Film descriptions
Courtesy of the Denver Film Society
May 24, 2007
Page 1 | 2 | 3

(2006/Philippines) Director: Auraeus Solito Cast: Nathan Lopez, JR Valentin, Soliman Cruz, Neil Patrick Sese, Ping Medina Time: 100 minutes Language: Filipino with English subtitles

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
4:30 p.m., Saturday, June 2

Shooting in the makeshift buildings and noisy streets of Sampaloc in Manila, first-time director Auraeus Solito could almost be channeling the spirit of the late Lino Brocka. The 12-year-old Maximo (‘Maxi,’ played by the entirely disarming Nathan Lopez) lives with his criminal father and two macho brothers and effectively replaces his late, lamented mother.

It’s not just that he does most of the housework and cooking, but also that he likes dressing in women’s clothes. Everything is fine until Maxi strikes up a friendship with a figure of a kind never seen before in Sampaloc: an honest, righteous cop. The problem, of course, is that policeman Victor is dedicated to jailing Maxi’s father and his boys, and to making an honest man of Maxi himself.

(2007/Japan) Director: Satoshi Kon Cast: Megumi Hayashibara, Toru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Toru Furuya, Akio Ohtsuka Time: 90 minutes Language: Japanese with English subtitles

29-year-old Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a Japanese research psychotherapist whose work is on the cutting edge of her field. Her alter-ego is a stunning and fearless 18-year-old “dream detective,” codenamed “Paprika,” who can enter into people’s dreams and synchronize with their unconscious to help uncover the source of their neurosis.

At Atsuko’s lab, a powerful new psychotherapy devise known as the “DC-MINI” has been invented by her brilliant colleague, Dr. Tokita, a nerdy overweight genius. Although this state-of-the-art device could revolutionize the world of psychotherapy, in the wrong hands the potential misuse of the devise could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate the dreamer’s personality while they are asleep.

When one of the only existing DC-MINI prototypes is stolen, Paprika knows it is being used to destroy people’s minds and she must track it down as quickly as possible.

(2006/South Korea) Director: Kim Ki-duk Cast: Sung Hyun-ah, Ha Jung-woo, Park Ji-yun Time: 96 minutes Language: Korean with English subtitles

Time
8:30 p.m., Saturday, June 2

Attractive Seh-hee is having problems with her boyfriend, Ji-woo. After two years, their relationship has entered a period of weariness. Though faithful to his fiancée, Ji-woo eyes other women and, in bed, seems to get excited only at the thought of making love to other partners. Seh-hee can’t cope with the mounting jealousy that has begun to take over her life and decides to dramatically change her look to become a new woman and hope her boyfriend will fall in love with her all over again.

She enters a plastic-surgery clinic and then vanishes for six months, long enough for the scars to heal, leaving Ji-woo hurt and confused by her disappearance.

Resurfacing as the new waitress at the coffee shop Ji-woo frequents, Seh-hee – now calling herself See-hee – tries to seduce him. But between them stands the spectre of Ji-woo’s lost girlfriend, with whom he is still very much in love.

(1997/Japan) Director: Hayao Miyazaki Cast: Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Bill Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett Smith Time: 133 minutes Language: English [AsiaXpress' review]

This award-winning film by director and animator Hayao Miyazaki is one of two films ever to break $150 million at the Japanese box office (“Titanic” is the other). Utilizing the latest computer technology, Miyazaki has created a beautiful, fluid, visually stunning work – perfectly suited for an outdoor viewing under the starlit Colorado skies. “Princess Mononoke,” set in ancient Japan, uses a story loosely based on Japanese folklore to explore some very serious themes about indigenous people struggling to maintain their way of life and the conflict between man and the natural world. This animated epic, adapted for American audiences, features the voices of Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Bill Bob Thornton and Jada Pinkett Smith.

This screening will take place at the Martin Luther King Library’s sunken garden theatre. The show will start at dusk and admission is free.

More descriptions >>