HIFF Spring Showcase
By Melissa
When I was growing up, my parents would buy a pass to the Hawaii International Film Festival and go crazy, watching about 10 movies in one weekend. These are my simple, local-style parents...who would make me stare open-jawed as they explained the intricacies of (mostly) Asian films. I thought, Who are these people? And since when are they so hip on film culture?
Well, fast forward to 2010. Since I'm a foodie blogger, the Hawaii International Film Festival invited me to check out some of their food-centric films. I was intrigued. I'm not yet my parents, so you won't find me watching 20 hours of movies in a span of 48 hours...yet. But I decided to check out a few of them.
I'm glad I got to see Cafe Seoul first. Have you heard about this film? I had not, and didn't read up on it before I went to see it. It's about a about a small confectionary/dessert shop in Seoul called "Peony Hall," run by the eldest of three brothers.
The brothers have been living separate lives since their parents were killed in a car accident. When the shop is in danger due to the owner being harrassed by local gangsters, the brothers pull together and reconnect as a family (sort of). Throughout most of the film, you see only the oldest two of the three brothers, and it's never made clear why they are estranged.
An element in this film that made me connect to it was the Japanese character who is a dessert journalist. On a whim, he goes to Seoul, gets an assignment from his editor to find something interesting, and through a series of coincidences, he ends up at "Peony Hall." He falls in love with the quaintness of the place and their delicious mochi.
Above, the two brothers share memories of their parents' confections. To the right is Mrs. Yang, an old-time customer who claims her spot in the corner, and the journalist. Aside from the drama and the mafia, this movie reminded me a lot of the Little Oven story, and I related to both Mrs. Yang and the journalist fighting to save the store.
It was a cute film! Admittedly, not everyone loved it, but most of us did. We were so jazzed when we exited the theater that we all went to Little Oven for dessert, and continued discussion over the movie.
I can't wait to see my next couple of movies, "Chef of the South Polar" and "Today's Special." I hope you get to see some of the movies, too, whether they're food-related or not. My niece went to see "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and loved it.
Hawaii International Film Festival Spring Showase
Regal Dole Cannery 18
Now thru April 22
Buy tickets online, by phone, or in person. Click here for ticket information.
Urban Mix Plate
April 21st, 2010 at 6:10 am
I used to lurve going to foreign films at FIRST. Not too many of those now in Hilo
But still enjoy watching BUT not that many in a weekend.
April 21st, 2010 at 6:46 am
Went to see Villon's Wife on Sunday. A Japanese film with Tadanobu Asano, a prolific actor with a ton of films to his credit. I don't remember the actress's name but she won the latest Japanese version of Academy Awards. A very enjoyable film of a resilient and forgiving wife married to a womanizing and drunkard writer in post-war Japan.
HIFF has so many films to choose from and it is very difficult to decide which one to attend. I usually go see the Asian films and like you, will be attracted to the ones involved with food. My favorite was "Kamome Diner" which played a couple years ago of 3 Japanese expatriates running a musubi restaurant in Finland. It was a great character study film. I'm still waiting for it to come out in DVD.
April 21st, 2010 at 7:03 am
Ynaku, guess you gotta fly over!
hemajang, I didn't hear about Kamome Diner, but running a musubi restaurant in Finland? That's pretty cool!
April 21st, 2010 at 3:04 pm
In the past I tried see movies at the HIFF and they were always sold out. About a year or two ago I saw a foreign film called "Mongol" about Genghis Khan. I liked it but it was the first of a 2 or 3 part series. Anyone hear anything about the sequels? Are they out or were they ever made?
April 21st, 2010 at 3:36 pm
@che, a sequel to Mongol is due out soon from what I hear. Great epic film, eh? Tadanobu Asano is Genghis Khan in Mongol. As I mentioned in my previous comment, he is everywhere, in fact, Asano is in two HIFF films, Villon's Wife which I saw and another one that was highly acclaimed in Japan about mountain climbing? And last year at HIFF, I saw him in "The Snow Prince."
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:28 am
hemajang, thanks for the info.
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
che, hemajang, you guys too good!!
April 22nd, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Oohhh Melissa! I'm so jealous! Cafe Seoul was one of the movies I wanted to see! I wanted to also see the Chef of South Polar and Today's Special too!! Oooh you're so lucky to see all three! Hahah... I couldn't afford to see more than one, so I saw Waking Sleeping Beauty, since I'm a Disney fan!! I love film festival time but it gets so hard to decide which ones I want to see, in the past a whole bunch overlapped! I wish it lasted longer!
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:01 am
HNL2LAS, I never made it to Chef of the South Polar....had too much work to do! But they were good movies. Cafe Seoul was cute!