politic1983

Hong Sang-soo has finally made an action film. Of course not. Again, this is much more of the same from Hong, to the point where this will blend into all his other films with a struggle for differentiation. Even the fact Isabelle Huppert stars has no unique value, starring now in her third collaboration with the director - not my favourite of his works, I might add.

The premise for this comes from an interesting place. Iris (Huppert) is a French woman living in Seoul, a seemingly accomplished French teacher, though conducts her lessons largely in English. But on entering her second lesson with Won-ju (Lee Hye-young) and her watching husband Hae-soon (Kwon Hae-hyo), we learn she is a complete novice, trying out teaching as she spends her days wandering.

The couple are sceptical, but sit out the lesson nonetheless. Conversing, and drinking (as is Hong's way), in English, we have a repetition of the conversation with her earlier student. It appears Koreans only learn certain stock phrases when studying English. Iris wants people to express more.

This, therefore, is the set-up for much of the conversation and drinking Hong films rely so much upon. Iris encourages her students to open up more and more; to dig a little deeper until they find what they truly want to express. A quick translation into French is scribed, with the student given the note to learn by rote. That way, they will be able to express themselves more in French than any vocabulary textbook will teach them.

Along her journeys, Iris encounters some Korean poetry, which is quickly translated for her, furthering her belief to learn more about a culture from a short text rather than a full vocabulary. This idea, while key, doesn't perhaps sustain a film entirely on its own. Though Hong's films maybe never fully satisfy, despite the enjoyment they offer. As ever, it is long discussion to get to a realised argument.

It is beyond this idea, however, where the film falters a little. Iris is living with a younger Korean poet, In-guk (Ha Seong-guk). Awkwardly, his mother visits, and Iris makes herself scarce. What follows is a fairly typical debate between parent and child as to concerns over the unconventional relationship. While perfectly serviceable, it doesn't perhaps have the charm of much of Hong's dialogues.

It also weakens Iris' role. Much like "In Another Country" (2012), Huppert comes off as simultaneously charming, awkward and vulgar, to the point where you're not quite sure how to take her. The last half hour, therefore, confuses what was up until then a well-worked piece on the nature of travel, translation and expression.

We do not need to speak a language fluently to understand and experience a culture. In fact, that knowledge may limit us to generic platitudes. As a traveller, it is more important to keep an open mind.

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Have you ever bought an album by a band and find that, rather than new material, it's some old B-sides, remixes and a couple of new songs for added value? Of course you have, if you're over thirty-five, that is. Jia Zhang-ke's "Caught by the Tides" is in many ways just that. But in doing so, it does make a statement about his career, and indeed the changing face of the world around him.

Qiao Qiao (Zhao Tao) shares a romance with Guao Bin (Zhubin Li), but he moves on, with Qiao Qiao trailing in his wake. Over the years, and across the country, she follows him. But on reaching her destination, maybe what she's been wanting isn't for her.

But in reality, the plot is irrelevant, as much of this has already been written and filmed over the years; it has now just been repurposed. Outtakes from the likes of "Unknown Pleasures" (2002), "Still Life" (2006) and "Mountains May Depart" (2015), if I remember correctly. This allows to realistically show the two leads over time, and their unequal ageing. Scenes are, therefore, different, but very familiar, in what serves as something of a retrospective for Jia's work, in a more direct and better-executed way than Takeshi Kitano attempted with "Takeshis'" (2005).

The problem with creating a film in this way is that while it's perfectly serviceable as a narrative film, shoehorning in what you already have makes this feel a little awkward in terms of flow. It feels more a series of vignettes than a well-constructed work. Having seen many of the films the outtakes are from serves to remind you of the original scenario, and so doesn't quite feel like a single story, but various stories stuck together.

But there are some nice coincidences that materialise and allow Jia's message to come across. Text messaging on an old Nokia become TikTok videos on the latest smart phone. Jia is very tongue-in-cheek with his look at technology. TikTok stardom serves more for cheap advertising than actual fame and fortune; and service robots can be easily confused with simple questioning. Technology has played an interesting role in shaping the nature of human relationships, especially over the past twenty years.

Knowing Jia's work, you will instantly recognise what is going on here. But if coming to his work fresh, this may seem like a slightly strange film that doesn't quite tie together nicely enough. Some scenes don't seem to really fit; more added in as they were available.

So, this may require some background work for the uninitiated, and is one more for long-term fans. Though they might feel they are watching "Still Life" again. Has life moved on in the past eighteen years?

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We've all been let down by a service that proves an inconvenience, but perhaps isn't the complete disaster we make it out to be. But with so many components to service provision, the poor people on the floor take the brunt for a lot when they are quite simply doing their job and following procedure. You see it as incompetence, but it's quite the opposite in reality.

In what is essentially a feature length promotional video for ANA and the sheer number of people and steps required in getting a flight from A to B, "Happy Flight" is an informative and entertaining journey part-way across the Pacific Ocean, in a plea to not be so harsh on them the next time your flight is delayed.

With a large and strong cast of many recognisable faces, this is much more enjoyable than you would think, walking a fine line between entertainment, goofball comedy and being informative about the various roles and what is required in each. There is much to learn about commercial aviation, and that knowledge makes the laughs more plausible, with the extended cast in different settings breaking things up nicely and never getting bogged down in one single aspect. The story itself is a very realistic scenario, away from sensationalising or disaster movie tension. In fact, you learn as you go and get a sense of reward. It's very much "Airplane!" (1980) from a very administrative perspective.

Trainee pilot Suzuki (Seiichi Tanabe) is flying his final flight as a novice before attaining full pilot status. It is his final test. Flying as co-pilot for Harada (Saburo Tokito) from Haneda in Tokyo to Hawaii, he is nervous about passing this last examination. Also starting a first international journey on a much bigger jumbo jet is cabin crew member Etsuko (Haruka Ayase). On a longer flight with more, increasingly demanding passengers, it's stressful for all, not just the first timer.

But while taking off, the "bird man" tasked with ridding the runway of birds is distracted, and damage is caused to a seemingly small part of the plane, but one that will affect the various readings necessary to keep the plane safely in the air. With the plane less than halfway through its journey, procedure dictates they must turn back to Haneda Airport as a storm approaches.

Compartmentalising (I actually used that word) the storyline into the various groups of people involved make this a collection of intertwined shorts. The check-in staff need to get everyone on the flight; the weather room need to monitor conditions; the hangar mechanics need to ensure no missing tools may have compromised the plane; air traffic control must do whatever it is they do. All are under pressure and time constraints to make sure their part of the job is completed.

And as the team follow their procedures, the film itself is a very professional job. There is nothing spectacular about this, turning a disaster into a set of steps to follow, as you'd expect from a film made in collaboration with an airline. But it is much more realistic, and deserves credit for it. It is well paced and the story develops nicely, with a good balance between humour and detail. It is never too dull, nor too silly.

All is overseen by the safe pair of hands that is Shinobu Yaguchi, with a string of similar films that are universal and crowd-pleasing, but also offer some genuinely good moments of cinema, with "Swing Girls" (2004), "Water Boys" (2001) and "Wood Job!" (2014).

Safe is very much a word to describe this, in the sense that you know where you are, so you can just sit back and enjoy.

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