11, 7:30pm

J.S.A, which broke all box-office records in Korea upon its release, announces the arrival of a major talent. Subsequent films, Sympanthy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy (which won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival), firmly establish Park Chan-Wook as one of the most exciting and boldest filmmakers working today. Set at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, the mystery thriller follows a fatal shootout that leaves two North Korean soldiers dead and threatens to shatter the uneasy truce between the two sides. Park deftly explores the tenuous friendship between guards on opposing side of the divide, while sustaining a taut level of suspense and tension that drives the film toward its tragic denouement.

"A surprisingly moving, tightly wound thriller." - New York Times

"The basic plotline of this pungent military drama... comes tightly tailored in the Hollywood style. Its interior, by contrast, is airy, subtle and playful, and showcases the best elements of modern Asian cinema." - The London Guardian

"A highly atmospheric mystery-drama." - Variety

"Park Chan-wook...there isn't a more ideal candidate to be Jean-Pierre Melville's heir, or a better genre director working today." - Time Out New York

155 East 3rd St, NY
(between Aves A & B)
Tel: 212-591-0434

35 Avenue at 36 Street
Astoria, NY
Tel: 718.784.0077

The Oho State University
1871 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio
Tel: 614.292.3535

May 11, 7:30pm

5 Seymour Street
Montclair, NJ
Tel: 973.783.4964

With a quiet unflinching eye, the award-winning MAYA tackles the tradition of child abuse which still devastates many girls in rural India. While MAYA depicts the practice matter-of-factly, it is filled with so much humanity that it acknowledges both the complexity of the tradition and the despair it engenders. At its heart is the innocent and resilient Maya, a 12-year-old whose life begins to unravel when she experiences her first period. Amid much fanfare, she is offered up by her doting family to the local priests in a deflowering ritual that "blesses" her coming of age.

"A beautifully photographed, quietly well-acted study of a ghastly tragedy." -- LA Weekly

"An undeniably powerful story." -- Variety

"Told in the timeless, surreal, free-associating and somber spirit of the finest coming-of-age movies, such as Francois Truffaut's 400 Blows and Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse." -- The Vancouver Sun

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Director Mina Shum re-teams with her lead actress Sandra Oh (SIDEWAYS, UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN) behind her breakthrough debut film, DOUBLE HAPPINESS, in this winsome dramedy. Oh plays a lonely single mum who is overworked and underpaid. Her daughter Mindy (a delightful debut by child actress Valerie Tan) begins to dabble in Tao magic spells and potions to improve her motherÕs life. Chaos ensues as Mindy, oblivious to her botched efforts and misfires, seems hell-bent on getting her mum a boyfriend. With bold magic-realist strokes, Shum has conjured up a gem that is at once heartwarming and believable. Co-sponsored by the Museum of Chinese in the Americas.

"With the sure hand of a skilled miniaturist, Mina Shum has crafted a nearly flawless film." -- Toronto Star

"The story is smart and entirely charming in intent and execution." -- Jam! Movies

5 Seymour Street
Montclair, NJ
Tel: 973.783.4964

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Winner of the Best New Director and Best Supporting Actor (Tony Leung Ka-fai) awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2003, the film deftly mixes the absurdity of screwball comedy with the fast and furious action of HK thrillers. When their wives and girlfriends leave for a quick trip to Bangkok, four buddies act with military precision and gangland swagger to get laid. A hilarious game of hide-and-seek follows as the men try to avoid getting caught.

THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED (YUDAN TAITEKI)
Director: Izuru Narushima
Japan | 2003 | 110min | 35mm | color | Japanese w/ ES

Described by Variety as a thriller in the style of Yasujiro Ozu, the film is a sensitively observed relationship between Jin (Koji Yakusho), a small-town police detective, and Neko (Akira Emoto), a seasoned cat burglar. Starring two of Japan's best actors, Yakusho and Emoto, who have also appeared in EEL and SHALL WE DANCE, the film follows the cat-and-mouse game between the two loners, a bond spanning over 10 years that both frustrates and yet feeds them.

Avenue of the Arts
465, Huntington Avenue, Boston
Tel: 617.267.9300

35 Avenue at 36 Street
Astoria, NY
Tel: 718.784.0077

January 12, 7:30pm

6415 Montgomery Street/Route 9
Rhinebeck, NY
Tel: 866.FILMNUT (345.6688)