watchonline

Amongst the heady line-up of Korean summer horrors, Shin Tae Ra's grisly psychological thriller Black House has emerged as the critical and box office winner of 2007. Shin previously directed the low-budget sci-fi Brainwave in 2005, but the scope for his new title is greater, as it is co-produced by Japanese filmhouse Kadokawa Pictures and will be seeing a wide theatrical release in Japan. Delving into the investigation of a psychotic killer, the film is based on popular Japanese writer Kishi Yusuke's novel, which was previously adapted for the big screen in 1999 by Morita Yoshimitsu. Featuring top-notch production design and photography, Black House is a stylish, spine-tingling exercise in modern gore and goth that goes straight for the root of fear. Acclaimed actor Hwang Jung Min (You Are My Sunshine) underacts to great effect, creating a remarkably restrained character opposite the chilling performances of Kang Shin Il (Hanbando) and Yu Seon (The Wig). When insurance investigator Jeon Jun Oh (Hwang Jeong Min) arrives at the scene of his latest case, a run-down house in the middle of nowhere, he is greeted with the sight of a little boy hanging from the ceiling. The child's father, Park Chung Bae (Kang Shin Il), is jumpy, shifty, and eager for insurance compensation, while frail, grieving mother Shin Yi Hwa (Yu Seon) bears signs of physical abuse on her body. The police close the case as suicide, but Jeon suspects Park of foul play and fears that his wife may be the next target. Projecting his own troubled past into the case, Jeon wants to he­lp Shin escape from danger, but soon discovers the shocking repercussions of digging too deep.

"Trivial Matters" is exactly what it says on the packet. Collection of seven vignettes -- some sad, others sardonic -- have little in common other than a concern with the small things of life and a throwaway attitude very typical of its creator, Pang Ho-cheung (aka Edmond Pang). Hard on the heels of his much more formal "Exodus," pic may baffle those unfamiliar with the Hong Kong writer-director's insouciant oeuvre, and will be best appreciated at Asiaphile events. Pic did so-so biz on local release last December. Though Pang is best known internationally for "Isabella" (in many ways his least typical movie), "Trivial Matters" is closer in spirit to earlier pics like "Beyond Our Ken" and "AV," in which the audience is never sure just how seriously to take what's being shown. Based on Pang's own collection of short stories, it also has a scattergun success rate that's also very characteristic of him. Best segs are the third and fifth, both of which are constructed as mini-movies rather than casual jottings, and are nicely played by their separate casts. In "It's a Festival Today," a girl (Isabel Chan) moves in with her b.f. (Eason Chan) but doesn't want to have sex; finally, at Christmas, she agrees to service the poor guy, which leads him to desperately hunt the calendar for other holidays in order to get pleasured again. Punchline is blackly witty. Tone in "Ah Wai, the 'Big Head,' " the longest and most slickly lensed of the bunch, is more wistful, sketching a friendship between two high schoolers -- quiet Kei (Stephy Tang) and spacey Ah Wai (Gillian Chung) -- as they drift apart but meet again at a class reunion. Stretching from the late '80s to the mid-'90s, and based around their shared liking for Cantopop legend Danny Chan, yarn has a lovely period feel and subtle chemistry between the two actresses that packs quite an emotional punch at the end. Other segs range from passing gags -- thesp Edison Chen as a dirty-mouthed pick-up artist -- to self-consciously clever playing with film form. The simplest, but with a piercing moment of sadness, is the sixth episode, "Recharge," centered on a hotel-room assignation between a businessman (Chapman To) and a Mainland hooker (Zhang Zheng). At a time when Hong Kong production has become increasingly conventional and middle-class, pic is notable for its natural, undogmatic approach to nudity and drug use. Casting of names in all the segments -- including Mainland helmer Feng Xiaogang in a witty cameo as the account manager of an assassination agency -- maintains interest for auds able to recognize the faces. However, general viewers are more likely to agree with pic's opening intertitle: "Life is rather trivial in hindsight."

The story follows Senior Inspector Kong Tze San and Sergeant Tsui Fei and the cases they solve. The story also delves into Tsui Fei's past and his relationship with Mo Chiu Kwan. Kong Tze San is also in a love triangle with Man Yuen Lan and Tong Sum Yu.

kshow