tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8478513330986514912024-03-18T03:29:07.854-07:00Toronto J-Film Pow-WowChris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.comBlogger3726125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-72465866418429900582012-10-03T09:17:00.000-07:002012-10-03T09:22:47.431-07:00INTERVIEW: Director Yuki Tanada and The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yuki Tanada at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival (L), <i><b>The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky</b></i> theatrical poster (R)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN">by Chris MaGee </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“Wow! Three great filmmakers!” Yuki Tanada exclaims when I mention her name
alongside those of Yasujiro Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi. There are
only a handful of filmmakers like Tanada in Japan today, those whose work so
keenly and unsentimentally examines the inner lives of everyday Japanese. It
seems appropriate then to cite this Holy Trinity of Japanese cinema who so
consistently captured the quiet triumphs, bitter heartbreaks and grinding
struggles of their nation; but what I’m after, here in Tanada’s room at
Toronto’s Hyatt Regency Hotel during the 36<sup>th</sup> Toronto International
Film Festival, are the names of some non-Japanese filmmakers who have inspired her
work. “The two brothers who make the crazy comedies... The Farrelly Brothers!”
she laughs, “I love them!” A surprising answer, but the 37-year-old writer and
director has spent the past eight years surprising and challenging movie
audiences with her frank depictions of 21<sup>st</sup>-century Japan. Now,
after a 4-year break from the director’s chair, Tanada has returned with her
most accomplished work to date, <b><i>The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky</i></b>.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Based on the award-winning 2010 novel </span>by Misumi Kubo, <i><b>The Cowards
Who Looked to the Sky</b></i> begins as a love story, albeit a dysfunctional one. Lonely
housewife Anzu (portrayed by former child actress Tomoko Tabata) and high
school student Takumi (Kento Nagayama) are caught up in a tempestuous affair,
one fueled by Anzu’s obsession with a popular romantic manga. Their cosplay love-making
sessions, in which Anzu adopts the persona of a Princess and Takumi her manga
Prince Charming, lie in stark contrast to their daily lives. Despite costly
medical treatments and excessive pressure from her husband and mother-in-law
Anzu is unable to conceive, leaving her self-esteem in tatters. Conversely
Takumi is constantly exposed to the often messy details of childbearing and
birth by his mother, Sumiko (Mieko Harada), who runs a holistic midwives’
clinic out of their home. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqADUHmudAJ6-dYIVGnAvgl4PlTvcId6_i890GCNuh8eS1CL17XhRxN1RLHBStCfsw0jEiWsnaInpZW66p0SzQQ8F31t22JTxLZplHtJZKOHimoMYpe60UmFPl6CNDlUKmwIQje6ti_iU/s1600/cowardwholooked_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqADUHmudAJ6-dYIVGnAvgl4PlTvcId6_i890GCNuh8eS1CL17XhRxN1RLHBStCfsw0jEiWsnaInpZW66p0SzQQ8F31t22JTxLZplHtJZKOHimoMYpe60UmFPl6CNDlUKmwIQje6ti_iU/s400/cowardwholooked_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomoko Tabata and Kento Nagayama as Anzu and Takumi</td></tr>
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“Takumi and Anzu were the most difficult part,” Tanada
admits when discussing bringing Kubo’s novel to the screen, “<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I really had a concern about how I could deliver
their message to the audience, but in that sequence what I wanted to do is show
that these two characters are looking at the same things, but are also two
people living in different environments.” Still, Anzu and Takumi aren’t the
only “cowards” in Tanada’s film. Soon what started out as a love story moves
into much more complex territory. After a decisive crisis between the two
lovers the narrative branches out to explore the lives of Takumi’s mother and her
pregnant patients as well as Takumi’s good friend, convenience store clerk
Fukuda (Masakata Kubota), who struggles not only with a senile grandmother, but
also with his own mother whose oppressive debt has left Fukuda’s home bankrupt.
Still, it was one the novels most conflicted and ultimately least likable
characters in the original novel who drew Tanada to the project. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“Taoka has very strange sexual preferences,” Tanada acknowledges of
Fukuda’s co-worker at the convenience store, a young man who both helps Fukuda
to study for his University entrance exams while secretly molesting
neighborhood children, “At first my thoughts never went beyond what kind of
pain he caused, but after reading the novel I realized that these people who
have this very negative sexual behaviour have real difficulties trying to blend
into society. They are trying to find a way to get along with society. It was
realizing that I had never thought about those issues that really made me
become attached to this character.” It was just a happy accident that saw both
Tanada and producers at Toei Studios considering an adaptation of Kubo’s novel.
“It was perfect timing,” Tanada says of her chance to tackle characters like
Taoka on the big screen. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Sexuality and odd sexual practices have been a recurring theme in the films
of Yuki Tanada. Her confessed love for the low-brow antics of the Farrelly
Brothers makes sense in light of Tanada’s debut feature film, 2004’s<i><b> Moon and
Cherry</b></i>. Ostensibly a sex comedy, the film centers on the relationship between a
virginal male university student who is deflowered by his classmate, an
aspiring author who uses the details of their sexual exploits as fodder for her
fiction. 2008’s <i><b>Ain’t No Tomorrows </b></i>would further explore the sexual misadventures
of a group of high school students (including a girl on a sexual fact-finding mission and another who has a fetish for sumo wrestlers); but Tanada isn’t convinced that sexuality
has been a connecting thread in her work. “Actually I never thought that was a
theme to my films. I'm just taking it as a very normal thing. As people living
together, sex is just a part of their lives.” </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9lZpxKh05mbpSW_JZu3sn0NpKOljxOxy27w_Q8ZYxGs3M33f5apCTzKQMVCQW3HfzxxNdGJluJbnbpVfCE0rxQ40h_1abY0SBS_KwYE7Bg8V-2Pg5-dhXfP0xHPwfEJjq0zTlo85O3E/s1600/cowardwholooked_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9lZpxKh05mbpSW_JZu3sn0NpKOljxOxy27w_Q8ZYxGs3M33f5apCTzKQMVCQW3HfzxxNdGJluJbnbpVfCE0rxQ40h_1abY0SBS_KwYE7Bg8V-2Pg5-dhXfP0xHPwfEJjq0zTlo85O3E/s400/cowardwholooked_05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mieko Harada as Sumiko</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This refreshing matter-of-factness may also be the reason why her work has
featured some of the most fully realized female characters in Japanese film
since, well, the work of the abovementioned and universally praised Naruse and
Mizoguchi. Before working with Tomoko Tabata on <i><b>The Cowards Who Looked to the
Sky</b></i>, Tanada regularly teamed with some of Japan’s most talented actresses, such
as Noriko Eguchi (<i>Moon and Cherry</i>), Yu Aoi (<i>One Million Yen Girl</i>) and Sakura
Ando (<i>Ain’t No Tomorrows</i>), to breathe life into her female protagonists. Even
when Tanada wasn’t the one calling the shots behind the camera her depictions
of women ring true. Her 2006 screenplay adaptation of Moyoco Anno’s popular
manga <i><b>Sakuran</b></i>, brought to the screen by photographer-cum-director Mika
Ninagawa, perfectly captures its sensual, headstrong heroine, the courtesan
Kiyoha (portrayed by Anna Tsuchiya). So, why has she had such great success
with her female characters? “Because I don't have fantasies about women,” she
bluntly, but politely, states. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><i><b>The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky</b></i> will be receiving a theatrical release in
Japan this November, just in advance of Japan’s film awards season next spring.
By then, though, we may not only see Yuki Tanada gaining praise for her
directing, but also for her skills as an author. Her absence from filmmaking since
2008’s <i><b>Ain’t No Tomorrows</b></i> was largely due to the fact that Tanada has been hard
at work writing her debut novel. “If I had to describe the novel in one word I
would have to say ‘revenge’,” she says of this new literary venture, “It’s very
dark.” Despite its darkness the book will also delve into some happy memories
from Tanada’s youth. “It also includes a lot about a Japanese <i>matsuri</i>
[festival] that I experienced and that touched me when I was little, so the
festival is part of the story.” There are no plans, at least at the moment, for
Tanada to adapt her own novel to the screen. Her main focus now is simply
meeting her publisher’s deadline. “The first deadline was two years ago!” she
chuckles, “but it is almost completed, so next year it should be out.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com709tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-25682222232185096132012-05-14T18:24:00.000-07:002012-05-14T18:24:32.503-07:00Festival Report: Nippon Connection 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCy00xydafvj7uI-JG1qH5T7PHLqFV9QuyZmtAYXplMk4O4SUXmmRsywD_GMr6olUOChaNNYoWwsUhRrLdPTqHMc0l7LjcwScr2kvQZxdcoh53rqHIv_4gFPny7GRBzVwDl5Ru9Y3YhHv4/s1600/_IGP8595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCy00xydafvj7uI-JG1qH5T7PHLqFV9QuyZmtAYXplMk4O4SUXmmRsywD_GMr6olUOChaNNYoWwsUhRrLdPTqHMc0l7LjcwScr2kvQZxdcoh53rqHIv_4gFPny7GRBzVwDl5Ru9Y3YhHv4/s400/_IGP8595.JPG" width="388" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Those initially scanning the
program for the <a href="http://www.nipponconnection.com/">12th Nippon Connection film festival</a>, hosted in Frankfurt, Germany from May 2nd to the 6th, probably would have noticed the especially impressive
selection of new works from some of Japanese cinema’s biggest names. This year,
established auteurs were a more frequent sight alongside lesser-known and
still-emerging directors, whose efforts – from my personal festival experience,
at least – for the most part offered healthy competition against their
better-known colleagues. In fact, I ended up being quite pleasantly surprised
by how many positive viewing experiences I managed to discover in both the
Nippon Cinema and Nippon Visions programs, the latter focusing on independent
and digitally shot productions.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Postcard</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The
festival’s opening night film was “Postcard,” the 49</span>th<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> and intended
final film by Kaneto Shindo, who celebrated his 100th birthday on
April 22nd. As Eric Evans ably illustrates in <a href="http://www.jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2012/04/review-post-card.html">his
full review</a>, this is a markedly odd film that erratically dips and spikes
in its emotional atmosphere. Shinobu Otake stars as Tomoko, a woman who experiences a
spectacular avalanche of misfortune brought about by World War II. Bound to her
in-laws’ isolated farm, she encounters Keita (Etsushi Toyokawa), a veteran who
arrives to fulfill his promise to deliver a cherished article – the titular
postcard – previously owned by her deceased husband, Jouzukuri (Naomasa
Musaka). Otake’s performance is especially remarkable as she channels quiet
resolve, solemn despair and raw, unbridled agony, yet she is but one element in
a piece that seems intent on packing in a full spectrum of moods and spectacles
rather than constructing a more even narrative arc. Thus, we get nearly
implausible depths of hardship, the absurdities of wartime fervor, the
refreshingly lighthearted exchanges between Keita and his uncle, a comically
persistent suitor (Ren Osugi), the rough fight between him and Keita, a
celebratory play and hopeful signs of fresh beginnings. While that last
ingredient, encapsulated in the idyllic final scene, is somewhat at odds with
the actual climate of post-WWII Japan, it still seems fitting for both the
characters and Shindo himself, who, after all, by now knows a thing or two
about marching onwards and finding fulfillment through productivity.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Casting Blossoms to the Sky</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">While
not quite yet at Shindo’s centennial level, Nobuhiko Obayashi, now 74, still
remains impressively productive for his advanced age and, more importantly, is
capable of proving he is still as full of surprises as he was when he made his
now-beloved 1977 cult classic, “House.” His latest effort, “Casting Blossoms to
the Sky,” is surely unlike anything else that will be screened this year. Over
the course of its breathless 160 minutes, it uses a reporter’s desire to visit
and investigate Nagaoka as a framework for its nearly essay-like exploration of
the city’s links to the events of WWII and personal accounts of those who
survived the destructive events of the past (with some of the real-life
inspirations behind certain characters actually making onscreen appearances).
Jumping from speaker to speaker at hot potato speeds and virtually pelting the
viewers with facts and stories, Obayashi weaves together the hidden details of
the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing operations, incendiary bombing incidents,
Pearl Harbor, 3-11, the art of firework creation, a young student’s ambitious
theatrical production and more into an exhilarating and touching cinematic
symphony. Its ardent plea for humanity to work towards a more hopeful future by learning from
history might have come across as being exhaustively preachy had it not been
presented in such a wholly sincere and original fashion, all the while
accompanied by a rich Joe Hisaishi score. And the daring, dreamlike quality of
the imagery only sweetens the deal, often reaching pulse-quickening heights –
who could ever forget the sight of a group of uniformed students perched
upright on their unicycles coasting across the frame in single-file along a
country road? Like many other shots, so odd, but so beautiful.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Kotoko</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Shinya
Tsukamoto was present at the festival with his first film after a string of
more mainstream studio projects: <a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2011/09/tiff-11-review-kotoko.html">“Kotoko,”</a> which was given the Orizzonti Award
at the Venice International Film Festival last year. This up-close character
study of singer Cocco’s titular single mother as she struggles with mental
illness is an unquestionably powerful piece of cinema. Entering it, viewers
have little choice but to be confronted with her claustrophobic head space,
which plagues her with hallucinations of menacing doppelgangers, bursts of
brutal violence and a devouring sense of dread. Brilliantly orchestrating
camerawork, sound design and surrealist storytelling strategies, Tsukamoto has
produced an utterly terrifying viewing experience that may very well come to be
regarded as one of his finest accomplishments.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Sukiyaki</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Fortunately,
there were other films that proved to be more gentle with audiences’ nerves,
two of them being Tetsu Maeda’s “Sukiyaki” and Shûichi Okita’s <a href="http://www.jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2012/05/nippon-connection-12-review-woodsman.html">“The
Woodsman and the Rain,”</a> which ended up winning the audience-voted Nippon
Cinema Award. The latter follows Kôji Yakusho’s lumberjack as he gets pulled
into a zombie film shoot led by an insecure 25 year-old writer-director (Shun
Oguri) while the former, with its “One Thousand and One Nights”-style narrative
concerning prison cellmates who share personal stories about their most
cherished meals in a contest for extra morsels, proves itself to be a worthy
thematic counterpart to such films as “Tampopo” and “Still Walking” with its
own extended, sumptuously photographed send-ups to the special links food
shares with memory and love. Certainly, like those films, “Sukiyaki” is bound
to leave viewers with a deeper appreciation for at least the next few dishes
they enjoy after the credits roll.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Ten Days Before Spring</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Over
a year has passed since the earthquake, tsunami and ignition of Fukushima's nuclear troubles that occurred on March 11</span>th<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">, 2011, and in that time film festivals
have received numerous cinematic responses to the monumental events that
left a still-reverberating impact on Japan. Nippon Connection presented a
varied selection of mostly non-fiction films addressing the disasters, some of
which earning official recognition: Masaki Kobayashi’s “Fukushima Hula Girls”
came in third place in the audience vote for the Nippon Cinema Award (Tatsushi
Omori’s “Tada’s Do-It-All House” earned the second place spot). Additionally,
the jury for the Nippon Visions Award (consisting of journalist Andreas
Platthaus, filmmaker Yonghi Yang and the Pow-Wow’s own Chris MaGee) gave a
Special Mention to Yojyu Matsubayashi’s documentary “Fukushima: Memories of a
Lost Landscape” while bestowing the main award to Juichiro Yamasaki’s feature
debut, <a href="http://www.jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2012/05/nippon-connection-12-review-sound-of.html">“The
Sound of Light.”</a> My personal reflection on 3-11 during the festival
occurred via a short and feature pairing that began with “Ten Days Before
Spring,” written and directed by Dutch filmmaker Stefanie Kolk. Following a
Japanese woman living and working in Amsterdam (Misaki Yamada) who desperately
tries to make contact with her mother shortly after the tsunami hits, the fictional film
perfectly captures the utter helplessness and agonizing worry that so many like
the heroine must have experienced while waiting to hear from their loved ones
in Japan. She has no choice but to go through the motions of her daily routine
while ominous signs like the unanswered phone calls and a package from Japan
sent prior to the disaster emphasize the inescapable, terrible sense of
ambiguity. Not wasting any of its 13 minutes, the film wisely utilizes a lean,
observational style to depict with commendable clarity the main character’s
emotional state. Jumping from that distant vantage point straight into directly
affected zones on the Japanese coast shortly after the tsunami, Koichi Omiya’s
“The Sketch of Mujo” maintains a very specific approach to make its own
impression on viewers. No music, no voiceovers, no direct allusions to the
filmmakers’ presence behind the camera – just occasional interviews with
survivors and shot after lingering shot of the immeasurable quantities of
debris, ruins and scattered belongings left in the wake of the waves.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUGixlRtmphyphenhyphenbco1ee3WPE3PJm6yvMHW8JB5pJL92ADeN1-FNrG8uvAXwtQJa0DIeiki6G6usyxq_rpK2drlpxQM8RZ8WwUZHMUIr9-AgztE7-Ax3RH8pdXHX61Di4Ya3Xr-Lf0niwiHI/s1600/cinema_Egoists_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUGixlRtmphyphenhyphenbco1ee3WPE3PJm6yvMHW8JB5pJL92ADeN1-FNrG8uvAXwtQJa0DIeiki6G6usyxq_rpK2drlpxQM8RZ8WwUZHMUIr9-AgztE7-Ax3RH8pdXHX61Di4Ya3Xr-Lf0niwiHI/s400/cinema_Egoists_01.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Egoists</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Arriving
late in the festival lineup, Ryuichi Hiroki’s “The Egoists” supplied an
electrifying jolt of sexiness and tragic recklessness to its lucky audience.
Small-time thug Kazu (Kengo Kora) and topless dancer Machiko (Anne Suzuki)
decide to ditch Tokyo and start a new life together, but disagreements with his
father, difficult patches in the relationship and, most seriously, a towering
debt to some particularly nasty yakuza soon begin to press heavily upon their
initial dreams of bliss and escape. Strongly evoking Jean-Luc Godard’s classic
tales of doomed love – think “Breathless” or “Pierrot le fou” – “The Egoists”
captivates with its ode to the glorious highs and cruel lows of passionate,
destructive youth. Another film that very nearly managed to be just as
compelling was Nobuhiro Yamashita’s “My Back Page,” which portrays a young
reporter’s immersion in the revolutionary activities of 1970s Japan and bond
with an alleged member of a radical group. The storytelling and character
development is multi-layered and engaging, though some may leave the film
craving a deeper immersion in the nitty-gritty of investigative research (as in
David Fincher’s “Zodiac”) or the narrative trajectories and details of history
(as in Olivier Assayas’ “Carlos”). Fortunately, festival-goers had
opportunities to further educate themselves in this tumultuous era of Japan’s
political history through the efforts of <a href="http://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/vertigo_magazine/">Vertigo Magazine</a>
commissioning editor and film curator Julian Ross, who delivered a talk
entitled “Images of Protest, Images as Protest: Japanese Cinema and Political
Activism,” which covered the early May Day protests of the 1920s and ‘30s; such
filmmakers as Shinsuke Ogawa, Motoharu Jonouchi and Masao Adachi; and the more
recent protest activities in the wake of 3-11, among many other subjects. The
festival also featured a series of Japanese protest film screenings including
works by Ogawa and Jonouchi at Frankfurt’s Deutsches Filmmuseum.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Great Rabbit </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Another
guest present throughout the festival was Dr. Catherine Munroe Hotes of the <a href="http://nishikataeiga.blogspot.ca/">Nishikata Film Review blog</a>, who
was involved in multiple events representing another facet of Japanese cinema:
animation. A specialist in the field, Dr. Hotes assembled the animated shorts
program entitled “Spaces In-Between: Indie Animated Shorts from Japan,” which
included works by Tomoyasu Murata (“Lemon’s Road”), Akino Kondo (“Kiya Kiya”),
Koji Yamamura (“Muybridge’s Strings”), Ryo Hirano (“Holiday”), Mirai Mizue
(“Modern,” “Modern No. 2”) and Atsushi Wada (“In a Pig’s Eye,” “The Great Rabbit”).
Dr. Hotes also delivered a talk on puppet master Kihachiro Kawamoto, whom she
has written about for the <a href="http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/books/view-Book,id=4862/">“Directory of
World Cinema: Japan 2,”</a> and conducted an onstage interview with Wada about
his work.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Our Homeland</span></div>
<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Easily
the most moving film I encountered this year at Nippon Connection was,
fittingly, the very last one I saw, sneakily lying in wait in the lineup to
trump the previous offerings (despite their respective strengths) with its
calm, controlled power. Two years previous, I was greatly impressed by
Korean-Japanese filmmaker Yonghi Yang’s documentary <a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2010/05/hot-docs-10-review-sona-other-myself.html">“Sona,
the Other Myself”</a> when it was screened at the festival; now, making her
transition into feature filmmaking with “Our Homeland,” she continues to
explore the troubling effects of North Korea’s controlling regime and, more
specifically, how it has divided her family by preventing her from maintaining
regular contact with her three brothers since they moved back to the isolated
nation in the 1970s. Based on Yang’s personal experiences, her new film stars
Arata Iura (better known simply as Arata) as Songho, a Japanese man who has
lived in North Korea for 25 years away from the rest of his family. Permitted a
three-month visit to Japan to treat a brain tumor (an opportunity that took
five years to secure), he is reunited with his family and friends, among them
his gruff father (Masane Tsukayama), who still remains firmly devoted to North
Korea’s ideology, and his caring sister Rie (Sakura Ando), who is unafraid to
voice her disgust at the absurd conditions that define Songho’s situation. A
painful sense of restriction and temporality permeates every second of Songho’s
visit, underlined by the physical presence of his stoic North Korean escort Mr.
Yang (Yang Ik-Joon, the writer and director of 2008’s “Breathless”). Iura’s
performance does so much to reflect the traumas suffered by his character – his
cautious reservation, nervous smiles and extreme shyness are all the signs of a
man who has spent most of his life afraid of testing the dangerous authority he
lives under, and who can still feel its hold on him during this all-too-brief
reprieve. Besides being a perfectly rendered consideration of a political
subject through an intensely personal story, “Our Homeland” reveals with
incredible insight just how much many might take for granted because they are
closer to Rie’s situation than Songho’s, and thus able to enjoy the closeness
of family, freedom of expression and privileges of a liberal society without
fear of dire and immediate repercussions. We need a film like this every now
and then (and maybe a little more often than that) to be reminded of both our
own good fortunes and the grotesque injustices that still persist in certain
parts of the world. After the diverse array of delights, shocks and food for
thought that my selection of films left me with throughout the week, it seemed
proper to finally conclude the festival (and, ironically, begin my journey home
to my own family) on a note of grateful contemplation.</span></div>
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* * *<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsqDqDeXmxa9erKoSM14FNxaKfo2nSCNNqUSaw4wUkbEqWvW0MtA05boOuMCdqIDfrb0P78LrOBXbjuHjAat8mV7FBvfT2SniIgFsTMlHAyPOF1cv_UldmLlrQcIJWTatEslX8C2ELWIz/s1600/_IGP8621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsqDqDeXmxa9erKoSM14FNxaKfo2nSCNNqUSaw4wUkbEqWvW0MtA05boOuMCdqIDfrb0P78LrOBXbjuHjAat8mV7FBvfT2SniIgFsTMlHAyPOF1cv_UldmLlrQcIJWTatEslX8C2ELWIz/s400/_IGP8621.JPG" width="388" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Throughout the festival, attendees could watch artist <a href="http://www.ko-zue.com/">Kozue Kodama</a> as she "live-painted" a new picture from scratch</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Catherine Munroe Hotes during her talk with animator Atsushi Wada</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9k1O4izECJOfmeW9GMltWbQIBiGCHjpYTert_ULRaqvsOy1HxGERfQzSpgMttfU-_pLY_eXyLdm9hkRb6M7sR49eQa6bzklFiD8f6zSOvSjnnVUp87Vj251XD6T9ah2vuONMGCDfaPwv/s1600/_IGP8637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9k1O4izECJOfmeW9GMltWbQIBiGCHjpYTert_ULRaqvsOy1HxGERfQzSpgMttfU-_pLY_eXyLdm9hkRb6M7sR49eQa6bzklFiD8f6zSOvSjnnVUp87Vj251XD6T9ah2vuONMGCDfaPwv/s400/_IGP8637.JPG" width="388" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Group picture of assembled guests and staff</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Nippon Visions jurors Andreas Platthaus, Chris MaGee and Yonghi Yang during the awards announcements</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Yonghi Yang introducing her film "Our Homeland" with festival director Marion Klomfass</span><br />
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* * *<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Personal Top Ten:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
1) Our Homeland (Yonghi Yang)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
2) Kotoko (Shinya Tsukamoto)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
3) Casting Blossoms to the Sky (Nobuhiko Obayashi)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
4) The Egoists (Ryuichi Hiroki)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
4.5) Ten Days Before Spring (Stefanie Kolk)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
5) Sukiyaki (Tetsu Maeda)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
6) The Woodsman and the Rain (Shûichi Okita)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
7) The Sound of Light (Juichiro Yamasaki)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
8) My Back Page (Nobuhiro Yamashita)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
9) Come As You Are (Kôta Yoshida)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
10) Postcard (Kaneto Shindo)</div>
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* * *</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Other films featured throughout Nippon Connection 2012 that have been reviewed on the Pow-Wow:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2012/05/nippon-connection-12-review-about-pink.html">About the Pink Sky (Keiichi Kobayashi)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2012/05/nippon-connection-12-review-come-as-you.html">Come As You Are (Kôta Yoshida)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2012/05/nippon-connection-12-review-die.html">Die! Directors, Die! (Makoto Shinozaki)</a><br />
<a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2011/08/review-kanzeon-magical-potential-of.html">KanZeOn (Neil Cantwell, Tim Grabham)</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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* * *</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Awards:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Nippon Cinema Award: The Woodsman and the Rain (Shûichi Okita)<br />
2nd Place: Tada's Do-It-All House (Tatsushi Omori)<br />
3rd Place: Fukushima Hula Girls (Masaki Kobayashi)<br />
<br />
Nippon Visions Award: The Sound of Light (Juichiro Yamasaki)<br />
Special Mention: Fukushima: Memories of a Lost Landscape (Yojyu Matsubayashi)<br />
<br />
VGF Nippon in Motion Award: Koi-Man (Micaela Fonseca)<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="293" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PgHTpIRguoA" width="388"></iframe><br />
<br />
2nd Place: Bōru (Florian Gautier, Stephan Altenhein)
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="293" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XRHJDawXmwo" width="388"></iframe>
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3rd Place: Chado: The Way of Tea (Andrej Uduc)<br />
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Both Chris and I would once again like to thank all the hard-working organizers, volunteers, technicians and press relations personnel who so warmly welcomed us and the other attendees and made this film festival such a positive and memorable experience.</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com271tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-73441387199421528482012-05-06T02:21:00.001-07:002012-05-06T02:21:33.620-07:00NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: Come as You Are<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>ソーローなんてくだらない
</b><b>(Sôrô nante kudaranai)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Released: 2011</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Director: Kôta Yoshida<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Starring: </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Tateto Serizawa</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Nagisa Umeno</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Saya Yasuda<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Running time: 102 min.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr</span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The setup for Kôta Yoshida’s latest
film sounds like it wouldn’t at all be out of place in one of Judd Apatow’s
projects: a young slacker named Haruo (Tateto Serizawa) who is stuck in his job
as a video store supervisor faces an embarrassing problem that impedes his
ability to form proper romantic relationships: premature ejaculation. After
Momose, an alluring new employee, arrives at his store, he decides to actively
attempt to cure himself. However, this task is not that easy to pull off in his
apartment, where his roommate Noriko (Nagisa Umeno), limited living space and
thin walls eliminate any privacy he hopes to achieve. When the website he
consults instructs him to find a partner to help him, Haruo comes up with a
bold proposition: in return for chipping in more money for rent and keeping the
place clean, he wants Noriko to assist him in his goal to endure sexual
activity for fifteen minutes. After much pleading and sucking up, she agrees to
do him this very personal favor.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“Come
As You Are” certainly contains the sex comedy ingredients one would expect from
that description (not to mention the cheeky English title). Multiple scenes
show, through careful camera positions and blocking, Haruo desperately testing
his endurance with several masturbation sessions and engaging in intimate
encounters that end in awkwardness and failure. At one point, the poor guy
can’t even keep himself from cursing and yelling at his own malfunctioning
member. But rather than simply fishing for laughs to be had at his characters’
expense, Yoshida ensures that the latter – particularly Haruo and Noriko – are
properly developed and given personalities that extend far beyond the comic
situations. In doing so, both Yoshida and his talented actors are to be
commended. Serizawa’s portrayal of Haruo is especially impressive for how he
constantly uses body language and facial expressions to reflect his character’s
bound-up insecurities and tormented yearning. The sad attempts at feigning
indifference, the all-too-brief flashes of confidence, the brutally frank
confessions and humiliations – they all give real weight to Haruo’s plight and
make him intensely sympathetic. Opposite him, Umeno’s Noriko acts as the more
practical and mature one who keeps herself focused on her own priorities, which
include a crucial school exam. Her thrice-daily “help” sessions with Haruo are
dutifully carried out with an old sock of his (eventually replaced by gloves)
and are aurally portrayed by way of some wonderfully detailed sound effects.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqdSrrTYM-WdCR-j6Q7eGYNThZ5lenWla71MlzAL39femfF23H3Qg9SIBiXnhAJl7Nb91CT4vSve_0F0Q_eyMK917BEJ2YUOdmiVcErer2zpWORj0zND3hlxpZlVgCZNQtCZYJQ29EHBN/s1600/comeasyouare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqdSrrTYM-WdCR-j6Q7eGYNThZ5lenWla71MlzAL39femfF23H3Qg9SIBiXnhAJl7Nb91CT4vSve_0F0Q_eyMK917BEJ2YUOdmiVcErer2zpWORj0zND3hlxpZlVgCZNQtCZYJQ29EHBN/s400/comeasyouare.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps
predictably, the unique arrangement between Haruo and Noriko eventually reveals
the genuine feelings they have for one another. But don’t be fooled – this is
not a simple, meet-cute romantic comedy. Instead, the film remains focused on
the problems that plague and, in fact, define Haruo’s personal life. Having
worked at the video store and lived in the same apartment for eight years, he
prefers to tell people he is pursuing acting jobs on the side when in fact he
has clearly abandoned that dream. Directionless and lazy, the only real control
he seems able to exercise is over the shift schedule at work, which he mostly
uses so he can attempt to woo Momose. Yet through Noriko and others, he
steadily realizes just how sad and self-destructive his current lifestyle has
become. After a certain point, one wonders if his performance problem is in
fact the latest warning sign that he needs to make some serious changes for his
own good.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Kôta
Yoshida is probably best known for his 2010 film “Yuriko’s Aroma,” another
refreshingly honest and insightful work about people’s sex lives and the
complications within them that can spawn alienation. This is an area he has
proven himself to be quite talented in, as he clearly understands that, unlike
so many other films that take such matters for granted, human sexuality is a
strange and complex thing that everyone experiences differently. Yoshida has
openly demonstrated his sympathies for the less confident underdogs of the
world, in the process exploring the more sensitive issues that can lie in
waiting when affections and simple human urges are involved. His characters not
only search for personal acceptance and fulfillment, but also a way they can
achieve that ever-elusive thing called happiness without getting trampled upon
by the so-called social norms they are so often challenged by. Indeed,
Yoshida’s films seem to leave us with an important question: is there such a
thing as being “normal?” If Yoshida suggests that the answer is no, then he
also makes it clear that that is not such a bad thing.</span><o:p></o:p></div>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-86317971355173536162012-05-06T02:21:00.000-07:002012-05-06T02:21:10.079-07:00NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: The Sound of Light<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW3W9VAXkNm7p82XzTeXPtcZcDYTrME76KmuMWWnCRqN77DlLLxhb7UMQMdcQiM8xGNGV8K8YkuQYYEp2L7uv1ATpgiVgclhSA0U56f5dTyKODYRvbEmbK0iCrWNbaaSaEe4hjE-QldxA/s1600/soundoflightposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW3W9VAXkNm7p82XzTeXPtcZcDYTrME76KmuMWWnCRqN77DlLLxhb7UMQMdcQiM8xGNGV8K8YkuQYYEp2L7uv1ATpgiVgclhSA0U56f5dTyKODYRvbEmbK0iCrWNbaaSaEe4hjE-QldxA/s320/soundoflightposter.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>ひかりのおと</b><b>
(Hikari no oto)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Released: 2011</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Director: Juichiro Yamasaki</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Starring: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Yoshitomo Fujihisa</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Toyoyuki Sato</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Yoshiko Nakamoto</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Eri Mori</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Running time: 89 min.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“The Sound of Light” is a film
entirely set in one of the tougher corners of the world; a place where hard
work is a minimum requirement for making a living – and not even that can
guarantee prosperity or even survival. Yoshitomo Fujihisa plays the main
character Yusuke, a young man who, three years prior to the events of the film,
moved back to his family’s farm in the mountain town of Maniwa in Okayama
Prefecture from Tokyo after his father (Toyoyuki Sato) badly injured his foot.
This move put Yusuke’s ambitions of pursuing a musical career on indefinite
hold – a necessary sacrifice so he could lend a much-needed hand in the many
physically demanding tasks dutifully upheld by his father and grandmother
(Junko Sato) over the years. A small dairy farm fighting off debt, the business
requires the constant feeding and milking of its cows, among other chores.
Here, routine and dedication are the defining factors of daily life, bringing a
regular flow of early mornings and toil.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The
events of “The Sound of Light” are overshadowed by a past event described in an
opening title card: three years ago, a dairy farmer named Natsuo Asano was
killed in a car accident that spared his wife Yoko (Eri Mori) and son Ryota.
These characters are tied to Yusuke’s family in various ways: Natsuo was best
friends with Yoshiyuki (Takeshi Masago), Yusuke’s uncle, and the two men worked
hard together to establish their own dairy farm. But in the wake of Natsuo’s
death, Yoshiyuki’s life and business collapsed into ruin to the point that he
now bears the reputation of a madman. Also, Yusuke is in love with Yoko and
hopes to marry her – a plan complicated by Ryota being the only remaining male
in the Asano family. If Yusuke and Yoko were to get married, the boy would have
to go live with his grandmother on Natsuo’s side so as to continue the Asano
family name, thus presenting Yoko with a difficult decision – and indicating
another way how family responsibilities shape the characters’ lives.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Zla19X9oXsNd-TUtfULlDWbTd9X-o0YENHP2Um8NslNZSZ86F__Mx5XlX47rAwWJyK-yuzJjBExnCKahaB9o5TCkuLX3PN5AFzLY5fKu3ptf20cQU8orhi8Cr98qTsozz5WjBAvFNEw6/s1600/soundoflight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Zla19X9oXsNd-TUtfULlDWbTd9X-o0YENHP2Um8NslNZSZ86F__Mx5XlX47rAwWJyK-yuzJjBExnCKahaB9o5TCkuLX3PN5AFzLY5fKu3ptf20cQU8orhi8Cr98qTsozz5WjBAvFNEw6/s400/soundoflight.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">One
of the clear strengths of “The Sound of Light” is the total immersion into
small-town farming life it gives. The impressive Chugoku mountains surround the
town’s scattered farms, businesses and homes, emphasizing the rural isolation
in which the characters eke out a living. Work maintains a strong grip on daily
life: whether tending to vegetable patches, preparing meals or, most often,
tending to the cows, Yusuke and his family – including his sister Haruko
(Yoshiko Nakamoto) and her boyfriend Takashi (Soichiro Tsuji) who visit and
lend a hand in the various chores – constantly see to the tall order of
responsibilities that need to be met. Writer and director Juichiro Yamasaki,
himself a Maniwa farmer, admirably approaches such actions with a still,
observant eye that ably captures the quiet dedication of the farmers. The
viewer is made quite aware of the tolls such a lifestyle demands – especially
through Yoshiyuki, who is publicly regarded as a failure and a cautionary tale.
Having driven away his wife, he burns down his barn, gives in to drinking and
attempts suicide. His misfortunes show that it takes more than hard work to
survive in farming; that loyal friends and family serve as irreplaceable
supports for perseverance. But even then, the farmers are at the mercy of
forces beyond their control. In one integral dialogue scene, Yoshiyuki explains
to Yusuke how he and Natsuo had to contend with a sudden rise in feed costs
and, more importantly, people’s indifference to local businesses in favor of
convenience. “The harder you work, the less you get,” he says, underlining the
dire consequences of the growth of world markets at the cost of the farmers’
hard-won labors. This bitter truth is not dwelled upon for too long, but its
weight is certainly not lost on the viewer.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Impressively,
Yamasaki maintains an even balance between depicting the real-life textures and
issues of the farming community and the more narrative-dependent strand of the
film dedicated to Yusuke’s personal situation. Visiting a graveyard of
amplifiers in the woods and uncovering a hidden guitar and the organ his mother
gave to him before leaving the family (alluding to a rift between her and
Yusuke’s more farming-oriented father), he still clearly holds onto his love
for making music. His father even offers to give him a saved bundle of one
million yen to help re-ignite the distant dream of returning to Tokyo. Yet Yusuke
remains bound to the important sense of duty that has kept him at the farm. As
a son and the heir to the farm, the weight of expectation lies heavily upon his
shoulders, even if his family grants him the permission necessary to break
away.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“The
Sound of Light” gives an even and honest portrayal of farming life, neither
exaggerating the great endurance it requires nor holding it up as a utopian
alternative to the light and bustle of Tokyo, which has never felt so distant
in a Japanese film as it does here. But occasionally, Yamasaki allows for
moments of hope and beauty: the night scene in which an actual calf is born,
Yusuke’s song to his mother quietly performed in a cold barn, the annual climb
up a nearby mountain on the morning of New Year’s Day to see the first sunlight
of the year. Such scenes make Yusuke’s journey seem worth the challenges it has
brought him, confirming that the sacrifices he made were willingly and, at
times, perhaps even gladly chosen.</span></div>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-86802655387613478622012-05-05T03:52:00.001-07:002012-05-05T04:08:12.093-07:00NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: The Woodsman and the Rain<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJaKR2IVQ7y949NUvMCMdOKxpn1aLBMntAp5mPcX8Vpm5TdPhw-S0QRFjpRzshLlv9LDD78c7PjffgDZp41C22YVN9i8oYbgZBt5PkMJPOeg3UJ2Ivk-Uvr7ZkL_rb30WTKrjejrjV3Tp/s1600/woodsmanandtherainposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJaKR2IVQ7y949NUvMCMdOKxpn1aLBMntAp5mPcX8Vpm5TdPhw-S0QRFjpRzshLlv9LDD78c7PjffgDZp41C22YVN9i8oYbgZBt5PkMJPOeg3UJ2Ivk-Uvr7ZkL_rb30WTKrjejrjV3Tp/s320/woodsmanandtherainposter.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>キツツキと雨</b><b>
(Kitsutsuki to ame)</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Released: 2011<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Director: Shûichi Okita<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Starring: </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Kôji Yakusho</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Shun
Oguri</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Kengo Kora</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Asami Usuda</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Kanji Furutachi<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Running time: 129 min.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We first see the woodsman hard at
work felling a tree. In fact, we hear him first, his chainsaw buzzing away in
an otherwise peaceful, sun-lit forest. However, he is eventually interrupted by
a bespectacled man who emerges from the wilderness and, after nearly getting
crushed by a falling tree, timidly asks him to stop working. He explains that a
film crew is shooting nearby, and they need quiet for the scene. The woodsman
gruffly complies. Little does he know that this will in fact be the first
occasion of many in which the film crew will ask for his assistance, the next
one involving tracking down the perfect river for a scene.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Played
by Kôji Yakusho, the woodsman, Katsu, lives a quiet and simple life in the
mountain town of Yamamura. The two-year anniversary of his wife’s death is
nearing, and he lives alone with his teenage son (Kengo Kora), whose laziness
and difficulties in finding a new job have caused some tension to arise between
them. Katsu’s steady routine of neatly preparing meals for himself, interacting
with his three work buddies and cutting down and moving timber is gradually
overturned by the arrival of the film crew. The location scout for the river,
wherein Katsu’s sincere attempts to find the crew a “pretty” spot are initially
rejected for being too impractical for the shoot’s requirements, eventually
leads to another, totally unexpected request: for Katsu to don a wig and
ghoulish makeup and play a menacing zombie for the movie! Afterwards, he is
invited to see the dailies with the rest of the crew, which really sparks his
curiosity and begins to turn his impatience with the demanding moviemakers into
genuine excitement.</span></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUg-ZHUyBXVpjgJpbOQtedkrVOQfJqrqRfMKEtR6Zh2gPEw25JBrdsM1lnRMderrkwfDso0CuIzzQWVO8HRiOFYqgZCbteqKHPcfQlLiAMIQgBa-hlyj0qE0fTohr4rumKtfHkYNP9uVfG/s1600/cinema_TheWoodsmanAndTheRain_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUg-ZHUyBXVpjgJpbOQtedkrVOQfJqrqRfMKEtR6Zh2gPEw25JBrdsM1lnRMderrkwfDso0CuIzzQWVO8HRiOFYqgZCbteqKHPcfQlLiAMIQgBa-hlyj0qE0fTohr4rumKtfHkYNP9uVfG/s400/cinema_TheWoodsmanAndTheRain_02.jpg" width="388" /></a></span></b></div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As
he first begins to help the film crew, Katsu notices – and actually berates – a
young man with an untidy mop of hair and a sweatshirt who seems all but
paralyzed by shyness, hindering any possibility of being useful to the rest of
the team. He turns out to be Koichi Tanabe (Shun Oguri), the terribly
inexperienced writer and director of the zombie film, which is entitled
“Utopia.” He unsuccessfully attempts to flee from his duties at a train station
and is forced to return to the set the next day, where he is daunted by the
many questions and demands thrown at him by his actors and technicians. Yet
Katsu compulsively returns to the film set and proves to be a source of comfort
and reassurance for the flustered director. One of the nicest scenes between
the two very different men is a lunchtime conversation in which Katsu points
out two pine trees – one twenty-five years old, one sixty, matching Koichi and Katsu’s
respective ages – and says that it takes one hundred years for a pine to fully
mature, suggesting that they naturally both still have some growing up to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“The
Woodsman and the Rain” mainly chronicles Koichi’s steady acceptance of his role
as director while Katsu all but pounces on new ways of helping out the
production. He soon starts getting the whole town involved, recruiting its
inhabitants to play pale-skinned zombies and members of an all-female, bamboo
spear-wielding army. The infectious joy and enthusiasm the townsfolk give off
as they devote themselves to the shoot highlight filmmaking as a truly
collaborative event. As in François Truffaut’s classic tribute to the craft,
“Day for Night,” filmmaking helps bring people together in a spirit of fun and
productivity. Notably, there are two occasions when Katsu demonstrates his
talent for predicting the weather: first near the beginning, when a rainstorm
halts the logging crew’s efforts, then later on when another torrential
downpour halt the filming of a crucial sequence. Such scenes, indicating the
woodsman’s instinctive bond with the rain (hence the film’s title), are perhaps
meant to show how the duties of a lumberjack aren’t that different from those
of a filmmaker: both involve hard work and dedication, and are ultimately at
the mercy of such larger forces as nature and circumstance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Through
the warm bond that forms between Katsu and Koichi, “The Woodsman and the Rain”
illustrates the universal process of discovering and seizing our true callings
in life. This can involve summoning hidden reserves of courage and confidence,
as Koichi hesitatingly experiences, or learning how to manage pre-existing
commitments to family, as both Katsu and his son discover. But such worries can
become so small and insignificant compared to the spiritual nourishment offered
by clear sensations of purpose and passion – whether they come from cutting
down trees or making the next great Japanese zombie movie.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span></b>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-49404469573849039932012-05-05T03:52:00.000-07:002012-05-05T03:52:34.366-07:00NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: Die! Directors, Die!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUPjR7rRDNoV2FhlbPhojlABMo8HO6oaRbXiW854JnH0q00BDeIOuiGZ0XFmYs3u3G-DYhb4zBduaEMbAVreCsgAAO9RNj9tRxx7SSY4j243cJyv-4vNv2NVdTxSjhnF-vVLRV5Kik7zD/s1600/Die!-Filmmakers-Die!-p1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUPjR7rRDNoV2FhlbPhojlABMo8HO6oaRbXiW854JnH0q00BDeIOuiGZ0XFmYs3u3G-DYhb4zBduaEMbAVreCsgAAO9RNj9tRxx7SSY4j243cJyv-4vNv2NVdTxSjhnF-vVLRV5Kik7zD/s320/Die!-Filmmakers-Die!-p1.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>死ね</b><b>!
</b><b>死ね</b><b>! </b><b>シネマ</b><b> (Shine! Shine!
Shinema)<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Released: 2011<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Director: Makoto Shinozaki<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Starring: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Kyoko Mori</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Akemi Suzuki</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Hiromasa Kaneko</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Yoshiharu Fujii</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Toshiki Kudo</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Running time: 72 min.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“Die! Directors, Die!” feels very
much like a giant joke being played on its audience. But the question is
whether it is a sneakily elaborate one that actually has some meaning behind
its attempts at comedy or a winding, clumsily told one that botches its own
punch line. The surface elements of the film will likely turn off some viewers
right away: shakey, unpolished MiniDV camerawork; jarring, shrill jump scares
and bursts of violence and a cheap, in-your-face approach to gore that seems
directly inspired by the notorious “Guinea Pig” film series. In many respects,
it cleanly fits in with the multitudes of v-cinema schlock that have come
before it. But where it throws a curve ball of-sorts is in its numerous
comments on filmmaking and the true roles of both directors and movies, which
are first introduced through its amusingly provocative title.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“Die!
Directors, Die!” opens with a student’s graduating film being shown in a
screening room at the newly relocated Film School of Tokyo. The project is
essentially a loud and clunky mash-up of horror movie imagery that the young
director intended to be “the ultimate horror film.” His teacher, Shimazaki,
harshly criticizes the film and labels it as a disgrace to filmmaking, but
shortly after he in turn is denounced by another student who hurls such
scathing remarks as, “Pure directorial visions suck!” This causes Shimazaki to
suffer a mental breakdown, and he bursts back into the screening room armed
with a spear attached to a camera that brings to mind a similar weapon from
Michael Powell’s famous “Peeping Tom.” With it, he claims forty-two victims in
an extended, over-the-top massacre sequence before attempting to kill himself,
then vanishing. Four years later, a group of film students led by Natsuki,
their controlling director, seek out the site of the incident to shoot their
own film. However, odd paranormal occurrences and strange behavior from some of
the crewmembers soon give way to a chaotic and unpredictable onslaught of
events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLV4EN8i_AqJma1foktj72gP5BePaX96cHi00oRlXvaU_r6eIaJB6O6VllouW3BOttp_Oxges54bMazjtkMJoKs5HLcQyve4T1mMC5B_XfylkujEIhHW_RfPN-WRck5jwEKcYeqP0KhmRS/s1600/diedirectorsdie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLV4EN8i_AqJma1foktj72gP5BePaX96cHi00oRlXvaU_r6eIaJB6O6VllouW3BOttp_Oxges54bMazjtkMJoKs5HLcQyve4T1mMC5B_XfylkujEIhHW_RfPN-WRck5jwEKcYeqP0KhmRS/s400/diedirectorsdie.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps
to look too closely at – or react too negatively to – the rough, amateurish
quality of “Die! Directors, Die!” is to miss or ignore the opinions declared by
the young filmmaker at the beginning, who proudly claims he doesn’t care at all
about film theory and believes he makes films for audiences, not himself. Or
maybe it is the highly negative portrayal of directors, from the naïve student
to Shimazaki to the crazed Natsuki, that is most important here. Several other
characters also trash-talk cinematic authors, including a member of Natsuki’s
crew who exclaims, “Directors are all a bunch of lunatics.” It could be that
all of this is meant to address and attack the tendency of filmgoers –
particularly cinephiles – to focus on the director and his or her voice as the
main creative factors in a film. And in turn, perhaps cinema itself – or, at
least, the kinds of cinema that commonly attract attention and praise – is
being rejected outright, and “Die! Directors, Die!” is meant to be seen as a
piece of anti-cinema that gleefully embraces its unattractive techniques as an
extended middle finger to established habits and expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But
for every intriguing, potentially thought-provoking ingredient, including the
anti-director remarks, a number of references to well-known films and
filmmakers and a trip to snowy Yubari – of course, home to the legendary Yubari
International Fantastic Film Festival – there are at least two that throw
wrenches into the works, blurring any meaningful attempts at coherent
commentary with goofiness, immaturity and befuddlement. The horror plotline,
complete with classic pale-skinned, long-haired, contorting ghosts and a
violence-inducing video recording, seems to suggest an attempt at a
full-fledged genre product rather than a clever deconstruction. The purposely
icky, gratuitous instances of violence come across as plain silly and designed
solely to court shocks and laughs – especially when it reaches such ludicrous
points as a newly-born, clearly fake baby being swung around a room by its
umbilical cord. The characters are never fully developed enough to warrant a
proper connection with the viewers, and their wandering trajectories are often
cumbersome and tiring to watch unfold. Altogether, despite all the suggestions
that there is something liberating and valuable to take away from the
shamelessly crude nature of “Die! Directors, Die!” I simply felt that it was
too muddled and unrefined to be taken seriously all the way. But then again,
maybe I’m just blind to the inherent suckiness of pure directorial visions.</span><o:p></o:p></div>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-9391777884269643582012-05-02T16:11:00.000-07:002012-05-02T16:11:05.284-07:00NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: About the Pink Sky<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6RYgGf6MoEHfb2n-sMRa3GyNunvuuj8wH8WF7pIM5prkOamePiRcBsVlSlUDem_zMKyYFYRM33DTGul8iGcbp4yRCRM_31RJx2GT9rzZcDlbf7tW9UVQ_REojgmiQG2EUxqC6_Kjvr4y/s1600/AboutPinkSkyposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6RYgGf6MoEHfb2n-sMRa3GyNunvuuj8wH8WF7pIM5prkOamePiRcBsVlSlUDem_zMKyYFYRM33DTGul8iGcbp4yRCRM_31RJx2GT9rzZcDlbf7tW9UVQ_REojgmiQG2EUxqC6_Kjvr4y/s320/AboutPinkSkyposter.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>ももいろそらを</b><b>
(Momoiro sora o)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Released: 2011</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Director: Keiichi Kobayashi</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Starring: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Ai Ikeda</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Ena Koshino</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Reiko Fujiwara</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Running time: 113 min.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Keiichi Kobayashi’s debut feature
“About the Pink Sky,” which won the Japanese Eyes section at the 2011 Tokyo
International Film Festival, opens with one of those story devices that works
so well for getting the main character moving along on a course towards
different people, places and events. High school student Izumi (Ai Ikeda) finds
a dropped wallet that contains ¥300,000 in cash and the owner’s I.D. After
doing a little research, she discovers that the wallet’s young owner is the son
of the head of the Horse Racing Association of Chiba – in other words, someone
who enjoys a fairly privileged lifestyle. After freely loaning ¥200,000 of the
loot to a middle-aged acquaintance facing trouble finding work, Izumi unwisely
reveals her find to her two friends Hasumi (Ena Koshino) and Kaoru (Reiko
Fujiwara). They all go to the wallet’s owner, Kouki Sato (Tsubasa Takayama),
who notices the missing money’s absence, confronts Izumi about it and soon
enlists her and her friends for an unusual project as a means of compensation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This
bare-bones description of the film’s premise doesn’t even begin to do justice
to the actual viewing experience it offers. Kobayashi, who wrote, directed,
edited and shot the film himself, chose a very specific style consisting of
gorgeous, silvery monochrome and a soundtrack layered with background noise,
yet devoid of music. But while in certain points such features might recall
Robert Bresson or Michael Haneke, those severe masters of concentrated, sensory
cinema, the unpredictable narrative trajectory and frequent flashes of casual,
light-hearted humor create a different impression, constantly compelling the
viewer to adjust expectations and eventually submit to its curious nature. Shot
in various quiet urban locales with many long takes, “About the Pink Sky”
provides a crisp yet slightly distorted snapshot of contemporary Japan. After a
certain point, the near-total absence of adults becomes quite apparent,
colliding with Kobayashi’s other stylistic choices to make the experience
resemble a neat assortment of carefully edited memories of youth that still
manage to reflect its aimlessness, comedy, drama, absurdity and vividness. Just
as viewers go from scene to scene, Izumi goes from moment to moment in this
compact segment of her young life, having no idea what the outcome of her
impulsive decisions and dilemmas will be.</span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7m-NzNMrM4Tecq5eiMWlO-l2s7klNLKvDvpPysgH39VewwsP8KCTl09Ju8cERm8YUyEgb3jB68zhftbCh-iC6tv-L22GPcmfj6Se2FukqV5lSNX5ExiHn5YedTQsep_haFz2QTg6qCnam/s1600/visions_Aboutthe+pinkSky_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7m-NzNMrM4Tecq5eiMWlO-l2s7klNLKvDvpPysgH39VewwsP8KCTl09Ju8cERm8YUyEgb3jB68zhftbCh-iC6tv-L22GPcmfj6Se2FukqV5lSNX5ExiHn5YedTQsep_haFz2QTg6qCnam/s400/visions_Aboutthe+pinkSky_01.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Which
brings me to possibly the film’s finest quality: the extremely solid
performances given by the cast of young, inexperienced actors. Ai Ikeda in
particular is delightful as she gives a fantastically naturalistic
characterization laced with great little mannerisms and subtleties. Whether
viewers will actually like her Izumi will depend on whether they see her
stubbornness, immaturity and whip-smart sass as obnoxious yet endearing or
simply obnoxious. In any case, Ikeda puts great effort into her portrayal of
the snarky teenager – at times, it seems, the ultimate snarky teenager –
carefully making the most of her screen time. Whether whispering to herself in
a sort of vocalized interior monologue, twisting her face into cheeky facial expressions
or even, in one scene, discreetly pushing an unpaid bill towards an
unsuspecting Sato without breaking their conversation, she always seems to be
packing another little glimmer of personality into the film.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Throughout
“About the Pink Sky,” Izumi maintains a hobby of reading newspaper stories and,
with the bold slashes of a marker, coolly grading them based on her skeptical
worldview. This is very much in keeping with her character as she frequently
gives in to bouts of smugness, entitlement and indifference in response to the
situations she comes across. One could see this behavior as her personal
defense mechanism against a deceptive and imbalanced world – and indeed, over
the course of the film there are many instances of seemingly simple or obscure
appearances giving way to more complex and, occasionally, unfortunate truths.
Gradually, we learn more about her friend Kaoru’s job in which she chats online
with older men (she assures Izumi that the conversations haven’t yet veered
into sexual territory) in order to lessen her family’s financial burdens, which
are largely brought about by her mother’s taste for expensive designer brands.
Izumi’s other friend, Hasumi, reveals herself to be quite vain, bossy and
tragically susceptible to dreams of romance. But it is through Sato that Izumi
matures the most; his job for the girls, which involves creating a homemade
newspaper that only delivers good news, is all for a sick, hospitalized friend
of his named Kazumi. In the face of such greater forces as illness, chance and
genuine innocence, Izumi’s egotistical façade is all but bound to buckle,
bringing about humorous, ironic and poignant results alike.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Surely,
“About the Pink Sky” is an unusual coming-of-age film that will likely throw
off some viewers with its lack of conventional dramatic structure or emphatic
plot points. Yet the drifting approach to story, aesthetic beauty and admirable
performances all add compelling degrees of realism and poetry to this
wonderfully idiosyncratic effort. According to an interview with The Hollywood
Reporter for his film’s appearance at Sundance, Kobayashi hopes to next make a
project about an otaku couple, which should be a most interesting subject when
presented from this director’s unique perspective.</span></div>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-45138690520988580062012-04-30T09:46:00.002-07:002012-04-30T09:46:49.847-07:00Nippon Connection Coverage Ahead on the Pow-Wow - Stay Tuned!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvULWSbQW6KlaY5t0eZvu1re07ICJF30mohFpRn-byo6W6xewlGu3cORKI8g5vb2SzspofuV__yiOmilkAfmcXkLDTQiA2zdbvuoAcTNKI029mJZgiSYxKmndjjkakWrkjfsttiVNblwe7/s1600/NC-Logo.tif.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvULWSbQW6KlaY5t0eZvu1re07ICJF30mohFpRn-byo6W6xewlGu3cORKI8g5vb2SzspofuV__yiOmilkAfmcXkLDTQiA2zdbvuoAcTNKI029mJZgiSYxKmndjjkakWrkjfsttiVNblwe7/s400/NC-Logo.tif.tiff" width="388" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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It is that time of year again: Pow-Wow editor-in-chief Chris MaGee and I will once more be shortly heading over to Frankfurt, Germany to catch one of the biggest Japanese film festivals out there: <a href="http://www.nipponconnection.com/nc-2012-194.html">Nippon Connection</a>. Celebrating its 12th year, the festival will be bringing a fantastic variety of new and exciting films from established directors (including Kaneto Shindo, Nobuhiko Obayashi, Takashi Miike, Toshiaki Toyoda and Shinya Tsukamoto) and emerging talents alike. The festival will be running from May 2nd to the 6th; during those days, I will be providing updates (with fresh photos) every one or two days right here to fill you in on the films I've caught and any other noteworthy observations on my festival experience. Additionally, I will be posting individual film reviews focusing on some of the intriguing selections featured in this year's <a href="http://www.nipponconnection.com/225.html">Nippon Visions section</a>, which consists of work from independent filmmakers and artists. Finally, stay tuned for after the festival ends, when I write up my summative festival report that will describe my overall experience of this year's Nippon Connection.<br />
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For those of you asking what Chris will be up to while I'm seeing to all this, I'm pleased to say that he will be quite busy fulfilling his own responsibilities - as a juror! Chris will be joined by filmmaker Yonghi Yang ("Our Homeland," <a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2010/05/hot-docs-10-review-sona-other-myself.html">"Sona, The Other Myself"</a>) and journalist and author Andreas Platthaus (F.A.Z.) on the jury for Nippon Visions, and with them, will determine which film will be worthy of the Nippon Visions Award, which will provide the honoured director with free subtitling for his or her next film courtesy of Tokyo's Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA).<br />
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For us, Nippon Connection is always a special occasion for us to get a privileged look at the newest films coming out of Japan and catch up with far-flung friends who share our love and enthusiasm for Japanese cinema and culture in their own corners of the world. This year, we're more excited than ever about what this one-of-a-kind event has to offer, and hope you'll keep checking back here to follow our coverage!Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-78787470637203317342012-04-21T12:52:00.001-07:002012-04-21T18:17:56.812-07:00Check Out the 2nd Block of Films Planned for the 2012 Shinsedai Cinema Festival!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgji22127pw0uOO3_OnsXg24t1p9QOeByb_QAMuTsR8NIgi9DlimVzmfyEeNDnRR_MxUmcrrCtOdDAUl1qQDDoi_4AFOSb_T7hmgThgIXEgwlLSXP-74-TRF61LtMTNPHepCx1Gst2EYzuf/s1600/EndoftheNight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgji22127pw0uOO3_OnsXg24t1p9QOeByb_QAMuTsR8NIgi9DlimVzmfyEeNDnRR_MxUmcrrCtOdDAUl1qQDDoi_4AFOSb_T7hmgThgIXEgwlLSXP-74-TRF61LtMTNPHepCx1Gst2EYzuf/s400/EndoftheNight.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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Recently, the Pow-Wow's editor-in-chief Chris MaGee has been hard at work preparing this year's <a href="http://shinsedai.ca/">Shinsedai Cinema Festival</a>, which will be held in a new venue, Toronto's Revue Cinema, from July 12th to the 15th. Co-directed and co-programmed by Chris and Jasper Sharp, author of "Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema" and the recently released "Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema" and co-founder of <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/">Midnight Eye</a>, the festival will be continuing its mission to bring rare and exciting new films from the current independent film scene in Japan to eager and curious North American audiences. This past Monday (April 16th), thanks in large part to the efforts of the festival's web manager Robert Harding, Shinsedai announced its second wave of films that will comprise the complete festival lineup (set to be revealed in its entirety sometime in May). Here's a look at the films featured in the announcement:<br />
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• <b>End of the Night (Daisuke Miyazaki)</b> - Helmed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa's assistant director on "Tokyo Sonata," this fusion of the Nikkatsu crime films of the 1960s and Takeshi Kitano's yakuza works, follows hitman Tamegoro as he raises a child claimed from one of his jobs as his own son, training him to take up his legacy of crime (pictured above).</div>
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<b>• Zero Man vs. The Half-Virgin (Sakichi Sato)</b> - From the writer of Takashi Miike's "Ichi the Killer" and "Gozu" comes an eccentric comedy about a policeman who is stricken with amnesia and begins seeing mysterious numbers on people's foreheads whenever he becomes aroused - perhaps indicating the number of sexual partners each person has had? This film is co-presented by the iconic Toronto DVD rental and sale shop <a href="http://eyesorecinema.blogspot.ca/">Eyesore Cinema</a>.</div>
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<b>• The Naked Summer (Kenji Okabe) </b>- This music documentary, shot by regular Hirokazu Kore-eda cinematographer Yutaka Yamazaki, follows butoh dancer Akaji Maro as he organizes his annual retreat in the countryside for dance professionals and amateurs alike, who will devote themselves to learning more about the fascinating dance form in preparation for a performance.</div>
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<b>• From the Great White North: Yubari Fanta Special</b> - Yasuhiro Togawa, director of Hokkaido's legendary Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, assisted in the selection of three fascinating short films: Takuaki Tsunemoto's 'sexual martial arts' film "Hole and Pole," Yumehito Imanari's wrestling documentary "The Student Wrestler" and Kotaro Terauchi's marital comedy "Mrs. Akko and Her Husband."</div>
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<b>• Battle Girls and Bondage: A Pink Film Double Bill</b> - In what will be the first-ever theatrical screening of pink films in Toronto, Shinedai is proud to present, in collaboration with both L.A. distributor <a href="http://www.pinkeiga.com/films/">Pink Eiga</a> and Toronto fetish clothier <a href="http://www.northbound.com/">NorthBound Leather</a>, a double-bill of Mototsugu Watanabe's "Sexy Battle Girls" and Osamu Sato's "New Tokyo Decadence: The Slave." Please note that this will be an 18+ age-restricted screening event.</div>
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As you can see, there is a pretty diverse selection of genres to viewers to choose from, illustrating the festival organizers' goal to bring many different facets of Japanese culture to the Revue this upcoming summer. With such films on the way plus the attendance of special guests and availability of <a href="http://ontariosake.com/">Ontario Spring Water Sake</a> from the festival's official beverage sponsor at the theatre bar, this is sure to be a very fun and memorable event.<br />
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The full announcement at the Shinsedai website can be visited <a href="http://www.shinsedai.ca/latest-news/78-second-block-of-shinsedai-2012-films-announced">here</a>. Follow the Shinsedai Cinema Festival on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shinsedai-Cinema-Festival/236237899757406">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Shinsedai_Fest">Twitter</a>, and be sure to stay tuned for the final announcement that will reveal the festival's full lineup!</div>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-49151390964737033952012-04-21T12:52:00.000-07:002012-04-21T12:52:01.053-07:00New Films from Kôji Wakamatsu and Takashi Miike Included in Cannes 2012 Lineup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJF_mKsMMhmfRqBS-J7Kqqfp4UsfTKYnX0BVeNmLbMDawVOUo-khJxtAyxbB53dJVXErUGA_8-jK_BNCsgeqIytGX6U4lTFpNG0AlQIfcbrUKct8Dtkik-bQhTvcnpUru9azRUrUYGs5Kd/s1600/cannes-film-festival.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJF_mKsMMhmfRqBS-J7Kqqfp4UsfTKYnX0BVeNmLbMDawVOUo-khJxtAyxbB53dJVXErUGA_8-jK_BNCsgeqIytGX6U4lTFpNG0AlQIfcbrUKct8Dtkik-bQhTvcnpUru9azRUrUYGs5Kd/s400/cannes-film-festival.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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This past Thursday, April 19th, the main section lineups for the 65th Cannes Film Festival were finally revealed, sating film fans' curiosity about what new works would be appearing on the Croisette this year. While there is an abundance of treats for lovers of arthouse cinema from all over the world (new works from Anderson, Resnais, Loach, Mungiu, Reygadas, Vinterberg, Cronenberg, Haneke and more!) Japanese cinema has only a small handful of representatives...but what will be showing up looks quite special. Firstly, in the Un Certain Regard section there is "11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate," Kôji Wakamatsu's portrayal of the famous incident in 1970 in which renowned writer Yukio Mishima stormed the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo in a failed attempt to ignite a rebellion and committed seppuku. This film is the latest effort in what is turning out to be a very impressive late-career run for Wakamatsu, who has recently enjoyed acclaim for such works as 2007's "United Red Army," 2010's "Caterpillar" and this year's "Petrel Hotel Blue," which was recently featured in the Japan Society's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" series in New York. Meanwhile, the festival's Midnight Screening section will include Takashi Miike's newest film "The Legend of Love & Sincerity," based on a manga by Ikki Kajiwara. Those who are intrigued can check out the film's visually impressive trailer <a href="http://mubi.com/films/the-legend-of-love-sincerity">at the film's MUBI page</a>.<br />
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While it seems that will be it for Japanese-directed films, it is also certainly worth mentioning that Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's "Like Someone in Love," his new film set in Japan <a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2012/03/teaser-trailer-for-abbas-kiarostamis.html">which we have been following</a>, is part of the Competition lineup for the much-coveted Palme d'Or. The delightful teaser trailer, which was previously posted online only to be removed shortly after, can now be viewed once more - we've included it below:
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="227" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OziZKUX3h3w" width="388"></iframe><br />
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Looking beyond Japanese cinema, it is nice to see other areas of Asian cinema included in this year's lineup. Among the honoured filmmakers of interest in that respect are South Korea's Hong Sang-soo ("In Another Country") and Im Sang-soo ("The Taste of Money"), India's Ashim Ahluwalia ("Miss Lovely"), China's Lou Ye ("Mystery"), Kazakhstan's Darezhan Omirbayev ("Student") and Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul ("Mekong Hotel"). It certainly looks like this will be one of the more fascinating years at Cannes, and we eagerly look forward to following news and reports from the south of France once the festival (which will be held between May 16th and the 27th) gets underway.<br />
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Many thanks to the <a href="http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/cannes-2012-lineup">MUBI Notebook</a> for its comprehensive roundup.Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-32861875439475929252012-04-21T12:51:00.002-07:002012-04-21T12:51:54.160-07:00Cast of Takeshi Kitano's "Outrage Beyond" Announced<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDfIJNn0jPWKKeDvr0wcVt3uD3hQAg2QTNFwwVS-7QAlxF-48kw3lh9e-DDtrV9lnv7Lb0V5iqh6MPBEbUJChkPE832oGsDaDAfQosAQoMXAZOI7O-nzPQCgQsOF0OAwH5Mv0gcHVHnXt/s1600/kitano-outrage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDfIJNn0jPWKKeDvr0wcVt3uD3hQAg2QTNFwwVS-7QAlxF-48kw3lh9e-DDtrV9lnv7Lb0V5iqh6MPBEbUJChkPE832oGsDaDAfQosAQoMXAZOI7O-nzPQCgQsOF0OAwH5Mv0gcHVHnXt/s400/kitano-outrage.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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<b>PLEASE NOTE - the following story contains spoilers for Takeshi Kitano's "Outrage."</b><br />
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It appears that Takeshi Kitano is making good progress with the sequel to his 2010 return to the yakuza genre "Outrage." The film shoot, which began on April 2nd, is now apparently half-way finished, and the finished project, entitled "Outrage Beyond," is set to be released in Japan by Warner Bros. on October 6th, 2012. In a press conference that was held this past Tuesday (April 17th) in Chiba Prefecture, the main cast was revealed. Kitano, Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase and Fumiyo Kohinata, who all appeared in the previous film, will be returning, while new actors will include Toshiyuki Nishida, Yutaka Matsushige, Katsunori Takahashi, Kenta Kiritani and Hirofumi Arai. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit of information in this story is the re-appearance of Kitano in his role as the yakuza Otomo, since the character was assumed to be killed at the end of "Outrage." Producer Masayuki Mori cleared up some of the confusion by saying that Otomo in fact survived the film's brutal events, and that "Outrage Beyond" will see the return of the character, but will not be focused on his attempts to gain revenge. The new film's story will instead involve a clash between the Sanno-kai and Hanabishi-kai crime organizations, which control the Kanto and Kansai regions, respectively, while Otomo confronts the police's efforts to eradicate the yakuza. Taking into consideration many viewers' criticisms of the first film being too detached and hollow, it will be interesting to see if Kitano keeps up that trend or decides instead to throw some interesting curve balls, be it through more compelling plot developments or new formal techniques, with "Outrage Beyond."<br />
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Many thanks to <a href="http://www.nipponcinema.com/blog/cast-of-outrage-beyond-revealed-otomo-returns">Nippon Cinema</a> for providing the details for this story.Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-1987067683618513502012-04-14T14:34:00.003-07:002012-04-14T14:35:30.847-07:00North American Release Date and Trailer for Hirokazu Kore-eda's "I Wish" Unveiled<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijayLMKo386Zr2BW0Sj8doDv_dl3kZxpCCoGWFHY5pO4wAMfv-EoooKWy9fgOtIfrWg9x3wiU337xifSEfeOV2TzE4F2nZG2Tvu9Um-TxKoFYswbRsu0I7TRaHkTNl2H9TD_VNVosfPZaH/s1600/iwish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijayLMKo386Zr2BW0Sj8doDv_dl3kZxpCCoGWFHY5pO4wAMfv-EoooKWy9fgOtIfrWg9x3wiU337xifSEfeOV2TzE4F2nZG2Tvu9Um-TxKoFYswbRsu0I7TRaHkTNl2H9TD_VNVosfPZaH/s400/iwish.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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Here is some news that is surely getting a lot of Japanese film fans very excited: Apple's trailer website recently posted a new, polished trailer for "I Wish" the latest film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, the master behind such beloved works as "After Life," "Nobody Knows," "Still Walking" and "Air Doll." The film's North American release will be handled by Magnolia Pictures, which will be putting the film in theatres on May 11th. Additionally, Toronto audiences will have the opportunity to see the film earlier than that when it screens at the <a href="http://jccc.on.ca/event/april-movie-night/">Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre</a> on the evening of April 26th. Having seen the film last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, I can fully state that this was a welcome treat certainly worthy of holding company with Kore-eda's past successes. This new trailer does a great job of highlighting the complex layers of emotions and detailed perspective on the bonds between parents and children that all make the film such a pleasurable experience. Hopefully, Kore-eda fans out there will take note and make this a priority when it comes out in select theatres in a few weeks time - it is certainly worth it. To read more about what some of us at the Pow-Wow thought of it, feel free to check out <a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2011/06/review-i-wish.html">Nicholas Vroman's site review</a> and <a href="http://www.vcinemashow.com/?p=6347">my guest review for VCinema</a>.<br />
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Readers can now watch the trailer in HD <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/iwish/">over at Apple</a> and visit <a href="http://www.magpictures.com/iwish/">Magnolia's main page for the film</a>.Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-89077090132155066362012-04-14T14:33:00.000-07:002012-04-14T14:37:39.047-07:00New Trailer for Naoko Ogigami's Latest Film "Rent-a-Cat"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVLzmk_mD4nSb5GUgvBvvonOSYEmFe9EtQcPve479dkEoZNirubJlv6ec8rwA7k-DAGoLQQoCxEQF6rc4jGDnl4VWpY-QzM25IP0WVrjMMtf-pOOErGuAZhV2EACv9cw4WIU40J2oDJX4/s1600/rent-a-neko.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVLzmk_mD4nSb5GUgvBvvonOSYEmFe9EtQcPve479dkEoZNirubJlv6ec8rwA7k-DAGoLQQoCxEQF6rc4jGDnl4VWpY-QzM25IP0WVrjMMtf-pOOErGuAZhV2EACv9cw4WIU40J2oDJX4/s400/rent-a-neko.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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One of the more accomplished filmmakers in the independent Japanese film scene today is Naoko Ogigami. With such films as "Kamome Diner," "Glasses" and "Toilet," she has developed a personal style distinguished by well-written contemporary characters, light-hearted humanism and a polished visual sensibility. Just a few days ago, the online community got a brand new trailer (included below) for her latest film, "Rent-a-Cat," which screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. The story revolves around Sayoko (Mikako Ichikawa), a lonely young woman who runs a business in which people can rent cats for a time to lighten their lives a little. Living on her own, she doesn't seem to handle connections beyond her feline companions very well, though the re-appearance of a person from her past soon enough shakes up her self-imposed isolation. Judging from the two-minute glimpse we are given, it certainly looks like Ogigami's recognizable charm, humor and sensitive characterizations will carry on strong with this fresh effort.<br />
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"Rent-a-Cat" will be released in Japan by Suurkiitos on May 12th. To read more about Ogigami's previous works, check out Eric Evans' profile of the filmmaker <a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2010/08/director-we-love-naoko-ogigami.html">here</a>. <br />
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Source: <a href="http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/rent-a-cat-trailer">Nippon Cinema</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="240" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0-SUW2qcduQ" width="400"></iframe>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-10585473315828666672012-04-14T14:32:00.002-07:002012-04-14T15:12:18.376-07:00UK Theatrical Release for "Mitsuko Delivers" set for May 11th<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ndw5pK26BTuO4gs91gFZ6-WgI4sQZAQfSzCbcwV7KZkQvx8l-JjFlsxZ5VF6cEAOll3CEwuRSyyoimrLJzx6jr0pZVEZyyIET91UENgJ0H4DbPv6obGHT2r26wy0SKOmPCjn01pITX24/s1600/mitsuko-delivers-imgur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ndw5pK26BTuO4gs91gFZ6-WgI4sQZAQfSzCbcwV7KZkQvx8l-JjFlsxZ5VF6cEAOll3CEwuRSyyoimrLJzx6jr0pZVEZyyIET91UENgJ0H4DbPv6obGHT2r26wy0SKOmPCjn01pITX24/s400/mitsuko-delivers-imgur.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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Third Window Films has repeatedly proven to be an absolute gift for eager fans of independent Japanese cinema with its caringly prepared theatrical and DVD releases. Very shortly, the company will be adding yet another worthwhile event to the calendar when, on May 11th, the 2011 film "Mitsuko Delivers" receives a theatrical release within the UK. "Mitsuko" is one of the most recent efforts from Yuya Ishii, a filmmaker who has steadily been making a name for himself with such works as 2007's "Girl Sparks" and 2010's "To Walk Beside You" and "Sawako Decides." The new film stars Riisa Naka as the titular character who maintains an optimistic attitude as she returns to Japan from California following an ill-fated relationship with an American. Far along in her pregnancy and facing grim financial prospects, she encounters certain figures from her past including her parents' former landlord and a young man who has long harboured feelings for her.<br />
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Check out <a href="http://thirdwindowfilms.com/films/mitsuko-delivers">Third Window Films</a> to see the trailer, poster and more details on "Mitsuko Delivers." Many thanks to <a href="http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012/04/12/mitsuko-delivers-gets-uk-theatrical-release-may-11th/">SciFi Japan</a> for highlighting this story.Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-77701889862000776022012-04-02T22:20:00.001-07:002012-04-02T22:21:29.484-07:00Katsuhiro Otomo returns to manga... but this time looks to the past instead of the future<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3O3WDSUzx0toXsneVRNKLI_6lc5RB3ZFYPESkf-lsOjXUyijTtbKl11QjKhExm0wzfLlDftuCTE7QqqVjyLlCOW2zI9oncOLxfyZ39aNlOhg5P_LWAV5vn-eGH1OjKsAx_8ewXLblFiw/s1600/otomo2.PNG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3O3WDSUzx0toXsneVRNKLI_6lc5RB3ZFYPESkf-lsOjXUyijTtbKl11QjKhExm0wzfLlDftuCTE7QqqVjyLlCOW2zI9oncOLxfyZ39aNlOhg5P_LWAV5vn-eGH1OjKsAx_8ewXLblFiw/s400/otomo2.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727040289174910290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">by Chris MaGee</span><br /><br />Katsuhiro Otomo -- the name is synonymous with modern Japanese pop culture. His epic sci-fi manga-turned-anime film "Akira" almost single-handedly introduced Japanese animation to the world in 1988, defining the futuristic aesthetic of cyberpunk fiction and Hollywood blockbusters like "The Matrix". Despite his less than stellar animated follow-up, 2004's "Steamboy", Katsuhiro Otomo's place as a master of contemporary Japanese animation and manga remains intact; so when word comes down that the now 57-year-old artist and director is planning a new manga series, well, anime, manga and J-film fans get very, very excited. <br /><br />Word started breaking about Otomo's new series after Shinchosha's Geijutsu Shincho magazine hit newsstands in Japan both with a newly drawn, one-off short manga story titled "DJ Teck no Morning Attack" (his first manga since 2006), but also an interview with Otomo in which he discussed a new short animated film he is producing tilted "Hi-no-Youjin (Combustible)"... and a coy little statement about a new manga series he was working on for ""a certain shonen magazine."<br /><br />What could this new series be? Which "shonen magazine" was Otomo referring to? And would this new series further expand on Otomo's groundbreaking futuristic "Akira"? It turns out that the latter is not the case... not at all. Just recently <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-04-02/akira-otomo-reveals-more-about-new-manga-series-new-film">Anime News Network</a> came forward with details on Otomo's upcoming manga series, an ambitious venture that the artist plans to draw entirely on his own, and without any assistants or staff.<br /><br />Instead of taking us boldly into the future, Otomo has opted instead to go back in time to the Meiji Era (1868-1912), a time that saw Japan emerge from 260 years of self-imposed isolation and begin a rapid push towards modernization to come up to speed with Western powers. Not the futuristic dreamworld that most of us are used to from Otomo, but a world in which Japan was stridently looking towards the future. Otomo said he had spent the last four years doing research in Kyoto for this new series, as well as reading books by Hirotaka Ichiyanagi and Mizuki Kondo such as "One Hundred Stories Set in the Bakumatsu and Meiji Eras". Finally, Otomo has revealed that this new series will appear in the pages of Shonen Sunday Magazine. No word yet on when this new manga adventure will begin, but seeing that fans have waited for years for this, we're sure they can wait just a little longer.Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-81921015535027716202012-04-02T22:14:00.002-07:002012-04-02T22:19:34.617-07:00REVIEW: Post Card<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ad9uj0b8TFKxMe3IGH5vq0N6WLZ6qZz63d5tDjg_rHlw2X3YAncBKcnhjiHqZ8aHBFQSEsz6grG59ERd01E6dotebrlhpDCIUiXviCONsl4vyJSYdjg2POmF6q0Xd_RRUJ-MLzyZ034/s1600/post_card_2011-japan-p1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 345px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ad9uj0b8TFKxMe3IGH5vq0N6WLZ6qZz63d5tDjg_rHlw2X3YAncBKcnhjiHqZ8aHBFQSEsz6grG59ERd01E6dotebrlhpDCIUiXviCONsl4vyJSYdjg2POmF6q0Xd_RRUJ-MLzyZ034/s400/post_card_2011-japan-p1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727039675253525810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">一枚のハガキ (Ichimai no hagaki)<br /><br />Released: 2010<br /><br />Director:<br />Kaneto Shindo<br /><br />Starring:<br />Shinobu Otake<br />Etsushi Toyokawa<br />Ren Osugi<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Running time: 114 min.<br /><br /><br />Reviewed by Eric Evans</span><br /><br />Kaneto Shindo's "Post Card" practically vibrates with robust theatricality and unexpected humor. Though it takes place in what appears to be a completely realistic setting, the performances—particularly Shinobu Otake's tormented Tomoko—are by turn sincere and studied, then passionate and over the top. The variance in tone and purposeful artificiality give the film a weird off-kilter quality not unlike more accessible work by David Lynch, but without the idiosyncratic weirdness (imagine Sidney Lumet filming "Mulholland Drive"). It's unlike anything else I've seen, and while it's not an especially pleasant or traditionally satisfying film, it's well worth seeking out.<br /><br />Please note that the following contains spoilers.<br /><br />Set in the latter half of World War Two, "Post Card" follows the tribulations of a woman and the family she married into. Tomoko and her husband Jouzukuri (a gentle Naomasa Musaka) are in love. They're borderline destitute, farming a small parcel of land they do not own and sharing a two-room house with his elderly parents. They sleep in the barn for privacy, in a two tatami mat area walled off from the straw and tools. When he is drafted into the military, it is treated as an honor by the town proper but is a horror to her and an immediate hardship to the household.<br /><br />Now part of a unit and awaiting their deployment, Jouzu and friend Keita (Etsushi Toyokawa) sit down for a serious talk. Jouzu's assignment is almost certainly a death sentence, and he wants Keita to take a postcard Tomoko has written to him and, after the war, tell her that he received it and that it was meaningful to him. He can't respond to her himself, he explains, because anything he writes would at best be heavily censored by the military. Keita reluctantly agrees.<br /><br />After Jouzu's death, his parents ask Tomoko to stay on in the home and care for them, and could she also marry their younger son so it's not improper? Though heartbroken she agrees, making the best of it. Subsequently the brother is drafted and killed leaving her a war widow twice over, an emotionally drained husk.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg0Nnoii_HQ5-QmJjDvNW041HHSsQmApWNb1PwjBARCmtowFnXGn_ykFbz5_fPxX6QRJRslBG6731A09qYLYAhsV_8MGIrtOJvqzKX1dWN5vo45axl-qkmNcpOCR3lAws3unAwJ5dxyrc/s1600/sub_mugi_600-452x301.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg0Nnoii_HQ5-QmJjDvNW041HHSsQmApWNb1PwjBARCmtowFnXGn_ykFbz5_fPxX6QRJRslBG6731A09qYLYAhsV_8MGIrtOJvqzKX1dWN5vo45axl-qkmNcpOCR3lAws3unAwJ5dxyrc/s400/sub_mugi_600-452x301.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727039439343058194" border="0" /></a></span>When Keita finally travels to Tomoko's village years later to deliver the message, they've both been through almost surreal hardships. These two broken people sit and share their stories, shown in flashback, and it's here that Otake's Tomoko has a passionate series of scenes. She wails, eyes bulging from her head, raging against the situation she's in—a situation dictated by traditional societal roles, giving her no options, and sitting across from a man who by sheer luck avoided the fate shared by both her husbands. Toyokawa doesn't try to match her passion but rather plays a quietly bitter variant of his usual stoic. Ren Osugi, no stranger to broad performances, plays a local man who wants Tomoko for his mistress and recognizes that Keita is a threat to that plan. Among many other important sequences, their eventual conflict is played mostly for laughs and relieves some of the tension built up through Tomoko's monologues.<br /><br />It's difficult to say how "Post Card" became Japan's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at this year's Academy Awards. Certainly the film has none of the warmth or broad appeal of 2009 winner "Departures", but it is an artful if idiosyncratic work about serious subjects. Credit the cast for buying into Shindo's vision and committing highly stylized performances to film. Otake is raw and primal; her demeanor switches from the flat, resolute filial duty of one defeated by fate to a manic fury over the hand she's been dealt. It's an operatic performance unfettered by restraint. But perhaps her voice had to be big, meant not to be that of a single widow expressing grief and frustration but rather the cry of a nation against a culture of senseless sacrifice. So, then, the other characters become representational: Toyokawa is the aimless everyman unsure of where he belongs in a post-WW2 society, Osugi the hardliner who can't let go of the rigid structure of the past, and so on.<br /><br />The cast is too old; at 50, Toyokawa is the youngest primary player. Though men well into their 40s were being called into service, particularly toward the end of a war that began far easier than it ended, the parts in "Post Card" seem to be written for people with much more life in front of them. A flashback scene in which Tomoko and Jouzu discuss their plans to have children after the war should be touching but elicits disbelief. Shinobu Otake is feisty and girlish and the cast is game, but credulity is stretched a bit too far.<br /><br />"Post Card" will not be your favorite Japanese film of 2011. In fact you may not enjoy it at all, but I'd recommend it; I would argue that it's an interesting and necessary film unfettered by commercial or critical influences. The basic story of these characters would inspire a very commercial love story. While those elements are present, they aren't exploited or even acknowledged in the traditional sense. There is scarcely more passion to Tomoko and Toyukawa's budding relationship than in her second marriage to her younger brother-in-law, and it's difficult to imagine the ending as either romantic or happy though it satisfies the basic tenets of each. Perhaps this ending is Shindo's cry of rage, bemoaning the path not taken by Japan. Opting out of society by living in a barn and toiling in your small patch of farmland is one response to the horror and sacrifice of war, but it's not exactly a solution to the impasse facing Japanese society in 1945. It's not even a suitable solution to Tomoko's specific problems. It might be Shindo's acknowledgement that such problems aren't solvable, a strangely hollow "ganbatte" making that point. Whether it's uplifting or utterly defeatist is up to the viewer.<br /><br />Additional note: the subtitles are blatantly and (presumably) purposefully wrong in one significant way: though now her husband by marriage, Jouzu's younger brother Sanpei continues to address Tomoko as "Onaesan" (older sister) even as he makes love to her. This awkward formality adds a touch of humor to their relationship and further indicts the Japanese culture of the time. However, the English subtitle with every "Onaesan" was "darling"—neither literally nor figuratively correct. This choice robs these scenes of a degree of absurdity that Shindo, also the screenwriter, specifically intended. It's an unfortunate decision on the part of the studio.<br /><br style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Post Card" was presented as part of the 35th Portland International Film Festival, one of over 100 films representing dozens of countries from around the world. For more information about the NW Film Center and PIFF, visit http://www.nwfilm.org/.</span>Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-19494122750366057632012-04-02T22:13:00.001-07:002012-04-02T22:27:03.941-07:00Animator Koji Yamamura teams up with Takeshi Kitano for opening of new TV show<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YJaZPvgeoTZPIr9SaGIw0PBotH-iJPUQwAAr2SiYYfUycKOEEAWcCiaRVyyJ9giB5UaimvTe78fCGZ-Iizv6QRNZYTZQ4XbB6kttNeO9UKLguB3FlsUXyMqO4Eic5qPpbWaa9HldcMo/s1600/takeshi_art_beat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YJaZPvgeoTZPIr9SaGIw0PBotH-iJPUQwAAr2SiYYfUycKOEEAWcCiaRVyyJ9giB5UaimvTe78fCGZ-Iizv6QRNZYTZQ4XbB6kttNeO9UKLguB3FlsUXyMqO4Eic5qPpbWaa9HldcMo/s400/takeshi_art_beat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727038533866066882" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">by Chris MaGee</span><br /><br />Comedian/ actor/ director Takeshi Kitano and animator Koji Yamamura -- these are two men that have a lot of fans around these parts. Obviously the former is someone who needs no introduction, but if you're hesitating a little on the second name then let us refresh your memory. Yamamura is the man behind the Oscar-nominated short film "Atama Yama (Mt. Head)" as well as the equally trippy "Franz Kafka's The Country Doctor". So, what do Kitano and Yamamura have in common? Well, the latter has just animated the opening sequence for the former's latest NHK TV show titled "Takeshi's Art Beat". Any of you who have spent time in Japan know that Kitano is one of, if not the most ubiquitous celebrities on the small screen, and this latest program follows Kitano as he explores one of his favorite subjects: contemporary art. (Kitano's a painter as well, you know!)<br /><br />You can check out the opening for NHK's "Takeshi's Art Beat" by following <a href="http://www.nhk.or.jp/takeshi-art/">this link</a> and scrolling down to the flash video. Thanks to <a href="http://www.catsuka.com/news/2012-04-02/koji-yamamura-anime-takeshi-kitano-le-temps-d-un-petit-opening-tv">Catsuka</a> for this fun bit of news.Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-34744020866664621802012-04-02T22:12:00.000-07:002012-04-02T22:13:12.302-07:00Weekly Trailers<span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Ai to Makoto - Takashi Miike (2012)</span><br /><br />Fans of "The Happiness of the Katakuris" rejoice! Takashi Miike has returned to the most unlikely genre of his wildly diverse cinematic career... the musical! Miike adapts Ikki Kajiwara's action/ romance manga "Ai to Makoto" to the screen with Satoshi Tsumabuki and Emi Takei as its all singing, all dancing pair of young lovers.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wWQMNS5m3j4" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Nippon Era Irresponsibility - Kengo Furusawa (1962)</span><br /><br />Legendary Japanese comedian Hitoshi Ueki stars as one of his most beloved characters, an irresponsible, devil-may-care salaryman, in Kengo Furusawa's comedy musical.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lYsI93hb9uQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-8053258448282681582012-04-02T22:10:00.001-07:002012-04-02T22:11:55.745-07:00Overseas filming trend continues with Eriko Kitagawa's "Atarashii Kutsu wo Kawanakucha”<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlKX53rafskex-GvhbQqdGa467Xq9jW5sYXrcIVo2xv0oeDfuZ3T4deyZvz5mWit1n1mRAnDgfjY0DQyyBPcw_y6vFAHCFFB_jar-QrDvhpbqNWoMY3s_kcqY1g9XBRAGHo8MttiSPS0/s1600/atarashii_kutsu.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlKX53rafskex-GvhbQqdGa467Xq9jW5sYXrcIVo2xv0oeDfuZ3T4deyZvz5mWit1n1mRAnDgfjY0DQyyBPcw_y6vFAHCFFB_jar-QrDvhpbqNWoMY3s_kcqY1g9XBRAGHo8MttiSPS0/s400/atarashii_kutsu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727037844300639666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">by Chris MaGee</span><br /><br />We've discussed the trend of Japanese films shooting overseas before here on the J-Film Pow-Wow. It seems that recent films like "Amalfi: Rewards Of The Goddess" (shot on Italy's Amalfi Coast), "Paradise Kiss" (shot in part in New York City) and "Terumae Romae" (shot in Rome) have all captured the imaginations of Japanese audiences and have dollar signs dancing in the eyes of big studio producers. It now looks as if this trend will continue with a new film being produced by none other than Shunji Iwai.<br /><br />Titled "Atarashii Kutsu wo Kawanakucha”, the film stars Miho Nakayama (above right) as a freelance writer living in Paris who falls in love with a young photographer, portrayed by Osamu Mukai (above left)... and you guessed right, the film is shooting entirely in the French capital. The script, penned by Eriko Kitagawa, is apparently based on her lead actresses own years spent living overseas in Paris. Kitagawa, last in the headlines for directing the youth drama "Halfway", will also be in the director's chair for "Atarashii Kutsu wo Kawanakucha”. Another similarity with "Halfway" is that Kitagawa's mentor, Shunji Iwai (Swallotail Butterfly, All About Lily Chou-Chou) will be assisting her behind the camera as the film's producer.<br /><br />"Atarashii Kutsu wo Kawanakucha” is currently shooting in Paris and is scheduled for an October theatrical release in Japan. Thanks to <a href="http://www.tokyograph.com/news/nakayama-miho-mukai-osamu-star-in-love-story-in-paris/">Tokyograph</a> for this news.Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-38135271205801508172012-04-02T22:09:00.001-07:002012-04-02T22:10:34.906-07:00An amazing look at Japan's past -- Kendo combat circa 1897 captured on film<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQKqL6ZKE0UYwvGtfPOodHmPuhLs2z-ZYmHsx7KqcpWwScTLFrOoAJJ8uhqB0HVKkp84xdXGNMsb8mSokFXg-AV_HOtzoZ4fBpW5FdMrUcYXiD6WtADxAz0C2C_Owv0TvJSxTi1QVQsA/s1600/E4SAF00Z.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQKqL6ZKE0UYwvGtfPOodHmPuhLs2z-ZYmHsx7KqcpWwScTLFrOoAJJ8uhqB0HVKkp84xdXGNMsb8mSokFXg-AV_HOtzoZ4fBpW5FdMrUcYXiD6WtADxAz0C2C_Owv0TvJSxTi1QVQsA/s400/E4SAF00Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727037472402168290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">by Chris MaGee</span><br /><br />Japan's cinematic history goes as far back as the genesis of motion picture technology. The first Lumiere Cinematograph (above) motion picture cameras were brought from Paris to Kyoto by sik dyestuffs importer/ exporter Katsutaro Inabata in 1897, but Inabata didn't just bring back this miraculous new technology with him to Japan. He also brought one of the Lumiere Brother's employees, François Girel, to Kyoto to act as cameraman and technician. Inabata and Girel would shoot the very first motion pictures in japanese history using these Cinematographs, and thanks to the eagle eye of one of our regular UK readers, Marc Evans, we can all witness one of these very first films. Marc shared this film (posted on Youtube) of a kendo practice in Kyoto circa 1897. It's absolutely fascinating stuff! Check it out! <br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WN9SDF05nX0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-15833703557602945272012-04-02T22:07:00.003-07:002012-04-02T22:08:20.574-07:00Japanese Weekend Box Office, March 31st to April 1st<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GeqXmod5LhzPPR1PQ7LQKWC7JH8P7U6n-pCKSw1SA9YUMN77kXsDNBCVNR9CY28OIiEcfO-2Ca-bLHxOAU64VbnDeCIoamLFBg5PjOcq21VIronvzbzRkMnRKp6rxAH82l_RyIuMXzk/s1600/Marquee5.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GeqXmod5LhzPPR1PQ7LQKWC7JH8P7U6n-pCKSw1SA9YUMN77kXsDNBCVNR9CY28OIiEcfO-2Ca-bLHxOAU64VbnDeCIoamLFBg5PjOcq21VIronvzbzRkMnRKp6rxAH82l_RyIuMXzk/s400/Marquee5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727036939725605890" border="0" /></a><br />1. Doraemon The Movie: Nobita And The Last Haven -Animal Adventure* (Toho)<br />2. We Were There, First Love* (Toho/ Asmik Ace)<br />3. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Warner)<br />4. Puss in Boots (Paramount)<br />5. Pretty Cure All Stars: New Stage Echo of Heart* (Toei)<br />6. Liar Game: Reborn* (Toho)<br />7. Ultramansaga* (Shochiku)<br />8. The Iron Lady (Gaga)<br />9. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Warner)<br />10. Train Brain Express* (Toei)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">* Japanese film</span><br /><br />Courtesy of <a href="http://www.cinemanavi.co.jp/english/index.html">Box Office Japan</a>.Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-26666920959559790332012-04-02T22:04:00.002-07:002012-04-02T22:06:47.859-07:00REVIEW: The Naoyuki Tsuji Animation Collection<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTBpwEDSYNSdgvH1cu6XHxBuZ6reKRD9-mD0X7Tt3uQwhN7953bBLLBg13Pym3FPKmFWFots6M4JrrGGObGvs6yMwRiAbk2BCD3SKkJB831D3xxtesZ7JuLDACxJc0dQIbTAykaxDA18/s1600/-The-Naoyuki-Tsuji-Animation-Collection.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTBpwEDSYNSdgvH1cu6XHxBuZ6reKRD9-mD0X7Tt3uQwhN7953bBLLBg13Pym3FPKmFWFots6M4JrrGGObGvs6yMwRiAbk2BCD3SKkJB831D3xxtesZ7JuLDACxJc0dQIbTAykaxDA18/s400/-The-Naoyuki-Tsuji-Animation-Collection.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727036381608566178" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The Naoyuki Tsuji Animation Collection<br /><br />Released: 1992-2005<br /><br />Director:<br />Naoyuki Tsuji<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Running time: 60 min.<br /><br /><br /><br />Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br /><br />The unique films assembled on the Facets Video DVD "The Naoyuki Tsuji Animation Collection" make an incredibly strong case for simplicity over heightened photo-realistic detail in animation. Most of them employ the most fundamental animator’s tools: a blank canvas and drawn charcoal lines and shapes that, when movement is evoked through the erasure and re-drawing of the subjects on the same surface, leave visible, shadow-like traces behind them as they shift across the frame. The designs for humans, animals and other creatures are almost comical in their child-like appearance, and their facial expressions are often restricted to the lines of a mouth and the black dots of tiny eyes. Yet with these simple components, Tsuji proves himself to be some kind of twisted genius, managing to create a look and feel that is entirely his own. As you begin a fresh film of his, you come to realize, with joy, that anything can happen in the white frames where his bizarre thoughts and fantasies come to life.<br /><br />The first three short films on the DVD comprise a small series entitled "Trilogy About Clouds" ("Mittsu no kumo," 2005). "Breathing Cloud" focuses on a cloud that steadily expands in the sky, its texture becoming more enhanced. Soon, recognizable shapes emerge from its puffy surface: intertwined hands, smiling faces, the naked bodies of two cloud beings locked in acts of passion with one another. "Looking at a Cloud" is more comically whimsical in its portrayal of a student distracted by yet another growing cloud during class. The cloud sprouts out of his opened notebook, then enters his nostrils and transforms him, from there moving from one student to the next like a hungry virus. "From the Cloud" envisions a group of idle little cloud children who fall to the ground as raindrops, then evaporate and gather in the sky once more, preparing to repeat the cycle. Possibly the most enigmatic and epic film in the collection, "A Feather Stare at the Dark" ("Yami wo mitsumeru hane," 2003) tells the tale of a boy with one arm and a strange, antenna-like stalk of sentient hair(?) protruding from his head. As he pursues an alluring female companion, mythical imagery abounds: a cloaked skeleton figure, amorous angels, an erect penis that spews out tiny children, a giant whose head is a circular landscape of trees and mountains, and so much more. "The Rule of Dreams" ("Yoru no okite," 1995) fittingly follows, providing a shorter but no less imaginative collage of violent and potentially symbolic images. The final two films on the disc, "For Almost Forgotten Stories" ("Kiekaketa monogat aritachi no tame ni," 1994)) and "Wake Up" ("Samero," 1992) exchange the fuzzy drawn animation for stop motion in the style of Jan Švankmajer and the Brothers Quay, using detailed environments and models of fantastical, patched-together characters: stone giants, a plasticine elephant being, a creature that looks like a cross between a scorpion and a baby carriage.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEI1sdrnMxdGLhCMx9LZ6s2Phlv1mYHtwWjILGW3KAqtcP3O7LfwSfGDqT_ju4BX7rCmwdAqStlDMYGWS31K4ttPfEhDMeQE7K4xBFxuOjZ_bErk91eZzjRysVS0ZmB7G6vP_FynHR_Rs/s1600/tsuji.PNG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 399px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEI1sdrnMxdGLhCMx9LZ6s2Phlv1mYHtwWjILGW3KAqtcP3O7LfwSfGDqT_ju4BX7rCmwdAqStlDMYGWS31K4ttPfEhDMeQE7K4xBFxuOjZ_bErk91eZzjRysVS0ZmB7G6vP_FynHR_Rs/s400/tsuji.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727036175335740818" border="0" /></a></span></span>While trying to logically break and lock down the specific meanings contained within these fantastic works would constitute a terrible folly, it can be safely said that they explore universal subjects like sex, death, children, creation, innocence, maturation and time. The world that Tsuji plays in is frequently dark, even nightmarish, with characters falling victim to violent acts or undergoing surreal transformations. It is fairly clear that sex and birth exist with these darker forces side by side, illustrated by the refreshingly frank scenes of lust and reoccurring motif of procreation and children. The doodle-like nature of the drawn animation and almost obsessive fixation with private parts and acts may give the impression that a gleeful school kid is wielding the pencil. However, the stark quality of both the smoky illustrations and the music, provided by Reiko Tsuji, Jun Yamaguchi and especially Makiko Takahashi in the form of minimalist notes played on flute, piano and guitar, create a haunting, otherworldly tone.<br /><br />Indeed, it sometimes seems as if these shorts came not from Tsuji, but rather an ancient, mysterious transmission from outer space or the bowels of the Earth. The vague humanoid forms, clockwork creatures and god-like beings all star and act in original creation myths, cautionary fables and fanciful yarns that, by way of dream logic and whimsy, create whole other worlds that only faintly resembles our own. As far as artists’ personal renditions of their preoccupations, fears and daydreams go, I highly doubt you can get any more original or pure than Naoyuki Tsuji’s.Chris MaGeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00129529721240142242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-39354684315509693432012-03-26T19:47:00.003-07:002012-03-28T18:53:11.648-07:00Teaser Trailer for Abbas Kiarostami's Japanese Film "Like Someone in Love" Emerges<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDk1vo4PriwjwWkM_r4eXXn8cflbmsXXGGCD9WfcCel8vVm4wZDLsx3w9PpTT39AMGtNWzwJCTvJLgn0ug2vyze4sW6LSMazYEDHlCxFR-_AQKnlUx0OcrJX8igY1BhqAP3aQcn-3XM3ya/s400/kiarostami.jpg" width="380" /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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<a href="http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/2011/11/rin-takanashi-is-new-female-lead-in.html">Previously on the site</a>, we've reported the progress in Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami's most recent feature film following 2010's "Certified Copy," which is set in Japan and focuses on a young female student (Rin Takanashi) who works as a prostitute to help pay off her fees and one of her clients, an elderly academic (Tadashi Okuno). Formerly known as "The End," it seems the project has been renamed as "Like Someone in Love," which is nicely illustrated by the new teaser trailer that has recently surfaced online (via <a href="http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/beautiful-lyrical-teaser-for-abbas-kiarostamis-like-someone-in-love/">The Film Stage</a>). Set to the titular song as sung by Ella Fitzgerald, it provides a calm and rather lovely tone that will hopefully carry on into the finished film. As the Cannes Film Festival draws closer, speculation continues to grow surrounding both what will be included in the assorted lineups and what actually stands a chance of winning the Palme d'Or. It probably wouldn't be too much to imagine Kiarostami's latest at least turning up at the festival this year.<br />
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Here's the trailer (click its main title to view it in a larger window at Youtube):<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="233" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3Qf_e0dU4ms" width="400"></iframe><br />
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UPDATE (03/28): Well, it seems the powers that be (specifically, the ones at MK2 International) have temporarily yanked the leaked teaser trailer off Youtube. However, while we wait for an official trailer to arrive, there are still three beautiful stills from the film (including the one below) that you can check out courtesy of <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/new-images-from-abbas-kiarostamis-like-someone-in-love">The Playlist</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-MU-DVyYIKZOd_jMf2_6rvMBvURYgJt7re80pkh5Gz4aj2J6MQC_PU_8E_c_uZDm13m6r2uQ33iSfN3QiXGyVj5SVH1EzbeFnnJ66Ns_FsUMizJkXEYt6aTIyBULykfdFIlf9dhs31wL/s1600/_MG_1041red_reference+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-MU-DVyYIKZOd_jMf2_6rvMBvURYgJt7re80pkh5Gz4aj2J6MQC_PU_8E_c_uZDm13m6r2uQ33iSfN3QiXGyVj5SVH1EzbeFnnJ66Ns_FsUMizJkXEYt6aTIyBULykfdFIlf9dhs31wL/s400/_MG_1041red_reference+(1).jpg" width="380" /></a></div>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-12200516576920127722012-03-26T19:46:00.002-07:002012-03-26T19:48:23.923-07:00Hirokazu Kore-eda's Latest Film Gets Underway with Masaharu Fukuyama in Lead Role<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL93dG5wTAWDcHnZUW5gi2dwpncSFSb5kvzPlXaVYrATgIJ-wDc9ad96fBQY5YI70Tfh3iHEyGO3Eaxw-ozZpM3H9f68yp03JsV1X7zqh-Mb_U8ME5qEQdtUg_DDTBrHSFNr0-ygjIz3mx/s1600/masaharu-fukuyama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL93dG5wTAWDcHnZUW5gi2dwpncSFSb5kvzPlXaVYrATgIJ-wDc9ad96fBQY5YI70Tfh3iHEyGO3Eaxw-ozZpM3H9f68yp03JsV1X7zqh-Mb_U8ME5qEQdtUg_DDTBrHSFNr0-ygjIz3mx/s400/masaharu-fukuyama.jpg" width="340" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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Great news for fans of contemporary auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda (like myself) recently surfaced at <a href="http://www.tokyograph.com/news/fukuyama-masaharu-to-star-in-next-koreeda-hirokazu-film/">Tokyograph</a>: the director has just started shooting his new feature film. After expressing to Kore-eda an interest in collaborating on a project together, musician and actor Masaharu Fukuyama ("Suspect X") seems to have gotten his wish, and will apparently be playing a despicable salaryman who devotes himself to negative thoughts towards others and a preoccupation with money. The film will be distributed by Gaga Communications and is planned to be released in Japan in 2013 following a run through the international film festival circuit. After the deeply satisfying nuance of Kore-eda's previous film "Kiseki" ("I Wish"), this should represent an intriguing step in his body of work that, hopefully, will continue to maintain the high level of quality that film-goers have come to expect from the filmmaker.Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-847851333098651491.post-3908845659204888602012-03-26T19:40:00.000-07:002012-03-26T19:50:04.594-07:00Online Tributes to Akira Kurosawa for the 102nd Anniversary of his Birth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4SuiN0CY6NsL0r9e-09P3q_6CWl8qBVWK_IIdrRLEs44Df1-2-2zT3CnWOmajPI7y690ChrfL-81y6RxpSkneaCyBI1eh4q6NQ2oh0PV6TYk_dgXbg4g4erZ7eWEW18p_0VCAqYy3PTsr/s1600/kagemushapainting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4SuiN0CY6NsL0r9e-09P3q_6CWl8qBVWK_IIdrRLEs44Df1-2-2zT3CnWOmajPI7y690ChrfL-81y6RxpSkneaCyBI1eh4q6NQ2oh0PV6TYk_dgXbg4g4erZ7eWEW18p_0VCAqYy3PTsr/s400/kagemushapainting.jpg" width="380" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Marc Saint-Cyr</span><br />
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March 23rd is a particularly noteworthy date for admirers of Japanese cinema, as it marks the birth of one of its most beloved figures: Akira Kurosawa. In the time since the master's centenary two years ago, the month of March has come to be recognized by some as "Kurosawa Month," used by many as a welcome opportunity to revisit and rediscover his incredible works. I myself took the opportunity this year to see his 1985 film "Ran" after a long break, and was once more enthralled by the vision and power that he wielded so ably, and in so many different ways, throughout his career. This year, among the more impressive online tributes to Kurosawa was a "Great Kurosawa-thon" of posts by the tumblr blog <a href="http://strangewood.tumblr.com/tagged/Akira-Kurosawa">This Must Be The Place</a> which assembled posters, stills, quotations and even gifs(!) that take visitors on a journey through his career and some of the events and ideas that helped shape it. Along with getting highlighted <a href="http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/daily-briefing-kuroswawa-this-must-be-the-place">by MUBI's Notebook</a>, the post series inspired <a href="http://flavorwire.com/271258/akira-kurosawas-paintings-and-movie-frames-side-by-side?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+flavorwire-rss+(Flavorwire)">Flavorwire</a> to take a closer look at the paintings that Kurosawa often composed (particularly in the stunning late, color-saturated phase of his career) as references for his onscreen compositions.<br />
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How did other Kurosawa devotees celebrate the great one's legacy? Any films watched or pieces written (or spotted beyond the sites listed above)?Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com1