Fantasia reviews, part three in a (hopefully) ongoing series

Big Bang Love: a surprisingly straightforward police procedural, with a supernatural horror bent. XD Come to think of it I haven't been baffled by a Miike flick since Gozu; even Izo made sense to me at the time (I don't remember much of it now). Not sure if Miike's getting more transparent or if the Fantasia audience is getting better at parsing his visual language. It's magic realism, more or less, delivered with a sort of artless literalism I find endearing; like we're all overthinking and dude just shot whatever the hell the script girl handed him. "He reeled back, as if the ray of light had pierced his heart as well as his eye." Lots of ontology-of-theatre in this one as well. The inside of the prison is a theatrical paradigm; outside the prison is a cinematic paradigm. The electrified fence between the two is... animation. Apparently. XD

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After This Our Exile: a brilliantly observed family drama of the depressing, kitchen-sink, two-and-a-half-hours-long variety. Aaron Kwok turns in a fine and convincing performance as a dude I began to wish halfway through would take a long walk off a short pier, as it was clearly the best turn he could have done himself, his family or society in general. But then I've never been known for my patience with this kind of storyline. XD; The boy who plays the son is utterly adorable.

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Two reviews pending: Ghosts of Cité Soleil, the documentary on Haitian Chimère from yesterday evening, and the new Harry Potter movie tonight. XD