151. Lady snowblood (1973)

Country: Japan
Directed by Toshiya Fujita

A classic sword fighting film that Quentin Tarantino copied heavily to make his 'Kill Bill' . 'Lady snowblood' summarize very well the rules of a category of vengeance films that became very popular in commercial Asian cinema of 70s and 80s. Choreographic action, a lot of blood sprayed around or spectacular deaths in cases that swords are not involved, some wise master that trains hard , often merciless, the person who wants to get revenge, the revenge that always is delivered as a sort of almost divine justice etc. Nothing too impressive but a film that is worth to watch and to be on this list as it was quite influenced for a entire genre

   

150. The goddess (1934)

Country: China
Directed by Wu Yonggang

Doesn't happen often : there are some brilliant films that even people who consume a lot of art movies never heard about them! This is the case of 'The goddess' , a superb masterpiece with a loud political message ,that is the best example of the social conscious films that were made in the pre-revolutionary China from a generation of leftist young directors. 'The Goddess' as well is probably the finest product of the golden era of Chinese silent films at the 30's. A heartbreaking melodrama about the efforts of a young prostitute to raise her son with dignity and give to him all the chances that she never had, the film is directed with surprising realism and with a very modern style: however a lot of credits have to go to Ruan Lingyu , the actor who plays the main female character, as the whole film simply is built on her. She is just stunning and I consider her presence and performance among the most impressive ones in the history of world cinema

You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1B7nToWu2U

 

149. Tokyo decadence (1992)

Country: Japan
Directed by Ryu Murakami

More than twenty years passed since I watched this film so I am sceptical about how I could think for it if I had the chance to watch again today. However, I trust my initial impression that ,although it has a rather weak plot, it depicts really well an image of an overdeveloped, cold , soulless Tokyo where sex is performed mechanically been something that you can buy and sell. However this dark and pessimistic view breaks a bit at the end as the heroine , although passed through a kind of hell, manages to keep alive her sensitivity .The film, as I remember, is well directed by Murakami, is quite atmospheric with its great photography that makes it attractive visually and its classical music score by Ryuichi Sakamoto

148. Infernal affairs (2002)

Country: Hong Kong
Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak

'Infernal affairs' is one more story that explores the strong ties between the policemen and the outlaws , the 'good' guys and the 'bad' guys, with their roles to be often reversed. This is an obsession of Hong Kong movie industry as it created a lot of successful films that were playing with this theme. In this case an undercover policeman appears to work with the triads while a planted from the triad informer is climbs the ranks of police: the one tries to uncover the other while they have to pretend all the time under a false identity. The story is very well presented and as an action movie the film has to be rated very high as is really entertaining to watch it. The main, opposed characters are well builded and very well performed by the two leading actors. The end is rather surprising : a must for the fans of the police story genre

You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug88n7gXyrs

147. Romance of a fruit peddler (1922)

Country: China
Directed by Zhang Shichuan

'Romance of a fruit peddler' is the earliest surviving in complete form Chinese film: surprisingly is cute and funny enough- as is a comedy- to be in this list. Although it seems a bit childish, you never get bored as happen with many other silent films, and you follow the plot with pleasure. Zhang Shihuan draws his characters to be lovely, showing a mixture of kindness, goofiness, and 'naive' forgivable amoralism and this helps to finish watching the film with a smile in your face. The film doesn't have high artistic value but somehow, manages to look fresh even today as its simplicity make it very good on communicating its message to the viewers

You can watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MNPe4CcvPg
 

146. The serpent (1925)

Country: Japan
Directed by Buntaro Futagawa

One of the few still existing silent chambara (sword fighting) movies that was very innovative for its era and gave to the Japanese cinema a great push. Until then most of the Japanese movies and especially these of this genre were very theatrical and heavily influenced by Kabuki and No : Futagawa directed the film with much more cinematic way and the performances of the actors were much more realistic. The film is surprisingly interesting and vivid even with today terms .The last scene of the fight is really beautifully made. But what impresses even more in the film is the clear, radical comment about social injustice : the outlaw who is hunted by police as a public danger is a noble man when the rich, respectable men who are corrupted to the core have the law to their side and they can get away even if commit the worst of the crimes

 You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35y5S5_V-cE

145. Manji (1964)

Country: Japan
Directed by Yasuzo Masumura

Based on a famous Tanizaki's story, 'Manji' seems to be just one more, rather ordinary, indoor Japanese drama of triangle love. However, is something hypnotic about 'Manji' that makes you to be mesmerized and to follow the plot all the way to the end without to feel bored or your attention to be distracted. You end up accepting fully the erotic madness of the filmic characters and somehow sharing their feelings as they drag you into their world of obsession. Masumura has to be praised and show his talent here not only because manages to create a such effective 'spell' but also because he is smart enough to depict the erotic passion with a solid , balanced , realistic way without exaggerations: it's quite extreme by it self to present it using impressionism and additionally psychological emphasis is not needed

You can watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1snynQgQEcs