HIFF movie reviews

This April marks Hawaii International Festival's 2010 Spring Showcase. HIFF has 2 showcases annually, one in the fall (which is the larger one) and one in spring.

For this showcase, HIFF did an excellent job of bringing down a wide range of films down from countries such as Iran to Australia. This year I was lucky enough to go to 2 films- "Cafe Seoul" and "A Good Rain Knows".

"Cafe Seoul" is a Korean-Japanese film directed by Masaharu Take and features actors Kim Jung Hoon, Saito Takumi, Choi Sung Min, and Kim Dong Wook. Its about a Japanese journalist who travels to Korea in search of a restaurant to write an article for a publication. Upon traveling to Korea he becomes attached to the story of 3 brothers who are involved with their family sweets shop.

"A Good Rain Knows" is a Chinese-Korean film directed by Hur Jin Ho and features actors Jung Woo Sung and Gao Yuanyuan. Its a story which revolves around the relationship between the 2 lead characters once they're reunited after not seeing one another for years.

Of the 2 films, I enjoyed "Cafe Seoul" over "A Good Rain Knows". Though both were good films and opposites in terms of storyline wise... "A Good Rain Knows" was a little too slow moving for me. Though the storyline speeds up in the middle to ending part of the film, it wasn't as heartwarming as I had thought it would be.

"Cafe Seoul" was a lighthearted film with its fair share of drama. Just when the film gets too depressing, the mood gets lighter with witty one liners from the cast. It featured glimpses of several characters pasts, which made them seem more human and likeable.

Going to these 2 films was a good way to break up the monotony of our Hollywood blockbuster films. Since the Spring Showcase is the smaller o the 2 festivals, I can't wait to see what HIFF has in store for us in several months.