170. Today ( 2008)

Country : Sri Lanka
Directed by Malaka Dewapriya

'Today' can't be called exactly an Asian movie as is in any terms a German production, but it's included in this list as its director is a Sri Lankan experimental filmaker and visual artist, representative of a wave of young artists who try to modernize the old fashioned Senhalese cinema. In this 4 minutes film Dewapriya explores masterfully thems as the isolation of individual in a modern enviroment, the replacement of direct human communication by the one that is performed via the technology, the metathesis of happiness in some uncertain future

- You can watch the film here: https://youtu.be/qMR1FxHb3MA

169. 13 beloved (2006)

Country : Thailand
Directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul

Nothing very special here but still a quite decent example of the modern Thai cinema when tries to combine genres , in this case action, comedy and horror, in one. Moreover, as also happen often in Thai movies, you can get from the film some moral messages as criticizing the cynicism and marerialism of the Thai society where, nowadays, money tends to mean everything. 13 Beloved is well directed, has a catchy plot and is fun to watch it, forgiving that is an not very imaginative,  rather commercial, simplistic work

- You can watch the full movie here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dxioc_full-thai-movie-13-beloved-eng-sub_fun

168. After life (1999)

Country: Japan
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

I have a great admiration for the movies of Kore-eda and I consider that he is among the handfull of the really great directors of the modern cinema era worldwide. 'After life' is one of his many films that built inside of me this positive opinion. It's a delicate movie of unique beauty, never melodramatic but full of humanism and emotions, a film about the real life of the ordinary people, the life of anyone of us, that makes you think about the real imprortant things of your existence and bring back intense memories. Finally, no matter the stage your are currently and your condition of living, you end up with a huge appreciation for youf life, for the beautiful moments you had, for the love you ever gave, took or ,even better, share. A real masterpiece.

167. Drunken angel (1948)

Country: Japan
Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Although this dark post war yakusa related film is not among the Kurosawa masterpieces , still is such a vivid, realistic, high quality, in every aspect and detail, work that is impossible to leave it out from this list. Drunken Angel was the secenth film of the director but probably the first one that he really showed what was capable to do (although the 1946 film 'no regrets for our youth" was a nice movie as well). Moreover was the first colaboration of Kurosawa with Toshiro Mifune that with the years became a legendary figure in most of director's great films

You can watch the full movie here: https://youtu.be/MNPII4kI4Oo

166. Peppermind candy (2000)

Country : South Korea
Direceted by Chang-dong Lee

A bitter film, that much bitter that becomes devastating, 'Peppermind candy' doen't just narrate backwards the life of a brutal and corrupted man tracking down when and how he lost his soul and innocense. The film narrates as well the troubled modern history of South Korea and how a model of violent and desperate Korean man was shapped by the entire autoritarian political system and the social structure. The film is working in many levels but moxt of all is a punch in the stomach : it hits you in the most sensitive part, as you can't avoid somehow to recognize yourself in the main character. A masterpiece of the modern Korean cinema.

- You can watch the full movie here : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gucqjv3KWT8

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 !