165. The housemaid (1960)

Country: South Korea
Directed by Kim Ki-young

The housemaid is a legendary film that always is considered by the critics as one of the three best Korean films of all time. However, personally I find it very overrated, although I admit that it was for the era of its production impressivelly modern both on terms of form and content, so obviously is something very important . Kim ki-young creates a strange film of sexual obsession and morbidity, where the dream and reality are mixed , having as a result an absurd world of deformity. The housemaid is a disturbing, ugly ,  unpredictable film very difficult to be classified: in some turns looks like a terror movie, in others as a melodrama or a parody of melodrama, in others an ironic social alegory. In any case, is good to not miss it.

You can watch the full movie with Spanjsh subtitles here: https://youtu.be/oD8QDji3OBE

164. Maborosi (1995)

Country: Japan
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda

The first fiction of the director,  who showed from the very beginning his huge talent, 'Maborosi' is a deeply existential movie where most of the action is off screen and the silence speaks volumes. In the film the human being is exposed naked and frail, struggling to find balance and peace as is haunted by anxiety, fears, guilt, memories and by the inavoidable death, the contradicted with the eternal and indifferent nature. The film , so beautiful visually and so intense even if for most of its duration seems that nothing is happening, is not emotional at all nor dramatic, however it finds its way to touch deeply anyone who watch it

You can watch the full movie without English subtitles here : http://www.veoh.com/m/watch.php?v=v6956337Kh5ysaqA?h1=Maboroshi+No+Hikari

163. Muddy river (1981)

Country: Japan
Directed by Kohei Oguri

One of the cases that the director remains largely unknown but the movie is considered by the critics as a masterpiece, often voted among the top 10 best Japanese movies ever made. Without doubt Muddy river deserves this honor: Oguri follows the best traditions of the great masters of Japanase cinema to create a sweet bitter film about childhood with a very strong social commentary that gjves you a mixture of many contradicted feelings. As the disillusioned people try hard to survive in the post war period ,hardness is there , poverty is there, but still hope, innocence, and humanity evolve from the ashes of society. The film is emotional, has an strong inner poetry and many memorable, breath taking moments. A must to watch !

162. Ju-on: The grudge (2002)

Country: Japan
Directed by Takashi Shimizu

I am not a big fan of J-horror as it's been established the last 20 years with specific commercial characteristics and international audience.  However, I like and appreciate , even if they are far from to be masterpieces, a hand full of movies from this period. Ju-on is one of them and if you watch it probably you will understand why: beyond of any analysis Ju-on is really scary to watch. It creates a creepy atmosphere of psychological fear that obliges the viewer to feel insecure, uncomfortable and scared even if he is not sure what is this that make him feel that way. The plot often is complicated , without much sense and absurd: this is make the movie more weird and scary because is not a typical predictable film and the viewer doesn't know what to expect next. Somehow, is an inner archaic fear the one that is evoked when you watch the Ju-on: The grudge film. Even if not much violence is depicted the film still seems brutal. It's for sure an interesting movie to watch

161. Hope (1970)

Country: Turkey
Directed by Yilmaz Guney

'Hope' is a very significant film for the revolutionary cinema movement in Turkey but also for Yilmaz Guney who after this movie radicalized his work,  turn it clearly in a political stream until the end of his life. However is interesting that 'Hope' is not a direct political film involving or incorporating a kind of communist propaganda. Instead the main character avoids any political participation,  hunting after his personal illusions. What Guney does is to tear one by one the false hopes of his hero as his financial and mental condition get gorsen,  been left at the end with nothing than despair. Then , without the movie to mention, is clear that the only path that is someone in his social position can follow is the path of the social struggle. Guney , to pass his message, uses a rather hard black and white photography,  a naturalism without much dramatization. However the end of the film is both tragic and surreal

You can watch the full movie (but without subtitles) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9_3Y4RKUcU

160. Fight for us (1989)

Country: Philippines
Directed by Lino Brocka

Artistically 'Fight with 'Fight for us'  can't reach the quality of others, previous Brocka's works. However, is a significal film as is probably the most radical, political daring and direct film ever made in Phillipines on attacking the Filipino regime that , even after the fall of Ferdinand Marcos, continued to oppress the people with that much brutality as before. With very emphatic way, through the story of a priest who after years of dynamic opposition to the previous government decides to be a peaceful activist until realize that this is not enough so he returns to the method of armed resistance , Brocka says that nothing really changed to the country and the people have to fight hard until the real liberation

You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubJtywJcS6E

159. Dry summer (1964)

Country: Turkey
Directed by Metin Erksan

A classic black and white drama  narrating the fight for domination of the natural sources from conflicted groups of people, in this case of the water that for thousands of years was the most valuable asset for the agriculture societies. Then is the 'war' for the women that can be even more brutal than the previous one : the land and the girls, this seems to be the definition of prosperity . But mostly are the common patterns of the human behaviour that fascinate the viewer: the greed, the passion, the betrayal, Erksan uses a simple, easy to follow storyline that gets even more direct with the naturalistic way that is directed, to present all the above and he does it really well in a film that is considered as a masterpiece of Turkish cinema

 You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAtf1DBi7YQ