It’s that time of year again: the annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival . London’s yearly dose of far out, Far Eastern film returns for its fifth year bigger, bigger and much bigger than ever.
Now taking over not just the Prince Charles Cinema, but the ICA too, tickets for Terracotta Far East Film Festival are on sale now. The line-up is excellent, featuring some quite frankly brilliant looking films – and I should know – I got the inside scoop on the whole shebang last week, thanks to Terracotta Films.
Featuring Aaron Kwok (Divergence) and Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers), Cold War is Hong Kong’s biggest box office hit of the year and won nine awards at the 2013 Hong Kong Film Awards – including Best Film, Director, Actor and Screenplay. Impressive.
A twisty, turny, betrayal-y tale of a police van full of weapons getting hijacked and the cops getting thoroughly outwitted at every turn, Cold War is a lorry load of explosive action and a must-see.
Imagine a 1930s set, supernatural CSI film, with tinges of Scooby Doo and Guy Ritchie’s version of Sherlock Holmes and you are pretty close to having imagined The Bullet Vanishes. Well done you. A heap of bodies piling up at a supposedly haunted munitions factory have detectives on the case baffled – the stiffs are full of bullet holes, but there’s no bullets or casings. The walls are covered in curses scrawled in blood, but is the explanation really ghostly, or human and logical?
The trailer for this one has a BRAAAHM sound effect in it, so you know you’re onto a winner.
Directed by Johnny To (Election), and starring Louis Koo (Flash Point), Drug Wars is an Infernal Affairs-esque action whammy, set in a seedy underworld of double-crosses, undercover cops and notorious drug lords. Plus you gotta love the super straight forward title.
The Terror Cotta All Nighter
“Terror Cotta”? Genius. I hope someone got bought a drink for thinking that up. Running from 11pm until 7am, Terror Cotta is co-presented by Film4 FrightFest and features five fear-soaked films that’ll keep you screaming until it’s time for the first tube home.
Countdown is a Thai film set on New Year’s Eve in New York. Three flat-mates call a drug dealer ’round to get what’s supposed to be the best weed in the states, but he turns out to be a psychopath. Happy New Year!
Ghost Story of Yotsuya is a 1959 classic that in a Dusk Til Dawn stylee performs a halfway through backflip, but switching from ghost story to samurai movie, instead of from gangsters to vamps. And probably with less crotch guns.
Belenggu has a giant, knife throwing rabbit. My work here is done.
Henge is a Japanese film about a wife who is so loyal to her husband that she will procure human flesh for him, when he turns into a monster.
Finishing off the night/morning is Zomvideo – a ‘How To’ guide to surviving a zombie apocalypse. With office stationery.
Those are the highlights for me, but there’s a veritable Far Eastern shed full of other great films to choose from. You can also keep up to date with all Terracotta’s shenanigans by following them on Twitter and Facebook .
