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A snigger-trigger from the moment its first trailer dropped, erotic drama Emmanuelle is more or less the embarrassing exercise in pointless revisionist filmmaking most were expecting it to be. It’s a work that’s all too easy to write off as another example of that very 21st century phenomenon, the relaunch of a campy mid-20th century brand but with more pretension, moodier lighting and an entirely fatal absence of humor.

In this case, the original property was a book turned softcore porn film (the tome by Emmanuelle Arsan, the picture directed by Just Jaeckin and starring Sylvia Kristel), which became a massive crossover hit in 1974, racked up mountains of receipts at mainstream theaters, contributed for good or ill to the discourse around the so-called “sexual revolution” of the time and taught millions how to convert regular jeans into cutoff shorts.

Director Audrey Diwan’s follow-up to her rightly acclaimed,...

It’s a surprise to find out that director Audrey Diwan had never seen the original Emmanuelle — a gauzy soft-porn feature that got la toute France hot and bothered when it was allowed to be shown in normal cinemas in 1974 — before she was approached to do this remake, which opens the San Sebastian Film Festival in Competition. In its day, Emmanuelle spawned a string of sequels, each reputedly worse than its predecessors, while star Sylvia Kristel became so immediately famous for taking off her clothes that the expectation blighted her entire career. It also made a huge amount of money.

But what’s most surprising about the fact that Diwan — who made The Happening, which won the Golden Lion in Venice three years ago — had not seen Just Jaeckin’s then-so-scandalous film is that this one seems to be constructed as an answer to it. Both are based on Emmanuelle Arsan’s pseudonymous 1967 novel,...

The 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival is underway after the world premiere of Audrey Diwan’s racy flick Emmanuelle kicked off the festivities in Spain.

The film, which boasts stars such as Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Naomi Watts (Mullholland Drive, Birdman), Will Sharpe (The White Lotus) and Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things), is inspired by Emmanuelle Arsan’s erotic novel. Chacha Huang and Anthony Wong round out the cast, all of whom, barring Watts, appeared briefly onstage before the showing at the city’s Kursaal Theater.

The director’s project centers around a woman, Emmanuelle (Merlant), on a business trip to Hong Kong working with a luxury hotel group. Searching for a lost pleasure, she seeks her arousal in experiences with some of the hotel’s guests. One of them, Kei (Sharpe), seems to constantly elude her. Diwan has said the script was conceived as an...

In the realms of Asian cinema, where fascination and sadism frequently intertwine, the existence of a legion of unforgettable villains is not exactly a surprise. Menacing yakuza bosses, cruel moguls, serial killers, vengeful parents, trigger happy crime lords and rogue samurais among others have casted their sinister shadows and have left an indelible mark on the silver screen. With their complex motivations, chilling charisma, and uncanny ability to evoke both fear and fascination, these 30 villains have become iconic figures, embodying the depths of human malevolence. Join us as we delve into their twisted minds and explore the mesmerizing realm of Asian cinema's most unforgettable antagonists.

Without further ado, here are 30 of the most iconic villains ever to appear on Asian cinema, in random order.

1. Lee Woo-jin

The case of Lee Woo-jin in “Oldboy” shows the futility of revenge as an action for a man that could do so much with what he had,...

(Welcome to Movies Are Gay, a Pride Month series where we explore the intentional, or accidental, ways Lgbtqia+ themes, characters, and creatives have shaped cinema.)

I try not to be one of those people that operate as if any instance of two men showing care and compassion for one another is inherently homoerotic because it's that line of thinking that makes it difficult for straight men to actually express genuine emotions and allows the patriarchy to continue to destroy us all. That said, Tequila (Chow Yun-fat) and Alan (Tony Leung) of John Woo's brilliant "Hard Boiled" are so in love they have to shoot guns about it. The final film Woo would make before he went to Hollywood, this pinnacle of Gun-Fu tells the story of one cop reeling from the loss of his partner and another working deep undercover that join forces to take down a corrupt group...

Michelle Yeoh has just won the Academy Award for best actress with her hysterically good performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, making Oscar history as first Asian woman winning that category. It has been a long way since the year 1937, when white actress Luise Rainer won the same category for sporting a “yellowface” and play a Chinese villager in “The Good Earth.” But the Malaysian-born actress had already built up a reputation in the 1980s and '90s as Hong Kong's kick-ass action star.

Check out the interview of Michelle Yeoh An Interview with Michelle Yeoh : One of Asia's Biggest Film Stars

A ballet dancer since 4, she moved to London to study at the Royal Academy as a teen, but her dancer career didn't last long. After winning the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant title and the Miss Moomba beauty pageant title in Australia in the early 1980s, she...

Geopolitical situations around the world are at such a stage that many countries have had to take in refugees globally. While a country and its government may be welcoming of these people who're having to leave their homes for one reason or the other, the population of the accepting country may not be so warm towards to newcomers. Hong Kong has, over the years, taken in refugees from a number of South Asian countries, many of who live in the country without many rights. For his debut feature, Malaysian director Lau Kok-rui turns his camera towards not just the situation the refugees find themselves in but also towards the local public's attitude towards them.

The Sunny Side of the Street is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival

Taxi driver Yat has a drinking habit and a bad temper, both acting as reasons why he doesn't get along with his police officer son.