My Ongoing Education

Here's another double dose of upcoming films I want to see, with slight descriptions of Kim Ki-duk's Arirang and Manoel de Oliveira's The Strange Case of Angelica.



Kim Ki-duk's Arirang

One of the world's most interesting filmmakers, South Korean Director Kim Ki-duk faced inner turmoil following the filming of his last film, Dream. During the production of Dream, Actress Lee Na-young nearly died while filming a scene where her character attempts suicide by hanging. The resulting emotions caused the director to look inward; not making another film until he found the "cure" for his problems with Arirang, an experimental documentary about his filmmaking career.

I find the cause for Kim's newest film to be mightily interesting. That a director could become all but crippled by his emotions toward his films, and then find his way back to making films by creating a documentary of those feelings, is an intriguing idea. To be able to view such a film should be a treat.


Kim Ki-duk's Filmography:
Crocodile
Wild Animals
Birdcage Inn
The Isle
Real Fiction
Address Unknown
Bad Guy
The Coast Guard
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...And Spring
Samaritan Girl
3-iron
The Bow
Time
Breath
Dream
Arirang



Manoel de Oliveira's The Strange Case of Angelica

Director Manoel de Oliveira's newest film is a supernatural love story. The film tells the tale of a photographer that falls in love with the visage of a woman recently deceased. ...And that is both all I know, and all I need to know.

I was a bit late to the Oliveira bandwagon. The director had made dozens of films over his career, one that has now reached a span of 80 years, by the time I saw my first Oliveira film Eccentricities of a Blonde Haired Girl. After watching the film, I found in the special features section of the dvd a seven minute preview of The Strange Case of Angelica. Ever since, I'm a fan.


Manoel de Oliveira's (Selected) Filmography:
Belle Toujours
Eccentricities of A Blonde Haired Girl
The Strange Case of Angelica



A couple more posts about films I'm looking forward to seeing are forthcoming; as well as posts about Japanese Director Obayashi Nobuhiko's experimental horror film House, and the newly released remake of Fright Night.