THREE...EXTREMES brings together an Asian scream team of filmmakers, featuring a trio of short works by Hong Kong's Fruit Chan (DURIAN DURIAN), Korea's Chanwook Park (OLDBOY), and Japan's Takashi Miike (AUDITION). The trilogy opens with Chan's disgustingly entertaining DUMPLINGS, which he has also turned into a full-length film. DUMPLINGS stars Miriam Yeung Chin-Wah as Ching, a former TV star who is afraid of facing middle age. She visits Mei (Bai Ling), whose secret recipe for dumplings helps women look and feel younger. But when Ching discovers what's actually in the pot-stickers, she has some deep soul-searching to do. In Park's brutally violent CUT, Lee Byung-hun stars as a movie director who has everything going for him--a beautiful wife, hit films, a fabulous house, and an upstanding reputation. But an extra (Gang Hye-jung) decides to spoil the fun by placing the director in a no-win situation that could end in murder. Finally, Miike closes the frightfest with BOX, a brilliant psychological thriller in which a reclusive novelist (Kyoko Hasegawa) is haunted by her dead twin sister and a dark family secret. Although Miike is highly regarded for his comic ultraviolence, he turns off the blood quotient in this smartly paced, very creepy tale.
Theatrical Release: October 28, 2005
DVD Features:
2-Disc Set
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
(unspecified) - Japanese, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin
Director of Photography
Christopher Doyle: Director of Photography, Hong Kong films with Wong Kar-Wai
Review 1:
"[I]t serves as a fine introduction to the genre for those who are curious but squeamish."
Source: New York Times
p.E32 10/28/2005
Review 2:
"The biggest surprise comes from Miike Takashi, whose usual shock tactics are put on hold in 'The Box', a strange, semi-abstract mood piece..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.91 12/01/2006
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