Discoveries from Asian World Cinema

Lu Jin is a handsome, wealthy hotel executive whose drive for perfection is matched only by his taste for fine cuisine. When he checks into the Rosebud, he's dissatisfied with everything he sees and is ready to take action... until flamboyant female sous chef Gu Shengnan creates the perfectionist what may be a perfect meal. Now, these bitter rivals find themselves brought together in the kitchen in this light-hearted romantic comedy, infused with fun and flavors to create a delicious dish that foodies around the world wouldn't dare to miss.

A look at the lives of a troupe of geishas working in a small seaside resort town. For the most part, their lives consist of greeting boatloads of oversexed businessmen and providing bawdy entertainment through the evening followed by private companionship at night, interspersed with occasional catfights with the rival geisha house. Their routine is suddenly thrown off by the appearance of an abandoned baby in the geishas' dormitory, followed by its disappearance only a short time later. Who could be responsible for such a thing?

As a young boy, Xu-Xian is forced to free his pet, a small snake. Unbeknownst to him, the snake is actually a young snake goddess named Bai-Niang and she is in love with him. Many years later, when they are both adults, the princess is magically transformed into a human and sets out to find her love. But the local wizard believes her to be a vampire, and banishes Xu-Xian from the village in order to save him. Xu-Xian's pet pandas Panda and Mimi set out to save him and bring him, in the process becoming leaders of an animal gang.

A family moves into a house, but discover that it is haunted by a murdered girl.

Set in 1920s Tianjin, northern China, and centres on the rivalry between the son of a martial arts master and his most talented apprentice. When the old master dies, the two face off to take over his prominent martial arts academy. But rather than obey the rule of settling disputes behind closed doors, they take their fight to the street.

Qi Ming is a handsome boy and he is also a top student at school, but Yi Yao is a so-called bitch on everyone’s lips. Qi and Yi grew up together and they have been maintaining a good relationship. However, everything is interrupted and changed by Tang Xiaomi. Rumors have become a sharp weapon to destroy people. Yi Yao's life falls into darkness, and she suffers all kinds of cruel bullying at school.

In 1937 Shanghai, a soldier and a young woman have an awkward meet-cute in darkness under a bridge as they seek refuge during a bomb raid. Ten years later, the soldier, now a burgeoning songwriter and tuba-player in a marching band, is back in town desperately searching for his would-be soulmate. As fate would have it they end up living in the same building unbeknownst to each other. Through a series of mishaps, he mistakes her new ingénue roommate for his love interest and wacky love triangle hijinks ensue.

A young undercover cop tries to get back with his former love, while unraveling the mystery behind the head of the police force. Meanwhile he has to protect the boss' daughter.

TIGER KILLER (1982) is a straightforward adaptation of one story from the sprawling Chinese literary epic, "The Water Margin." It tells the tale of Wu Song, who slays a man-eating tiger preying on farmers and villagers and becomes the hero of the province, getting appointed as a constable by the local magistrate. He is reunited with his older brother, the short, disfigured Wu the Elder, a peddler of buns, who invites Wu Song to move in with him and his new wife. The wife, Golden Lotus, is an attractive young former maid who had been forced to marry Wu the Elder as punishment for getting caught in bed with her master by the master's wife. She takes a liking to the handsome, strong Wu Song, who rebuffs her attempts to seduce him. When Wu Song is sent on a long journey, the wife begins an affair with a rich local merchant. When Wu Song returns from his mission, he is met with shocking news which sets off a series of violent acts of retribution.

First Lieutenant Shun'ichi Maki of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force is a prestigious F-15 Eagle jet pilot (or "driver" as he is called in the film). A lifelong fan of flying since he was a child, being a pilot is his ultimate dream. Unfortunately, his duties distance himself from his wife, Yoko, who always ends up being neglected, and his son, Tsugumu, who has a congenital blood disease and has a high risk of dying at a young age.Maki decides to quit the Air Force to devote more time to his family and to spend whatever is left for his son. He takes a part-time job as a commercial tour guide run by a kindly group of people who allow him time to work and to also take care of his family.

Yoon-hee is harassed by her husband's excessive obsession and crazy love so much that even breathing is painful. Her sudden suicide attempt fails when someone takes her in his arms and saves her.

A young elephant goes on an extraordinary adventure and learns important lessons along the way about friendship, love and courage.

An erotic film about a junior boyfriend.

Yeon-gyu is a teenage boy who wants to escape his hometown where violence is commonly enacted among neighbors. He only hopes to have a peaceful life with his mother. However, the world never allows him to have a dream nor hope for life. When Yeon-gyu needs a hand from grown-ups, Chi-geon, a thug of the town, offers a favor. The simple favor leads Yeon-gyu to explore the world of Chi-geon. It ironically results Yeon-gyu gradually falling into Chi-geon's life. Grasping hope to run away from where he is, he struggles between the border. Can he escape from the town at the end?

Poverty-stricken Daguzi encounters a child - Mantou - floating downstream at the river bank, he decides to take him by his side as his son, with compassion and affection.

To recover and ancient scroll, a Chinese agent battles the Japanese yakuza and British mercenaries.

A young lady and her father are threatened by a gang named the Five Fingers. Private eye Charlie comes to the rescue.

In this portrait of small-time hoods rendered in rhythm-of-life anecdotal detail, Gao is the leader of a circle of layabouts including his sidekick, Flathead, and their girlfriends, Pretzel and Ling. He is also the originator of petty crime schemes, which promise to get the gang nowhere fast.

Chang-seok's marriage failed and he is about to publish a novel based on his own experience. After he meets various people, Chang-seok changes his mind and starts weaving yet another story.

Hikaru Tsutsui is a high school student. He enjoys animation and video games in the virtual world, but he doesn't enjoy his real life. People at his school don't even know he exists. One day, he cleans up the pool at his school with beautiful Iroha Ikarashi. Iroha approaches Hikaru and confesses that she likes him.

Police officers John and James investigate the case of Lee, a businessman. They seek help of Suki, a friend who double-crosses them and the two officers regroup after a setback to solve the case.

Takuma knows that his life is shorter than the others and he feels that his demise is getting near. He chose to stay away from the girl that he loves so that she can easily move on. What he didn't know is that he is under-estimating her.

Yang Ke, a Beijing Opera actor, is fatefully driven into the underworld of masculine sex workers, and becomes a class of his own. He finds himself on a roller coaster between heavenly love with both men and women, and a living hell ensnared by devious villains and hypocrites. Despite his faith, endeavor and willingness to give, he remains a prisoner to his karma. Hell awaits when heaven seems near, and the ultimate truth is revealed only in a heartbreaking moment from which there is no return.

The first animated adaptation of the popular manga series, this pilot introduces the main characters of "Lupin the Third" with montages, presented through a short frame narrative illustrating a typical gang escape.

Amon is a boy who can control the wind. Branik, ruler of the Empire of the Golden Snake, wants Amon's power to complete the ultimate weapon and sends his troops to capture the boy. Amon, using his talents, manages to runs away with Maria, one of the People of the Sea. Together, they try to stop the Empire of the Golden Snake from destroying and conquering everything.

Tough, oversexed Ching Tse and her pubescent cousin possess acassette of triad boss' names -- and a rival gang wants to get their hands on it. All would be hopeless if not for studly Sam, whose appearance is hardly accidental. The movie's climax is its sole justification: Sam switches sides and fights the enemy in a huge garage aided by a gang of good guys on scooters, while Ching rescues her cousin.

A girl baseball player who is about to graduate from high school will try to enter the professional baseball world forbidden to women.

A young man living on growing tomatoes in a greenhouse in a residential area. Tomato cultivation is as doomed as his personal life where he tries to keep alive his romance with the eccentric Kaede and parents selected fiancee Ayako.

In a desolate future ruled by a totalitarian city-state known as Jesus Town, a leather-clad motorcyclist cyborg awakens from imprisonment to wage war against a regime that preaches peace through control.

An insurance salesman's life is going nowhere after he breaks up with his girlfriend. One day, an offbeat lady claiming to be a Goddess with magical powers, offers to turn his life around by granting him 19 of his old wishes. He laughs her off, until even his old childhood wishes start coming true.

Days after her friends disappear during a trip to a mysterious cave, a girl is approached by a grown man claiming to be one of her missing pals.

Near the end of Japanese civil war, several disgraced ronin living in Edo's red light district attempt to regain their honor by defending a brothel from a hostile militia bent on wiping out local prostitutes.

A local yakuza boss of a silk farming town shows kindness to the wandering gambler Oryu by letting her stay at his residence. When a rival yakuza gang, who wants to take over the town’s businesses, murders him, Oryu is obliged to protect his children and business.

Jackal, Cash and Sam form the core of ATM (Available Tactical Mercenaries), an industrial espionage unit that utilizes high-tech gadgetry to steal technology and fence it on the black market. However, they're blackmailed by the Hong Kong government to snatch some counterfeit plates called SN2 from the British MI5. Naturally stuff goes wrong, our heroes are framed for SN2’s disappearance, and then they must set about clearing their names with whatever hi-tech gadgets they have leftover.

This is the story of Carrie (Sammi Cheng), who plays a tabloid reporter who is doing a story on pin up police officer Paul Ko (Louis Koo). The word around is that he is impotent and Carrie is looking for the truth. Of course, from there you are looking to see if they will hook up. Also here are Raymond (Lau Ching Wan) as Carrie's ex, a judge and a very young looking Charlene Choi, who plays Tabbie, who wants to live with Raymond. In a small but fun interlude, the always great Sandra Ng plays Bobo.

Three adventurers – a warrior, a priest, and a young woman – traverse a land devastated by centuries of environmental calamities searching only for a way to survive. In their journeys they stumble across first the remains of a band of desperate treasure-hunters, and then the treasure they were seeking: Azec Sistra, the legendary City of the Dead. Unfortunately, the bandits responsible for slaughtering the treasure-hunters have also found their way to the city, but more worrisome still are the guardians which protect Azec Sistra from those who would violate the spirits at rest there…

A deadbeat teacher helps an angry, aimless teenager find direction in life during his final year of high school.

Marina meets beautiful boys in an SF Fantasy based in Medieval England.

Kanno is a Yakuza. He had to kill Matsuoka who betrayed their boss. Kanno knew Matsuoka had a 3-year-old daughter named Youko. Before he gave himself to the police, he asked his trusted man to take care of her. While in prison, Kanno kept sending letters to Youko, disguising as an uncle in Brazil. 15 years later, Kanno is released. He is determined to live legitimately, however the Yakuza has not forgotten his wicked deed!

A national cussing battle audition is the nation's hype. People from all over the country audition in becoming the "Cussing King." However, redundant cussing auditioners cause viewership to drop dramatically. The producer decides to revive the show by introducing a regular looking grandmother...

Yuan Shuai, a debt-ridden animal-breeder, tries to get out of his financial predicament by finding a wealthy girlfriend through matchmaking dates. He unexpectedly meets and fall in love with the fox demon, Bai Xianchu, who has arrived to the mortal realm to repay her gratitude. However, the head of the Demon tribe Yun Zhonghe forbids a love relationship between a demon and a human; and takes Bai Xianchu away. To seek his lover, Yuan Shuai bravely crashes the demonic world.

The Japanese adaption of Agatha Christie's famous whodunit "Murder on the Orient Express".

Hisashi and Mai are a happy couple in their 20s who are engaged to be married. But three months before their wedding, Mai becomes seriously ill. Her heart stops momentarily, and she falls into a deep coma. Hisashi visits Mai at the hospital every day before work. With no idea if or when she will ever awake, Mai’s parents encourage Hisashi to find someone else, but he refuses to give up and continues to pray for her recovery. As if his prayers are answered, Mai begins to regain consciousness several years later, and even utters a few words. But tragically, she has suffered brain damage and has no memory of Hisashi.

Intended as the pilot for a an E.R.-style medical drama set in Hong Kong, Healing Hearts features Tony Leung as Lawrence, a doctor whose personal life has been left in shambles after the tragic hit-and-run death of his wife. As Lawrence sets off to find the driver and bring him to justice, one of his colleagues finds himself distracted by a beautiful coma patient. Healing Hearts was directed by Gary Tang and features Leung Chiu-Wai, Michelle Reis, Kenny Bee, Stephen Fung, and Jackie Lui.

Tormented by his first sexual stirrings, the teenager Isao dreams every night of his gym teacher Ikuko. He finally opens her heart but she rejects his advances. Frustrated, Isao invents all sorts of stratagies to disgust Ikuko´s fiance, a professor of chemistry in the same school. As his plan fails, he plans a radical solution...and the results turns out to be...

The members of the Super GUTS force, one of whom is secretly Ultraman Dyna, are in the middle of a losing battle against an enormous monster on the surface of the moon, when suddenly a spaceship appears and saves them by zapping the beast. The crew of the ship claim to members of the world peace force that originally created the Super GUTS force, and they invite the GUTS members to enter their brainwave patterns into the ship's battle computer so it can be a more effective fighting system. It sounds like a good idea, but could they have some other plan up their sleeves?

A modern HK Cinema throwback to eighties triad dramas. Jordan Chan is Cho, a recently released ex-con who was imprisoned when he took the heat for a killing performed by his childhood buddy Dik (Patrick Tam). Now free, Cho only wants to be rid of the triad life, but finds himself inexorably drawn back in when Dik reappears. Dik is now a top triad lieutenant, and only wants to repay Cho for his loyalty and friendship. The two reforge their friendship, but it's an uneasy alliance which is complicated by Dik's seeming enjoyment at the violence of the triad life. Matters reach a head when Cho romances San (Cherrie Ying), the girlfriend of Dik's triad boss, leading to an explosive confrontation between the two longtime friends. Directed with smart, low-key precision by Marco Mak, The Wall is a tense action drama which recalls the righteous triad dramas of old!

A gang of opium smugglers, disguised as Taoist Priests transporting hopping corpses, are hired to transport a real dead body to it's final resting place.

Since dropping out from the medical school, Lau Mack has been living a humble but contented life, running a small clinic in a shabby area, treating local inhabitants and poor prostitutes working there. One night, he escorts an injured gun robber to the government hospital, where he unexpectedly meets his old friend from college time, Dr. Jaw, now a reputed surgeon with an aspiration for senior management. To Jaw's bitter surprise, he finds himself outshone by Lau's medical talent and kindness to patients. Jaw is however determined to speed up his career ascent at the expense of Lau. His plots work perfectly, until an accident delivers his life to the mercy of Lau.

Aspiring scenario writer Yeon-hee uses the nickname Pink Band to write R-rated scenarios. She's famous for her far-out work. Her ideas come from her best friend Joo-yeong's sex experience. However, Yeon-hee herself is a virgin, so she dreams of a romantic and ecstatic first sex that is unlike her scenarios.

A group of friends from high school days reunite for once more time before one of them dies from cancer.

When a series of murders occur in Kanghwa Island, Detective K and his partner are once again called upon to solve the case. Along the way, he teams up with a beautiful woman with amnesia and together they discover Vampire bite marks on all the bodies. As they investigate further, they realize that the woman is somehow closely connected to the deaths.

A young unicorn named Unico must fight an evil magician and save everyone who's trapped under his spell.

Kei Kikuno attends a vocational school as a student. For her part-time job, she works as a contract killer. She is excellent at her job and never gets scared by anyone. One day, she receives the most challenging request.

Gang-pae is #2 gangster in his organization who longs to become an actor. Su-ta is a superstar actor who takes on the role of a gangster in an action movie called Rough Cut. When another actor leaves the set due to Su-tas violent ways, the production is on the verge of shutting down. Su-ta asks Gang-pae, whom he met by chance, to play alongside him in the movie in order to save the production.

A trio of idealistic young doctors take on a corrupt, ineffective hospital management more interested in saving dollars than lives. Sub-plots crop up in the form of a love triangle, an electrical blackout, and a major car accident.

Based on the "2.26 Incident", an attempted coup d'état in Japan 1936, launched by radical ultra-nationalist parts of the military. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly held by the insurgents before the coup was suppressed.

The film begins in the present, with its heroine, Kaoru, a grown-up woman working as a real-estate agent, while helping out the folksy proprietor of a neighborhood fishing pond. There she meets a shy girl who needs her help baiting a hook and reminds her of herself in the fourth grade.

Chen Mo, a bar owner, listens to his customers' heartbreaks and helps them navigate their lives during their hard times while dealing with his own tragedy.

Skinflint businessman Richard (Leung) doesn't feel bad when he sacks his employees and secretary to cut unnecessary costs. He also doesn't bat an eyelid when his gold-digging girlfriend leaves after he refuses to give her money. She gets her revenge by cancelling his credit cards and giving away his furniture. Suddenly destitute, he's forced to rely on the generosity of Choi (Shu Qi), a good Samaritan who helps him out even though she thinks he's a scumbag who makes a habit of cheating women out of money.