Hi. This entry starts at SEVENTH. So, I strongly suggest you to read the PART 1 here. Click, click, click!
[SEVEN] I CAN SPEAK | KOREA | COMEDY; WAR; ENGLISH; TEACHING
STRONG POINT | It breaks everybody’s heart when we first learn and truly digesting the term ‘Comfort Woman’ . In I Can Speak, the main lead (cast by Na Moon Hee), an old woman who’s well known for having many complaints reported to the Local Affairs Authority office happened to be one. This movie moves you as you follow her struggles to learn a language so foreign to her; English, for the sake of telling the whole world how barbaric the Japanese soldiers were during the World War II. What captivated me most is the strong yet strange (initially) relationship between the old woman and her fortuitous English teacher, a lonely young man (cast by Lee Je Hoon) living a meticulous life (the officer who works in Local Affairs Authority office) together with his younger brother. She needs a teacher while the young man needs someone to feed his younger brother daily. When the timing is right, destiny lies in front of their eyes. Be prepared for excessive verbal spouts from a self-called granny!
[EIGHT] MISS GRANNY | KOREA | COMEDY; FAMILY; MUSIC; WAR
STRONG POINT | Miss Granny makes you wanting to reminisce your life when you are young and green. The magic is brilliant! Who would have thought of such a story line. It’s true as the saying, in every human being lives a kid who never want to grow old. In this case, it happened to the granny! One late evening, she (cast by Na Moon Hee) visited a photography studio store and had her burial ceremony picture taken. However, when it flashed, she got herself trapped in her 20’s body (cast by Shim Eun Kyung). It’s a time travel theme in a different technique! That is why I said, the writer is brilliant. This grandma is the one casting for I Can Speak. So to simply put, she’s a hit in Korea entertainment industry, I reckon.
[NINE] QUEEN | INDIA | TRAVEL; MARRIAGE; COMEDY
STRONG POINT | Right after finishing the movie, I stayed and look through my laptop screen, feeling overwhelmed. Rani (cast by Kangana Ranaut), the main character was just any ordinary girl living in your neighbourhood. In fact, you might be as well share same characteristic as her, ladies! Who wouldn’t want to spend a life with a loved one, travel to Europe, eat good food, go shopping, literally everything that put you out of daily grind. Who wouldn’t want to experience all that? I am not an exceptional. But if you are Asian (literally living with an immense tradition practitioner), the idea of letting a woman travel solo might not be in every elder’s favour. But, Rani just burged through the tradition and followed her heart! It’s cool though seeing her living in a hostel with guys! Hahahahaha. Watching her reminds me of something. If you be honest and explain any odds with your lifestyle, the other party will not feel threatened. Just like how those men took care of Rani and respected her as woman. Asian woman.
[TEN] MUALLAF | MALAYSIA | LOVE; RELIGION; FAMILY
STRONG POINT | Muallaf is a love story between a Chinese Christian male teacher (cast by Brian Yap) and a Malay Muslim (cast by Sharifah Amani) girl who escaped home with her younger sister. If you know Yasmin Ahmad, a unique director from Malaysia, you must have known her film’s philosophy. She always use films and commercials to critic damages happening in society, especially in Malaysia. There is one scene I cannot help but remember up till now. The younger sister likes to do something out of ordinary and always unexplained. So, one day her teacher asked her to draw a flower. Instead, she drew an elephant. So, feeling enraged, the teacher called the sister and complained. Later, when they (both sisters) were about to sleep, they faced each other, laying under the quilt. The sister asked for the incident happened at school regarding the elephant painting. The younger sister replied, she drew elephant because she thought of the excerpt they read from Al-Quran, surah al-Fil (Elephant). The sister was taken aback. Then she whispered something. People get scared over things they don’t understand, so don’t do that again in front of your teacher and schoolmate. What about the male teacher? He was the saviour for both sisters. Poor sisters. So, he left Christianity and embraced Islam, feeling enlightened by how beautiful Islamic faith is through both sisters.
[ELEVEN] BAD GENIUS | THAILAND | SCHOOL; TEENAGE; STUDY
STRONG POINT | Guys, I always love Thai movie! Especially those with Mario Maurer as the main cast. They are always one step ahead. Bad Genius is boosting their standard on par with those films from Hollywood and Amir Khan’s Three Idiot, Taare Zameen Par, PK and the latest, Dangal. If you’re studying for exams and striving to finish your thesis, Bad Genius might burn and motivate you to go forward and finish what you have started! At least put a fullstop to your student-life life chapter! Hehe. You would also want to be as genius as the the main girl (cast by Chutimon). I started blaming myself for watching too much K-dramas and drunk in Google webs when I was her age. Sigh. If and only if! Cheating in exam is not that interesting and monetizing if not for the brilliant plan these high schoolers had planned. Anyway, that makes a true brainy! Cunning, smart and business minded. Full package! I am a teacher (if you don’t know) and my career had been depressing me lately but seeing how the main girl eventually ended up applying for education school, I feel soothed. Hehe.
[TWELVE] THE TEACHER’S DIARY | THAILAND | SCHOOL; TEACHER; RURAL; LOVE
STRONG POINT | You will want to have just 5-6 kids in a rural classroom where internet is nowhere to be found, supermarkets is miles away and the only company you have is the crickets sound at night. That’s what I feel when I watch this movie. I was not yet a teacher that day but had such a dream. Maybe because I was inspired but how much Teacher Ann (cast by Laila Boonyasak), a female teacher transferred from a town school merely for having a star tattoo on her arm. Imagine if I need to paddle to school, fighting with typhoon and took out corpse tucked under toilet! I will not want to experience any! However, the warmth from the kids is what I want to feel, to own, to experience. And of course, as the genre suggested, this is a pure love story depicting between Teacher Ann and Teacher Song (cast by Sukrit Wisetkaew) in a different time frame. They both did not one another but the diary (written by Teacher Ann during her time teaching in the floating school before she resigned) keep them connected. Teacher Song who’s heart broken of love and had to transfer to rural school motivated himself by reading the diary. Beautiful plot huh! Watch on your own for the ending. I don’t want to spoil.
So, lastly I hope you could watch all these recommendations, be motivated again and ready to rock the world! Oh, don’t forget check out the PART 1 here. Click, click, click!
