Retro Reels

In the days ahead of Halloween (and her son's first birthday), Hanna reflects on the horrors of birth, revisiting Thai horror for just a moment to watch Nang Nak, a 1999 film based on the story of Mae Nak Phra Khanong.

Hanna shares her thoughts on the direction Chinese director Zhang Yimou ended up taking his career in the early aughts when he started making big flashy wuxia productions. Surprising no one, she's not especially impressed.

This week, Hanna watched Zhang Yimou's 1991 film, Raise the Red Lantern, based on the trials and tribulations faced by women in feudal China.

Hanna decides it's past time she gave some Fifth Generation Chinese directors their due, starting with Zhang Yimou's directorial debut, the 1988 film Red Sorghum.

Hanna's done with scary movies for now, but seeing as it's October, she can't help but check out a monster movie. THE monster movie, as it were, the 1954 classic Godzilla directed by Ishiro Honda.

Hanna closes out Ghost Month with something that's not so spooky, but perhaps a bit difficult to interpret — Apichatpong Weerasethakul's enigmatic 2010 film and winner of the Cannes Palme d'Or, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

This Thai horror anthology is very hit and miss, but some parts still had Hanna at the edge of her seat, watching through her fingers. More than anything though, it was a trip back through memory lane, filled with cultural hallmarks of the recession era.

It's Ghost Month again! Hanna's watching Thai horror this time, starting with their very worthwhile 2004 film, Shutter. Unfortunately, there's also the matter of the 2008 American remake.

After watching a couple of movies treat the subject of geisha with sensitivity and humanity, Hanna takes in a movie about geisha that manages to do pretty much everything wrong.

For the last episode of her series on Mikio Naruse, Hanna watches the always radiant Hideko Takamine in his 1960 film, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. She also gets a view in to the rarefied world that is the upscale Japanese hostess club, the popularity of which ultimately boxed out geishas in mid-century Japan.