295. Ring : Kazenban (1995)

Country: Japan Directed by Chisui Takigawa The first and totally unknown internationally adaption of Koji Suzuki's novel it was a TV horror film that without doubt deserves a mention. It's the most faithful version to the book and it has many raw and unrefined elements that makes you feel somehow tensed up. Dont expect too much but if you liked the famous version of The Ring you should watch this one as well as its approach on the story is also interesting

294. High and low (1963)

Country: Japan Directed by Akira Kurosawa No matter how much you admire or you like High and Low, one thing is certain: it's a film that every future director, if not any artist, has to watch and study to learn from it. The way that Kurosawa builds the tension, the way that, even in theatrical scenes, he compacts massive amounts of pure action,the way that he transforms the existential and ethical dillemas of the protagonists to a social commentary, the way that he deals with such serious issues offering at the same time so much entertainment, is nothing short of amazing

293. 27 Down (1974)

Country: India Directed by Awtar Krishna Kaul The first and last movie of a very promising director who died too early, 27 Down is a bitter film about the crushed dreams of the youth under the extreme social and financial pressure of the Indian patriarchal society. The young protagonist of the movie keeps asking himself in vain who he is and where he is going as he is unable to shape his identity himself and his father chooses his job and even his wife in an arranged marriage. With beautiful black and white photography, artistic framing and a strong documentary-like feeling, 27 Down has a special place in the filmography of Indian cinema even if the various weaknesses that it has prevent it from being something even greater

292. Death on a full moon day (1997)

Country: Sri Lanka Directed by Prasanna Vithanage A summary of a war: a coffin with the remains of your precious one, who joined the army as the only way to make a living, covered by a national flag. A loss that you refuse to believe and comprehend:the loved person is still vividly alive in your mind. The poverty: its not even time for mourning, you have to fight in order to survive. A powerful comment with the less possible drama but full of emotion for the ongoing at the time Sri Lankan civil war that was only pain for the impoverished simple people, without any value or benefits. Prasanna Vithanage, makes his miracle again, creating a little gem out of nothing (the film had a budget of just 80.000 usd). Its surprising how he makes you to feel so engaged with characters that he is not analyse at all. Its beautiful how he makes you to smell the wet soil under the rain, feel the wind and the dust, listen the little voices of the nature. Living is too amazing to waste it in a war that is not your war

291. A separation (2011)

Country: Iran Directed by Ashgar Farhadi While most of critics got very impressed with the way that the director blends so effortlessly all the social-economical issues of modern Iran to the plot, things related with the law,the religion,the position of the women,the unequality etc, what rather engages farther and deeply the viewer, at the point that he watches the whole film glued to his seat with his heart racing, is the universality of the human condition that the movie exposes, the accuracy of the feelings of people who aim for the happiness with good intentions and genuine emotions to get lost finally in the complicity of comflicted interests, social norms, ethical dilemmas and different points of view. Even if you really intent to do the right thing and everyone arounds you does the same (a rare, ideal condition) life still seems absurd and painful and this realization is devastating. Not enough words to praise this film: its a masterpiece at any aspect