186. I saw the devil (2010)

Country: South Korea
Directed by Kim Jee-woon

Normally I should refuse to mention such a brutal , exploitative and sadistic film in this list as the depiction of violence seems to be the only reason of its existence. However, the sadism of the film works in many levels in a way that 'I saw the devil' ends up been almost an essay about the deepest and ugliest side of the human nature. Not only the main character-good guy comes to enjoy to torture getting revenge , but the viewers of the film too ,as the plot unrolls , they are craving as well for more tortures and more depiction of pain. To watch the film gives you a guilty pleasure: you end up been beast like the ones in the film. Needless to say that technically the film is flawless, but is questionable if this covers the feeling of emptiness that gives you

You can watch the full movie with spanish subtitles here: https://youtu.be/H2urkBmYXTs

185. Confessions of a dog (2005)

Country: Japan
Directed by Ken Takahashi

Even if the ending of the film is very simplistic and old fashioned no one can deny that generally 'Confessions of a dog' is an interesting movie , very pleasant to watch, with its 190 minutes of duration to pass in no time. The main theme of the film is police corruption,  in a system rotten to the core, that is exposed here from the basis to the top without hesitation: Japan with its surface of order and civilization seems to remain a place where the public is cheated, the law is not imposed to everybody, police is the dominant mafia group and money always talks

You can watch the full movie here: https://youtu.be/kOsrZe8M95Q

184. Chants of lotus (2007)

Country: Indonesia
Directed by Upi Avianto, Nia di Nata, Lasja Fauzia, Fatimah Dony

A very brave omnibus film, directed by four female directors, unique in the Indonesian film production of recent years, that presents various social issues from the women's perspective as women are always much more exposed , often marginalized and victimized in the country's patriarchic society. Is not a surptise that it cencored heavily by the "cultural" autorities. The film is bold and dark , exposing a dim reality without sugaring the pill. If some hope comes out of the film it comes from the strength of its women characters who, more or less, find the power to stand against their exploiters and fight

You can watch the full movie, without subtitles, here : https://youtu.be/rsItCOsp_4Q

183. Butterfly dress pledge (1974)

Country: Japan
Directed by Shuji Terayama

One of my favorite shorts of the director, this film, even if in some moments looks a bit pretendious, is incredibly powerful , with unforgetable images and a poetry that is directly connected with the subconscious. Terayama is the best on exposing the animal nature of human existence and the its contradiction with the civilization and the social norms: at the end the guilty pleasure of our desires became sad, grotesque and nightmarish. However, regarding the film you can have as many interpretation you want as it is an unclassified explosion of the director's imagination

You can find the movie here: https://youtu.be/cBVVnJJZWVo

182. Rashomon (1950)

Country: Japan
Directed by Akira Kurosawa

What you can write for a legendary film as Rashomon when already are written for it hundreds of thousands of articles! Personally I agree that is a masterpiece, I think that it deserves all this fame and I am impressed that 65 years later it remains powerful and fresh , capturing the attention of audiences with different backgrounds and preferences

181. Salween (1994)

Country: Thailand
Directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol

One of my favorite Yukol movies 'Salween' stands out combining really well action, melodrama, humanism, politics, lyricism. Moreover is directed with a realistic , convisting way although it has a strong epic tone. The best example of old school Thai action cinema that I watched so far

180. Children of the beehive (1948)

Country: Japan
Directed by Hiroshi Shimizu

Although I am not a fan of Hiroshi Shimizu I can't deny that he is a leading figure of Japanese cinema and various of his movies they could be easily a part of any list with the best Japanese movies of all time. The comment of Mizoguchi that he and Ozu worked hard to make great movies but Shimizu was a genious is enough to show how well respected the director is by the people who know about cinema. 'Children of the beehive' is one of his best films, where he depicts the the tragic conditions of living in the post war Japan , in a film filled with emotion, humanism and the usual optimism of the director

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