109. Bulaklak sa city jail (1984)

Country: The Philippines
Directed by Mario O'Hara

An important moment of the progressive Filipino cinema. O'Hara as always choose marginalized characters who try to survive in a brutal world and depicts the wrong doings of society without tp try to make the misery photogenic. In this movie the female jails ,where the often innocent prisoners are treated like animals and got exploited with any possible way , are exposed  as they are, dark, dirty and claustrophobic , while the lives of the prisoners-victims are stripped out of glory and heroic dramatization. Bulaklak sa city jail is a movie with a lot of dialogues and unfortunately I watched it without subtitles. So, surely I missed a lot of things but even only from the images I could see the quality of the director's work and the power of his social comments

You can watch the movie here although are not subtitles and the quality of picture is very poor : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4A_ZoHCkcM

108. The blind beast (1969)

Country: Japan
Directed by Yasujo Masumura

Sex ,violence and horror are three elements that always are used from the producers and directors in order to attract viewers and their movies to go well in the box office. Japan has a great tradition in this kind of films but somehow very talented people got involved to the creation of movies either of the pinku genre either of the Yakuza one : 'Blind beast' is one of the best examples when artistic vision is inhaled to rather commercial films that are belong to the cinema of exploitation. Masumura , an underrated director that in reality played a major role to the Japanese new wave movement, give us here a raw, weird and hallucinating film that , as you watch it, slowly brings you back to your basic instincts. As you come closer and closer to the characters the film has a great impact on you that ,you like it or not, you can't deny. Years passed from the time that I watched the film but still I remember how it captured my attention from the beginning to the end

 You can watch the full movie here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7l39rM5gGo

107. Subarnarekha (1962)

Country; India
Directed by Ritwik Ghatak

Ritwik Ghatak is a genius, a huge figure of the Indian cinema. This movie shows clearly why. In an often surprising editing and use of the sound he is mixing different elements with a way that the film has a mainstream flow but is also highly artistic. Every time you think that the film gets too simplistic then it turns to something complex that has multiple readings. Is interesting how he uses the landscapes poetically but not only as images of  beauty but also as the arena of the eternal suffering of his nation. The movie has a strong realistic style but also something theatrical. The film often seems as melodrama , other times turns to a philosophical essay. Ghatak deals with the history and the pain of partition of Bengal, but makes a lot of comments as well about the injustice, the system of the casts, the social taboos. Subarnarekha is a film that you can watch it many times and every time to find something new to appreciate

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

106. The middleman (1976)

Country: India
Directed by Satyajit Ray

Without to be a masterpiece ,'The middleman' is still a very interesting film , something quite expected as Ray never directed anything mediocre and ordinary. In addition this black satire is one of the most pessimistic films of his entire career as always his movies are full of hope and humanity despite the hardships that depict. In this case not real hope is given : any idealism and ethical illusions are fade under the dark social reality. All the social structure is builded on crashed values and money is the only thing that matters, as the fear of extreme poverty doesn't give you many choices to keep your dignity alive.

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

105. To live (1952)

Country: Japan
Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Is pointless to focus to some inconsistency in rhythm and atmosphere of the movie that makes you feel sometimes that you watching three films in one. This existential masterpiece is a rare achievement in the whole history of cinema. Is so powerful, so moving , so real that seriously absorbs you while you are watching it. Is a movie that affect you deeply as social and philosophical comment but mostly as a brutal expose of the fragile nature of the human existence. Days pass but you can't stop to think about the film again and again. 'To live' is simply a movie that overtaking of you : is so masterly made that is a great example for you to understand why is so much fuss about Kurosawa, why he is considered as a giant of the film art.

104. Bus 44 (2001)

Country: China
Directed by Dayyan Eng

A short movie that bitterly points the indifference of most people for the drama of the others. Especially in Chinese society this indifference is often brutal but this problem is not about China only : is universal , as people are trained from the system to care only for themselves and the small circle of their beloved , being alienated from the rest of the people. Dayyan Eng directs the movie with simple way, without too much melodrama, right to the point.

  You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK4TUP0VKLY

103. The killer (1989)

Country: Hong Kong
Directed by John Woo

The killer is one of the best examples of John Woo style with the choreographic almost poetic violence, the slow motions, the Mexican standoffs, the sentimental music etc. As almost in every movie John Woo explores the relations between some policemen and some outlaws : in his version are the opposite sides of the same coin, as they share the same values and can have admiration and understanding one for the other. The killer is a film about honor, duty, dignity and friendship but mostly is a movie full of action that keep your interest alive until the last moment

You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWnBUllkC6M