Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl is one of the films in the Master Classes of 2005 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. Asano Tadanobu is the "Actor in Focus" this year and the shark skin man in the fifth film of my list. The film, an adaption of a manga with the same name, starts with a display of all the characters, each with their own unique and extravagant costumes. The starting sequence of such display mimics a manga that usually starts by introducing its main characters. For me, the most enjoyable factors in seeing a manga are its rich characters and its vivid portrayal of minor roles - both factors could also be found in the film. My favorite character in the film is in fact a hotel worker who is also an amateur hit man and who is hired to track down the shark skin man and peach hip girl. Yamada, the name of the character, makes a dramatic turn of attitude and becomes fond of the shark skin man. In the end of the film, Yamada even saves the shark skin man from a heavily-armed gang by sacrificing his own life. The mixture of ludicrousness and heroicalness in Yamada, in my opinion, creates a bizarre, yet interesting climax for the film.

• Read also the review by Richard Badley.
• Courtesy of Google Image Search for the poster, which is not easy to find with a size big enough.