Film picks: Linda Linda Linda, MINDS Film Festival, Decision To Leave
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Aki Maeda stars in the Japanese drama-comedy Linda Linda Linda, restored in 4K for cinema screenings.
PHOTO: BITTERS END, INC
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Linda Linda Linda 4K (PG)
114 minutes
This 4K restoration of the 2005 Japanese cult drama-comedy offers fans a chance to watch film-maker Nobuhiro Yamashita’s work on the big screen.
The story follows three female high schoolers in a crisis. A member of their rock band has an injured hand and cannot play at their upcoming gig. Guitarist Kei (Yu Kashii), drummer Kyoko (Aki Maeda) and bass player Nozomi (Shiori Sekine) recruit South Korean exchange student Son (Bae Doona) into the band, despite her limited Japanese. They race to learn the music for the gig, all the while dealing with perennial teen issues of romance and classwork.
Now considered a modern classic, Linda Linda Linda was restored from original 35mm negatives to mark its 20th anniversary. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it “an emotionally complex coming-of-age tale with a respect for teenage angst”.
Where: Carnival Cinemas, 03-00 Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road carnivalcinemas.sg
MRT: Nicoll Highway
When: Sept 14, 11am, and Sept 16, 8pm
Admission: $16
Info:
Minds Film Festival
Cantonese film The Manor is inspired by the real lives of residents at Yixin Villa, a residential care home.
PHOTO: MINDS
Minds is the leading social service agency in Singapore dedicated to advancing the development, well-being and aspirations of persons with intellectual disability. With the Singapore Film Society, it has organised the 2025 edition of the festival, which features two films.
One of them is Cantonese drama The Manor (2024, PG13, 82 minutes, screens at Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre on Sept 27 at 7.30pm and One Punggol on Oct 5 at 7.30pm).
Billed as the first Hong Kong film led by disabled actors, it contains three stories based on the lives of residents of Yixin Villa residential care home, the “manor” of the title.
One follows Qifeng, a young man whose mother has a health scare that causes both to seek greater autonomy. Another deals with a father who pushes marriage on his son Jiaquan, believing that a wife will provide a lifetime of caregiving. The final story concerns Henry, an actor who turns to his wheelchair-using brother A-Sheng to better play a disabled character on stage.
Hong Kong news outlet HK01 praised the film, saying it projects warmth and humour without turning to bleakness or saccharine emotion.
Where: Various locations, including Enabling Village, Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre, Woodlands Regional Library, Jurong Regional Library and One Punggol mindsfilmfest.com
MRT: Various
When: Sept 27 to Oct 5, various timings
Admission: Free, with registration
Info:
Decision To Leave (M18)
138 minutes, premieres on tvN Asia (Singtel TV Channels 518 and 619 and Cast) from Sept 27
Chinese actress Tang Wei in the South Korean romantic thriller Decision To Leave, directed by celebrated film-maker Park Chan-wook.
PHOTO: TVN ASIA
A man dies from a fall off a rocky cliff. A detective investigates. A grieving widow forces the cop to choose between duty and desire.
These are the elements of the 2022 romantic thriller from celebrated South Korean film-maker Park Chan-wook, which won awards including Best Director at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was on the 2023 Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature.
It stars Chinese actress Tang Wei as the enigmatic, alluring widow Seo-rae, a Chinese immigrant with murky intentions. Detective Jang (Park Hae-il) looks into the untimely death of her husband, but gets drawn into her intoxicating orbit.
Decision To Leave, along with other major Asian works like Pilot (2024), The Point Men (2023) and Amazon Bullseye (2024), launches pay-TV channel tvN Asia’s Saturday Blockbuster programming belt in September.
