Millennium Mambo (2001) Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien

  ────  akina mori ; yakuza verse .

𝗔 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 : how did akina learn to fight ?

𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗥 : well it wasn't much of ' learning ' to begin with since she really didn't have a teacher for it outside the borderland and inside it , if you look at her fighting style in spade games and such you'll see it's often sloppy and brutal .

basically , one night she encounters a fight in the bar she frequents for a few drinks . between a big , tattooed guy she's seen smuggling around and a scrawny old man that used to sell little handmade rings down the street ; barely could talk , but laughed a lot , she even wore one of his rings almost every day because seeing it made him happy . before the third punch could land on his bony face she's stopped the violence . ' hey ! fat asshole . yes you . ' and all of a sudden , the depth that old man owed to these guys was on her .

while her old friend didn't know what was going on , and only took delight in the sweet apple juice akina got for him to enjoy until the bleeding on his temple stopped , she firmly told him not to leave the bar until she came after him . the man's oblivious little nod , and small nod made her flash him a fond smile , kiss his bruised cheek and go back outside .

his friends giggle , the big fight , it's just an empty alley and them and a few pair of eyes that watch . he's like a big bear that wants to devour , she takes out her mint gum and sticks it to the wall . adrenaline does it for her at first , dodging the fists , using the settings on her advantage and slamming his bald head on the wall . but after the first punch her red lipstick mixes with the blood that oozes from her small nose , dizzy and gasping . the giggles are louder . he starts laughing too . . . he laughs and comes closer slowly . she laughs . blinking until her vision is clear , while her laughter confuses him , she raises an index finger to briefly point at him and her face in a ' good punch ' hint . and the adrenaline is back with the punch .

sloppy and brutal as it is , when she was done with him his friends weren't giggling anymore . going back to her old man , his grin widens upon seeing her , ' red ' he mumbles with a bit of difficulty while his finger touches her face . ' red ' she says with a breathless laughter as she carefully puts his money back into his small bag . ' let's get you back home . '

Followers 2020 Directed by Mika Ninagawa

  ──   i miss what we never had .

RASEN (1998) dir. Joji Iida

Cinediario 2022 - febbraio

Moonlight Shadow (2021) Edmund Yeo

LAY DOWN