TODAY AT THE AFI

F ollowing are The Times’ recommendations for today’s schedule of the American Film Institute International Film Festival, with commentary by the film reviewing staff. All screenings at Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset. Information: (213) 466-1767. Recommended:

“ABOUT LOVE, TOKYO”(Japan; Mitsuo Yanagimachi; 1:30 & 6:45 p.m.). The subject is modern, sexy, violent: young Chinese immigrants in Tokyo, the discrimination against them and the lives of drudgery, exploitation and crime into which many of them drift. But the style is studied and aesthetic: a mixture of urban shock with Mizoguchi’s exquisite long takes and Bresson’s austerity and control. Yanagimachi (“Himatsuri”) is one of the most interesting of the post-’70s Japanese filmmakers, and this tale of star-crossed lovers--a pinball thief forced to sell his girl to an impotent gangster--is strong, memorable.

Others: Hispanic Film Project (U.S.; Cheryl Quintana Leader, Jose Luis Valenzuela, Norberto Barba; 1:50 & 7 p.m.). Best of the three: Valenzuela and playwright Evelina Fernandez’s touching and humorous “How Else Am I Supposed to Know I’m Still Alive?,” essentially a two-character piece on the eccentricities of love and maternity.