The Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow sleeps off TIFF and an astounding 2009 until October 5th

by Chris MaGee

2009 thus far has been an absolutely astounding year for the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow. When the year began the Pow-Wow was still in its blogging infancy, but in the past nine months or so we've had interviews with the likes of Kazuhiro Soda, winner of the Peabody Award for his documentary "Campaign", the Criterion Collection's Marty Gross, video artist and composer Takagi Masakatsu, indie director (and one of my favorite current filmmakers) Yoshihiro Ito, "Tokyo Sonata" producer Yukie Kito, "Ain't No Tomorrow's" and "Electric Button" director Yuki Tanada, "Wings of Defeat" documentary filmmaker Risa Morimoto, up and coming filmmaker Edmund Yeo whose short film "Kingyo" was selected for this year's Venice Film Festival, and last but not least "GS Wonderland" director Ryuichi Honda and "Non-ko" director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri back to back in a roundtable discussion.

Just typing that list up makes me tired, but of course there's been more in 2009: Nippon Connection in Frankfurt, the Pow-Wow's Otaku O-tanjobi party in May, obviously the Shinsedai Cinema Festival with Midnight Eye's Jasper Sharp and now just finishing up our Toronto International Film Festival coverage. Add to that our day jobs and contributing writer Matthew Hardstaff making his first feature film (it's true!), the addition of film/ book reviewer Eric Evans to the team, and basically we're exhausted. So for the next two weeks the J-Film Pow-Wow blog will be going on a well deserved break. Frankly my own energy level has been so low after all that that I know I haven't been giving 100% to our daily updates, and that's just no good. So check back with us on Monday, October 5th when we'll be getting back to normal around here... and we may even have some updates and surprises for you too.

Off to nap... just like our salaryman friend above who comes courtesy of dannychoo.com.

TIFF'09 REVIEW: Kamui

カムイ 外伝 (Kamui Gaiden)

Released: 2009

Director:
Yoichi Sai

Starring:
Ken'ichi Matsuyama
Koyuki
Hideaki Ito
Kaoru Kobayashi
Anna Tsuchiya

Running time: 120 min.


Reviewed by Bob Turnbull

If I'm being kind, I'd say that Yoichi Sai's "post-modern sweeping Ninja epic" (as per the festival programmer's introduction) of the 1960-70's manga "Kamui Gaiden" (also known as "The Legend of Kamui") is a pretty faithful recreation of a graphic novel's frame by frame storytelling - cheesy CGI and all. If I'm being honest, I would say that's also its biggest problem. Short of a few scenes, much of the action and story feels like it is indeed taking place on a flat cartoon panel and never seems to realize it's a filmed adaptation. The 2-D space applies itself to the characters as well since they show very little depth and, consequently, very little reason to care for them.

It's not the fault of the story itself, though, since there are numerous interesting aspects to it. During the Tokugawa period in the 17th century, a young boy named Kamui is ostracized from his community. He's always felt like an outcast and so decides to build up his strength and speed in order that he may one day leave and find freedom for himself. Unfortunately, after striking out on his own he finds that he has few options outside of becoming a Ninja. His skills are already quite strong so he joins a team that hunts down former Ninjas who want to leave the life. As any Ninja warrior should know, you may be required at any moment to kill just about anyone - man, woman or child. For Sugaru, a formidable opponent that Kamui and his team battle, it's too much for her to continue killing without justification. The fearless battle in which she engages the Ninjas leaves a strong impression with the boy.

Many years later, Kamui has become a young adult and has developed a set of secret moves that put him a cut above the rest of the Ninjas. It's at this point that he too decides that his time has come to leave the life of killing and find some of the freedom he's been desiring since an early age. He almost finds it too: through numerous circumstances, Kamui ends up on the run and in a fishing village where he not only shares his secret with a former opponent, but may have also found himself a quiet happiness. It doesn't last long, of course, and he has to face traitorous behaviour, an emperor's bounty, a ship full of pirates and massive sharks.

It all sounds like meaty stuff for a good Ninja film chock full of battles. There are actually some early scenes that promise a fun romp ahead (using what seems to be not-quite-finished CGI effects, Kamui displays his Izuna Drop and Mirror Mist Kill moves), but it loses its way when Kamui gets on the bad side of the crazy, power hungry emperor and he meets Hanbei the fisherman. The fun drains from the story and there's not much inventiveness in bringing to life the characters. The special effects are very much short changed by this point too since we've gone beyond fight scenes and into big ocean storms and other events that are peripheral to the Ninja arc of the story (in particular, the huge killer sharks that encircle an island and leap from the water). Sai makes use of some good framing for many of his shots that seem to map to storyboard panels, but I never felt that he took it much further than that.

Having seen Sai work wonders with the story of Quill the seeing-eye dog (his 2004 film that avoided all the trappings of what could easily have been excess melodrama), I had confidence that Sai could put a new spin on a strong Ninja tale. From the post film Q&A with him, it appears that the Kamui Gaiden manga were of particular importance to him as a young man. My impression is that perhaps Sai couldn't quite remove himself from his reverence for the manga to create an intriguing and visually exciting tale.

Read more from Bob Turnbull at his blog.

Masahiro Mobayashi senior and junior team up for "Where Are You?"

by Chris MaGee

If you had to ask me what some of the most important films made in Japan in the past decade have been I'd definitely have to include Masahiro Kobayashi's bleak, brave and insightful drama "Bashing". It's story of a young aide worker recently released from being held hostage in Iraq being faced with shame and outrage by her fellow Japanese shows us a Japan not as we or even the Japanes themselves want to see it, but as it really is. That's great filmmaking, and it's that unvarnished approach that makes the 55-year-old Kobayashi's filmography so vital, so when I saw that Kevin Ouellette at Nippon Cinema (with the help of the ubiquitous logboy) had posted a trailer for Kobayashi's latest film "Where Are You?" I know I wanted to share it with you all.

“Where Are You?” stars Kobayashi's own son Yuto Kobayashi as a a 16-year-old boy named Ryo who has grown up with an estranged father and a severely ill mother. He works at a convenience store to make ends meet as best he can, but when his mother finally succumbs to her illness Ryo is left shoulder not only the grief at her passing, but also the financial burden of settling her estate and her funeral. Masahiro senior takes Masahiro junior's character on an odyssey to face the emotional and practical challenges of a child dealing with his parents death as well as his attempt to tie up the loose ends of his relationship with his absent father.

"Where are You?" already had it's international premiere at this year's Locarno Film Festival and will be receiving a limited theatrical run in Japan starting on November 14th. For now head over to Nippon Cinema here to check out the trailer.

TIFF'09 REVIEW: Toad's Oil

ガマの油 (Gama no abura)

Released: 2009

Director:
Kôji Yakusho

Starring:
Kôji Yakusho
Eita
Satomi Kobayashi
Junichi Sawayashiki
Fumi Nikaido

Running time: 131 min.


Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr

Kôji Yakusho is one of Japan’s best known actors, having performed in films as diverse as Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo,” Masayuki Suo’s international megahit “Shall We Dance?,” Shohei Imamura’s Palme d’Or-winning “The Eel” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Babel.” In 2009, he sat in the director’s chair for the first time to make the fascinatingly unique “Toad’s Oil,” which I was lucky enough to catch at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Yakusho stars as Takuro Yazawa, a lively man who makes his living as a day trader, constantly checking his rows of computer screens to keep himself updated on the millions of yen he can gain or lose within a day. He lives in a giant, mostly empty mansion with his wife Erumi (Satomi Kobayashi) and son Takuya (Eita), who has his heart set on becoming an astronaut. The family is joined by Saburo Akiba, a gentle-natured young man who comes to live with them after leaving a juvenile correction facility. Their peaceful lives are suddenly disrupted when Takuya is hit by a car and goes into a coma, initiating a period of change and self-discovery for all of them.

One of the most remarkable things about “Toad’s Oil” is the fine balance between comedy and drama that it gracefully maintains throughout its duration. Despite the grim turn of events that the plot veers towards, the overall tone of the film is light and engaging, helped considerably by Yakusho’s onscreen energy as the constantly entertaining Takuro, who often plays with his impressive arsenal of BB guns and screams with glee whenever he loses (yes, loses) money in his business ventures. One interesting storyline involves Takuya’s girlfriend Hikari, who frequently calls and e-mails him. After he goes into a coma, Takuro happens upon his cell phone and, posing as his son, simply keeps the correspondence going. The split-screened phone conversations between Takuro and the unsuspecting Hikari have a certain sweetness to them as the two teasingly banter and make up codenames for each other (astoundingly, these scenes never feel creepy in any way), but beneath each one lurks the devastating truth and potential disaster of discovery. The result is an unusual sort of screen suspense that makes it clear just how much Yakusho and co-writers Hideko Nakata and Urara make you care about the characters and their emotional well being.

When discussing the film after the screening, chief Pow-Wow editor Chris MaGee and I agreed that it has the same messy quality that Shohei Imamura’s films and Haruki Murakami’s novels are known for. As in those works, the storyline doesn’t proceed on a straight course so much as wanders in various directions, following the characters as they adapt in their individual ways to the changes brought about by Takuya’s accident. The viewers are consequently treated to a jumble of scenes running the gamut from funny to contemplative, including a piggy-backed walk through a peaceful forest, a lunch in front of Mount Fuji and a prolonged fight with a black bear. Interspersed through the film are scenes featuring a man and his wife from Takuro’s youth who represent a more traditional and fulfilling way of life, merrily entertaining children and hawking toad’s oil, a supposedly magical healing ointment.

“Toad’s Oil” proves to be an accomplished demonstration of Yakusho’s newfound directorial talents. He makes great use of his talented assortment of actors, which include newcomers Fumi Nikaidô as the spirited Hikari and K-1 champion fighter Junichi Sawayashiki as Saburo. The cinematography by Toyomichi Kurita is amazingly crisp and clear, filling the film with gorgeous color. Also, Yakusho manages to harness a refreshing vitality every step of the way, and while he uses some elements that could be considered indie movie clichés (such as a cross-country trek undertaken in a square-shaped mobile home), they miraculously never feel borrowed or contrived. Some additional cutting in the editing room would probably help it, but in its current form “Toad’s Oil” still very much succeeds as an entertaining, offbeat and heart-felt debut for what will hopefully be a productive filmmaking career for Yakusho.

Read more by Marc Saint-Cyr at his blog.

Here we go with Yoji Kuri!

by Chris MaGee

I find some of the best films by going on internet spelunking trips as I like to call them - vague Google searches on filmmakers, topics, or sometimes just keywords and then I spend a good hour our more just clicking links and following leads. On a recent spelunking trip searching out "Japanese indie animators" I came across a documentary on one of Japan's most respected independent animators, Yoji Kuri.

Now 81-years-old Kuri was the defacto leader of a trio of animators which included Hiroshi Manabe and Ryohei Yanagihara who first introduced animation as art into the Japanese mainstream during the 1960's. Sounds absurd, I know, seeing that anime is one of Japan's leading cultural exports now, but before 1960 animation wasn't nearly as respected as it is today. According to this wonderfully informative article over at Anipages Daily (make sure to read it) before 1960 the Japanese didn't even have a word for animation or anime. Animated films were entirely a commercial endeavor and were refered to studios and producers as simply "manga eiga", but once Kuri, Manabe, and Yanagihara started up their Animation Sannin no Kai (Animation Group of Three) as they called themselves in late 1960 this quickly began to change. These three men proved through their innovative, playful, and independently produced films that animation was equal to live-action filmmaking or any traditional fine art.

In 2008 documentary filmmaker Ryo Saitani produced a film about those pioneering days titled "Here We Go With Yoji Kuri!" that showed how Kuri, Manabe and Yanagihara's animated collaborations also drew in poets, musicians, authors, and actors into what Saitani refers to as an artistic bomb whose effects are still being felt in Japan today. The film screened at the Holland Animation Festival and the Hiroshima Animation Festival in 2008, but sadly my internet spelunking did not produce any trailer for it, but I can give you the next best thing - Kuri's 1964 short film "Ai (Love)" which won both the Best Animated Film at that year's Poland's Cracow Film Festival and the Lion of San Marco Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

REVIEW: The Bad Sleep Well

悪い奴ほどよく眠る (Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru)

Released: 1960

Director:
Akira Kurosawa

Starring:
Toshirô Mifune
Masayuki Mori
Kyôko Kagawa
Tatsuya Mihashi
Takashi Shimura

Running time: 151 min.

Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr

Of Akira Kurosawa’s three loose takes on classic Shakespeare plays, “The Bad Sleep Well” is the odd one out. Both 1957’s “Throne of Blood,” his interpretation of “Macbeth,” and 1985’s “Ran,” which borrows and modifies elements from “King Lear,” are majestic, large-scale tapestries of Japan’s feudal era while his 1960 approach to “Hamlet” is firmly situated in the then present day world of postwar Tokyo. As its great tile so clearly suggests, the film is just as influenced by film noir as the Bard’s drama, presenting a gripping tale of slick facades and shady goings-on behind closed doors and in the middle of the night.

It opens on a wedding ceremony for the marriage of Koichi Nishi (a bespectacled Toshirô Mifune) to the daughter of Iwabuchi, vice president of the prestigious Public Corporation. Hanging like a shadow over the occasion are suspicions of corruption regarding Public Corp.’s recent dealings with Dairyu Construction, reinforced by the suicide of one of the former’s employees five years previous. Soon enough, the investigation into spent public funds and rigged bids triggers a fresh string of strange suicides that are in fact devised to rid Public Corp. of its incriminating middlemen. However, their sketchy dealings are hindered by Nishi, who oversees a careful plan of revenge fueled by long-simmering anger.

In Alex Cox’s “The Last Emperor,” his documentary ode to Kurosawa, Francis Ford Coppola claims that the first forty minutes of “The Bad Sleep Well” “are as good as anything [that has] ever been made.” This is a fair statement, as the film features in abundance the filmmaker’s legendary storytelling talents. The action that takes place during the wedding is shown from the perspective of a group of curious journalists who provide context by skeptically discussing the wave of scandal that has hit Public Corp. and pointing out the assembled guilty parties. The event’s building tension, helped along by its stiff formality and the bride’s brother who, in his toast, outright threatens to kill the groom if he mistreats her, culminates with the surprise arrival of a massive cake shaped like the corporation’s ministry building with a rose sticking out of the seventh floor window from which the employee jumped. From there, Kurosawa hurls us into a montage of newspaper headlines, economically covering the investigation of Public Corp. with a clever handling of time and film technique. Wada (Kamatari Fujiwara), the assistant chief of contracts, is grilled by detectives, then pushed by the company towards suicide, but before he can complete the deed from the top of a tall, smoldering hill, Nishi stops him and recruits him as a “ghost” to torment the remaining villains. That’s when the film shifts from the smooth forty-ish minute-long exposition so favored by Mr. Coppola to a compelling revenge thriller driven by Mifune’s contained intensity.

As he often does in his films, Kurosawa keeps from clearly defining his characters as either good or evil, opting instead for a more complex consideration of human morality. For the most part, Iwabuchi (Masayuki Mori) and his right-hand man Moriyama (Takashi Shimura) are pretty despicable, but a family barbecue scene makes the scheming vice president out to be almost harmless. In one powerful scene, Nishi describes the driving force behind his craving for revenge and the emotional extremes he pushes himself towards, sometimes even reluctantly, in order to maintain it. An especially intriguing facet of the plot involves Nishi’s wife, Yoshiko (Kyôko Kagawa), her own place in his plans and how it affects their constantly evolving relationship. Kurosawa also once more shows he isn’t afraid to express his pessimistic view of the world and the rotten puppet masters who, however undeservingly, truly control it, not only finding ethical fault with Nishi’s actions, but also pitting him against increasingly grim odds.

Though it is firmly situated within a productive period in Kurosawa’s career, “The Bad Sleep Well” remains somewhat overshadowed by more widely recognized Mifune collaborations like “The Hidden Fortress,” “Yojimbo” and “High and Low.” But if its harrowing suspense, impressive performances and cutting-edge depiction of corporate greed are any indication, it truly deserves a place alongside the filmmaker’s best.

Read more by Marc Saint-Cyr at his blog.

This site really is a Good Movies Collection

by Chris MaGee

In my search for a poster image to accompany Marc Saint-Cyr's review of the classic 1960 Akira Kurosawa film "The Bad Sleep Well" I stumbled acorss this Japanese website called Good Movies Collection. It brings together vintage posters of both Japanese and Hollywood films like (above left to right) Ren Yoshimura's 1950 film starring Setsuko Hara "Shirayuki-sensei to kodomo-tachi", George Stevens' 1953 western "Shane", Fred M. Wilcox's 1956 sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet". Most of the images have "Good Movies Collection" superimposed somewhere across them, but it still gives you a good hour of exploring, so have fun and click away!

TIFF'09 REVIEW: Air Doll

空気人形 (Kuuki Ningyou)

Released: 2009

Director:
Hirokazu Kore-eda

Starring:
Bae Doo Na
Arata
Itsuji Itao
Jo Odagiri
Kimiko Yo

Running time: 116 min.



Reviewed by Chris MaGee

Hideo (Itsuji Itao) has a thankless existence as a waiter in a chain restaurant. His boss dislikes him, his customers mistreat him. If it weren't for the fact that Hideo has a faithful woman at home his life would be unbearable. This woman is Nozomi - quiet, a great listener, non-judgmental, and beautiful and sexually available to boot. What tired, work-a-day Japanese man could ask for more, plus she was a bargain at ¥5,995. You see Nozomi is an inflatable sex doll, or "Air Doll" and it's from this substitute for sexual desire by lonely men like Hideo that director Hirokazu Kore-eda takes the title of his latest film.

This tale of urban alienation has a twist though. Nozomi doesn't remain a vinyl sex aide. Through magic, circumstance or just constant use this air doll finds herself gaining a heart and suddenly coming to life. The newly sentient and mobile Nozomi (played by Korean actress Bae Doo Na of "The Host" and "Linda, Linda, Linda" fame) keeps this miracle a secret from Hideo, deciding to only get up and explore the human world when Hideo is at work. Dressing in the maid costume bought for her by Hideo she heads out into the streets of Tokyo observing its denizens with a child-like sense of wonder. It's on one of these forays that she stumbles into a video store called Cinema Circus, and it's there that she eventually gets a job and meets Junichi (Arata), a young man who will teach her newly awakened heart how to love.

There has been tremendous buzz building in advance of this, Hirokazu Kore-eda's seventh feature film. This is of course from the man who brought us such contemporary cinematic masterpieces as 1995's "Maborosi", 1998's "After Life" and 2004's "Nobody Knows". I am a huge fan of these three and credit "After Life" for being one of the films that introduced me to Japanese cinema, but I found myself liking instead of loving Kore-eda's last two feature outings, the jidai-geki comedy/drama "Hana" and the Yazujiro Ozu homage "Still Walking", so when I heard that "Air Doll" was his best film since "After Life" I grew even more excited, and cautious.

I was a bit disturbed that as I sat watching the first half of "Air Doll" I again found myself liking, but not loving, the story unfolding on the screen. Nozomi's new life and exploration of her world did indeed bring a smile to my face. The cinematography by Mark Lee Ping Bing, who shot portions of Wong Kar Wai's "In the Mood for Love" and many of Ho Hsiao Hsien's films, was as exquisite as ever, and the playful and moving score provided by World's End Girlfriend perfectly complimented the story. Still there was a feeling of cliche about this modern-day Pinocchio story, that I'd seen scenes from "Air Doll" in other similar films, Ron Howard's "Splash" and Steven Spielberg's "A.I." being two examples. The montage sequences in which Kore-eda shows us the people around Nozomi, the old man on a park bench, a father and his young daughter, a lonely bulimic woman, and an aging beauty (played by "Departures" Kimiko Yo) where wonderful aesthetic experiences and had me wishing that Kore-eda had made "Air Doll" an ensemble film. I feared that, like Nozomi, this film would be beautiful but empty, but it was the performance of Bae Doo Na that ends up giving "Air Doll" the heart that makes it a great film.

The character of Nozomi is a very difficult one. On one hand she can be interpreted as a symbol of female awakening, of a Japanese woman liberated from a servile role at home and bravely going out into the world to forge her own destiny. On the other hand, despite her newfound "heart" she is still a beautiful blank, empty inside and reliant on the men around her to fill her up and giver her meaning. Kore-eda based his film on Yoshiie Goda's manga "The Pneumatic Figure of a Girl" (his very first manga adaptation), the same manga author who brought us "Jigyaku no uta" which formed the basis of Yukihiko Tsutsumi's "Happily Ever After", a comedy about a woman stuck with an abusive spouse. Goda obviosuly wants her female characters to take us to unfamiliar or uncomfortable emotional territory, and Bae Doo Na's performance does the exact same thing. Her Nozomi is both sexually alluring, innocent, and funny while at the same time full of disappointment, confusion, and sadness. It's a real accomplishment on Bae Doo Na's part, and for me becomes the true accomplishment of Kore-eda's film - to give Japanese cinema and cinema in general an example of femininity that while enticing is never easy, that takes the metaphor of a sex doll to hone in on aspects of the female experience (liberation vs. servitude, desire vs. objectification) that film sometimes stops just short of addressing.

Kore-eda need not have driven home the point of how everyone in contemporary society is similar to Nozomi, all trying to find our way and all more than a bit empty. The heart of "Air Doll" is in the film's main character, a woman (inflatable or not) who due to some very unexpected twists in the plot (the less said the better) can stand alongside Kenji Mizoguchi's Oharu from "The Life of Oharu" and Yasujiro ozu's and Sestuko Hara's Noriko as complex and compelling cinematic females. It's this that indeed places "Air Doll" amongst Kore-eda's best works.

Weekly Trailers

Pandora's Box - Masanori Tominaga (2009)

Based on Osamu Dazai's 1945 novel of the same name "Pandora's Box" tells the story of Hibari (Shota Someya) who while recuperating from tuberculosis at a sanitarium becomes involved with two nurses: one young and lively, the other introverted and middle-aged. Set for release in Japanese theatres on October 10th.




Salaryman Chushingura - Toshio Sugie (1960)

There have been dozens of screen adaptations, both feature film and television, of the epic tale of the Loyal 47 Ronin, or as it's known in Japan "Chushingura", but in 1960 the tale of samurai honor and revenge was updated by director Toshio Sugie to the 20th-century with salarymen in the place of samurai. Ryo Ikebe stars as Asano, the man ordered to commit seppuku for attacking a daimyo lord and Hisaya Morishige stars as Oishi, his loyal servant who plots to avenge his master's death.

TIFF '09 REVIEW: Bare Essence of Life

ウルトラミラクルラブストーリー
(Urutora Miraku Rurabu Sutoorii)

Released: 2009

Director:
Satoko Yokohama

Starring:
Ken'ichi Matsuyama
Kumiko Aso
Misako Watanabe
Yoshio Harada

Running time: 120 min.


Reviewed by Bob Turnbull

The wiring in Yojin's head is different than most people's. It's not broken, it's just different. He tends to repeat words, can't sit still and loses focus on conversations. He's also prone to acting up, likes to throw things around the place and keeps a long string of alarm clocks set to remind him to do basic tasks. So even though the rest of him is 25 years old, his brain is actually in a very childish state. He doesn't worry about this much until Machiko, the new school teacher, arrives in town from Tokyo and he becomes smitten with her. Thus begins the plot of Satoko Yokohama's "Bare Essence Of Life" - a gentle, sometimes funny, sometimes strange and occasionally surreal look at these two people as well as our nature as human beings to control what scares us.

Yojin likes her immediately, but she's a bit frightened by his actions. One evening he tries to pull her out of her classroom through a window while she is still minding several children, so one can somewhat understand her concerns. The children, however, seem to love him and treat him like one of their own by pestering and playing with him in the same way as the rest of their class. This easy friendship Yojin has with kids leads him to play with a small boy in his backyard garden one day and it's here that he discovers something - getting sprayed with pesticide calms him down and clears his brain. That night he has a long talk with Machiko as he walks her home and he realizes that she might prefer the clear headed version of himself as opposed to the regular version. So he starts to spray himself regularly.

It's during one of these walks home (each done in lovely, long single takes) that the story's general theme surfaces. Machiko tells Yojin about her version of evolutionary theory - as humanity makes its world safer and further controls unpredictable elements like Mother Nature, we stop evolving. It's a bit of a circular argument (using Machiko's own example, if humanity evolves in order to find a way to stop any further wars won't we then hit another evolutionary wall?), but the details are somewhat besides the point. It's an interesting viewpoint on man's love/hate relationship with the natural world around us and the extent that we should combat it. The film is filled with references and ties between humanity, nature and our fears such as the dusting of crops via helicopter, beautiful close-ups of grass and insects, and Yojin's own struggles to make sense of his Grandfather's gardening lessons on audio tape as he tries to keep bugs away from the cabbage. It also provides a wonderful look at small town rural life and its languid pace.

We get to spend quality time with these characters via numerous long takes like those walks home. There's typically very few edits during conversations, so it gives the viewer a relaxed, comfortable and very natural way of getting to know both Yojin and Machiko (not unlike Nobuhiro Yamashita's "Linda Linda Linda" and "A Gentle Breeze In The Village"). Machiko is a bit unsteady herself since she lost the love of her life recently via a car accident. He was already essentially lost to her due to his philandering, but she seems deeply perturbed about the fact that his head was severed during the crash and as yet not found. She still somehow holds out hope that he may one day talk with her - if only that head could be found. Meanwhile, Yojin is convinced that he's actually evolving (he mixes up which pesticides he uses on himself so that he won't gain tolerance to them), but is actually beginning to suffer some real health problems. This leads to some very unexpected and magical moments that work their way into the latter portion of this very engaging film. It's a first the second feature by Yokohama (who also wrote the screenplay) and I look forward to any future theories she cares to share with us through her films.

Read more from Bob Turnbull at his blog.

Poster for cell phone novel adaptation "Tenshi no Koi" get yanked for being too racy

by Chris MaGee

Back in June we reported on how the cell phone novel "Tenshi no koi (Angel of Love)" was being adapted into a feature film by Gaga Communications and 25-year-old director and Shunji Iwai protege Yuri Kanchiku. The story follows a 17-year-old girl named Rio whose mind and heart are opened up after meeting a 35-year-old University professor.

Well, "Tenshi no Koi" is set to be released in on November 7th, but in advance of that the chirashi, the double-sided mini-posters used in to promote films in Japan, for it (above left) were sent out to movie theatres to help spread the word. The only problem was that the poster features 21-year-old model-turned-actress Nozomi Sasaki as Rio nude from the waist up, but with her back to the camera. Theatre owners felt a bit nervous about the display of bare skin, plus the reverse side of the poster shows Sasaki in a passionate kiss with 37-year-old actor Shosuke Tanihara who stars as her amorous teacher. That double whammy has had the posters yanked from theatres, and made the "Tenshi no Koi" chirashi a hot collector's item, especially with teen girls who were fans of the original cell phone novel.

Check out the 30-second teaser trailer for "Tenshi no Koi (Angel of Love)" below for your daily dose of soap opera romance, and thanks to CinemaCafe.net for the details on this story.

Dutch composer adapts Hirokazu Kore-eda's film "After Life" from screen to the opera stage

by Chris MaGee

One of the things that makes Hirokazu Kore-eda's 1998 film "After Life" such a masterpiece is that its take on life after death is utterly human and utterly universal. Asking the recently deceased "If you had to pick one memory of your life to take with you into the after life what would it be?" is so simple, but it's a question that cuts across cultures, religions, and languages. It also seems that the concept of the film can also jump from one medium to another if this article posted at Nippon Cinema is any indication.

In 2006 Dutch composer Michel van der Aa adapted Kore-eda's "After Life" into an opera and now it is being staged at the Dutch National Opera starting on September 28th, and the behind the scenes footage at the production's official site looks fascinating, but don't take my word for it. Check out this YouTube clip below that features van der Aa discussing the inspiration to adapt Kore-eda's film, as well as some of the ingenious stage design used to b ring it from screen to stage.

YouTube find of the month - Kon Ichikawa's very first puppet film

by Chris MaGee

It's a bit of a famous anecdote that the filmmaker that iconic Japanese director Kon Ichikawa credited as being the biggest influence on him was Walt Disney. It makes sense seeing that Ichikawa began as a cartoonist and illustrator before shifting to filmmaking in 1946. In fact of the nearly 90 films that he directed in his six decade career that very first film was a 20-minute marionette puppet play produced by Toho titled "A Girl at Dojo Temple (Musume Dojoji)". The film was based on the famous kabuki story of Anchin and Kiyohime in which a bellmaker is pursued by a magical maiden who transforms into a serpent. It was during a recent wander through YouTube that to my surprise I found that someone had posted the entire film split into two parts. You can watch the first half below and follow it up with the second half here. It's fascinating to watch it and then think of all the classics ("The Burmese Harp", "Fires on the Plain", "Odd Obsession", "The Inugami Family", etc.) that would follow from this master filmmaker.

Tokyo International Film Festival announces this year's line-up

by Chris MaGee

We're just a month away from the other TIFF that Japanese film fans are keeping an eye on, that being the 22nd Annual Tokyo International Film Festival (Sorry Toronto, you'll have to share your TIFF monikor), and to gear ourselves up the official festival website has been updated with this year's line-up of films. There's more on hand than can be covered in this article, but here are a few films that jump out at me that you might all be interested in.

First up is the latest from 26-year-old filmmaking powerhouse Yuya Ishii, "To Walk Beside You" (above). Recently we premiered Ishii's 2007 comedy "Girl Sparks" here in Toronto at the Shinsedai Cinema Festival, but this film seems to be shifting gears for Ishii with the storyline following the romance between a 34-year-old high school teacher and her student.

Next up is an omnibus film based around one of my favorite books of all time, Yasunari Kawabata's short story collection "Palm-of-the-Hand Stories". The title is very apt with none of the stories being longer than four pages (some are only a page in length), and in this film adaptation four directors (Takushi Tsubokawa, Nobuyuki Miyake, Tsukasa kishimoto, and Yuya Takahashi) translate these slight and subtle tales to the big screen.

One film that is already receiving a certain amount of buzz online is "Acacia" directed by Jinsei Tsuji. It stars former pro-wrestler Antonio Inoki as... here's a stretch... a former pro-wrestler named Daimajin who regretting his relationship with his own son tries to right those wrongs by befriending a lonely boy.

One last minute addition to the line-up is more than a bit of a surprise. According to Japan Today programmers added Louie Psihoyos's documentary "The Cove" to this year's fest at the very last minute, so last minute in fact that it wasn't even listed in the programme book. Instead it's been written up on a one page addendum inserted into the programme. For those of you who don't know "The Cove" follows dolphin trainer and eco-activist Ric O’Barry as he tries to expose the annual dolphin massacre that takes place in the seaside town of Taiji, Japan. It looks like a fascinating film, but one that most Japanese might have some trouble with. Check out the trailer below to see what I mean.

For more on what to expect from this year's Tokyo International Film Festival click here.

"Crayon Shin-chan" creator Yoshito Usai missing for nearly a week

by Chris MaGee

It's been a fairly busy week so I've been playing a bit of catch up with certain news items, but here is one that I was hoping would resolve itself so I just wouldn't have to write about it. Sadly it hasn't. 51-year-old manga artist, and creator of "Crayon Shin-chan", Yoshito Usui, has been reported missing by his family after he did not return from a hike in rural Gunma Prefecture last Friday, September 11th. Calls to his cell phone went unanswered, he has not contacted his publisher, so the authorities were called in and now a search is going on that stretches across multiple Prefectures around Usai's home in Saitama.

Of course many of you out there will be familar with Usai's "Crayon Shin-chan". Originally appearing in "Weekly Manga Action" magazine in 1990 the adventures of Shinnosuke Nohara, a.k.a. Shin-chan have been turned into an animated series and a series of highly successful animated films.

Our thoughts are with Usai's family during what must be an absolutely grueling and frightening time. Thanks to Anime News Netowrk for the details on this story.

Newly elected DPJ politician had topless scene in Teruo Ishii film

by Chris MaGee

I've avoided discussing the recent election in Japan and the historic voting out of the Liberal Democratic Government after 54 years in power mostly because I don't live in Japan and am not comfortable discussing its domestic politics, just its domestic film industry. That being said when a story comes up that crosses the recent unseating of the LDP in favor of Yukio Hatoyama and the Democratic Party of Japan and Japanese films, well I havbe to jump at the chance, especially when it mixes in a sex scandal as well.

As part of the recent election DPJ politician Ichiro Ozawa sent young, attractive female candidates out to run in smaller constituencies I'm assuming because he believed that a pretty woman would get more votes than stodgy old men. It seemed that the strategy had a certain amount of success, so much so that one of these "Ozawa Girls", as the Japanese press dubbed these candidates, won a seat in Ishikawa Prefecture. The the newly elected representative, 34-year-old Mieko Tanaka (above left), was described during the election as a "former temporary worker". Sounds good. There's lots of temp workers in Japan that want a greater voice in governemnt, but no one in the DPJ specified what kind of temporary work Tanaka had been involved in.

Recently it's been revealed that Tanaka not only used to wroter a column titled "Beautiful costume play writer Arisu interviews sex workers: a real battle of beauties" in an adult magazine under the pen name Arisu Shibuya, but she also appeared in ero-guro filmmaker Teruo Ishii's final film, 2001's "Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf"... topless. The offending scene has been posted on YouTube (you can check it out below, but with Tanaka's breasts edited out).

Everyone has a past, I guess, and as Tanaka put it during a recent public apology “I was making a living under difficult financial conditions. I had to work hard to make a living and I tried a lot of different things.” Taking your top off isn't the worst thing you can do, especially when it's in a Teruo Ishii film, not a very good Ishii film, but still.

Thanks to The Tokyo Reporter for this piece of news.

Masahide Ichii's "Naked of Defenses" gets slapped with an R18+ rating in Japan

by Chris MaGee

It was just last month that The Shinsedai Cinema Festival premiered Masahide Ichii's powerful drama "Naked of Defenses" here in Canada. Probably my favorite film of 2009 it tells the story of a love/ hate friendship between two women, one eight months pregnant, the other suffering the emotional trauma of having had a miscarriage. "Naked of Defenses" deservedly won the top prize at the 2008 Pia Film Festival for this simple but sublime storyline which... SPOILERS AHEAD... climaxes with actress Sanae Konno, wife of director Ichii, actually giving birth to their son on camera. When I first saw the film in Frankfurt at Nippon Connection '09 I was so swept up in the emotion of the scene that it took me a few minutes to realize what was actually going on, but yes, this is probably the most public baby birthing video ever. It works very well, but censors in Japan have had a hard time coming to terms with the pubic hair, blood and general messiness of the whole scene.

Now CinemaToday.jp is reporting that for its limited theatrical release Eirin, the Japanese motion picture rating board, has slapped the film with a R18+, the highest rating possible in the country. That means no one under 18-years of age can get into see "Naked of Defenses" as this rating applies to films that "contain adult themes, detailed violence, explicit sex, sexual violence, pornographic content, hentai, and/or drug use". This is the same rating given to films like "Ichi the Killer", "Baise-moi" and "Caligula". We're not talking torture or orgies here... This is childbirth, people! You know? Where we all came from?

For those of you out there who have seen "Naked of Defenses" you'll know just how appropriate this final scene is to the storyline, and for all of you who have not seen the wonderful film yet don't let this rating fool you - this is one of the most heartfelt and touching films you will ever see, real birth scene or no.

"Whispering of the Gods" director Tatsushi Omori returns with a road movie

by Chris MaGee

Tatsushi Omori (above left), the man who brought us the controversial 2005 film "Whispering of the Gods (Gerumaniumu no yoru )" is returning to the directors chair with "Kenta to Jun to Kayo-chan no Kuni". The film has recently wrapped shooting and stars Shota Matsuda and Kengo Kora (above right) as two young men who have grown up in a juvenile institution and who hit the road when to visit their brother who is locked up in prison. No word if the juvenile institution is anything like the Catholic community in "Whispering of the Gods" which featured handjobs, sex with nuns, killing animals and the like, all of which passed the Japanese censors due to the fact that the film's producer, Genjiro Arato, screened the film in a tent to avoid it having to go through the ratings system. "Kenta to Jun to Kayo-chan no Kuni" won't be screening in a tent, though. It will be getting its world premiere at TokyoFilmeX in November. Thanks to Tokyograph for this interesting bit of news.

"Totoro's House" rises from the ashes to become a public park

by Chris MaGee

Back in February we reported on how Japanese authorities were saying that a fire that destroyed a Western-style heritage house in Suginami City, Tokyo known as "Totoro's Home" was most likely arson. Whoever set the blaze put a halt to plans by the municipality of turning it and the land around it into a public park dedicated to the famous character from Hatao Miyazaki's 1988 animated film "My Neighbor Totoro".

That bad news has now been transformed into good news since Mitazaki stepped in and revised his designs for the park to include what remains of the house, basically its red roof and foundations. This rebirth of the space comes as a great joy to Kondō-san, the 85-year-old woman whose family called "Totoro's House" home since it was built in 1929. She learned of Miyazaki's revisions to the park after she was released from the hospital for heart surgery and stated that "It's like a miracle. I want this to become a park that many will treasure."

Miyasaki stated in his book "Totoro no Sumu Ie (The Homes that Totoro Lives in)" that "Totoro would have enjoyed living in [this house] dearly." Now the people in Suginami City will enjoy what remains of it. So there, Arsonists!

Thanks to Anime News Network for this piece of good news, and to Yomiuri Online for the above pic of Kondō-san in front of her old home.

Line-up announced for the 4th Annaul Camera Japan Festival in The Netherlands

by Chris MaGee

In just a couple days seven cities in The Netherlands will be playing host to the best in Japanese film. The 4th Annual Camera Japan Festival kicks off on September 18th and will run until October 7th in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Dordrecht, Arnhem, Breda, Tilburg and Leiden. This year the fest is adopting the theme of "New Playgrounds" as a way "to explore unknown areas" and to show that "Japan has way more to offer than just sushi and samurai." Amen!

To help in this gaol Cmaera Japan's programmers have brought together a really wide range of films, Ryonsuke Hashiguchi's "All Around Us", Toshio Lee's "Detroit Metal City", Kazuhiro Soda's "Mental", and Mamoru Oshii's "Ghost in the Shell 2.0" being just a few highlights. Add to that a Koji Wakamatsu mini-retrospective, and related Japanese cultural activities and all of you in The Netherlands are looking at 20 whole days of cinematic treasures from the East.

For the full line-up of all the happenings taking place during Camera Japan check out its official site here.

The trailer for Toshiaki Toyoda's "The Blood of Rebirth" finally arrives

by Chris MaGee

I am a huge fan of Toshiaki Toyoda. It's no secret. So, when I saw that the full trailer for Toyoda's upcoming film "The Blood of Rebirth" I had to watch it a half-dozen times just to soak it all in. Being based on a kabuki story about a masseur, Oguri Hangan (Tatsuya Nakamura), who is poisoned by an evil lord after freeing a captive princess (Mayuu Kusakari) and then returns from death (or near death) to face the evil lord once again, "The Blood of Rebirth" is definitely new creative territory for the 40-year-old filmmaker. Most of us fans are used to his gritty contemporary dramas like "Blue Spring", "9 Souls", and "The Hanging Garden", but a after a 2005 conviction of possessing "stimulants" which resulted in a three year suspended sentence which nearly ended his career "The Blood of Rebirth" doesn't just represent a shift into new creative territory, but a rebirth for Toyoda as well.

But what can we expect? Well, the easiest thing to do would be to check out the trailer over at Nippon Cinema, but my own quick impressions are that what we have here is what could be an interesting cocktail of Toyoda's old slow-motion, slow build filmmaking (and some familiar faces with Itsuji Itao, Mame Yamada, and Kiyohiko Shibukawa, a.k.a. Kee, on board) with what feels like a live-action take on Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke"... less the giant animals of course.

You can check out more about "The Blood of Rebirth" at its official site (Japanese-language only) before the reviews start pouring in from its debut at TokyoFilmeX in November.

Japanese Weekend Box Office, September 12th to September 13th

1. 20th Century Boys: Chapter 3* (Toho)
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox)
3. Ballad* (Toho)
4. Castle Under Fiery Skies* (Toei)
5. Symbol* (Shochiku)
6. The Taking of Pelham 123 (SPE)
7. Tajomaru* (Warner)
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner)
9. Killer Bride's Adventure* (Toho)
10. Summer Wars* (Warner)

* Japanese film

Confirmed: Kitano's next film a return to yakuza eiga

by Chris MaGee

Back at the end of June we reported on the rumour that for his 15th feature film Takeshi Kitano was moving away from the deconstructed style of his last three films and returning to much more familiar, and commercially viable, territory: a yakuza film. Makes perfect sense. Kitano, along with Takashi Miike, Rokuro Mochizuki, and Takashi Ishii, helped redefine and revitalize the yakuza genre during the '90's... and Kitano took a real beating from critics for "Takeshis'", "Glory to the Filmmaker", and "Achilles and the Tortoise", so if anyone needs to revert back to their old tried and true working methods it'd be him.

Now word comes from both Tokyograph and Japan Zone that confirms Kitano's next film will indeed be a straight up yakuza film. There's no title attached to the film which Kitano started shooting on August 23rd, but we do know that Kitano will be playing the lead character while Tomokazu Miura, Kippei Shiina, and Ryo Kase will play yakuza Fumiyo Kohinata will play police detective, and Soichiro Kitamura, Renji Ishibashi, and Jun Kunimura will fit into the mix somehow.

Am I glad that Kitano is returning to yakuza films? Damn right I am, but not just because I like things fitting the old status quo. While I've not been a huge fan of Kitano's recent trilogy of avant films I do have to say that technically they've been intriguing. Kitano's skills as an editor haven't been dulled during this period of experimentation, in fact they've become stronger - they just haven't had a decent story to be utilized on. I'm really looking forward to seeing what elements of his recent work Kitano is planning to bring to this new yakuza film.

Kitano's 15th feature film is scheduled to be released next year.

The first peek at Kou Shibasaki in Mai Tominaga's "Shokudo Katatsumuri"

by Chris MaGee

At the beginning of June we reported on how director Mai Tominaga would be following up her 2006 feature filmmaking debut "Wool 100%" with an adaptation of Ito Ogawa's novel "Shokudo Katatsumuri". The book (and now film) tell the story of a daughter (Kou Shibasaki), who after having her heartbroken returns to live with her mother (Kimiko Yo). Once home the two set up a restaurant where they only take one reservation per day.

I really liked Tominaga's use of stop-motion animation, fairy tale visuals and surreal symbology in "Wool 100%" and apparently there will be more of the same in "Shokudo Katatsumuri"... but you can't tell that from the teaser trailer that Kevin Ouellette has just posted at Nippon Cinema. All we get are still photos of Shibasaki looking forlorn and thoughtful and the standard deep, soothing male narrators voice from a million and one syrupy Japanese romance films. "Shokudo Katatsumuri" just started shooting in May, so let's hope that Tominaga and crew are hard at work in post-production filling in the gaps with her own brand of inspiring and odd visuals.

Until then click here for a handful of pics of Shibasaki from the film.

Itsuji Itao makes his directorial debut with "Itsuji Itao's King of the Escape"

by Chris MaGee

It's been a very, very hard time of late for comedian Itsuji Itao. It was just short of a month ago that the 46-year-old star of such films as "Air Doll" and "Tokyo Gore Police" lost his 23-month-old daughter after she mysteriously collapsed at home (read our original article here). Because of this I was a bit surprised to see the trailer for Itao's directorial debut, "Itsuji Itao’s King of the Escape" at Nippon Cinema. Obviously this was completed prior to his tragic loss, but to think that Itao will have to face a press junket ahead of the film's January 2010 release while still reeling from his loss kind of boggles the mind.

Regardless of this the trailer itself looks mighty interesting. Based on the real-life escape artist Masayuki Suzuki dubbed the Datsugoku-o, or "Jailbreak King" the film follows Itao as he seemingly slips out of every prison that tries to hold him. The fact that Itao co-wrote "King of Escape" with actor Shoichiro Matsumoto (Versus, Love My Life) and director Yudai Yamaguchi (Battlefield Baseball, Meatball Machine) is very promising, but what really struck me about the trailer is just how many of Itao's co-stars from his 2003 jailbreak film "9 Souls", directed by Toshiaki Toyoda, share the screen with him in this film - Koji Chihara and Jun Kunimura being the main two. We can only hope that this film ends up being as good as its trailer, although I fear that it's upcoming release will be very bittersweet for Itao.

Animator Koji Yamamura premieres new work to help pay tribute to the NFB

by Chris MaGee

Koji Yamamura is probably one of the most important independent animators working in Japan today. A far cry from what people would categorize as anime Yamamura's hand drawn works tackle everything from folk tales to Franz Kafka and his 2002 short film "Atama-yama (Mt. Head)" was nominated in 2003 for an Oscar.

Yamamura has a special connection to Canada and Toronto specifically. His films have been a staple of the Toronto Japanese Short Film FestivalAnime News Network is reporting that Yamamura will be strengthening his ties to Canada by premiering a clip of his upcoming film, titled "Muybridge's Strings" at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo as part of a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Canada's National Film Board. All you Canadians out there will know that the NFB has been a real pioneer in the field of animated shorts, plus they are one of the producers on "Muybridge's Strings".

We can all safely assume that Yamamura's film will have something to do with Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), the English photographer whose pioneering work capturing frozen images of people and animals in motion helped lay the groundwork for motion picture technology.

Tokyo - Summer 2009 as captured by Joan Jiménez

by Chris MaGee

Here's a short film to brighten up the start of your work week courtesy of the folks at Kirainet.com. It's nearly 5-minutes of a blissful Tokyo summer (this past summer in fact) as captured by the camera of blogger Joan Jiménez. I just sat in dumbstruck silence watching this. The combination of images and music was just beautiful. Thanks to Japan Probe for pointing the way to this.

Bigger, Better and Bolder - Shinsedai 2010

by Chris MaGee

I think the above image says it all. The Shinsedai Cinema Festival was so much fun, such a fantastic learning experience for all involved, and I believe a truly unique film event in Toronto that next year we're doing it again. From July 22nd to July 25th, 2010 The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre will once again be hosting The Shinsedai Cinema Festival, a showcase of the best new, young, and undiscovered talent in the Japanese film scene. On top of that we'll be having workshops and cultural events that will entertain as well as educate festival guests about various aspects of Japanese culture.

More details will follow in the coming months here and on the festival's official site, but for now we'll leave it by saying, "We'll see you all in 2010!" Thanks to filmmaker Yoshihiro Ito for the above still from his short film "Vortex".

REVIEW: Grave of the Firefiles (2008)

火垂るの墓 (Hotaru no Haka)

Released: 2008

Director:
Taro Hyugaji

Starring:
Reo Yoshitake
Rina Hatakeyama
Keiko Matsuzaka
Seiko Matsuda
Yoshio Harada

Running time: 100 min.


Reviewed by Matthew Hardstaff

"Grave of the Fireflies" is not only one of the most moving and powerful animated films in existence today, its also one of the most devastating anti-war films. Its depiction of war torn Japan during the last days of WW2 are both honest and brutal. Adapting any kind of anime into a live action film always brings about a great set of challenges, and in a world where these adaptations are being increasingly popular; it was really only a matter of time before someone attempted it. In 2005, for the 60-year anniversary of the end of WW2, NTV produced a 2 and ½ hour television version. Three years later, Bandai produced a film version directed by relative newcomer Taro Hyugaji. Given the implications of adapting such a powerful film, is it possible to capture the same scope of destruction, and yet the same amount of intimacy that made the animated film so powerful?

"Tombstone of the Fireflies" aka "Grave of the Fireflies" follows Seita (Reo Yoshitake) and Setsuko (Rina Hatakeyama) as they struggle to survive. Their father, a Navy captain, is off doing battle at sea. Their home is firebombed during an air raid, and their mother killed. Unsure of what to do, they follow their mothers advice. In an emergency, visit their Aunt in a nearby village. She has a care package their mother sent, and should be able to take care of them. However, upon arrival, they are given a cold reception, and quickly turned away. Once their Aunt discovers they have a wagon full of candies and other treats, she quickly changes her mind and takes them under her wing. She soon becomes the archetypal evil stepmother, being kind and caring when she wants something from Seita, and then turning into a conniving and insidious witch. Soon Seita and Setsuko find themselves living in an abandoned bomb shelter, struggling to find enough to eat.

Its obvious from the get go that this incarnation of Akiyuki Nosaka semi-autobiographical novel was made with a meager budget. Why they thought they could get away with making this film I’m not sure, but someone, somewhere thought it was a great idea. Because of the lack of money, the child actors are newcomers, and we wind up with a mixed back of talent. Setsuko is really cute, but that kid cry convincingly for the life of her. Seita’s not too bad, but his depiction of an asthmatic is far from real. Speaking from experience, asthma attacks do not work like that. Because of this, and because of the script, the relationship between the two is pretty contrived and not nearly as effective as it should be. The emotional connection just doesn’t seem to be there. Elliptical editing is used quite often, however, its obvious its not a creative choice. Unlike other low budget films like "Now I…", which used ellipctical editing to emphasis the characters emotional state, its used here fairly often for budgetery reasons. There’s no depiction of firebombings or real devistation. Instead, we’re offered two new characters, a schoolteacher and a college student, who are suppose to help fill in the gap of how devastating war can be. The film struggles, even tries to hard at times, to let you know, hey, war is really bad. Where the animated film focused on the relationship between the two kids, which made the film far more devastating, this film tries hard to reach that emotional impact, but its so obvious its trying to do so, it doesn’t really work. But keep in mind; it’s not a bad film. Its well fairly well made, and the story is still emotionally resonant, but you can’t really separate it from the animated film, or at least for me, it’s really hard when it made such an impact. It does still have a few nice heart felt moments, but when it comes down to it, it will quickly be forgotten.

Read more by Matthew Hardstaff at his blog.

First Clive Barker and now Ryuhei Kitamura to take on Stephen King?

by Chris MaGee

Every time news of a news Ryuhei Kitamura project comes up I go off on the same preamble: "'Versus'. 'Godzilla: Finals Wars'. He admires Hollywood films more than Japanese films. With Clive Barker's 'Midnight Meat Train' he got his shot at Hollywood, but it was a bad film," etc., etc, etc. Am I a big fan of Kitamura's work? No, but I know a lot of you out there are, so it's for you that I report on the 40-year-old director taking on the work of another iconic horror novelist.

According to the folks at Dread Central (via 24 Frames per Second) Kitamura is in talks with Our Thing Productions to direct the screen adaptation of Stephen King's 1989 short story "Home Delivery" which was collected in the author's 1993 story collection "Nightmares & Dreamscapes". "Home Delivery" tells of a group of townsfolk who live on a secluded island off the coats of Maine and their battle against rampaging zombies brought to life by a strange outer space anomoly. Geez... Hasn't the zombie trend, um... died yet? Besides that I wonder if Kitamura's flashy filmmaking style would fit with a Stephen King story. It seems like the best King adaptations have come from much more low-key filmmakers like Rob Reiner (Stand by Me), Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), and david Cronenberg (The Dead Zone). Okay, maybe Cronenberg isn't exactly low-key, but he doesn't have ninja sword fights in his films.

Kitamura got his start with zombies in 2000 with "Versus", but the question remains, what Hollywood film will he helm next? "Home Delivery" is apparently still in the development stages, and there was that report in July about Kitamura directing a live-action adaptation of Top Cow Productions comic "The Magdalena". We'll keep our ear to the ground to see which of these projects actually makes it out of development limbo.

Japanese genre paradise at Sitges 2009

by Chris MaGee

If you're a fan of Japanese genre films, and I know there are more than one or two of you out there, then it seems like the place to be in October will be Sitges, Spain for its 42nd Annual International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia. Sitges has become one of the best known fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and genre film festivals in the world, and they also programme a healthy dose of Japanese films, but this year they have totally outdone themselves. Just check out this extensive list of what Japanese film fans will be able to check out in Spain next month:

Mizuno Nishikubo' "Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai", Takashi Miike's "Yatterman" and "Crows 2", "Shinya Tsukamoto's" "Tetsuo The Bulletman", Mamoru Hosada's "Summer Wars", Hitoshi Matsumoto's "Symbol", Chapters 2 and 3 of Yukihiko Tsutsumi's "20th Century Boys", Kazuaki Kiriya's "Goemon", Kazuya Tsurumaki's "Evangelion 2.0", Studio 4C's "First Squad" and "Genius Party Beyond", Kazuyoshi Katayama's "King of Thorn", Shinsuke Sato's "Oblivion Island", Rintaro's "Yona Yona Penguin", Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro", Takanori Tsujimoto's "Hard Revenge Milly" and "Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle", Kengo Kaji's "Samurai Princess", Yoshihiro Nishimura's "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl", and Naoto Takenaka's "Yamagata Scream".

Whew! My fingers got tired just typing all those up! So if you're a Japanese genre film fan and have the airfare to Sitges burning a whole in your wallet then get your tickets booked! And for genre film fans in general check out more on this year's Sitges line-up here.

REVIEW: Death of Domomata

ドモ又の死 (Domomata no Shi)

Released: 2008

Director:
Shutaro Oku

Starring:
Junko Emoto
Asumi Miwa
Ayako Fujitani
Eri Nomura
Yurako Takano

Running time: 80 min.


Reviewed by Chris MaGee

Is it just me or are there very few artistically ambitious films being made these days? Yes, there are a surplus of technically ambitious, special effects driven films released in various countries each year, and there are a handful of films that feature ambitious and daring performances, but in the end film is more of a business than an art, so narrative and artistic innovation more often than not ae forced to concede to marketability. It wasn’t always this way. The Golden Age of personal, daring, and sometimes confounding filmmaking came out of the political, social and sexual experimentation of the 1960’s and by the end of that decade Japanese filmmakers like Nagisa Oshima, Susumu Hani and Shuji Terayama were putting their ideas, personal obsessions, and politics first, making films that addressed the youth revolution of the time in ways that didn't just break the mold, but ignored the fact that there was ever a mold to begin with. I only mention these heady days because it was this cinematic period that kept coming to my mind while I watched Shutaro Oku’s “Death of Domomata”, a film that in the end is almost too ambitious, forfeiting connection with the audience in order to pack the screen with bravura-style filmmaking.

“Death of Domomata” takes its name from a 1922 play by famed Japanese playwright Takeo Arishima, which in turn is an adaptation of Mark Twain’s 1893 short story “Is He Living or Is He Dead?” about four starving artists who come to the conclusion that they’ll keep starving if one of them doesn’t volunteer to die so the value of his painting will sky rocket. In 34-year-old Oku’s film Arishima’s play is being staged at the Hummer and Nana Drug Rehab Center for a Christmas pageant by six of its female patients as a kind of artistic therapy. Prior to this we're told that Hummer and Nana employed oil painting classes, dry flower arranging workshops, carpentry and even Greco-Roman wrestling as a way to curb its patients' self-destructive behaviour. This production of "Death of Domomata" is headed up by Tomoko (Asumi Miwa) a pretty, wealthy young woman who is set to be released from the Rehab Center. Her character is also named Tomoko, the woman who the four starving artists are vying for. One of these, the stuttering Domomata, is set to die, if not to raise the price of his paintings then to somehow endear himself to Tomoko. Domomata is portrayed on stage by one of the female patients, a consumptive drug-addict also named Domomata, who is played in Oku's film by the charismatic, husky-voiced actress Junko Emoto (Otakus in Love, Memories of Matsuko). She also dies and the administrators at Hummer and Nana may be at fault. You can start to see that "Death of Domomata", the film not the play, quickly turns into a house of mirrors where we're not sure if we're witnessing the play or the lives of these addicts, who are also artists... or might not be.

Throughout it all though Oku, a theatrical director in his own right who’s worked with everyone from Japan’s Expo 2005 to the all-female Takarazuka Revue, puts us on spin cycle, using a barrage of images and cinematographic effects from collage to raw video footage to explore ideas of the link between creativity and addiction, "Lord of the Flies" meets "Girl Interrupted" social experimentation, and female sexuality, a lot of which is stunning in its innovation. It's these techniques, though, that end up making "Death of Domomata" an alienating experience for audiences, especially non-Japanese audiences.

The main stumbling block is that Arishima’s play is hardly known outside of Japan . An English Google search for it only elicits four pages of results, many of which refer to it being the basis of Oku’s film. It may not have been Oku's intent to appeal to film audiences outside of Japan, but to use an unknown play as the basis of a film is... well imagine watching, say, Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho" with being familiar with Shakespeare's "Henry IV". It would turn into quite the slog. Oku further confuses the issue by taking the narrative of his film and splicing it up randomly, not a bad thing in itself, but again without knowledge of the original play it's nearly impossible to get a foothold during "Death of Domomata's" 80-minute running time.

“Death of Domomata” was a film that I desperately wanted to like, and there were moments in it that I honestly did like and admire (the foray into the patient's obsession with body piercing being an uncomfortable highlight). The acting is solid, there's touches of wicked humour, and there's a compelling drama in there (somewhere), but in the end even film's 1960's artistically ambitious predecessors weren't as dense and often indecipherable as this. It’s like an artist friend of mine once said to me, “Good art is making the personal universal,” but if that means that your work requires a primer on 20th-century Japanese theatre, the short stories of Mark Twain, and experimental cinema then you have to start questioning just how universal your vision is.