Call Me Chihiro
Chihiro (Kasumi Arimura), a former sex worker, works in a bento shop in a sleepy seaside town. She's easy-going and benevolent, helping, and connecting, a bunch of people—a homeless old man, a lonely teenager, a bratty little boy. At the same time, she's very detached and dealing with her own loneliness—she's like a ghost, says her former boss. Directed by Rikiya Imaizumi, and based on a manga, it's a quiet and slow-paced Japanese movie; Arimura is subtle as Chihiro—watch her pucker her face and then smile as she eats a sour, pickled plum. (Netflix)
Also read: What birds teach us about being human
Crash Course in Romance
The K-drama about the romance between a celebrity maths teacher Choi Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho) and a banchan owner Nam Haeng-sun (Jeon Do-yeon) highlights the highly competitive world of cram schools or hagwons. Students go through a gruelling schedule, micromanaged by their mothers. There are some fun, light-hearted moments—and a couple of murders—but the scene stealer is Nam Jae-woo (Oh Eui-shik) as Nam's autistic brother. (Netflix)
This is Not a Film
The title of this 2011 film by Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is a sly challenge to the Iranian authorities who placed Panahi under house arrest and forbade him from directing. We see the director at home, ostensibly not directing—but actually doing just that. The film set the template for Panahi’s self-reflexive era, in which he’s both surveyor and surveyed. His recent incarceration, which he was only released from after sustained global pressure, is a reminder that the sly, seemingly simple films he’s been making are a serious business. (MUBI)
The Consultant
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) plays the unhinged titular character in this black comedy series created by Tony Basgallop. A consultant called in by a mobile gaming company starts to run the place in an unpredictable, chaotic manner. Based on a novel of the same name by Bentley Little. (Amazon Prime)
Also read: The Elephant Whisperers: Kartiki Gonsalves on the Oscar-nominated short
