21. Youth (Feng Xiaogang, 2017, China)
I felt that the true value of the film and particularly of Feng's direction lies not directly on the image, but more in what lies underneath. In that fashion, the movie may seem that exemplifies the Mao era, but a number of episodes undermine this sense, like the one with Liu Feng for example, which also serves as a dark twist in the whole concept of the romance between youths. Likewise, although the production seems to abide with the Chinese guidelines about movies, Feng has managed to include an underlying sense of sensualism that presents itself briefly but rather frequently, in locker rooms and dark alleys. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
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22. Yowamushi Pedal: Up the Road (Koichi Miki, 2020, Japan)
It is a classic feel-good film, without fail, and an ode to the collaborative work. This review comes from someone who hasn't seen any of the original source materials, so no comment or comparing on that, but the film has kept the hyperbolic mode of classic mangas, with a heavy (and a bit mono-thematic) characterisations of the protagonists. Onoda is an extremely positive character, decent, keen to learn and stay at his given place, but his puppy dog humbleness is a bit grating after almost two hours of running time. (Adriana Rosati)
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