The fifth edition of Far East Film Festival (Udine, Italy), which opened yesterday evening and runs until May 1st, will be remembered as the first film event seriously hit by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. A clash between festival organisers and local administration eventually led to the cancellation of the invitations to all guests coming from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, thus consistently reducing the usual Far East star buzz around the event. Furthermore, as remarked by CEC (Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche) president Sabrina Baracetti in her inaugural speech, all of the collaborators from Chinese territories had to stay home, hence being not allowed to enjoy the fruits of their work for the fest.

The tension surrounding the event was also witnessed by an unprecedented coverage from national Italian TV news, which was obviously not as much interested in Far East cinema as in the supposed risks to which fest-goers were exposed, and by a minuscule bunch of protesters branding a "Health is more important than anything else" poster outside of the Giovanni da Udine theatre.

Although the opening screening, crowded, but not fully-packed as usual, felt decidedly muted, as compared to the sparkling enthusiasm of previous editions, returning journalists and habitual fest-goers showed their warm support to the organization and the first slate of pictures. As usual, the festival, which is this year dedicated to recently passed Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung and Italian film critic Alberto Frassino, tried to detect the most recent tendencies in Far East commercial cinema, plus devoting sidebars to the discovery of unknown gems from the past, and that was already evident in the first three films being screened.

Opening film was Korean Saving My Hubby, by newcomer Hyun Nam-sup, already touted for a Hollywood remake. The film relates in a quirky and funny way the one-night adventures of a young wife and mother, former volleyball champ, who has to run for the rescue of her husband, kidnapped by some small-time extortionists. She will be accidentally involved in some weird mob run-chases and other absurd happenings, all set in Seoul's underworld. The film tells nothing particularly new, but it shows some inventiveness in its mise en scène and it features an hilarious performance from rising star Bae Doo-na (Barking Dogs Never Bite, Take Care of My Cat), always carrying her baby on her back all through the misadventures she experiences.

Riley Ip's Just One Look was symptomatic of a nostalgia feeling prevailing in recent Hong Kong productions. Set in the 70's, the film relates the semi-autobiographical story of some youths living in a smalltown close to Hong Kong, namely the Cheng Chau island. Fan and Fishball Ming are childhood friends who are now facing the uncertain period of first love. Fan also feels the heavy commitment of avenging his father, who committed suicide in a cinema toilet when he was a child.

Fan has in fact always kept a blurry memory of the event, confusing reality and what was passing on the screen, thus making him believe the responsible of his father's death was kung fu master and neighbourhood loan shark Crazy. Ip's film is a wonderful piece, perfectly combining irony, light sentimentalism and poetic touches, all mixed up in an utterly satisfying rendition of life in a time when cinema really influenced the lives of common people. A real gem.

Closing the evening in an after midnight show, was the first film of Ishii Sogo's retrospective, Porno Period Drama: Bohachi Bushido. Hailed as "the Cult King", Ishii Sogo is one of the masters of Japanese B-movies, with a career that spanned from the late 50's all through the nineties and comprises more than eighty features. Mark Schilling, who selected six films out of this plethora tried to track down the developments in the much-varied production of this prolific filmmaker, most famous for his ero-guro, a combination of eroticism and grotesque. Those who stayed up until 2 a.m. were fulgurated by the inventiveness of a filmmaker working under the strict constraints of exploitation cinema.

His film showed an impressive directing energy, unexpected from an apparently very shy man, who for the first time conquered his fear for plane trips, to honour with his presence the very first international festival paying a tribute to his work.

But there's much more to come and Udine's exigent public is certain that some other unknown pleasures will be disclosed in the coming days, as an eagerly awaited retrospective on Korean cinema's Golden Age in the 60's is yet to be inaugurated.

Paolo Bertolin