I hope everyone had a Happy Easter and everything. Even though most of the nation has a break, I spent most of the holiday in my museum (who the heck opens a museum on Easter Sunday????). I also had this song going through my head while in work:

On Good Friday, I watched Rent-a-Cat, on Easter Sunday, I watched more Knights of Sidonia and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and so only one post this week and that was for Rent-a-Cat. I’m busy studying for a Japanese exam, an attended a press conference for a film festival (more on that on Monday) and watching films like Museum Hours, Cold Eyes and Monster. So a lot more film related stuff than usual.

Here are the trailers:

Thermae Romae II  

Japanese Title: テルマエ・ロマエII

Romaji: Terumai Romai II

Running Time: 113 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hideki Takeuchi

Writer: Hiroshi Hashimoto (Screenplay), Mari Yamazaki (Original Manga)

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Aya Ueto, Riki Takeuchi, Masachika Ichimura, Takashi Sasano, Kai Shishido, Kazuki Kitamura

In between the last Thermae Romae (2012) and this new one, I have read Mari Yamazaki’s original manga and it looks like it adapts more of the stories, which is no bad thing because the manga was enjoyable. Parts of it memorable. In this film, Lucius (Abe) has used the techniques her learnt from Japanese onsen of the uture to create famous bathhouses in ancient Rome. Now he has to renovate the Colosseum during a time when Rome is at risk of splitting apart due to politics. He soon finds that he travels forward in time where he meets Mami (Ueto) who has become a successful writer for a bath magazine.

Website

Naked Ring Finger  

Japanese: はだかのくすりゆび

Romaji: Hadaka no Kusuriyubi

Running Time: 92 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuya Yamaguchi

Writer: Tadashi Shimizu (Screenplay),  Tsuyatsuya (Original Manga)

Starring: Noriko Hamada, Keisuke Tarumi

Another manga adaptation. More hentai. Looks awful but then I haven’t read the manga or watched the film so I could be wrong. It’s about a woman named Midori who gets into an affair with her daughter, Maya’s fiancé in an arranged marriage.

Website

A.F.O. (All For One)   

Japanese: A.F.O. (All For One)

Romaji: Hadaka no Kusuriyubi

Running Time: 105 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

General Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Director: Yoshiaki Tago

Writer: Tadashi Shimizu (Screenplay),  Tsuyatsuya (Original Manga)

Starring: Takuya Ishida, Azusa Okamoto, Ronaldo Santos

After the filth of the last film comes something more good-natured film which sees genius director Yukihiko Tsutsumi team up with students at the Aichi Institute of Technology to make a story about a poor football team who scent a chance of victory by trying to recruit a skilled footballer from Brazil. However, he says that he hates football and refuses to play…

Website

Tamako Love Story   

Japanese: たまこラブストーリー

Romaji: Tamako Rabu Suto-ri-

Running Time: 83 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Yamada

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuri Yamashita (Shiori Asagiri) Aya Suzaki (Tamako Kitashirakawa), Atsushi Tamaru (Mochizou Ooji) Juri Nagatsuma (Kanna Makino),

Tamako Love Story continues as Mochizou and Tamako inch closer and closer together… I think. I haven’t watched the TV anime. Main cast and staff from the TV anime are returning and Kyoto Animation are doing the animating.

Website

Sora no Otoshimono Final Eternal My Master   

Japanese: そらのおとしものFinal 永遠の私の鳥籠（エターナルマイマスター）

Romaji: Sora no Otoshimono Final: Eien no Watashi no Torikago (Eta-naru Mai Masuta)

Running Time: 49 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hisashi Saito

Writer: Jiyu Ogi (Screenplay), Suu Minazuki (Original Creator)

Starring: Saori Hayami (Ikaros) Souichiro Hoshi (Tomoki Sakurai), Aki Toyosaki (Chaos) Yoko Hikasa (Hiyori Kazane),

The Heaven’s Lost Property franchise gets a new film where a harem of busty angels get involved with the school boy Sakurai Tomoki, a super-pervert and one in particular, Ikaros, demands that he becomes her master…

Website

Ride For Life The Eigo Sato Story    

Japanese: ライド・フォー・ライフ The Eigo Sato Story

Romaji: Raido Fo- Raifu The Eigo Sato Story

Running Time: 87 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Yamada

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay),

Starring: Eigo Sato, Mike Metzger, Daisuke Suzuki,

This documentary is big news in the motocross world because Eigo Sato was a much respected freestyle motocross veteran of around a decade when he died last year in his home of Iwaki City. He was much respected by fellow competitors and that respect can be seen in a documentary directed by his friend Hitoshi Kajino.

Website

Number 10 Blues/Goodbye Saigon    

Japanese Title: ナンバーテンブルース　さらばサイゴン

Romaji: Namba- Ten Buru-su Saraba Saigon

Running Time: 99 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Norio Osada

Writer: Norio Osada (Screenplay),

Starring: Yusuke Kawazu, Lan Thanh, Kenji Isomura, Eiichi Kikuchi 

This one is a film rescued from obscurity and screened at last year’s Rotterdam International Film Festival. It is a road movie/Vietnam war film about a Japanese businessman naed Toshio Sugimoto who flees the country with his lover when the war goes south. This is a action film shot in Vietnam during the Vietnam war and it was to be the directorial debut of Norio Osada, a scriptwriter who had worked with Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honour or Humanity, Battle Royale) but when funding dried up the film was never finished and sat in the National Film Centre of Japan. It was rediscovered recently and the film was completed.

Website

Kuro                                                  

Japanese Title: はなればなれに

Romaji: Hanare Banareni

Running Time: 86 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Daisuke Shimote

Writer: Daisuke Shimote (Screenplay),

Starring: Airi Kido, Yu Saitoh, Hideo Nakaizumi, Wakana Matsumoto

This one screened at last year’s East End Film Festival where Alua saw it and found it enjoyable enough to give it 8 out of 10 in her review. It’s getting a limited screening in Tokyo.

Three people recently traumatised by life’s ups and downs meet up: Kuro once had dreams of being a baker until she was fired, Eito has recently broken up with his fiancé and Gou’s career as a theatre director is in imminent danger of dying when the lead actress of his own play goes missing. The three retreat from the world to a remote seaside hotel where a schoolgirl named Momo falls in with them and they all indulge in silly games.

Website

Ueshima Jane Beyond   

Japanese: 上島ジェーンビヨンド

Romaji: Ueshima Je-no Biyondo

Running Time: 116 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Maccoi Saito

Writer: Yayoi Fujitani (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuhei Ueshima, Katsuhiro Higo, Kayoko Okubo, Hiroshi Shinagawa, Yumi Seimiya, Kayo Noro, Aika Ando, Aino Kishi

In 2009, popular entertainer Ryuhei Ueshima tried to learn how to surf and made a film about it. 5 years later and he’s back making a fool of himself as he enters a serious competition. While that’s happening he’s trying to avoid other complications like romance and the law.

Website

Aibou: The Movie III   

Japanese: 相棒劇場版III 巨大密室！

Romaji: Aibou Gekijouban III Kyodai Misshitsu!

Running Time: 114 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Seiji Izumi

Writer: Yasuhiro Koshimizu (Screenplay),

Starring: Hiroki Narimiya, Yutaka Mizutani,  Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Koji Ishizaka, Yumiko Shaku, Toru Kazama, Tsuyoshi Ihara

A new year, a new Aibou movie! Ukyo Sugishita and Toru Kai are sent to a small island near Tokyo by their boss at the National Police Agency to investigate a mysterious death. The island is privately owned by a wealthy businessman and seems to be the site of a small community of former members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force. Could the mysterious death be linked to these guys? Ukyo and Toru find their investigation halted by these ex-soldiers!

Website

Sayonara Cake and Mysterious Lamp  

Japanese: さよならケーキとふしぎなランプ

Romaji: Sayonara kēki to fushigina ranpu

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Junichi Kanai

Writer: Junichi Kanai, Bi-guru (Beagle?) Otsuka (Screenplay),

Starring: Kohei Dojima, Kaoru Hirata, Masahiko Sakata

Singer-songwriter Kohei Dojima stars as a guy making a cake and going through all sorts of family strife after fighting with his father. Okay, there’s more to it than that as he hooks up with a new collective of people at a café he finds work in.

Website

Jingū Kirin Watashi no Kamisama   

Japanese: 神宮希林　わたしの神様

Romaji: Jingū Kirin Watashi no Kamisama

Running Time: 96 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Takeshi Fushiwara

Writer: N/A

Starring: Kirin Kiki

The actress Kirin Kiki travelled to the Ise Grand Shrine in 2013 and a documentary of her journey was broadcast by Tokai TV. This is the re-edited version for theatres (hey, if trashy TV anime can do it, Kiki can too). We see her start from her home in Tokyo and the people she interacts with as she learns more about the shrine and what it means to other people.

Website

The full line-up for this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival was revealed last week ahead of its run at The Institute of Contemporary Art and The Prince Charles Cinema in London between May 23^rd and June 01^st. I then wrote a preview for it at Anime UK News and now I’ve put together another, expanded view on the festival.

This will be the sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival and it still remains the best place to see a wide variety of releases from East Asian cinema. There are a number of different strands to the festival such as Current Asian Cinema where the latest titles from territories like Japan and Hong Kong are played. The Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter makes a welcome return with some great looking titles mixing ghosts and serial killers. The Spotlight On section uncovers the hottest titles that remain undiscovered. Last year’s festival saw Indonesia as the focus, this year the Philippines takes centre stage with six films released within the last year getting screened. The festival is made opens on May 23^rd at The Institute of Contemporary Arts with the Spotlight On: Philippines. The festival will then move to The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st where the festival will screen films from The Current Asian Cinema and Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter sections.

Enough of the intro, the next part has the films, dates and times. Click on the title to get taken to the festival page.

Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014 Films:

Spotlight On: The Philippines

The Spotlight On: The Philippines section takes place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts from May 23^rd to May 27^th and showcases Filipino films released within the last year. There are many UK premieres and some of the actors and directors will be present. 

On The Job (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Fri May 23^rd, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 121 mins

Director: Erik Matti

Cast: Joel Torre, Gerald Anderson, Piolo Pascual

Dangerous inmates Daniel (Torre) and Tatang (Anderson) are granted temporary release from prison – but only to carry out traceless assassinations for crooked government officials before being returned to their cells. Young gun Daniel seems to love the job while old hand Tatang (Anderson) wants out of the cycle of violence and prison altogether. As their story plays out, a young cop named Francis (Pascual) discovers the corruption taking place in his own department.

This film was inspired by a real-life scandal and is considered so good that the Filipino original has got a UK release and Hollywood are doing a remake. Director Erik Matti will be present for a Q&A after the film.

Shift (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 24^th, 2014 at 16:00

Duration: 81 mins

Director: Siege Ledesma

Cast: Yeng Constantino, Felix Roco, Matt Valena, Alex Medina

Shift is the acting debut of flame-haired Filipina singer-songwriter Yeng Constantino who is making waves in the music world. In this she stars as a directionless dreamer named Estela who works the night shift at a dead-end call centre. Estela’s slacker routine changes when is assigned a mentor. He is Trevor (Roco), a Senior Sales Agent, a smart, funny and cute guy who is also gay. As the two become close friends she falls in love with him.

Shift is an example of independent Filipino cinema described as being driven by the natural chemistry of the two leads and full of vibrant visuals. The actor Felix Roco will be present for a Q&A.

A Thief, A Kid and A Killer (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 24^th, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 92 mins

Director: Nathan Adolfson

Cast: Felix Roco, Avy Viduya, Epy Quizon, Lance Raymundo, Jade Lopez, Jack Falcis

In this bitter-sweet comedy an unlikely bond develops between a privileged but bullied ten year old boy named Maximo (Viduya) and two small-time thieves who invade his apartment named. The thieves are Nico (Roco) and his cousin Lloyd who are on the lam following a bungled jewellery heist. Despite their differences in age and circumstances, Maximo and Nico become friends but Lloyd becomes increasingly twitchy, especially since corrupt cops could be closing in on the thieves and their black market diamonds…

Lead actor Felix Roco, director Nathan Adolfson, and producer Gene Lacson will be present for a Q&A after the film.

Tuhog (2013) (International Premiere)   

Screened: Sun May 25^th, 2014 at TBC

Running Time: 105 mins

Director: Veronica Velasco

Cast: Eugene Domingo, Enchong Dee, Leo Martinez, Empress Schuck, Jake Cuenca

This dark comedy begins when a swerving bus and a steel bar result in three bus passengers finding themselves impaled and stuck together! The three, one a student desperate to lose his virginity, one a prickly bus conductor haunted by family troubles and the third, a long-suffering father who wants to follows his dreams; reveal their backstories as a team of doctors try to get free them. Their connections to each other run deeper than their present situation…

How to Disappear Completely (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sun May 25^th, 2014 at TBC

Running Time: 79 mins

Director: Raya Martin

Cast: Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino, Ness Roque

After a successful and awards-packed film festival run, How to Disappear Completely finally shows up in the UK and audiences will get to experience this unique film which has an acclaimed ambient electro soundtrack from London-based Filipino music producer EYEDRESS. The tale concerns a young girl (Roque) searches for a way to disappear from a life spent with suffocating parents more concerned with drink and religion. Her life takes a very dark turn as an unnatural presence in the forest changes her into someone more violent… The atmosphere has the words, dread, hypnotic and claustrophobia used to describe it and the trailer is a bit of a trip.

The Search for Weng Weng (2007) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Tue May 27^th, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 92 mins

Director: Andrew Leavold

Cast: Eddie Nicart, Bobby A Suarez, Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Maria Isobel

Andrew Leavold, the former owner of Australia’s largest cult video rental store, turned detective for three years to track down a forgotten action hero, the two foot nine inch tall action star Weng Weng. The name will be familiar to anyone who watches bad movies since he was big in the 80’s with James Bond parodies, starring as Agent 00 in For ‘Y’ur Height Only. On screen, he was a spy, martial artist and ladies’ man but off screen, he led a different life.

The film is full of interviews with actors, directors and even the former President of the Philippines Imelda Marcos (she of the many shoes). Director Andrew Leavold will be present for a Q&A.

The festival then moves to The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st where the Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter and Current Trends in Asian Cinema sections take place.

Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter

Terror Cotta is back with a mix of horror titles from Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.  The all-night screening is packed full of premieres and It starts on Saturday, May 31^st from 22:40. 

Lesson of Evil (2012) (London Premiere)   

Running Time: 129 mins

Director: Takashi Miike

Cast: Hideaki Ito, Fumi Nikaido, Shota Sometani, Mitsuru Fukkoshi, Takayuki Yamada, Takahiro Hira, Kento Hayashi, Kodai Asaka

The Terror Cotta All-Nighter gets going with Lesson of Evil, one of the latest crop of titles from Takashi Miike, a film which genre fans will be sure to love. It is about a cool and charismatic teacher named Seiji (Ito) who is popular with students and teachers. But his actions soon take a turn revealing that behind his smile lurks a dangerous man and when a student and a teacher start to discover this after a number of disappearances from the school, chaos erupts. The film will be released by Third Window Films on September 29^th, 2014.

In the Dark (2014) (European Premiere)   

Running Time: 99 mins

Director: Yeo Joon Han

Cast: Wang Po Chieh, Candy Lee, Jennifer Foh

Malaysian director Yeo Joon Han scored an award-winning film with Sell Out!, a Manglish (Malaysian-English) musical comedy creates a ghost story full of twists and unrelenting horror. The story begins when a guy named Joseph (Wang Po Chieh) defies a fortune-teller’s warnings and proposes to his girlfriend May (Foh) who soon dies in a car accident. Joseph is distraught and tries to contact May in the afterlife with the help of May’s friend, Vivien (Lee) but they disturb demons… 

Killers (2013) (London Premiere)  

Running Time: 137 mins

Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto

Cast: Oka Antara, Kazuki Kitamura, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Mei Kurokawa, Tara Basro, Ray Sahetapy

This violent Indonesian film was released in Japan a few weeks back and is another title due to get a UK release thanks to Lionsgate UK. Troubled Indonesian journalist Bayu (Antara) finds himself drawn to the member’s only website of a Japanese serial killer named Nomura Shuhei (Kitamura). Bayu uploads footage of his own and both he and Nomura become closer…

Tik Tik: The Aswang Chronicles (2012) (UK Premiere)  

Running Time: 102 mins

Director: Erik Matti

Cast: Dingdong Dantes, Lovi Poe, Joey Marquez, Janice De Belen

Tik Tik is a special effects driven comic book action adventure with a dark sense of humour as the world gets to see the vampires that reside in the Philippines. The story follows a cocky layabout named Makoy (Dantes) who travels to a remote village to reconcile with his pregnant girlfriend. He tries to win favour by purchasing a suckling pig but that pig isn’t what it seems and soon Makoy and the family are under attack from a bunch of Aswang. It comes from the director Erik Matti who has another film at the festival and was the first full-length Filipino film to be shot using green screens, with stylised sets.

Current Asian Cinema

The Current Asian Cinema strand also plays at the Prince Charles Cinema and audiences get to see 12 of the latest films from various territories like Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. There are many UK and European premieres and even an international premiere. Here’s the list: 

Unbeatable (2013) (UK Premiere) 

Screened: Wed May 28^th, 2014 at 20:15

Running Time: 122 mins

Director: Dante Lam

Cast: Nick Cheung, Eddie Peng, Mei Ting, Crystal Lee,

Hong Kong directing legend Dante Lam crafts a film about MMA where the actors took home awards because of the great drama! The story is about an disgraced ex-boxing champion named Scumbag Fai (Cheung) who is chased out of Hong Kong by debt collectors and seeks to rebuild his fighting career in Macau where he meets others who are down on their luck: struggling single mother Gwen (Ting) and Lin Si-Qi (Peng), a rookie fighter looking at entering lucrative MMA tournament to raise themselves up from their bleak situations.

Warrior King 2 (2014)   

Screened: Thurs May 29^th, 2014 at 20:30

Running Time: 104 mins

Director: Prachya Pinkaew

Cast: Tony Jaa, RZA, Jeeja Yanin, Marrese Crump,Ratha Pho-ngam

Fresh from Thailand comes Warrior King 2 and Tony Jaa is back together with Prachya Pinkaew to make another extreme action film full of stunts and fights. In this film, Jaa portrays a man named Kham and he finds himself framed for the murder of an elephant camp boss named Suchart. With the police and Suchart’s deadly twin nieces on his tail, Kham goes on the lam while also searching for his elephant Khon, who disappeared during the time of the murder. Kham also finds himself drawn into an underground fighting ring run by a crime lord named LC (RZA). To get out of this, he must fight the beautiful but deadly Twenty (Pho-ngam) and the diabolical NO.2 (Crump). Expect much violence.

Remote Control (2013) (UK Premiere)

Screened: Wed May 30^th, 2014 at 12:15

Running Time: 90 mins

Director: Byamba Sakhya

Cast: Enkhtaivan Bassandorj, Nergui Bayarmaa, Chagnaadorj Ganbaatar

Remote Control is an award-winning film from Mongolia and looks at the modernisation that the country is undergoing through a coming of age film about a naïve teenager named Tsog (Baasandor) who moves from the country to the city and falls for an older woman, Anya (Bayarmaa). To make a connection, he steals a remote control and starts to manipulate her television.

Forever Love (2014)   

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 15:15

Running Time: 124 mins

Director: Aozaru Shiao, Toyoharu Kitamura

Cast: Lung Shao-hua, Blue Lan, Amber An, Li Yi-chieh, Edison Wang, Tien Hsin, Shen Hai-jung, Liao Jun, Chen Ping-nan

From Taiwan comes a fantastical fish story all about love and the golden age of Taiwanese-language films which were weird and wild. It is split between the present where an energetic old man named Liu Chi-sheng who retells the story of meeting his wife to their granddaughter. The film flashbacks to 1969 when Chi-sheng (Lan) was the hottest scriptwriter in Taiwan’s film industry and his wife, Mei-Yue (An) was an aspiring actress in love with a posturing matinee idol. The film is full of egotistical drunken directors, stars and men in rubber monster suits as the Taiwanese film industry of the time is brought back to life.

Be My Baby (2014) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 18:10

Running Time: 138 mins

Director: Hitoshi One

Cast: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yuumi Goto, Aya Kunitake, Hiroki Ueda, Daisuke Sawamura, Kenta Enya,

This Japanese film is a product of the ‘workshop’ indie films that are released nearly every weekend in Tokyo. Be My Baby is a low-budget film shot I four days for under $10,000 in a couple of locations. It is based on a play by award-winning dramatist Daisuke Miura (which was screened at cinemas) and it’s directed by Hitoshi One, director of the big-budget Love Strikes!. It’s a very adult film about the aftermath of a party attended by a group of drop-out twenty-somethings who are all flawed and caught up in damaging relationships.

Moebius (2013) (UK Premiere)   

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 20:55

Running Time: 89 mins

Director: Kim Ki-duk

Cast: Cho Jae-hyun, Seo Young-ju, Lee Eun-Woo

Controversial director, or should that be, director of controversial films, Kim Ki-duk, is a man who makes extreme films with extreme subject matter and in this one (which has no dialogue) a spurned wife wants revenge against her adulterous husband and tries to castrate him. He fights her of and so she castrates their teenage son. The father, desperate to help his son, goes to extreme lengths to try and make amends… This helps bring the two together… Apparently, this is a comedy…

Chinese Zodiac (2012)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 12:20

Running Time: 109 mins

Director: Jackie Chan

Cast: Jackie Chan, Kwone Sang Woo, Zhang Lanxin, Yao Xingtong, Liao Fan, Laura Weissbecker, Oliver Platt

Writer, director, choreographer and superstar Jackie Chan goes back to the films he made in the 80’s by dropping the drama for the stunts and comedy in a globe-trotting adventure that is unofficially regarded as the latest in his fun Armour of God franchise. In this film he plays maverick treasure hunter JC (Chan) who leads a team which is hired by the Max Profit Corporation to track down six missing bronze sculptures, part of a set of twelve representing the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. This launches the crew on a global adventure that stretches from France to China.

Commitment (2013) (European Premiere)   

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 14:45

Running Time: 113 mins

Director: Park Hong-soo

Cast: Choi Seung-hyun, Han Ye-ri, Kim Yoo-jung

Choi Seung-hyun, a.k.a. rapper T.O.P. from the group Big Bang, takes the lead In a South Korean spy thriller where he displays his acting and action skills. He plays a young man named Ri Myung-hoon who is imprisoned in a North Korean labour camp with his sister. He makes a deal to save himself and his sister and becomes a spy in the South where he has to track down an assassin picking off fellow agents. Pretending to be a high school boy, he befriends bullied classmate Hye-in (Han Ye-ri) and finds that his allegiances change and he has to think of a new way to save his sister.

Special ID (2014) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 17:45

Running Time: 99 mins

Director: Clarence Fok Yiu Leung

Cast: Donnie Yen, Jian Tian, Andy On

Hong Kong makes lots of contemporary police thrillers and action hard man Donnie Yen takes to the screen in this brutal looking action film which sees him beat gangsters in Hong Kong and on the mainland of China. He plays Chen Zilong (Yen), a deep undercover agent who infiltrates a Hong Kong gang and finds himself ordered to head to the mainland to take out Sunny (On), an old adversary causing problems for both police and gangsters. He isn’t alone, however. His lover and fellow police officer, Fang (Tian) is ready to crack some skulls in a film with lots of action.

Snow White Murder Case (2014) (International Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 20:00

Running Time: 126 mins

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Cast: Mao Inoue, Go Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao

This is one of the big titles for the festival and its story is a contemporary suspense thriller based on a work by the novelist Kanae Minato who is the writer of the award-winning Confessions. It looks at the devastating power of social media from multiple perspectives and the hyperactive media world. It starts with the death of a beautiful girl named Noriko (Nanao). The scandal-hungry media make it their latest fixation. Twitter addict and newbie director Akahoshi (Ayano) gets a tip-off, via Twitter, that Noriko’s dowdy co-worker Miki Shirono (Inoue) is the killer. His investigation sparks a massive media sensation that turns very dark…

The Face Reader (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 12:15

Running Time: 139 mins

Director: Han Jae-rim

Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Jung-Jae, Baek Yun-shik, Kim Hye-soo, Jo Jung-suk

The Face Reader brought a high-profile and talented cast to a film full of action and historical drama and it was a hit in South Korea.  The setting is 15^th century Korea, ruled over by the Joseon dynasty. Gifted physiognomist Nae-kyung (SONG Kang-ho) seizes the opportunity to cast off his peasant existence and tries to advance through the ranks of the warrior nobles in the capital but gets caught up in the court intrigues and dangerous games played between two deadly power players—Grand Prince Sooyang (LEE Jung-jae), known as “the Wolf”, simmering with menacing ambition, and Kim Jong-seo (BAEK Yoon-shik), “the Tiger”, charged with maintaining royal power.

Firestorm (2013) (UK Premiere)   

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 15:00

Running Time: 110 mins

Director: Alan Yuen

Cast: Andy Lau, Yao Chen, Lam Ka Tung, Hu Jun

We get another explosive police thriller from Hong Kong where the island’s brave police force face-off against mainland gangsters. Tou Shing-bong (La Ka tung) is released from prison and links up with mainland criminal Nam Cao (Hu Jun) and his brutal gang of armed robbers. Police Inspector Liu (Andy Lau) hunts them down but the lack of evidence means that he cannot lock the guy up. In his desperation to catch the crooks, Liu begins to lose control. Expect many chases and gun battles!

Judge! (2014) (International Premiere)   

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 17:15

Running Time: 105 mins

Director: Akira Nagai

Cast: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Keiko Kitagawa, Yosiyosi Arakawa, Lily Franky, Denden

The festival ends on a high with the hit comedy, Judge!, getting its international premiere. Furthermore, the director Akira Nagai will be appearing for the festival and conducting a Q&A after the film which should be fascinating because Nagai and the screenwriter, Yoshimitsu Sawamoto, are both veterans of the Japanese advertising world.

The film itself is a comedy about a hapless ad agency employee named Kiichiro Ota (Tsumabuki) who is sent by his almost-namesake boss to the Santa Monica Advertising Festival to scheme, bribe and cheat as much as possible to ensure that his company’s ad wins. However his English skills are lacking and so he drags along his brilliant colleague Hikari (Kitagawa) for support. With lots of culture clash gags, larger than life characters, and slapstick comedy, this is definitely one to attend. Post-screening Q&A wit director Akira Nagai

Festival Extras:

On top of the festival there are a number of events taking place such as the short film competition which I posted about a few weeks back.

Festival Hub

During the festival, Terracotta will be operating a festival hub at the Opium Cocktail & Dim Sum Bar on China Town’s Gerrard Street (next to Dumplings Hero). Free wi-fi will be available and maybe some of the stars will appear…

Forever Love Poster Exhibition

There will be a special display of Taiwanese theatrical posters at the hub for the duration of the festival.

The Venues and the Ticket Prices: 
Here’s where we get to the nitty-gritty of how to see the films: the locations and contact details and prices.

Spotlight On: The Philippines will take place at Institute of Contemporary Arts(ICA) from May 23^rd to 27^th:
The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH / Box Office: +44 (0)20 7930 3647
Tickets at the ICA: £10 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members

Current Asian Cinema and TERROR COTTA Horror All-Nighter takes place at The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st:
7 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BY / Box Office: +44 (0)20 7494 3654
Individual tickets at Prince Charles Cinema cost £9.50 for non members, no concessions/ £6.00 for members
(Friday afternoon: £7.50/ £5.50)
The Festival Pass costs £66.50 non members/ £56.50 for members
The Early Bird Pass* costs £65 non members/ £55 for members (excludes Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter and ICA Spotlight ON: Philippines)
*early bird price available for purchases before midnight, Thursday 1st May
Terror-Cotta Horror All-nighter: £22 non members/ £19.50 members

Keep an eye on the main website for updates and more information about the festival.

Cramming for a Japanese exam and speech has meant fewer posts but since those posts that I do send out into the wild are mammoth hulking festival previews… well, at least they get the time to shine. Yep, I’ve previewed The Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014 and there’s going to be another post about it next week to make the most of the info I got from the organisers. I have tried to include lots of information about different events in the festival and I’m updating it whenever anything happens. I’ve booked my tickets and now it’s all about the wait and in the meantime I have my Japanese exams to keep me very, very occupied.

Kabukicho High School                                                

Japanese Title: 歌舞伎町はいすくーる

Romaji: Kabukicho Hai Suku-ru

Running Time: 92 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shinichi Karube

Writer: Machiko Nasu (Screenplay), Masahide Motohashi (Original Manga)

Starring: Shun Shioya, Ainosuke Kataoka, Taro awano, Asami Kumakiri, Yasuki Tsuji, Shinichi Chiba, Hanako Tokachi

Ken Haine (Shioya) is the president of a successful company. He is so successful that he is known as the “King of Kabukicho”. Alas, his years of success have dulled him to the delights of life but he hits upon the idea of going back to school. And so our older dude heads to a vocational full of unusual people…

Website

Jakarta, Where Punk Lives – MARJINAL  

Japanese Title: マージナル＝ジャカルタ・パンク2014年春版

Romaji: Mājinaru = Jakaruta panku 2014-nen haru-ban

Running Time: 63 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ayumi Nakanishi

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

There’s a punk scene in Jakarta and this documentary captures the band Marjinal, a group at the centre of a movement that has grown from students dissatisfied with politics and poverty. Ayumi Nakanishi, the director, was originally a photographer but when she moved to Jakarta, she saw the communities that gave birth to the punk movement and the hostile government reaction and was inspired to film everything.

Website

The Summer of Whales   

Japanese Title: クジラのいた夏

Romaji: Kujira no Ita Natsu

Running Time: 89 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yasuhiro Yoshida

Writer: Yasuhiro Yoshida, Kota Oura (Screenplay)

Starring: Shuhei Nomura, Shota Matsushima, Kyosuke Hamao, Takuya Matsuoka, Aimi Satsukawa, Yumika Kiya, Akiho Ohtsubo, Kensho Ono

Chuuya (Nomura) has let his life slip by without having any ambitions until, one day, he decides he wants to head to Tokyo. His best friends – J, Gizmo, and Machida – throw a going away party but Chuuya is hesitant to leave. Then, an older girl named Yumiko, an entertainer in Tokyo, appears.

Website

My Little Nightmare: The Movie   

Japanese Title: 悪夢ちゃん The 夢ovie

Romaji: Akumu-chan The Movie

Running Time: 119 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Noriyoshi Sakuma

Writer: Sumio Omori (Screenplay), Riku Onda (Original Novel)

Starring: Keiko Kitagawa, Manatsu Kimura, Yuka, Gackt, Ryuta Sato, Fumiyo Kohinata, Karen Otomo, Manami Honjou

Ayami Mutoi (Kitagawa) is an elementary school teacher with a special student named Yuiko Koto a.k.a. “Akumu-chan”, a girl with the power of having precognitive dreams that foretell the misfortunes of others. When a transfer student named Kanji Shibui enters Ayami’s class, the other students find that they see a “dream prince” who looks like him in their dreams. Yuiko does as well and that’s because she’s falling in love with the prince…

Website

The Spirit of Science  

Japanese Title: おとなのかがく

Romaji: Otona no Kagaku

Running Time: 50 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuko Tadachi

Writer: N/A

Starring: Masamitsu Nagaoka, Toshiyuki Nishimura, Theo Jansen

My translation is off but I think this is a documentary from a science magazine looking at different dev kits from different countries.

Website

Kuchita teoshi-sha    

Japanese Title: 朽ちた手押し車

Romaji: Kuchita teoshi-sha

Running Time: 50 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiroshi Shima

Writer: Hiroshi Shima Susan Lee (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Rentaro Mikuni

Rentaro Mikuni was a famous actor who appeared in a number of great films like The Burmese Harp (1956), Harakiri (1962), Kwaidan (1965). This particular film is one that has spent 30 years in production and is about a family of fishermen facing problems. Rentaro plays a man with dementia, his wife is terminally ill and their son is pushed to breaking point. It’s all about the dignity of the elderly.

Website

Senritsu Kaiki Fairu Kowa Sugi! Shijou Saikyou no Gekijouban    

Japanese Title: 戦慄怪奇ファイル　コワすぎ！　史上最恐の劇場版

Romaji: Senritsu Kaiki Fairu Kowa Sugi! Shijou Saikyou no Gekijouban

Running Time: 80 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Koji Shiraishi

Writer: Koji Shiraishi (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Shigeo Osako, Koji Shiraishi,

Koji Shiraishi is back! His latest project is an interesting looking serial killer film which unfolds in a single take (that’s the interesting thing – a J-horror Russian Ark!). He favours the whole POV style where a cameraman captures supernatural weirdness. This isn’t it. This release is more of his usual stuff drawing upon his usual content like urban legends and found-footage, bad CGI and idols. It works in some films like Noroi and not in others.

Website

While looking for his films I discovered this website which lists the titles at the Japan Booth at Hong Kong Filmart. I had been tracking the titles via Variety but this site provides a good overview. There are quite a few titles I have written about and it looks like I may need to re-write the English titles…

The full line-up for this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival has been revealed ahead of its run at The Prince Charles Cinema and The Institute of Contemporary Art in London between May 23^rd and June 01^st and I have already written two massive previews for this blog and Anime UK News where I reveal the films and events. This particular post focusses on the Japanese titles selected and, in my opinion, the best titles in the festival.

This will be the sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival and it is the best place to see the latest in Asian cinema in the UK. This will be the second festival I will (hopefully) attend. I had the pleasure of being invited to the press conference while down in London for part of the Yoshitaro Nomura season. I’m glad I went to the media event because I met some cool fellow bloggers and saw the selection of Japanese films. These had me smiling and they are some of the latest and best looking titles I have written about in my weekly trailer posts. The titles that are top of my list are The Snow White Murder Case and Judge! which will get its international premiere. Furthermore, the director of Judge!, Akira Nagai, is going to be present and he will conduct a Q&A!  Here’s a list of the films. To find out more, click on the link to get taken to the festival page.

Lesson of Evil (2012) (London Premiere)  

Japanese Title: 悪　の　教典

Romaji: Aku no Kyoten

Running Time: 129 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer:  Takashi Miike (Screenplay), Yusuke Kishi (Original Novel)

Starring: Hideaki Ito, Fumi Nikaidou, Shota Sometani, Kento Hayashi, Hirona Yamazaki, Kodai Asaka, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Takayuki Yamada

Lesson of Evil is based on a novel written by Yusuke Kishi who has twice won the Japan Horror Associated Award. The outrageous action in the trailer is orchestrated by film maestro Takashi Miike (Audition, For Love’s Sake, Thirteen Assassins, and One Missed Call). It stars great actors like Hideaki Ito (The Princess Blade), Takayuki Yamada (MILOCRORZE, Thirteen Assassins), Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Cold Fish), Shota Sometani (Himizu) and Fumi Nikaidou (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?). The film is screened as part of the Terror Cotta All-Nighter.

Seiji (Ito) is a cool and charismatic and highly popular teacher among students at Shinko Academy, a private high school, and well respected by the faculty and the PTA. However, one of the students Reika (Nikaido) feels something menacing lurking beneath his shining reputation. Reika is uneasy about the man and together with Tsurii (Fukikoshi), an unpopular teacher at the school who despises the more popular Seiji, they start investigating his past and discover something scary.

Fumi Nikaido and Shota Sometani are names that would convince me to visit the film but it’s the idea of Fukikoshi’s character, the bitterly jealous teacher, which has me expecting some great character acting and even black comedy. and Lesson of Evil was given a theatrical release in Japan back in November 2012 and since then the film was screened at different film festivals like Rotterdam where it has garnered great reviews. It will be released by Third Window Films on September 29^th of this year (DVD already pre-ordered).

Killers (2013) (London Premiere)  

Japanese: キラーズ

Romaji: KILLERS KIRA-ZU

Running Time: 137 mins.

Release Date: February 01^st, 2014

Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto

Writer:  Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto (Screenplay),

Starring: Kazuki Kitamura, Oka Antara, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Mei Kurokawa, Denden, Ray Sahetapy

Okay, not strictly Japanese but a co-production between Indonesia and Japan executive produced by Gareth Evans, director of The Raid. This was released on a quiet weekend in February of this year and a review on Twitch makes it sound more like a fascinating rumination on violence, full of brutality and horror, rather than a gore fest. It will get a UK release thanks to Lionsgate UK.

Nomura (Kitamura) is a serial killer who records a murder of a woman and places it on the internet. Bayu (Antara) is a journalist in Jakarta who stumbles upon the video and becomes attracted to what he sees as the beauty in the cruel visuals. When he kills a robber in self-defence he records the robber’s dying moments and uploads his own video. Nomura sees the video and a connection is made! A competition is initiated.

Be My Baby (2014) (UK Premiere)   

Japanese Title: 恋の渦

Romaji: Koi no Uzu

Release Date: March 30^th 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 138 mins

Director: Hitoshi Ōne

Writer: Daisuke Miura (Original work/Screenplay),

Starring: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yumi Goto, Takumi Matsuzawa, Mariko Sugio, Hiroaki Kamadaki, Daisuke Sawamura

This film comes from Cinema Impact, an example of the indie film production model where ‘workshops’ of actors working with veteran staff to create indie films. Be My Baby is a low-budget film that was shot in four days for under $10,000 in a couple of locations. It is directed by Hitoshi One, director of the big-budget Moteki which stared Kumiko Aso, Mirai Moriyama and Riisa Naka. It is based on a theatre play written by Daisuke Miura which was first staged in 2006 and screened in cinemas in March of last year. Daisuke Miura’s stage play has been on tour around the world and writer Miura declares it an insight into a generation that has everything but is still unsatisfied in spiritual terms. The review over at Variety is positively glowing which makes me curious about its potential!

Four couples, three beds, one masionette living room and a luxury apartment. The action takes place over the course of a night where a kindergarten teacher, students and office works make meaningless small talk about superficial things until their self-consciousness vanishes and they get closer. Closer to what? A sex party. This is one where emotions are absent – names are not known, they only know each other by number man/woman 1-4 – and they shed their emotions and passions hoping to break up without getting hurt.

Snow White Murder Case (2014) (International Premiere)  

Japanese Title: 白ゆき姫殺人事件

Romaji: Shiro Yuki Hime Satsujin Jiken

Running Time: 126 mins.

Release Date: March 29^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Writer: Tamio Hayashi (Screenplay), Kanae Minato (Original Novel)

Starring: Mao Inoue, Gou Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao, Shihori Kanjiya, Nobuaki Kaneko, Erena Ono, Mitsuki Tanimura, Shota Sometani, Katsuhisa Namase, Dankan,

Quite possibly, the best looking film released in March, or at least the most eye-catching due to the glitzy trailer and cool posters, and the film I am gunning for! Its story is a contemporary suspense thrillerabout the dark power of social media and trends which looks ripe for analysis from pseudo-intellectual bloggers such as yours truly… It is based on a work by the novelist Kanae Minato who is the writer of the award-winning Confessions and it is directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura. I have reviewed two of his films and I remain agnostic about his directorial skills because I loved The Foreign Duck while I hated See You Tomorrow, Everyone, which I saw at last year’s Terracotta film festival. He teams up with his usual writer Tamio Hayashi (Shield of Straw) for a murder tale full of hot young actors like Gou Ayano (The Story of Yonosuke), Mao Inoue (Rebirth), and Shihori Kanjiya. And Dankan, who is neither hot or young but is totally amusing and game for a laugh as seen in his performances in Getting Any? and Eyes of the Spider.

The Show White Murder Case sees victim Noriko Miki (Nanao), the best looking girl at a cosmetics company, murdered and her dowdy co-worker Miki (Inoue) coming under suspicion due to a Twitter tip off received by newbie director Akahoshi (Ayano). The media frenzy begins as television shows play interviews with Miki’s friends, family and anybody even vaguely associated with her. Soon rumours of her being a wicked woman emerge. Are they true?

Hopefully, I’ll be at the screening and I can find out!

Judge! (2014) (International Premiere)   

Japanese Title: ジャッジ！

Romaji: Jajji!

Running Time: 105 mins.

Release Date: January 11^th, 2014

Director: Akira Nagai

Writer: Yoshimitsu Sawamoto (Screenplay)

Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Keiko Kitagawa, Lily Franky, Kyoka Suzuki, YosiYosi Arakawa, Yoji Tanaka, Denden, Ryo Kase, Etsushi Toyokawa, Iyo Matsumoto,

The final film of the festival is the hit comedy, Judge!, which gets its international premiere here.  This was originally released in January and the culture clash and physical gags marked it out as an entertaining title. This is based on an original idea cooked up by a writer and director who are both veterans of the Japanese ad world which should make the post-screening Q&A with director Akira Nagai fascinating to sit in on. There’s a large cast of excellent actors like Satoshi Tsumabuki (For Love’s Sake), Denden (Cold Fish), Etsushi Toyokawa (Angel Dust, Loft), Kyoka Suzuki (Welcome Back, Mr McDonald), Lily Franky (Like Father, Like Son) and YosiYosi Arakawa (Fine, Totally Fine).

Kiichiro Ota (Tsumabuki) has just scored a job at an advertising agency and already he is sent to the world’s biggest TV advertising festival in Santa Monica by his almost-namesake boss with orders to secure victory for their company’s ad by any means necessary. Like scheming, bribery and so forth. Alas, Kiichiro’s English skills are nought and so he drags along his brilliant colleague Hikari Ota (Kitagawa). They get to pretend to be husband and wife due to their similar family names but they couldn’t be more different since she is serious and he is a bit of a geek (his Urusei Yatsura T-shirt is a giveaway) who loves to party. Kiichiro’s party soon ends when he finds out that unless his company’s commercial wins a prize he’ll be fired. Can he do it?

This is another film that I am aiming to see along with The Snow White Murder Case and The Face Reader, a Korean film.

I had not planned to do any first-impressions of the anime this season and just follow the picks I made with a series review but I watched Knights of Sidonia and wanted to write a few words, partly because fellow blogger Novroz was interested and partly to just give my take because I like the story and the anime has impressed me.

I am a big fan of Tsutomu Nihei and I think his art is distinctive, detailed, weird and very, very cinematic. His skill is clear to see in the architecture, the characters and the great use of art and frames to convey scale and movement. Whenever I read his manga I can always imagine them adapted into films so any adaptation of his work is going to get my attention. Of all the titles he has worked on, Knights of Sidonia is probably the best candidate, if only because the attempts at a coherent plot and narrative join up much better than in others and the story is epic enough to span a two-cours season.

First off, that intro by angela is suitably militaristic, electronic and bombastic enough to fit the show. 

I expect nothing less after their performance on the intro for Coppelion.

I’ll probably start listening to more of their stuff. 

The writing on the show’s first episode was enjoyably intriguing. 

Nihei is not the strongest when it comes to plot and narrative but, just to remind everyone, the series composition is handled by Sadayuki Murai, writer of screenplays for Kino’s Journey and the great live-action Mushishi movie so I expect an intelligent handling of the series.

Knights of Sidonia seems to reference creatures and events from the manga Abara but apparently the two are unconnected, all we know is that Earth has been destroyed by polymorphous betentacled creatures known as Gauna.

Humanity was forced to flee into space and look for a new home using gigantic spaceships. One of these ships is called Sidonia and that’s where the story takes place. After a century of peace, the Gauna’s are back. To help fend off the threat of the Gauna’s, humanity has developed mecha and main character Nagate Tanikaze is training to be a pilot of one of these mecha. 

So far so generic

What makes this different from something like Battlestar Galactica (another show where humanity is on the run from some great existential threat in spaceships) is how humanity has adapted.

There are three sexes – male, female and intersex (characters who are both genders and can reproduce asexually as well as with members of other sexes). People also have the ability to use photosynthesis (something our main character cannot do).

There is the military government which is running the show, something which irks the civilians who have experienced nothing but peace for a century.

Not so generic. It’s all told in incidental scenes – like the protest outside a hospital – and dialogue – show not tell. There are a lot of details and the world building has been entertaining mostly because it is intelligently done and there have been no info-dumps, excessive narration or obvious and tedious moments of exposition.

I found that the visual aspect of the anime looked good due to canny use of the direction – camera angles, character placement – and the art style made me adapt to the CGI pretty quickly.

Anime fandom pretty much dismisses CGI, especially when it is used for character models, and not without good reason because there are many films like Vexille which look somewhat lifeless and bland while the animation plays out in an anaemic way that lacks dynamism and force. Not so here.

The CGI present in the show looks good. The character models do capture some of the look Nihei creates for his cast, that sort of perfect and flawless beauty or discomfiting artificiality.

Perfect for the “undead” in the masks.

All those little details that Nihei makes for clothes are present as seen in Nagates tattered clothes and the second-hand jumpsuits the pilots wear.

The CGI works even better for the mecha battles where the models stand out in the battles and all the military details – HUDs and screens lit up – make an impact. The look, combined with camera placement, deliver the atmosphere really well and that feeling extends to the movement of the characters and machines. Watching the set piece battles and chases, there is a sense of speed and fluidity. Not quite exhilarating stuff like Attack on Titan, but well done nonetheless.

What the CGI does ever better is capture the landscapes and environments that Nihei is famous for. The bowels of the ship are cramped and dark places.

The surface of Sidonia is usually shot from high or low angles and gives a sense of the vertiginous drops and the overall look is like something a high-tech arthitect like Sir Norman Foster would love, all glass, concrete and exposed pipes, a place fit for a technocratic way of life.

Overall, I was left satisfied with the episode. The first episode ended with a battle and after that there is more story and world-building to come. Based on this episode alone, it’s currently one of my favourites this season. 

The writing on the show’s first episode has been intelligently handled. Nihei is not the strongest when it comes to plot and narrative but, just to remind everyone, the series composition is handled by Sadayuki Murai, writer of screenplays for Kino’s Journey and the great live-action Mushishi movie so I expect.

The films playing at the Cannes Film Festival were announced earlier today and as expected Naomi Kawase’s latest feature is in Competition. She is competing against a field full of very strong directors like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, David Cronenberg and Jean-Luc Godard. Kawase’s film looks the most intriguing to me, although Mike Leigh’s film about JMW Turner has me interested as well. Here are the details on Kawase’s film (alas, no trailer. I guess we’ll have to wait):

Still the Water                        

Japanese Title: ２つ目の窓

Romaji: Futatsume no Mado

Release Date: Summer, 2014

Running Time: N/A

Director: Naomie Kawase

Writer: Naomie Kawase (Screenplay),

Starring: Nijiro Murakami, Jun Yoshinaga, Tetta Sugimoto, Miyuki Matsuda, Makiko Watanabe, Jun Murakami, Hideo Sakaki, Fujio Tokita

It is the full-moon night of August and on Amami-Oshima traditional dances take place. A 14-year-old boy finds a dead body floating in the sea. With the help of his girlfriend, the two set about trying to solve the mystery. As they investigate the two grow into adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love.

Naomie Kawase is familiar with Cannes since she won the Camera d’Or in 1997 with “Suzaku”, the Grand Prix with “The Mourning Forest” in 2007 and her last feature, “Hanezu,” was at Cannes 2011. She was at last year’s Cannes Film Festival as a judge and was expected to return with her latest feature, “Still the Water”, a film shot on the Japanese island of Amami-Oshima, a place her grandmother grew up on. The personal roots run deeper since the film is inspired by a story from her grandmother… The setup reminds me of the film “Goth: Love of Death” what with the two teenagers coming of age during a murder mystery.

The cast is first rate with Makiko Watanabe (Love Exposure, Capturing Dad), Jun Murakami (Bounce Ko Gals, Isn’t Anyone Alive?, The Land of Hope) and Tetta Sugimoto (Zero Focus) and the colour scheme looks gorgeous – most films set on the islands are typically gorgeous. It’s “Goth: Love of Death in Paradise”.

I love the poster and the images released are delectable.

The Short Film Competition has one Japanese entry in the form of Happo-en while Chie Hayakawa’s film Niagra which is in the Cinefondation selection which gets its entry from film schools. What makes her film stand out to me is that it’s from ENBU seminar. Japanese Atsuko Hirayanagi who is representing a school based in Singapore is also attending. She has attended plenty of festivals and made lots of shorts. Expect more news when it comes.

UPDATE (22/04/14):

The full list is out and only one more addition. Directors’ Fortnight sees Princess Kaguya screened. It was released back in Japan last November.

The Story of Princess Kaguya  

Japanese:　かぐや　姫　の　物語

Romaji: Kaguya Hime no Monogatari

Running Time: 137 mins.

Release Date: November 23rd, 2013

Director: Isao Takahata

Writer: Isao Takahata, Riko Sakaguchi (Screenplay)

Starring: Aki Asakura (Kaguya), Kengo Kora (Sutemaru), Nobuko Miyamoto (Ouno), Takeo Chii (Okina)

 Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, writer and director of Only Yesterday, Pom Poko Grave of the Firefliesand Little Norse Prince Valiant, made an adaptation of a famous ancient Japanese folktale originally called Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) which is about a princess named Kaguya who is discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a growing plant by a bamboo cutter and adopted by the chap and his wife.

Website

Also, I quite like the poster for this year’s festival!

After a movie drought lasting a few weeks, I watched two films:  Rent-a-Neko and The Quiet Ones. Tonight I’ll watch Museum Hours and Cold Eyes. I still have about eight film reviews to write and now I have three from this list to add on (although Rent-a-Neko is practically finished)!!! It’s a good thing that I’ve got a day off coming up after my trip down to London. I’ve already completed some posts for the next fortnight although there will only be two per week – anime/film reviews and trailers.

This week I posted about the Japanese films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (that feature from Naomi Kawase looks so good!) and I also posted my first impression of Knights of Sidonia.

Here’s a bunch of trailers for the Japanese films released this week and there are some interesting looking titles!

The Light Shines Only There  

Japanese: そこのみにて光輝く

Romaji: Soko nomi nite Hikari Kagayaku

Running Time: 120 mins.

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Mipo O

Writer: Yasushi Sato (Screenplay), Ryo Takada (Original Novel)

Starring: Gou Ayano, Chizuru Ikewaki, Masaki Suda, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Hinom Hiroko Isayama

Based on a novel published in 1989, this is winning all sorts of acclaim at festivals. It is directed by Mipo O and she was last reviewed here with her effort on Quirky Guys and Gals and the screenplay was written by Ryo Takada who worked on The Ravine of Goodbye. It stars Gou Ayano (Rurouni Kenshin, The Story of Yonosuke).

Tatsuo Sato (Ayano) quits his job and does little with his days until he meets Takuji Oshiro (Suda) at a pachinko parlour and strikes up a friendship. Takuji invites Tatsuo back to his home where he lives with is sick father, mother and older sister Chinatsu (Ikewaki). Tatsuo becomes attracted to Chinatsu, who shines even in their difficult situation.

Website

Nihon’ichi Shiawasena Jūgyōin o Tsukuru! Hoteruasoshia Nagoya Tāminaru no Chōsen   

Japanese: 日本一幸せな従業員をつくる！　ホテルアソシア名古屋ターミナルの挑戦

Romaji: Nihon’ichi Shiawasena Jūgyōin o Tsukuru! Hoteruasoshia Nagoya Tāminaru no Chōsen

Running Time: 92 mins.

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yasuko Iwasaki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Akio Shibata

Akio Shibata was brought into a well-established hotel on the brink of bankruptcy and transformed its fortunes by transforming the way that the management and employees interact with each other. His special management philosophies brought change by making sure everyone felt special and happy and so the hotel transformed into a more successful establishment.

Website

Negative Happy Marriage Part 2  

Japanese: ハッピーネガティブマリッジ Part2

Romaji:  Happī Negatibu Marijji Part 2

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kenji Yokoi

Writer: Ryuta Amazume (Original Manga)

Starring: Takashi Nagayama, Saki Seto, Shota Minami, Taro Suwa, Nana Nanaumi

The first Happy Negative Marriage was released at the end of last month and now part 2 gets a release. The story is about the virginal salaryman Keitaro Sato. He is about to hit 31 which means that he’ll miss out on getting company housing due to being unmarried so he turns to an omiai to use their matchmaking skills to secure him a bride. The lucky guy gets a gorgeous babe named Shimako (Seto) but his lack of experience with women leads to confusion…

Website

Detective Conan: Sniper From Another Dimension (Movie 18)  

Japanese: 名探偵コナン　異次元の狙撃手（スナイパー）

Romaji:  Meitantei Conan Ijiigen no Sniper

Running Time: 110 mins.

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kobun Shizuno

Writer: Kazunari Kouchi (Screenplay), Gosho Aoyama (Original Creator)

Starring: Minami Takayama (Conan Edogawa), Miyuki IChijou (Jodie Starling), Shuuichi Ikeda (Shuuichi Akai), Wakana Yamazaki (Ran Mori), Rikiya Koyama (Kogoro Mori), Noriko Hidaka (Masumi Sera), Ryotaro Okiayu (Subaru Okiya),

FBI agent Shuichi Akai is targeted by a sniper and Masumi Sera is also shot. The people in Tokyo are in panic. Why were Sera and Akai targeted? Will Akai be targeted again? Detective Conan and Jodie Starling are on the case!

Website

Crayon Shin-Chan: Serious Battle! Robot Dad Strikes Back  

Japanese: 映画クレヨンしんちゃん　ガチンコ！逆襲のロボとーちゃん

Romaji: Kureyon Shin-chan: Gachinko! Gyakushu no Robo To-chan

Running Time: 97 minutes

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Wataru Takahashi

Writer: Kazuki Nakashima (Screenplay),Yoshito Usui (Original Manga)

Starring: Akiko Yajima (Shinnosuke Nohara), Miki Narahashi (Misae Nohara), Keiji Fujiwara (Hiroshi Nohara), Satomi Korogi (Himawari Nohara), Emi Takei (Dandanbara Teruyo)

When Shin-chan’s father Hiroshi goes to the Este salon after an injury, he finds a mysterious beautiful girl who gives him a free trial of beauty treatment as well as a massage only this turns him into a robot. Shin-chan is overjoyed, whereas Misae isn’t so thrilled. The robot version of Hiroshi turns out to be convenient, not least because Hiroshi can be controlled by a remote control and does stuff like the cooking and cleaning. This weirdness is part of a dark conspiracy hatched by “Chichi Yure Doumei (The Association of Fathers)” to create a strong father figure for all the fathers in Japan and soon, chaos ensues… Can Hiroshi and Shin-chan save the day?

Website

Aru Himori no Naka  

Japanese: あるひもりのなか

Romaji: Aru Himori no Naka

Running Time: 7o minutes

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kenj Araki

Writer: Kenji Araki (Screenplay),

Starring: Ai Ishihara, Tatsuo Wakabayashi, Hideki Yokobori

Whenever I see Art Port are connected to a film I smile for the simple fact that the film will be strange and boy does that word fit this trailer. Shikashi. The film is about a school girl who goes into the woods and meets an alien bear who has come to conquer the Earth. She gets involved with strange things, of course. The film mixes sci-fi, fantasy and fairy tales. F*ck it, that was so delightful, it’s my trailer of the week. Trailer of the century, maybe.

Website

Death’s Live Coverage Movie Version   

Japanese: 死の実況中継　劇場版

Romaji: Shi no Jikkyo Chukei Gekijouban

Running Time: 80 minutes

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masaaki Jindo

Writer: Yoshikazu Sugiyama (Screenplay),

Starring: Saki Funaoka, Yusuke Arai, Seiya Eto, Shohei Nanba Misato Kawauchi, Ami Nojo

If nothing else, this film will prove that the only thing people should use the internet for is to watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. In this J-horror ttle, a college student is sent a URL to an unfamiliar website and witnesses “the live coverage of someone dying.” After seeing this film, a woman in red with a large pair of scissors dashes into the scene and chases a bunch of girls, some of whom are in the idol unit Nogizaka 46. The film is reminiscent of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s J-horror classic Pulse but with none of the atmosphere…

Website

Rent-a-Cat   

Japanese Title: レンタネコ

Romaji: Rentaneko

Running Time: 110 mins.

Release Date: May 12th, 2012 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Ogigami

Writer: Naoko Ogigami

Starring: Mikako Ichikawa, Reiko Kusamura, Ken Mitsuishi, Maho Yamada, Kei Tanaka

There is a woman who roams a riverbank in a contemporary Japanese city. She pulls a cart which has a selection of cats in the back. This is actually part of her business. As she moves at a leisurely pace she calls out to people through a megaphone with simple slogans and questions to attract the right customers:

“Rent-a-cat. Rent-aaaaaaaaaa-cat. Feeling lonely? I’ll lend you a cat.”

Her name is Sayoko (Ichikawa) and it seems that she does this daily. Tall and slender, with short hair and a long face, she is dressed in an imaginative array of colourful though unfashionable clothes that look like they were put together after a foray in a charity shop. She is a magnet for cats and lives in a house full of former strays that join her feline family. One might class her as a free thinker and her employment renting out cats certainly seems to indicate this. She has earned a bit of a reputation since two elementary school-boys are so familiar with her that they brazenly refer to her as “that weird cat lady.” However, far from being ostracised by society most ignore her but there are some who hear her voice and are drawn to her. These are the lonely people with holes in their hearts. Sayoko can spot them a mile off and knows that the best medicine for that is the tender friendship of a cat. She knows because of a lonely hole in her own heart…

I posted the trailer for this film back in 2012 because I like cats and the idea was quirky enough to catch my attention. Soon, other cat lovers were commenting on the post and it still gets visitors to this day. In 2012/3, the film toured film festivals around the world (like Berlin) and made its way to the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Thanks to this, the film is available on the Edinburgh Filmhouse player, a treasure-trove of indie and foreign titles which can be streamed for a low price. Some titles like Shun Li and the Poet, and What Maisie Knew are on DVD in the UK but some like Rent-a-Cat would probably not make the transition to physical distribution because its delights are  subtle.

Writer and director Naoko Ogigami has crafted a deceptive film. It is billed as a comedy but is rarely laugh out loud funny. She has split her film into a series of vignettes with Sayoko’s story acting as a frame. Most of the stories are familiar and simple and the pace is gentle and languid with a level of quirkiness that is layered over stories of profound loneliness. Each vignette begins with Sayoko pottering about her home before she traipses along the riverbank with her cats, calling out to other lonely people who soon take her up on her offer of feline companionship. The customers range from a widow with a negligent son who wants a companion to break the loneliness, a businessman (the fantastic Ken Mitsuishi who was in Noriko’s Dinner Table) who finds more love from a cat than he does from his wife and daughter and a lonely woman at a little used rental car store who has little contact with anybody and spends all her time alone. These are all specimens of a highly atomised society where people are too timid to strike out and make friends or tell the people close to them what they feel, the sort of recognisable people we might pass without a second thought but all yearning for human contact.

Each person is wracked by insecurities and loneliness that contact with a cat can cure or assuage and help them move on with their lives. Then we retreat back to Sayoko’s house. The stories are subtle and often bittersweet, although very familiar and easily resolved. The lightning rod of each sequence is Sayoko who comes with her cats to lighten lives and with her quirky behaviour, provides a lot of the comedy and proved to be the most interesting.

Sayoko spends sluggish sun-sick summer days either pulling her cart along the river or lolling around her traditional cosy home amidst her many cats (I imagine this to be a dream location all women have), slowly doing chores and complaining about the heat – “Atsui. Atsui. Atsuuuuui.”

The more time we spend with her and in her home, the more we appreciate her. The focal point of her home is a shrine. It has been two years since her beloved Grandma passed away and Sayoko is battling a lonely hole in her own heart. Such is her loneliness that she makes wall-scrolls with characters proclaiming, “This year I’ll get married.” She has a deeply caring relationship with her cats but it seems that the only human contact she has is with a guy in a dress who turns up to mock her loneliness.

I hope she doesn’t turn into a crazy cat lady because there are strange, creative and fun elements to Sayoko’s quirky personality, like the unique way she eats somen noodles to the way she makes a large cat’s cradle in her house to hang her washing up on a rainy day.

Ichikawa is a delight to watch. She is a bit of a tom-boy with unconventional looks but has an attractive personality which is equal parts kindness, devotion and endurance, not least shown in the way she treats her cats so well and there are a lot of cats, each with their own personality and quirks.

While the loneliness of others is easily packaged up, Sayoko’s isn’t and her ending is very enigmatic. I prefer to read that she has moved on herself and found happiness.

The film is definitely about the people and Ogigami’s direction focusses on them. Shot composition and camera placement help to deliver the emotions intended. Most of the shots are long takes and eye-level so we see the look of despondency over the neglect and worry they feel to the look joy on people’s faces when a feline friend enters their life. My personal favourites include some great shots to show Sayoko on the riverbank.

And a great low-angle shot that shows her small house surrounded by tower blocks.

The film is always pleasant to watch which further enhances its gentle atmosphere.

Rent-a-Cat was entertaining and I am glad that I have finally watched it but what got me was that behind the gentle and relaxing pace, the wry and very dry comedy and strangeness was a kernel of human emotion, the loneliness that people can feel in contemporary society. The film is billed as a comedy but do not expect to be howling with laughter, more entertained and warmed by the film and maybe, a little emotional at points. Ogigami, in probing loneliness, does not make a depressing film, more a gentle and low-key comedy.

4/5 

Other reviews from fellow Asian film bloggers include Alua‘s, MiB‘s, and SCUM Cinema‘s.

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter and everything. Even though most of the nation has a break, I spent most of the holiday in my museum (who the heck opens a museum on Easter Sunday????). I also had this song going through my head while in work:

On Good Friday, I watched Rent-a-Cat, on Easter Sunday, I watched more Knights of Sidonia and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and so only one post this week and that was for Rent-a-Cat. I’m busy studying for a Japanese exam, an attended a press conference for a film festival (more on that on Monday) and watching films like Museum Hours, Cold Eyes and Monster. So a lot more film related stuff than usual.

Here are the trailers:

Thermae Romae II  

Japanese Title: テルマエ・ロマエII

Romaji: Terumai Romai II

Running Time: 113 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hideki Takeuchi

Writer: Hiroshi Hashimoto (Screenplay), Mari Yamazaki (Original Manga)

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Aya Ueto, Riki Takeuchi, Masachika Ichimura, Takashi Sasano, Kai Shishido, Kazuki Kitamura

In between the last Thermae Romae (2012) and this new one, I have read Mari Yamazaki’s original manga and it looks like it adapts more of the stories, which is no bad thing because the manga was enjoyable. Parts of it memorable. In this film, Lucius (Abe) has used the techniques her learnt from Japanese onsen of the uture to create famous bathhouses in ancient Rome. Now he has to renovate the Colosseum during a time when Rome is at risk of splitting apart due to politics. He soon finds that he travels forward in time where he meets Mami (Ueto) who has become a successful writer for a bath magazine.

Website

Naked Ring Finger  

Japanese: はだかのくすりゆび

Romaji: Hadaka no Kusuriyubi

Running Time: 92 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuya Yamaguchi

Writer: Tadashi Shimizu (Screenplay),  Tsuyatsuya (Original Manga)

Starring: Noriko Hamada, Keisuke Tarumi

Another manga adaptation. More hentai. Looks awful but then I haven’t read the manga or watched the film so I could be wrong. It’s about a woman named Midori who gets into an affair with her daughter, Maya’s fiancé in an arranged marriage.

Website

A.F.O. (All For One)   

Japanese: A.F.O. (All For One)

Romaji: Hadaka no Kusuriyubi

Running Time: 105 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

General Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Director: Yoshiaki Tago

Writer: Tadashi Shimizu (Screenplay),  Tsuyatsuya (Original Manga)

Starring: Takuya Ishida, Azusa Okamoto, Ronaldo Santos

After the filth of the last film comes something more good-natured film which sees genius director Yukihiko Tsutsumi team up with students at the Aichi Institute of Technology to make a story about a poor football team who scent a chance of victory by trying to recruit a skilled footballer from Brazil. However, he says that he hates football and refuses to play…

Website

Tamako Love Story   

Japanese: たまこラブストーリー

Romaji: Tamako Rabu Suto-ri-

Running Time: 83 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Yamada

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuri Yamashita (Shiori Asagiri) Aya Suzaki (Tamako Kitashirakawa), Atsushi Tamaru (Mochizou Ooji) Juri Nagatsuma (Kanna Makino),

Tamako Love Story continues as Mochizou and Tamako inch closer and closer together… I think. I haven’t watched the TV anime. Main cast and staff from the TV anime are returning and Kyoto Animation are doing the animating.

Website

Sora no Otoshimono Final Eternal My Master   

Japanese: そらのおとしものFinal 永遠の私の鳥籠（エターナルマイマスター）

Romaji: Sora no Otoshimono Final: Eien no Watashi no Torikago (Eta-naru Mai Masuta)

Running Time: 49 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hisashi Saito

Writer: Jiyu Ogi (Screenplay), Suu Minazuki (Original Creator)

Starring: Saori Hayami (Ikaros) Souichiro Hoshi (Tomoki Sakurai), Aki Toyosaki (Chaos) Yoko Hikasa (Hiyori Kazane),

The Heaven’s Lost Property franchise gets a new film where a harem of busty angels get involved with the school boy Sakurai Tomoki, a super-pervert and one in particular, Ikaros, demands that he becomes her master…

Website

Ride For Life The Eigo Sato Story    

Japanese: ライド・フォー・ライフ The Eigo Sato Story

Romaji: Raido Fo- Raifu The Eigo Sato Story

Running Time: 87 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Yamada

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay),

Starring: Eigo Sato, Mike Metzger, Daisuke Suzuki,

This documentary is big news in the motocross world because Eigo Sato was a much respected freestyle motocross veteran of around a decade when he died last year in his home of Iwaki City. He was much respected by fellow competitors and that respect can be seen in a documentary directed by his friend Hitoshi Kajino.

Website

Number 10 Blues/Goodbye Saigon    

Japanese Title: ナンバーテンブルース　さらばサイゴン

Romaji: Namba- Ten Buru-su Saraba Saigon

Running Time: 99 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Norio Osada

Writer: Norio Osada (Screenplay),

Starring: Yusuke Kawazu, Lan Thanh, Kenji Isomura, Eiichi Kikuchi 

This one is a film rescued from obscurity and screened at last year’s Rotterdam International Film Festival. It is a road movie/Vietnam war film about a Japanese businessman naed Toshio Sugimoto who flees the country with his lover when the war goes south. This is a action film shot in Vietnam during the Vietnam war and it was to be the directorial debut of Norio Osada, a scriptwriter who had worked with Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honour or Humanity, Battle Royale) but when funding dried up the film was never finished and sat in the National Film Centre of Japan. It was rediscovered recently and the film was completed.

Website

Kuro                                                  

Japanese Title: はなればなれに

Romaji: Hanare Banareni

Running Time: 86 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Daisuke Shimote

Writer: Daisuke Shimote (Screenplay),

Starring: Airi Kido, Yu Saitoh, Hideo Nakaizumi, Wakana Matsumoto

This one screened at last year’s East End Film Festival where Alua saw it and found it enjoyable enough to give it 8 out of 10 in her review. It’s getting a limited screening in Tokyo.

Three people recently traumatised by life’s ups and downs meet up: Kuro once had dreams of being a baker until she was fired, Eito has recently broken up with his fiancé and Gou’s career as a theatre director is in imminent danger of dying when the lead actress of his own play goes missing. The three retreat from the world to a remote seaside hotel where a schoolgirl named Momo falls in with them and they all indulge in silly games.

Website

Ueshima Jane Beyond   

Japanese: 上島ジェーンビヨンド

Romaji: Ueshima Je-no Biyondo

Running Time: 116 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Maccoi Saito

Writer: Yayoi Fujitani (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuhei Ueshima, Katsuhiro Higo, Kayoko Okubo, Hiroshi Shinagawa, Yumi Seimiya, Kayo Noro, Aika Ando, Aino Kishi

In 2009, popular entertainer Ryuhei Ueshima tried to learn how to surf and made a film about it. 5 years later and he’s back making a fool of himself as he enters a serious competition. While that’s happening he’s trying to avoid other complications like romance and the law.

Website

Aibou: The Movie III   

Japanese: 相棒劇場版III 巨大密室！

Romaji: Aibou Gekijouban III Kyodai Misshitsu!

Running Time: 114 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Seiji Izumi

Writer: Yasuhiro Koshimizu (Screenplay),

Starring: Hiroki Narimiya, Yutaka Mizutani,  Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Koji Ishizaka, Yumiko Shaku, Toru Kazama, Tsuyoshi Ihara

A new year, a new Aibou movie! Ukyo Sugishita and Toru Kai are sent to a small island near Tokyo by their boss at the National Police Agency to investigate a mysterious death. The island is privately owned by a wealthy businessman and seems to be the site of a small community of former members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force. Could the mysterious death be linked to these guys? Ukyo and Toru find their investigation halted by these ex-soldiers!

Website

Sayonara Cake and Mysterious Lamp  

Japanese: さよならケーキとふしぎなランプ

Romaji: Sayonara kēki to fushigina ranpu

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Junichi Kanai

Writer: Junichi Kanai, Bi-guru (Beagle?) Otsuka (Screenplay),

Starring: Kohei Dojima, Kaoru Hirata, Masahiko Sakata

Singer-songwriter Kohei Dojima stars as a guy making a cake and going through all sorts of family strife after fighting with his father. Okay, there’s more to it than that as he hooks up with a new collective of people at a café he finds work in.

Website

Jingū Kirin Watashi no Kamisama   

Japanese: 神宮希林　わたしの神様

Romaji: Jingū Kirin Watashi no Kamisama

Running Time: 96 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Takeshi Fushiwara

Writer: N/A

Starring: Kirin Kiki

The actress Kirin Kiki travelled to the Ise Grand Shrine in 2013 and a documentary of her journey was broadcast by Tokai TV. This is the re-edited version for theatres (hey, if trashy TV anime can do it, Kiki can too). We see her start from her home in Tokyo and the people she interacts with as she learns more about the shrine and what it means to other people.

Website

The full line-up for this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival was revealed last week ahead of its run at The Institute of Contemporary Art and The Prince Charles Cinema in London between May 23^rd and June 01^st. I then wrote a preview for it at Anime UK News and now I’ve put together another, expanded view on the festival.

This will be the sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival and it still remains the best place to see a wide variety of releases from East Asian cinema. There are a number of different strands to the festival such as Current Asian Cinema where the latest titles from territories like Japan and Hong Kong are played. The Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter makes a welcome return with some great looking titles mixing ghosts and serial killers. The Spotlight On section uncovers the hottest titles that remain undiscovered. Last year’s festival saw Indonesia as the focus, this year the Philippines takes centre stage with six films released within the last year getting screened. The festival is made opens on May 23^rd at The Institute of Contemporary Arts with the Spotlight On: Philippines. The festival will then move to The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st where the festival will screen films from The Current Asian Cinema and Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter sections.

Enough of the intro, the next part has the films, dates and times. Click on the title to get taken to the festival page.

Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014 Films:

Spotlight On: The Philippines

The Spotlight On: The Philippines section takes place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts from May 23^rd to May 27^th and showcases Filipino films released within the last year. There are many UK premieres and some of the actors and directors will be present. 

On The Job (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Fri May 23^rd, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 121 mins

Director: Erik Matti

Cast: Joel Torre, Gerald Anderson, Piolo Pascual

Dangerous inmates Daniel (Torre) and Tatang (Anderson) are granted temporary release from prison – but only to carry out traceless assassinations for crooked government officials before being returned to their cells. Young gun Daniel seems to love the job while old hand Tatang (Anderson) wants out of the cycle of violence and prison altogether. As their story plays out, a young cop named Francis (Pascual) discovers the corruption taking place in his own department.

This film was inspired by a real-life scandal and is considered so good that the Filipino original has got a UK release and Hollywood are doing a remake. Director Erik Matti will be present for a Q&A after the film.

Shift (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 24^th, 2014 at 16:00

Duration: 81 mins

Director: Siege Ledesma

Cast: Yeng Constantino, Felix Roco, Matt Valena, Alex Medina

Shift is the acting debut of flame-haired Filipina singer-songwriter Yeng Constantino who is making waves in the music world. In this she stars as a directionless dreamer named Estela who works the night shift at a dead-end call centre. Estela’s slacker routine changes when is assigned a mentor. He is Trevor (Roco), a Senior Sales Agent, a smart, funny and cute guy who is also gay. As the two become close friends she falls in love with him.

Shift is an example of independent Filipino cinema described as being driven by the natural chemistry of the two leads and full of vibrant visuals. The actor Felix Roco will be present for a Q&A.

A Thief, A Kid and A Killer (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 24^th, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 92 mins

Director: Nathan Adolfson

Cast: Felix Roco, Avy Viduya, Epy Quizon, Lance Raymundo, Jade Lopez, Jack Falcis

In this bitter-sweet comedy an unlikely bond develops between a privileged but bullied ten year old boy named Maximo (Viduya) and two small-time thieves who invade his apartment named. The thieves are Nico (Roco) and his cousin Lloyd who are on the lam following a bungled jewellery heist. Despite their differences in age and circumstances, Maximo and Nico become friends but Lloyd becomes increasingly twitchy, especially since corrupt cops could be closing in on the thieves and their black market diamonds…

Lead actor Felix Roco, director Nathan Adolfson, and producer Gene Lacson will be present for a Q&A after the film.

Tuhog (2013) (International Premiere)   

Screened: Sun May 25^th, 2014 at TBC

Running Time: 105 mins

Director: Veronica Velasco

Cast: Eugene Domingo, Enchong Dee, Leo Martinez, Empress Schuck, Jake Cuenca

This dark comedy begins when a swerving bus and a steel bar result in three bus passengers finding themselves impaled and stuck together! The three, one a student desperate to lose his virginity, one a prickly bus conductor haunted by family troubles and the third, a long-suffering father who wants to follows his dreams; reveal their backstories as a team of doctors try to get free them. Their connections to each other run deeper than their present situation…

How to Disappear Completely (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sun May 25^th, 2014 at TBC

Running Time: 79 mins

Director: Raya Martin

Cast: Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino, Ness Roque

After a successful and awards-packed film festival run, How to Disappear Completely finally shows up in the UK and audiences will get to experience this unique film which has an acclaimed ambient electro soundtrack from London-based Filipino music producer EYEDRESS. The tale concerns a young girl (Roque) searches for a way to disappear from a life spent with suffocating parents more concerned with drink and religion. Her life takes a very dark turn as an unnatural presence in the forest changes her into someone more violent… The atmosphere has the words, dread, hypnotic and claustrophobia used to describe it and the trailer is a bit of a trip.

The Search for Weng Weng (2007) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Tue May 27^th, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 92 mins

Director: Andrew Leavold

Cast: Eddie Nicart, Bobby A Suarez, Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Maria Isobel

Andrew Leavold, the former owner of Australia’s largest cult video rental store, turned detective for three years to track down a forgotten action hero, the two foot nine inch tall action star Weng Weng. The name will be familiar to anyone who watches bad movies since he was big in the 80’s with James Bond parodies, starring as Agent 00 in For ‘Y’ur Height Only. On screen, he was a spy, martial artist and ladies’ man but off screen, he led a different life.

The film is full of interviews with actors, directors and even the former President of the Philippines Imelda Marcos (she of the many shoes). Director Andrew Leavold will be present for a Q&A.

The festival then moves to The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st where the Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter and Current Trends in Asian Cinema sections take place.

Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter

Terror Cotta is back with a mix of horror titles from Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.  The all-night screening is packed full of premieres and It starts on Saturday, May 31^st from 22:40. 

Lesson of Evil (2012) (London Premiere)   

Running Time: 129 mins

Director: Takashi Miike

Cast: Hideaki Ito, Fumi Nikaido, Shota Sometani, Mitsuru Fukkoshi, Takayuki Yamada, Takahiro Hira, Kento Hayashi, Kodai Asaka

The Terror Cotta All-Nighter gets going with Lesson of Evil, one of the latest crop of titles from Takashi Miike, a film which genre fans will be sure to love. It is about a cool and charismatic teacher named Seiji (Ito) who is popular with students and teachers. But his actions soon take a turn revealing that behind his smile lurks a dangerous man and when a student and a teacher start to discover this after a number of disappearances from the school, chaos erupts. The film will be released by Third Window Films on September 29^th, 2014.

In the Dark (2014) (European Premiere)   

Running Time: 99 mins

Director: Yeo Joon Han

Cast: Wang Po Chieh, Candy Lee, Jennifer Foh

Malaysian director Yeo Joon Han scored an award-winning film with Sell Out!, a Manglish (Malaysian-English) musical comedy creates a ghost story full of twists and unrelenting horror. The story begins when a guy named Joseph (Wang Po Chieh) defies a fortune-teller’s warnings and proposes to his girlfriend May (Foh) who soon dies in a car accident. Joseph is distraught and tries to contact May in the afterlife with the help of May’s friend, Vivien (Lee) but they disturb demons… 

Killers (2013) (London Premiere)  

Running Time: 137 mins

Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto

Cast: Oka Antara, Kazuki Kitamura, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Mei Kurokawa, Tara Basro, Ray Sahetapy

This violent Indonesian film was released in Japan a few weeks back and is another title due to get a UK release thanks to Lionsgate UK. Troubled Indonesian journalist Bayu (Antara) finds himself drawn to the member’s only website of a Japanese serial killer named Nomura Shuhei (Kitamura). Bayu uploads footage of his own and both he and Nomura become closer…

Tik Tik: The Aswang Chronicles (2012) (UK Premiere)  

Running Time: 102 mins

Director: Erik Matti

Cast: Dingdong Dantes, Lovi Poe, Joey Marquez, Janice De Belen

Tik Tik is a special effects driven comic book action adventure with a dark sense of humour as the world gets to see the vampires that reside in the Philippines. The story follows a cocky layabout named Makoy (Dantes) who travels to a remote village to reconcile with his pregnant girlfriend. He tries to win favour by purchasing a suckling pig but that pig isn’t what it seems and soon Makoy and the family are under attack from a bunch of Aswang. It comes from the director Erik Matti who has another film at the festival and was the first full-length Filipino film to be shot using green screens, with stylised sets.

Current Asian Cinema

The Current Asian Cinema strand also plays at the Prince Charles Cinema and audiences get to see 12 of the latest films from various territories like Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. There are many UK and European premieres and even an international premiere. Here’s the list: 

Unbeatable (2013) (UK Premiere) 

Screened: Wed May 28^th, 2014 at 20:15

Running Time: 122 mins

Director: Dante Lam

Cast: Nick Cheung, Eddie Peng, Mei Ting, Crystal Lee,

Hong Kong directing legend Dante Lam crafts a film about MMA where the actors took home awards because of the great drama! The story is about an disgraced ex-boxing champion named Scumbag Fai (Cheung) who is chased out of Hong Kong by debt collectors and seeks to rebuild his fighting career in Macau where he meets others who are down on their luck: struggling single mother Gwen (Ting) and Lin Si-Qi (Peng), a rookie fighter looking at entering lucrative MMA tournament to raise themselves up from their bleak situations.

Warrior King 2 (2014)   

Screened: Thurs May 29^th, 2014 at 20:30

Running Time: 104 mins

Director: Prachya Pinkaew

Cast: Tony Jaa, RZA, Jeeja Yanin, Marrese Crump,Ratha Pho-ngam

Fresh from Thailand comes Warrior King 2 and Tony Jaa is back together with Prachya Pinkaew to make another extreme action film full of stunts and fights. In this film, Jaa portrays a man named Kham and he finds himself framed for the murder of an elephant camp boss named Suchart. With the police and Suchart’s deadly twin nieces on his tail, Kham goes on the lam while also searching for his elephant Khon, who disappeared during the time of the murder. Kham also finds himself drawn into an underground fighting ring run by a crime lord named LC (RZA). To get out of this, he must fight the beautiful but deadly Twenty (Pho-ngam) and the diabolical NO.2 (Crump). Expect much violence.

Remote Control (2013) (UK Premiere)

Screened: Wed May 30^th, 2014 at 12:15

Running Time: 90 mins

Director: Byamba Sakhya

Cast: Enkhtaivan Bassandorj, Nergui Bayarmaa, Chagnaadorj Ganbaatar

Remote Control is an award-winning film from Mongolia and looks at the modernisation that the country is undergoing through a coming of age film about a naïve teenager named Tsog (Baasandor) who moves from the country to the city and falls for an older woman, Anya (Bayarmaa). To make a connection, he steals a remote control and starts to manipulate her television.

Forever Love (2014)   

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 15:15

Running Time: 124 mins

Director: Aozaru Shiao, Toyoharu Kitamura

Cast: Lung Shao-hua, Blue Lan, Amber An, Li Yi-chieh, Edison Wang, Tien Hsin, Shen Hai-jung, Liao Jun, Chen Ping-nan

From Taiwan comes a fantastical fish story all about love and the golden age of Taiwanese-language films which were weird and wild. It is split between the present where an energetic old man named Liu Chi-sheng who retells the story of meeting his wife to their granddaughter. The film flashbacks to 1969 when Chi-sheng (Lan) was the hottest scriptwriter in Taiwan’s film industry and his wife, Mei-Yue (An) was an aspiring actress in love with a posturing matinee idol. The film is full of egotistical drunken directors, stars and men in rubber monster suits as the Taiwanese film industry of the time is brought back to life.

Be My Baby (2014) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 18:10

Running Time: 138 mins

Director: Hitoshi One

Cast: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yuumi Goto, Aya Kunitake, Hiroki Ueda, Daisuke Sawamura, Kenta Enya,

This Japanese film is a product of the ‘workshop’ indie films that are released nearly every weekend in Tokyo. Be My Baby is a low-budget film shot I four days for under $10,000 in a couple of locations. It is based on a play by award-winning dramatist Daisuke Miura (which was screened at cinemas) and it’s directed by Hitoshi One, director of the big-budget Love Strikes!. It’s a very adult film about the aftermath of a party attended by a group of drop-out twenty-somethings who are all flawed and caught up in damaging relationships.

Moebius (2013) (UK Premiere)   

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 20:55

Running Time: 89 mins

Director: Kim Ki-duk

Cast: Cho Jae-hyun, Seo Young-ju, Lee Eun-Woo

Controversial director, or should that be, director of controversial films, Kim Ki-duk, is a man who makes extreme films with extreme subject matter and in this one (which has no dialogue) a spurned wife wants revenge against her adulterous husband and tries to castrate him. He fights her of and so she castrates their teenage son. The father, desperate to help his son, goes to extreme lengths to try and make amends… This helps bring the two together… Apparently, this is a comedy…

Chinese Zodiac (2012)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 12:20

Running Time: 109 mins

Director: Jackie Chan

Cast: Jackie Chan, Kwone Sang Woo, Zhang Lanxin, Yao Xingtong, Liao Fan, Laura Weissbecker, Oliver Platt

Writer, director, choreographer and superstar Jackie Chan goes back to the films he made in the 80’s by dropping the drama for the stunts and comedy in a globe-trotting adventure that is unofficially regarded as the latest in his fun Armour of God franchise. In this film he plays maverick treasure hunter JC (Chan) who leads a team which is hired by the Max Profit Corporation to track down six missing bronze sculptures, part of a set of twelve representing the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. This launches the crew on a global adventure that stretches from France to China.

Commitment (2013) (European Premiere)   

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 14:45

Running Time: 113 mins

Director: Park Hong-soo

Cast: Choi Seung-hyun, Han Ye-ri, Kim Yoo-jung

Choi Seung-hyun, a.k.a. rapper T.O.P. from the group Big Bang, takes the lead In a South Korean spy thriller where he displays his acting and action skills. He plays a young man named Ri Myung-hoon who is imprisoned in a North Korean labour camp with his sister. He makes a deal to save himself and his sister and becomes a spy in the South where he has to track down an assassin picking off fellow agents. Pretending to be a high school boy, he befriends bullied classmate Hye-in (Han Ye-ri) and finds that his allegiances change and he has to think of a new way to save his sister.

Special ID (2014) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 17:45

Running Time: 99 mins

Director: Clarence Fok Yiu Leung

Cast: Donnie Yen, Jian Tian, Andy On

Hong Kong makes lots of contemporary police thrillers and action hard man Donnie Yen takes to the screen in this brutal looking action film which sees him beat gangsters in Hong Kong and on the mainland of China. He plays Chen Zilong (Yen), a deep undercover agent who infiltrates a Hong Kong gang and finds himself ordered to head to the mainland to take out Sunny (On), an old adversary causing problems for both police and gangsters. He isn’t alone, however. His lover and fellow police officer, Fang (Tian) is ready to crack some skulls in a film with lots of action.

Snow White Murder Case (2014) (International Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 20:00

Running Time: 126 mins

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Cast: Mao Inoue, Go Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao

This is one of the big titles for the festival and its story is a contemporary suspense thriller based on a work by the novelist Kanae Minato who is the writer of the award-winning Confessions. It looks at the devastating power of social media from multiple perspectives and the hyperactive media world. It starts with the death of a beautiful girl named Noriko (Nanao). The scandal-hungry media make it their latest fixation. Twitter addict and newbie director Akahoshi (Ayano) gets a tip-off, via Twitter, that Noriko’s dowdy co-worker Miki Shirono (Inoue) is the killer. His investigation sparks a massive media sensation that turns very dark…

The Face Reader (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 12:15

Running Time: 139 mins

Director: Han Jae-rim

Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Jung-Jae, Baek Yun-shik, Kim Hye-soo, Jo Jung-suk

The Face Reader brought a high-profile and talented cast to a film full of action and historical drama and it was a hit in South Korea.  The setting is 15^th century Korea, ruled over by the Joseon dynasty. Gifted physiognomist Nae-kyung (SONG Kang-ho) seizes the opportunity to cast off his peasant existence and tries to advance through the ranks of the warrior nobles in the capital but gets caught up in the court intrigues and dangerous games played between two deadly power players—Grand Prince Sooyang (LEE Jung-jae), known as “the Wolf”, simmering with menacing ambition, and Kim Jong-seo (BAEK Yoon-shik), “the Tiger”, charged with maintaining royal power.

Firestorm (2013) (UK Premiere)   

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 15:00

Running Time: 110 mins

Director: Alan Yuen

Cast: Andy Lau, Yao Chen, Lam Ka Tung, Hu Jun

We get another explosive police thriller from Hong Kong where the island’s brave police force face-off against mainland gangsters. Tou Shing-bong (La Ka tung) is released from prison and links up with mainland criminal Nam Cao (Hu Jun) and his brutal gang of armed robbers. Police Inspector Liu (Andy Lau) hunts them down but the lack of evidence means that he cannot lock the guy up. In his desperation to catch the crooks, Liu begins to lose control. Expect many chases and gun battles!

Judge! (2014) (International Premiere)   

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 17:15

Running Time: 105 mins

Director: Akira Nagai

Cast: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Keiko Kitagawa, Yosiyosi Arakawa, Lily Franky, Denden

The festival ends on a high with the hit comedy, Judge!, getting its international premiere. Furthermore, the director Akira Nagai will be appearing for the festival and conducting a Q&A after the film which should be fascinating because Nagai and the screenwriter, Yoshimitsu Sawamoto, are both veterans of the Japanese advertising world.

The film itself is a comedy about a hapless ad agency employee named Kiichiro Ota (Tsumabuki) who is sent by his almost-namesake boss to the Santa Monica Advertising Festival to scheme, bribe and cheat as much as possible to ensure that his company’s ad wins. However his English skills are lacking and so he drags along his brilliant colleague Hikari (Kitagawa) for support. With lots of culture clash gags, larger than life characters, and slapstick comedy, this is definitely one to attend. Post-screening Q&A wit director Akira Nagai

Festival Extras:

On top of the festival there are a number of events taking place such as the short film competition which I posted about a few weeks back.

Festival Hub

During the festival, Terracotta will be operating a festival hub at the Opium Cocktail & Dim Sum Bar on China Town’s Gerrard Street (next to Dumplings Hero). Free wi-fi will be available and maybe some of the stars will appear…

Forever Love Poster Exhibition

There will be a special display of Taiwanese theatrical posters at the hub for the duration of the festival.

The Venues and the Ticket Prices: 
Here’s where we get to the nitty-gritty of how to see the films: the locations and contact details and prices.

Spotlight On: The Philippines will take place at Institute of Contemporary Arts(ICA) from May 23^rd to 27^th:
The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH / Box Office: +44 (0)20 7930 3647
Tickets at the ICA: £10 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members

Current Asian Cinema and TERROR COTTA Horror All-Nighter takes place at The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st:
7 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BY / Box Office: +44 (0)20 7494 3654
Individual tickets at Prince Charles Cinema cost £9.50 for non members, no concessions/ £6.00 for members
(Friday afternoon: £7.50/ £5.50)
The Festival Pass costs £66.50 non members/ £56.50 for members
The Early Bird Pass* costs £65 non members/ £55 for members (excludes Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter and ICA Spotlight ON: Philippines)
*early bird price available for purchases before midnight, Thursday 1st May
Terror-Cotta Horror All-nighter: £22 non members/ £19.50 members

Keep an eye on the main website for updates and more information about the festival.

Cramming for a Japanese exam and speech has meant fewer posts but since those posts that I do send out into the wild are mammoth hulking festival previews… well, at least they get the time to shine. Yep, I’ve previewed The Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014 and there’s going to be another post about it next week to make the most of the info I got from the organisers. I have tried to include lots of information about different events in the festival and I’m updating it whenever anything happens. I’ve booked my tickets and now it’s all about the wait and in the meantime I have my Japanese exams to keep me very, very occupied.

Kabukicho High School                                                

Japanese Title: 歌舞伎町はいすくーる

Romaji: Kabukicho Hai Suku-ru

Running Time: 92 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shinichi Karube

Writer: Machiko Nasu (Screenplay), Masahide Motohashi (Original Manga)

Starring: Shun Shioya, Ainosuke Kataoka, Taro awano, Asami Kumakiri, Yasuki Tsuji, Shinichi Chiba, Hanako Tokachi

Ken Haine (Shioya) is the president of a successful company. He is so successful that he is known as the “King of Kabukicho”. Alas, his years of success have dulled him to the delights of life but he hits upon the idea of going back to school. And so our older dude heads to a vocational full of unusual people…

Website

Jakarta, Where Punk Lives – MARJINAL  

Japanese Title: マージナル＝ジャカルタ・パンク2014年春版

Romaji: Mājinaru = Jakaruta panku 2014-nen haru-ban

Running Time: 63 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ayumi Nakanishi

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

There’s a punk scene in Jakarta and this documentary captures the band Marjinal, a group at the centre of a movement that has grown from students dissatisfied with politics and poverty. Ayumi Nakanishi, the director, was originally a photographer but when she moved to Jakarta, she saw the communities that gave birth to the punk movement and the hostile government reaction and was inspired to film everything.

Website

The Summer of Whales   

Japanese Title: クジラのいた夏

Romaji: Kujira no Ita Natsu

Running Time: 89 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yasuhiro Yoshida

Writer: Yasuhiro Yoshida, Kota Oura (Screenplay)

Starring: Shuhei Nomura, Shota Matsushima, Kyosuke Hamao, Takuya Matsuoka, Aimi Satsukawa, Yumika Kiya, Akiho Ohtsubo, Kensho Ono

Chuuya (Nomura) has let his life slip by without having any ambitions until, one day, he decides he wants to head to Tokyo. His best friends – J, Gizmo, and Machida – throw a going away party but Chuuya is hesitant to leave. Then, an older girl named Yumiko, an entertainer in Tokyo, appears.

Website

My Little Nightmare: The Movie   

Japanese Title: 悪夢ちゃん The 夢ovie

Romaji: Akumu-chan The Movie

Running Time: 119 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Noriyoshi Sakuma

Writer: Sumio Omori (Screenplay), Riku Onda (Original Novel)

Starring: Keiko Kitagawa, Manatsu Kimura, Yuka, Gackt, Ryuta Sato, Fumiyo Kohinata, Karen Otomo, Manami Honjou

Ayami Mutoi (Kitagawa) is an elementary school teacher with a special student named Yuiko Koto a.k.a. “Akumu-chan”, a girl with the power of having precognitive dreams that foretell the misfortunes of others. When a transfer student named Kanji Shibui enters Ayami’s class, the other students find that they see a “dream prince” who looks like him in their dreams. Yuiko does as well and that’s because she’s falling in love with the prince…

Website

The Spirit of Science  

Japanese Title: おとなのかがく

Romaji: Otona no Kagaku

Running Time: 50 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuko Tadachi

Writer: N/A

Starring: Masamitsu Nagaoka, Toshiyuki Nishimura, Theo Jansen

My translation is off but I think this is a documentary from a science magazine looking at different dev kits from different countries.

Website

Kuchita teoshi-sha    

Japanese Title: 朽ちた手押し車

Romaji: Kuchita teoshi-sha

Running Time: 50 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiroshi Shima

Writer: Hiroshi Shima Susan Lee (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Rentaro Mikuni

Rentaro Mikuni was a famous actor who appeared in a number of great films like The Burmese Harp (1956), Harakiri (1962), Kwaidan (1965). This particular film is one that has spent 30 years in production and is about a family of fishermen facing problems. Rentaro plays a man with dementia, his wife is terminally ill and their son is pushed to breaking point. It’s all about the dignity of the elderly.

Website

Senritsu Kaiki Fairu Kowa Sugi! Shijou Saikyou no Gekijouban    

Japanese Title: 戦慄怪奇ファイル　コワすぎ！　史上最恐の劇場版

Romaji: Senritsu Kaiki Fairu Kowa Sugi! Shijou Saikyou no Gekijouban

Running Time: 80 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Koji Shiraishi

Writer: Koji Shiraishi (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Shigeo Osako, Koji Shiraishi,

Koji Shiraishi is back! His latest project is an interesting looking serial killer film which unfolds in a single take (that’s the interesting thing – a J-horror Russian Ark!). He favours the whole POV style where a cameraman captures supernatural weirdness. This isn’t it. This release is more of his usual stuff drawing upon his usual content like urban legends and found-footage, bad CGI and idols. It works in some films like Noroi and not in others.

Website

While looking for his films I discovered this website which lists the titles at the Japan Booth at Hong Kong Filmart. I had been tracking the titles via Variety but this site provides a good overview. There are quite a few titles I have written about and it looks like I may need to re-write the English titles…

The full line-up for this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival has been revealed ahead of its run at The Prince Charles Cinema and The Institute of Contemporary Art in London between May 23^rd and June 01^st and I have already written two massive previews for this blog and Anime UK News where I reveal the films and events. This particular post focusses on the Japanese titles selected and, in my opinion, the best titles in the festival.

This will be the sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival and it is the best place to see the latest in Asian cinema in the UK. This will be the second festival I will (hopefully) attend. I had the pleasure of being invited to the press conference while down in London for part of the Yoshitaro Nomura season. I’m glad I went to the media event because I met some cool fellow bloggers and saw the selection of Japanese films. These had me smiling and they are some of the latest and best looking titles I have written about in my weekly trailer posts. The titles that are top of my list are The Snow White Murder Case and Judge! which will get its international premiere. Furthermore, the director of Judge!, Akira Nagai, is going to be present and he will conduct a Q&A!  Here’s a list of the films. To find out more, click on the link to get taken to the festival page.

Lesson of Evil (2012) (London Premiere)  

Japanese Title: 悪　の　教典

Romaji: Aku no Kyoten

Running Time: 129 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer:  Takashi Miike (Screenplay), Yusuke Kishi (Original Novel)

Starring: Hideaki Ito, Fumi Nikaidou, Shota Sometani, Kento Hayashi, Hirona Yamazaki, Kodai Asaka, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Takayuki Yamada

Lesson of Evil is based on a novel written by Yusuke Kishi who has twice won the Japan Horror Associated Award. The outrageous action in the trailer is orchestrated by film maestro Takashi Miike (Audition, For Love’s Sake, Thirteen Assassins, and One Missed Call). It stars great actors like Hideaki Ito (The Princess Blade), Takayuki Yamada (MILOCRORZE, Thirteen Assassins), Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Cold Fish), Shota Sometani (Himizu) and Fumi Nikaidou (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?). The film is screened as part of the Terror Cotta All-Nighter.

Seiji (Ito) is a cool and charismatic and highly popular teacher among students at Shinko Academy, a private high school, and well respected by the faculty and the PTA. However, one of the students Reika (Nikaido) feels something menacing lurking beneath his shining reputation. Reika is uneasy about the man and together with Tsurii (Fukikoshi), an unpopular teacher at the school who despises the more popular Seiji, they start investigating his past and discover something scary.

Fumi Nikaido and Shota Sometani are names that would convince me to visit the film but it’s the idea of Fukikoshi’s character, the bitterly jealous teacher, which has me expecting some great character acting and even black comedy. and Lesson of Evil was given a theatrical release in Japan back in November 2012 and since then the film was screened at different film festivals like Rotterdam where it has garnered great reviews. It will be released by Third Window Films on September 29^th of this year (DVD already pre-ordered).

Killers (2013) (London Premiere)  

Japanese: キラーズ

Romaji: KILLERS KIRA-ZU

Running Time: 137 mins.

Release Date: February 01^st, 2014

Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto

Writer:  Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto (Screenplay),

Starring: Kazuki Kitamura, Oka Antara, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Mei Kurokawa, Denden, Ray Sahetapy

Okay, not strictly Japanese but a co-production between Indonesia and Japan executive produced by Gareth Evans, director of The Raid. This was released on a quiet weekend in February of this year and a review on Twitch makes it sound more like a fascinating rumination on violence, full of brutality and horror, rather than a gore fest. It will get a UK release thanks to Lionsgate UK.

Nomura (Kitamura) is a serial killer who records a murder of a woman and places it on the internet. Bayu (Antara) is a journalist in Jakarta who stumbles upon the video and becomes attracted to what he sees as the beauty in the cruel visuals. When he kills a robber in self-defence he records the robber’s dying moments and uploads his own video. Nomura sees the video and a connection is made! A competition is initiated.

Be My Baby (2014) (UK Premiere)   

Japanese Title: 恋の渦

Romaji: Koi no Uzu

Release Date: March 30^th 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 138 mins

Director: Hitoshi Ōne

Writer: Daisuke Miura (Original work/Screenplay),

Starring: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yumi Goto, Takumi Matsuzawa, Mariko Sugio, Hiroaki Kamadaki, Daisuke Sawamura

This film comes from Cinema Impact, an example of the indie film production model where ‘workshops’ of actors working with veteran staff to create indie films. Be My Baby is a low-budget film that was shot in four days for under $10,000 in a couple of locations. It is directed by Hitoshi One, director of the big-budget Moteki which stared Kumiko Aso, Mirai Moriyama and Riisa Naka. It is based on a theatre play written by Daisuke Miura which was first staged in 2006 and screened in cinemas in March of last year. Daisuke Miura’s stage play has been on tour around the world and writer Miura declares it an insight into a generation that has everything but is still unsatisfied in spiritual terms. The review over at Variety is positively glowing which makes me curious about its potential!

Four couples, three beds, one masionette living room and a luxury apartment. The action takes place over the course of a night where a kindergarten teacher, students and office works make meaningless small talk about superficial things until their self-consciousness vanishes and they get closer. Closer to what? A sex party. This is one where emotions are absent – names are not known, they only know each other by number man/woman 1-4 – and they shed their emotions and passions hoping to break up without getting hurt.

Snow White Murder Case (2014) (International Premiere)  

Japanese Title: 白ゆき姫殺人事件

Romaji: Shiro Yuki Hime Satsujin Jiken

Running Time: 126 mins.

Release Date: March 29^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Writer: Tamio Hayashi (Screenplay), Kanae Minato (Original Novel)

Starring: Mao Inoue, Gou Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao, Shihori Kanjiya, Nobuaki Kaneko, Erena Ono, Mitsuki Tanimura, Shota Sometani, Katsuhisa Namase, Dankan,

Quite possibly, the best looking film released in March, or at least the most eye-catching due to the glitzy trailer and cool posters, and the film I am gunning for! Its story is a contemporary suspense thrillerabout the dark power of social media and trends which looks ripe for analysis from pseudo-intellectual bloggers such as yours truly… It is based on a work by the novelist Kanae Minato who is the writer of the award-winning Confessions and it is directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura. I have reviewed two of his films and I remain agnostic about his directorial skills because I loved The Foreign Duck while I hated See You Tomorrow, Everyone, which I saw at last year’s Terracotta film festival. He teams up with his usual writer Tamio Hayashi (Shield of Straw) for a murder tale full of hot young actors like Gou Ayano (The Story of Yonosuke), Mao Inoue (Rebirth), and Shihori Kanjiya. And Dankan, who is neither hot or young but is totally amusing and game for a laugh as seen in his performances in Getting Any? and Eyes of the Spider.

The Show White Murder Case sees victim Noriko Miki (Nanao), the best looking girl at a cosmetics company, murdered and her dowdy co-worker Miki (Inoue) coming under suspicion due to a Twitter tip off received by newbie director Akahoshi (Ayano). The media frenzy begins as television shows play interviews with Miki’s friends, family and anybody even vaguely associated with her. Soon rumours of her being a wicked woman emerge. Are they true?

Hopefully, I’ll be at the screening and I can find out!

Judge! (2014) (International Premiere)   

Japanese Title: ジャッジ！

Romaji: Jajji!

Running Time: 105 mins.

Release Date: January 11^th, 2014

Director: Akira Nagai

Writer: Yoshimitsu Sawamoto (Screenplay)

Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Keiko Kitagawa, Lily Franky, Kyoka Suzuki, YosiYosi Arakawa, Yoji Tanaka, Denden, Ryo Kase, Etsushi Toyokawa, Iyo Matsumoto,

The final film of the festival is the hit comedy, Judge!, which gets its international premiere here.  This was originally released in January and the culture clash and physical gags marked it out as an entertaining title. This is based on an original idea cooked up by a writer and director who are both veterans of the Japanese ad world which should make the post-screening Q&A with director Akira Nagai fascinating to sit in on. There’s a large cast of excellent actors like Satoshi Tsumabuki (For Love’s Sake), Denden (Cold Fish), Etsushi Toyokawa (Angel Dust, Loft), Kyoka Suzuki (Welcome Back, Mr McDonald), Lily Franky (Like Father, Like Son) and YosiYosi Arakawa (Fine, Totally Fine).

Kiichiro Ota (Tsumabuki) has just scored a job at an advertising agency and already he is sent to the world’s biggest TV advertising festival in Santa Monica by his almost-namesake boss with orders to secure victory for their company’s ad by any means necessary. Like scheming, bribery and so forth. Alas, Kiichiro’s English skills are nought and so he drags along his brilliant colleague Hikari Ota (Kitagawa). They get to pretend to be husband and wife due to their similar family names but they couldn’t be more different since she is serious and he is a bit of a geek (his Urusei Yatsura T-shirt is a giveaway) who loves to party. Kiichiro’s party soon ends when he finds out that unless his company’s commercial wins a prize he’ll be fired. Can he do it?

This is another film that I am aiming to see along with The Snow White Murder Case and The Face Reader, a Korean film.

My long week at work is about to end and I’m about to start a short four day holiday where I prep for my Japanese exam. I’ve already had my speaking test where I introduced this blog to my class and traumatised people with trailers for Suicide Club, Cure: The Power of Suggestion and others. Next week is my final exam and I have spent most of this week studying. The only anime/film related thing I have done is to watch Ping Pong The Animation and Crystal Blaze and post more about this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival (new info on the guests). Enough from me, here are the trailers for the films released for this week in Tokyo! I’m going to shuffle off and go back to studying.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro   

Japanese Title:ルパン三世　カリオストロの城

Romaji: Rupan Sansei Kariosutoro no Shiro

Running Time: 96 mins

Release Date: May 09^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writer: Yasuo Otsuka (Screenplay), Haruya Yamazaki, Hayao Miyazaki (Script), Monkey Punch (Original Manga)

Starring: Yasuo Yamada (Arsene Lupin III), Makio Inoue (Goemon Ishikawa), Kiyoshi Kobayashi (Jigen Daisuke), Goro Naya (Inspector Zenigata), Eiko Masuyama (Fujiko Mine), Sumi Shimamoto (Lady Clarisse de Cagliostro)

Film of the weekend, everybody else go home! This is the remaster of the CLASSIC, Castle of Cagliostro. It’s getting screened in cinemas across Japan and there will be reissues of the original 1979 poster and pamphlet for the film. We all know the story (or should know), Lupin and best-pal/partner in crime Jigen, search for a counterfeiter who has rendered their latest casino heist a waste of time. They discover that the counterfeiter is in the secluded country of Cagliostro and that a wicket count is holding a beautiful and innocent princess in a tower… I love this anime and I’d recommend it as one of a number of entry titles for those not familiar with Japanese animation. It’s definitely one of Miyazaki’s best.

Website

Live   

Japanese Title:ライヴ

Romaji: Raivu

Running Time: 105 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Noboru Iguchi

Writer: Noboru Iguchi (Screenplay), Yusuke Yamada (Original Novel)

Starring: Yuki Yamada, Ito Ono, Yui Morinaga, Mari Iriki, Kokone Sasaki, Yuka Eda, Shinji Kasahara, Mitsuki Koga

Noboru Iguchi adapts a Yusuke Yamada story! It’s about a mysterious death race that is suddenly broadcast live on television where racers are eliminated in gruesome ways one by one. It’s a hit with the viewing public. What people don’t realise is that the runners taking part in the race have no option but to compete to ensure that their loved ones don’t come to any harm at the hands of a mysterious group! There are participants like Naoto Tamura (Yamada), a freeter who is racing to save his mother!

Website

My Pretend Girlfriend   

Japanese Title:百瀬、こっちを向いて

Romaji: Momose, Kocchi wo Muite

Running Time: 109 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Saiji Yakumo

Writer: Kyoko Inukai (Screenplay), Eiichi Nakata (Original Novel)

Starring: Akari Hayami, Taro Takeuchi, Osamu Mukai, Asuka Kudo, Anna Ishibashi

The international title, My Pretend Girlfriend, makes this sound like some lame school comedy based on an equally lame anime but the trailer paints it out to be a heartfelt and emotional story… Perhaps a little flimsy but certainly not a comedy. The Japanese title is Look Over Here, Momose which is nicer and speaks of the yearning for love that the characters have. In the story, Noboru (Takeuchi) is an anonymous high school student  who looks up to his sempai Miyazaki (Kudo) who is much more popular and has two girlfriends: the adventurous Momose (Hayami) and Tetsuko (Ishibashi), a girl from a wealthy family. Tetsuko catches Miyazaki with Momose so to put her off the trail of his infidelity he asks Noboru and Momose to pretend they are dating. They both agree because they both like Miyazaki but Noboru might really love Momose…

Website

Wood Job!   

Japanese Title:（ウッジョブ）　神去なあなあ日常

Romaji: (Ujjobu) kamisari nānā nichijō

Running Time: 116 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shinobu Yaguchi

Writer: Shinobu Yaguchi(Screenplay), Shion Miura (Original Novel)

Starring: Shota Sometani, Masami Nagasawa, Hideaki Ito, Yuka, Naomi Nishida, Makita Sports, Ken Mitsuishi, Akira Emoto

Yuki Hirano (Sometani) is a high school grad who has failed his university entrance exams. He expects to spend the near future working a part time job but sees a brochure for a year-long forestry training scheme and soon he’s in a remote mountain village called Kamusari which has none of the amenities of Tokyo but immense beauty and warm-hearted locals and a beautiful young woman named Naoki (Nagasawa) He just has to survive his rough and ready instructors like Yoki (Ito).

This is adapted from a novel by Shion Miura (Mahoro Eki Mae Bangaichi, The Great Passage) and it’s full of great actors like Shota Sometani (Himizu), Ken Mitsuishi (Rent-a-Cat, Noriko’s Dinner Table) and more!

Website

A2-B-C   

Japanese Title: A2-B-C

Romaji: A2-B-C

Running Time: 71 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ian Thomas Ash

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

This is a 3/11 documentary from American documentary filmmaker Ian Thomas Ash who has lived in Japan for more than a decade. He made this film which focusses on several families affected by the disaster. They live in Date city, 37 miles away from the Fukushima power plant, and the city was never evacuated so they know have to deal with living with radiation. It was at last year’s Raindance Film festival and I met the director of the film but I was so tired I merely stood around feeling awkward and said nothing.

Website

Eiga Panpaka Pantsu Bananan Okoku no Hiho  

Japanese Title:えいがパンパカパンツ　バナナン王国の秘宝

Romaji: Eiga Panpaka Pantsu Bananan Okoku no Hiho

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Benpi Neko

Writer: Benpi Neko, Kazumi Ishizuka (Screenplay)

Starring: Yoshino Nanjo, Kaoru Mizuhara,Takahiro Ogata, Satoshi Mukai,

Animals wearing pants. The main character is a pig who wears pants. The story follows a family of pigs (who wear pants) who go on holiday and get stuck in the Bananan kingdom, a jungle realm full of creepy creatures instead of Hawaii.

Website

Dystonia   

Japanese Title:ジストニア

Romaji: Jisutonia

Running Time: 100 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Tomoo Kawabata

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

According to Wikipedia, dystonia is a serious neurological disorder where the muscles contract into twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. This documentary records the activities of patients and physicians to show the way people cope and the support they get from doctors and family.

Website

Ressha Daikoushin The ☆Movie Shinkansen to Wakuwaku Densha dai shugo   

Japanese Title:れっしゃだいこうしん　ザ☆ムービー　しんかんせんとわくわくでんしゃ大集合

Romaji: Ressha Daikoushin Sa ☆Mubi shinkansen to Wakuwaku den sha dai shugo

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiromu Tani

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yukitoshi Nagafuchi,Reiko Tokunaga, Ai Nonaka

This is the sixth instalment of a film series aimed at children and rail-loving adults complete with introductions to trains in various regions and with quizzes and animated sequences.

Website

Renai manga wa yayakoshi atsumare! Koisuru mosozoku   

Japanese Title:恋愛漫画はややこしい　集まれ！恋する妄想族れっしゃだいこうしん　ザ☆ムービー　しんかんせんとわくわくでんしゃ大集合

Romaji: Renai manga wa yayakoshī atsumare! Koisuru mōsozoku

Running Time: 81 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Rihito Arao

Writer: N/A

Starring: Shinpei Saito, Kanako Kataoka, Uta Kohaku, Kanako Yamada,

From what I can make out, lead actor Shinpei Saito is the president of an IT company in Fukushima and he had the dream of appearing in a movie and so he made this film about a guy who failed to get into university and gets into adventures like romancing a girl and becoming addicted to girls manga… It’s directed by Rihito Arao whose last film was Bonsai Girl (2011).

Website

Iwaki Noto Fukushima Voice   

Japanese Title:いわきノート FUKUSHIMA VOICE

Romaji: Iwaki Noto Fukushima Voice

Running Time: 86 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shun Arima, Mito Shino, Sasaki Kikaede

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

It has been quite a while since we have had a 3/11 film in a trailer post but here we have two in one. This is from multiple directors, all college students, who covered Iwaki City which lies in Fukushima Prefecture where Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant continues to be a major problem. They go across the city and meet people with different professions and places in society to discuss the future of the area.

Website

We’re a Bounty Hunter Team   

Japanese Title:俺たち賞金稼ぎ団

Romaji: Oretachi Shokin Kasegidan

Running Time: 99 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Koichi Sakamoto

Writer: Yoshifumi Sakai

Starring: Atsushi Maruyama, Ryo Ryusei, Syuusuke Saito, Yamato Kinjo, Akihisa Shiono, Ayuri Konno, Yumi Sugimoto, Yuki Yamada, Rei Saito

Super Sentai veteran Koichi Sakamoto has had a number of films he directed released in recent months (Red vs Pink, Girl’s Blood) and this is his latest title which involves a disparate group of people tracking down an arsonist and joining forces.

Website

Yoshinaka densetsu Yoshinaka ana  

Japanese Title:ヨシナカ伝説　義仲穴

Romaji: Yoshinaka densetsu Yoshinaka ana

Running Time: 67 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kitatane Akibaru

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yoji Matsuda, Emiri Nakayama, Ichiro Ogura, Yoko Watanabe, Steve Eto,

When a contagious disease spreads in a small mountain village, only a young woman seems impervious to it. The Kamakura shogunate send a monk and physician to check the place out where they uncover a conspiracy.

Website

Recently Butterfly…   

Japanese Title:最近、蝶々は…

Romaji: Saikin, Chōchō wa…

Running Time: 96 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoyuki Tomomatsu

Writer: Naoyuki Tomomatsu (Screenplay), Shungiku Uchida (Manga Series: Saikin, Chocho wa)

Starring: Maki Aoyama, Ryo Asagiri,Risa Goto, Yuya Tokumoto, Horiken, Iona, Aya Kisaki, Ayumi Kuroki,

I first saw Shungiku Uchida when she starred in Takashi Miike’s Visitor Q. Then, I forgot about her because I didn’t see her appear in anything else again… Until now. She has written and stars in this film where the erotic and suspense combine to make an erotic suspense story (what else?). Uchida is a talented person who has overcome a lot and made a formidable career. Her latest story looks absolutely bizarre. A magazine reporter tracks down a seriously foxy woman with butterfly bruises who preys on men and sucks the juices out of them. It’s partly supernatural and it seems like the woman is being controlled by a supernatural being who murders anybody who gets in her way. Uchida is one of the stars in this and she is the taxi driver.

Website

How does Wit Studio follow up a massive smash-hit like the TV anime Attack on Titan and its amusing OVAs? They make an office comedy. “Office comedy? What’s with all the demons?” you might ask.   Hoozuki no Reitetsu is an office comedy set in the Japanese afterlife. The office just happens to be a functioning government that runs Japanese Hell. “The Eight Greater Hells” and “The Eight Cold Hells” have 272 subdivisions that are all dedicated to reforming the souls of wicked people through various punishments meted out by Great King Enma, the guy who passes judgement on the souls of the dead. When I say punishments, I mean things like being getting ground up into paste over and over for sneezing in peoples’ food and acting like an ass in restaurants to being mauled by animals for the crime of being cruel to animals in life. There’s a hell for philanders which amusingly brings up gender equality over the discussion about whether sexy female demons should dole out pain because some guys might like that. With so many bad humans and lots of involved office politics, Enma needs someone reliable to maintain order: enter the demon administrator named Hoozuki, a sort of middle-manager dealing with the endless chaos. Hoozuki is chief aide to the Great King Emna and has to keep the whole show running which usually means getting involved in the local politics of the various subdivisions which are like little fiefdoms each of which is run by some mythological creature or legend from Japanese history. Not only that but he works as a foreign minister as he deals with relations with Heaven/Shangri-La and European Hell and the tourism as people from  Hell visit Heaven/Shangri-La to indulge in the hot springs and food while people from Heaven/Shangri-La visit Hell to go on almighty drinking sessions and see some smoking women.

This is a simplification of a rather amusing and thoroughly Japanese anime based on Natsumi Eguchi’s popular seinen manga. The show eschews building a grand plot and each episode is split into two stories that go into detail about the different places in hell and the different characters that populate the place, from religious figures like Great King Enma and the Ten divine kings to mythical legends like the Inch High Samurai and Momotaro and his animal companions. What Natsumi Eguchi does with these characters is to place them in the framework of a large government running the afterlife with analogous posts and office politics. Roles are an amusing mix of the mundane and exotic: section chiefs, torture device creators, janitors, chemists and actual torturers – Momotaro’s co-horts become the newest recruits in Animal Cruelty Hell and take to it with alarming ease.

The audience gets to visit each of these places in the company of Hoozuki who ensures that the wicked are being disciplined, usually through being boiled in vats of grease, being turned into a living tree for adultery or just plain being bashed around by Hoozuki who quite likes getting his hands dirty and lugs a cruel looking mace around to enforce the rules.

That there are references to real and mythical figures who each have jobs, such as the eight-headed demon snake Yamata no Orochi who is the drunken janitor in Screaming Hell (a place for those who committed sins when drunk), to the very real Hokusai (who turns out to be a bit of a decorator who left murals around the place) should give some indication to the extent of its originality and the quality of its comedy as it aims to be high-brow and cultured and subversive. It utilises and references the deep and rich supernatural elements of Japan (Obon and the “Night Parade of a Hundred Demons”) and turns them into a series of administrative problems and field trips. It’s ambitious and intelligent and something rarely seen, it is also very well-written, which is occasionally seen on other shows like Space Dandy.

The show’s comedic content is very dry and low-key at times and it can come off as non-existent especially when an episode feels like a literary and cultural test and (and it does feel like it at times because only the most hard-core of Japanophiles will get EVERY single reference. There were many Japanese cultural references that I just did not get and I relied a lot on the translator’s notes to make sense of situations but for the most part I was still enjoying it. Even when I wasn’t laughing, I knew that the show would take a turn because the humour is generally a mix of high and low brow, smut and sight gags and many puns and references to classical figures, sex and violence and all done with intelligence and all good natured. It is very earthy at times and always irreverent. There are many office gags that people who have worked in organisations big and small will recognise like the mess-hall banter and the unrequited feelings that one has for colleagues, the way people carry out orders no matter how ridiculous (and the ensuing whispered comments questioning their bosses leadership) and the way the public have to be handled. There are also many fourth-wall breaking gags about Hoozuki going on holiday and meeting fans of Japanimation in Australia and endless references to other anime (Ghibli being a favourite). The animation and direction are solid but it’s the artwork that defines a lot of things because seeing everything in anime form is amusing and there are so many surreal and weird images to be seen from the various layers of hell and the characters to things like Hoozuki having a collection of Goldfish flowers – literally, a fish at the end of a stalk – which, when one sees the final episode, turns into one of the cruellest and slyest gags in the whole show. Seeing the classical Japanese art and the Buddhist scrolls rendered into a modern medium is not unique (see Kyousogiga) but the characters are adorable and cute. Minamoto Yoshitsune from “Heike Monogatari” is not like his fearsome real life character but a bishounen who wishes to transfer to another job. An insanely cute and just plain insane rabbit turns out to be from the grisly tale of “Kachi-kachi Yama” which is a crazy and cruel story and another reminder that myths and fairy-tales are full of nutters. Seeing these transposed into an anime makes them even weirder and funnier. The women are also WOMEN, well-written characters and sexy and interesting, alluring but never objectified or reduced to fan-service dolls maybe because a woman wrote this. The gags around the women aren’t using them as the punchline but the emotions of lust and sin that all humans feel, which fits in nicely with the themes and locale of the show.

Talking about characters… My favourite characters are the low-ranking but enthusiastic minions Karauri and Nasubi and the adventures they get into as they try and climb the corporate ladder and chase after food/oppai in a good-natured way. Hoozuki is also very badass. He is the type of boss you respect because he gets things done. He is so competent that if you worked for him you would feel confident that he can help solve any and all of your problems. Hoozuki is also a mystery which makes hanging around with him fun since he has so many different aspects, all of them slightly weird. Hanging with him is fun. “Hoozuki no Reitetsu” was an oddity in the Winter 2013/14 season because it was adult and dared to be intelligent and low-key. The makers count on the audience being intelligent enough to keep paying attention. There’s very little in the way of plot and the humour is very dry but the makers know that a committed audience will follow. The anime does require some knowledge of Japanese history and mythology but it also relies on a greater part of the maturity, experience and intelligence gained by the audience from being in those situations to make the most of it and there is a lot to enjoy.

5/5

Here’s a cool production video to give you a taste:

I had not planned to do any first-impressions of the anime this season and just follow the picks I made with a series review but I watched Knights of Sidonia and wanted to write a few words, partly because fellow blogger Novroz was interested and partly to just give my take because I like the story and the anime has impressed me.

I am a big fan of Tsutomu Nihei and I think his art is distinctive, detailed, weird and very, very cinematic. His skill is clear to see in the architecture, the characters and the great use of art and frames to convey scale and movement. Whenever I read his manga I can always imagine them adapted into films so any adaptation of his work is going to get my attention. Of all the titles he has worked on, Knights of Sidonia is probably the best candidate, if only because the attempts at a coherent plot and narrative join up much better than in others and the story is epic enough to span a two-cours season.

First off, that intro by angela is suitably militaristic, electronic and bombastic enough to fit the show. 

I expect nothing less after their performance on the intro for Coppelion.

I’ll probably start listening to more of their stuff. 

The writing on the show’s first episode was enjoyably intriguing. 

Nihei is not the strongest when it comes to plot and narrative but, just to remind everyone, the series composition is handled by Sadayuki Murai, writer of screenplays for Kino’s Journey and the great live-action Mushishi movie so I expect an intelligent handling of the series.

Knights of Sidonia seems to reference creatures and events from the manga Abara but apparently the two are unconnected, all we know is that Earth has been destroyed by polymorphous betentacled creatures known as Gauna.

Humanity was forced to flee into space and look for a new home using gigantic spaceships. One of these ships is called Sidonia and that’s where the story takes place. After a century of peace, the Gauna’s are back. To help fend off the threat of the Gauna’s, humanity has developed mecha and main character Nagate Tanikaze is training to be a pilot of one of these mecha. 

So far so generic

What makes this different from something like Battlestar Galactica (another show where humanity is on the run from some great existential threat in spaceships) is how humanity has adapted.

There are three sexes – male, female and intersex (characters who are both genders and can reproduce asexually as well as with members of other sexes). People also have the ability to use photosynthesis (something our main character cannot do).

There is the military government which is running the show, something which irks the civilians who have experienced nothing but peace for a century.

Not so generic. It’s all told in incidental scenes – like the protest outside a hospital – and dialogue – show not tell. There are a lot of details and the world building has been entertaining mostly because it is intelligently done and there have been no info-dumps, excessive narration or obvious and tedious moments of exposition.

I found that the visual aspect of the anime looked good due to canny use of the direction – camera angles, character placement – and the art style made me adapt to the CGI pretty quickly.

Anime fandom pretty much dismisses CGI, especially when it is used for character models, and not without good reason because there are many films like Vexille which look somewhat lifeless and bland while the animation plays out in an anaemic way that lacks dynamism and force. Not so here.

The CGI present in the show looks good. The character models do capture some of the look Nihei creates for his cast, that sort of perfect and flawless beauty or discomfiting artificiality.

Perfect for the “undead” in the masks.

All those little details that Nihei makes for clothes are present as seen in Nagates tattered clothes and the second-hand jumpsuits the pilots wear.

The CGI works even better for the mecha battles where the models stand out in the battles and all the military details – HUDs and screens lit up – make an impact. The look, combined with camera placement, deliver the atmosphere really well and that feeling extends to the movement of the characters and machines. Watching the set piece battles and chases, there is a sense of speed and fluidity. Not quite exhilarating stuff like Attack on Titan, but well done nonetheless.

What the CGI does ever better is capture the landscapes and environments that Nihei is famous for. The bowels of the ship are cramped and dark places.

The surface of Sidonia is usually shot from high or low angles and gives a sense of the vertiginous drops and the overall look is like something a high-tech arthitect like Sir Norman Foster would love, all glass, concrete and exposed pipes, a place fit for a technocratic way of life.

Overall, I was left satisfied with the episode. The first episode ended with a battle and after that there is more story and world-building to come. Based on this episode alone, it’s currently one of my favourites this season. 

The writing on the show’s first episode has been intelligently handled. Nihei is not the strongest when it comes to plot and narrative but, just to remind everyone, the series composition is handled by Sadayuki Murai, writer of screenplays for Kino’s Journey and the great live-action Mushishi movie so I expect.

The films playing at the Cannes Film Festival were announced earlier today and as expected Naomi Kawase’s latest feature is in Competition. She is competing against a field full of very strong directors like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, David Cronenberg and Jean-Luc Godard. Kawase’s film looks the most intriguing to me, although Mike Leigh’s film about JMW Turner has me interested as well. Here are the details on Kawase’s film (alas, no trailer. I guess we’ll have to wait):

Still the Water                        

Japanese Title: ２つ目の窓

Romaji: Futatsume no Mado

Release Date: Summer, 2014

Running Time: N/A

Director: Naomie Kawase

Writer: Naomie Kawase (Screenplay),

Starring: Nijiro Murakami, Jun Yoshinaga, Tetta Sugimoto, Miyuki Matsuda, Makiko Watanabe, Jun Murakami, Hideo Sakaki, Fujio Tokita

It is the full-moon night of August and on Amami-Oshima traditional dances take place. A 14-year-old boy finds a dead body floating in the sea. With the help of his girlfriend, the two set about trying to solve the mystery. As they investigate the two grow into adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love.

Naomie Kawase is familiar with Cannes since she won the Camera d’Or in 1997 with “Suzaku”, the Grand Prix with “The Mourning Forest” in 2007 and her last feature, “Hanezu,” was at Cannes 2011. She was at last year’s Cannes Film Festival as a judge and was expected to return with her latest feature, “Still the Water”, a film shot on the Japanese island of Amami-Oshima, a place her grandmother grew up on. The personal roots run deeper since the film is inspired by a story from her grandmother… The setup reminds me of the film “Goth: Love of Death” what with the two teenagers coming of age during a murder mystery.

The cast is first rate with Makiko Watanabe (Love Exposure, Capturing Dad), Jun Murakami (Bounce Ko Gals, Isn’t Anyone Alive?, The Land of Hope) and Tetta Sugimoto (Zero Focus) and the colour scheme looks gorgeous – most films set on the islands are typically gorgeous. It’s “Goth: Love of Death in Paradise”.

I love the poster and the images released are delectable.

The Short Film Competition has one Japanese entry in the form of Happo-en while Chie Hayakawa’s film Niagra which is in the Cinefondation selection which gets its entry from film schools. What makes her film stand out to me is that it’s from ENBU seminar. Japanese Atsuko Hirayanagi who is representing a school based in Singapore is also attending. She has attended plenty of festivals and made lots of shorts. Expect more news when it comes.

UPDATE (22/04/14):

The full list is out and only one more addition. Directors’ Fortnight sees Princess Kaguya screened. It was released back in Japan last November.

The Story of Princess Kaguya  

Japanese:　かぐや　姫　の　物語

Romaji: Kaguya Hime no Monogatari

Running Time: 137 mins.

Release Date: November 23rd, 2013

Director: Isao Takahata

Writer: Isao Takahata, Riko Sakaguchi (Screenplay)

Starring: Aki Asakura (Kaguya), Kengo Kora (Sutemaru), Nobuko Miyamoto (Ouno), Takeo Chii (Okina)

 Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, writer and director of Only Yesterday, Pom Poko Grave of the Firefliesand Little Norse Prince Valiant, made an adaptation of a famous ancient Japanese folktale originally called Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) which is about a princess named Kaguya who is discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a growing plant by a bamboo cutter and adopted by the chap and his wife.

Website

Also, I quite like the poster for this year’s festival!

After a movie drought lasting a few weeks, I watched two films:  Rent-a-Neko and The Quiet Ones. Tonight I’ll watch Museum Hours and Cold Eyes. I still have about eight film reviews to write and now I have three from this list to add on (although Rent-a-Neko is practically finished)!!! It’s a good thing that I’ve got a day off coming up after my trip down to London. I’ve already completed some posts for the next fortnight although there will only be two per week – anime/film reviews and trailers.

This week I posted about the Japanese films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (that feature from Naomi Kawase looks so good!) and I also posted my first impression of Knights of Sidonia.

Here’s a bunch of trailers for the Japanese films released this week and there are some interesting looking titles!

The Light Shines Only There  

Japanese: そこのみにて光輝く

Romaji: Soko nomi nite Hikari Kagayaku

Running Time: 120 mins.

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Mipo O

Writer: Yasushi Sato (Screenplay), Ryo Takada (Original Novel)

Starring: Gou Ayano, Chizuru Ikewaki, Masaki Suda, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Hinom Hiroko Isayama

Based on a novel published in 1989, this is winning all sorts of acclaim at festivals. It is directed by Mipo O and she was last reviewed here with her effort on Quirky Guys and Gals and the screenplay was written by Ryo Takada who worked on The Ravine of Goodbye. It stars Gou Ayano (Rurouni Kenshin, The Story of Yonosuke).

Tatsuo Sato (Ayano) quits his job and does little with his days until he meets Takuji Oshiro (Suda) at a pachinko parlour and strikes up a friendship. Takuji invites Tatsuo back to his home where he lives with is sick father, mother and older sister Chinatsu (Ikewaki). Tatsuo becomes attracted to Chinatsu, who shines even in their difficult situation.

Website

Nihon’ichi Shiawasena Jūgyōin o Tsukuru! Hoteruasoshia Nagoya Tāminaru no Chōsen   

Japanese: 日本一幸せな従業員をつくる！　ホテルアソシア名古屋ターミナルの挑戦

Romaji: Nihon’ichi Shiawasena Jūgyōin o Tsukuru! Hoteruasoshia Nagoya Tāminaru no Chōsen

Running Time: 92 mins.

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yasuko Iwasaki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Akio Shibata

Akio Shibata was brought into a well-established hotel on the brink of bankruptcy and transformed its fortunes by transforming the way that the management and employees interact with each other. His special management philosophies brought change by making sure everyone felt special and happy and so the hotel transformed into a more successful establishment.

Website

Negative Happy Marriage Part 2  

Japanese: ハッピーネガティブマリッジ Part2

Romaji:  Happī Negatibu Marijji Part 2

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kenji Yokoi

Writer: Ryuta Amazume (Original Manga)

Starring: Takashi Nagayama, Saki Seto, Shota Minami, Taro Suwa, Nana Nanaumi

The first Happy Negative Marriage was released at the end of last month and now part 2 gets a release. The story is about the virginal salaryman Keitaro Sato. He is about to hit 31 which means that he’ll miss out on getting company housing due to being unmarried so he turns to an omiai to use their matchmaking skills to secure him a bride. The lucky guy gets a gorgeous babe named Shimako (Seto) but his lack of experience with women leads to confusion…

Website

Detective Conan: Sniper From Another Dimension (Movie 18)  

Japanese: 名探偵コナン　異次元の狙撃手（スナイパー）

Romaji:  Meitantei Conan Ijiigen no Sniper

Running Time: 110 mins.

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kobun Shizuno

Writer: Kazunari Kouchi (Screenplay), Gosho Aoyama (Original Creator)

Starring: Minami Takayama (Conan Edogawa), Miyuki IChijou (Jodie Starling), Shuuichi Ikeda (Shuuichi Akai), Wakana Yamazaki (Ran Mori), Rikiya Koyama (Kogoro Mori), Noriko Hidaka (Masumi Sera), Ryotaro Okiayu (Subaru Okiya),

FBI agent Shuichi Akai is targeted by a sniper and Masumi Sera is also shot. The people in Tokyo are in panic. Why were Sera and Akai targeted? Will Akai be targeted again? Detective Conan and Jodie Starling are on the case!

Website

Crayon Shin-Chan: Serious Battle! Robot Dad Strikes Back  

Japanese: 映画クレヨンしんちゃん　ガチンコ！逆襲のロボとーちゃん

Romaji: Kureyon Shin-chan: Gachinko! Gyakushu no Robo To-chan

Running Time: 97 minutes

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Wataru Takahashi

Writer: Kazuki Nakashima (Screenplay),Yoshito Usui (Original Manga)

Starring: Akiko Yajima (Shinnosuke Nohara), Miki Narahashi (Misae Nohara), Keiji Fujiwara (Hiroshi Nohara), Satomi Korogi (Himawari Nohara), Emi Takei (Dandanbara Teruyo)

When Shin-chan’s father Hiroshi goes to the Este salon after an injury, he finds a mysterious beautiful girl who gives him a free trial of beauty treatment as well as a massage only this turns him into a robot. Shin-chan is overjoyed, whereas Misae isn’t so thrilled. The robot version of Hiroshi turns out to be convenient, not least because Hiroshi can be controlled by a remote control and does stuff like the cooking and cleaning. This weirdness is part of a dark conspiracy hatched by “Chichi Yure Doumei (The Association of Fathers)” to create a strong father figure for all the fathers in Japan and soon, chaos ensues… Can Hiroshi and Shin-chan save the day?

Website

Aru Himori no Naka  

Japanese: あるひもりのなか

Romaji: Aru Himori no Naka

Running Time: 7o minutes

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kenj Araki

Writer: Kenji Araki (Screenplay),

Starring: Ai Ishihara, Tatsuo Wakabayashi, Hideki Yokobori

Whenever I see Art Port are connected to a film I smile for the simple fact that the film will be strange and boy does that word fit this trailer. Shikashi. The film is about a school girl who goes into the woods and meets an alien bear who has come to conquer the Earth. She gets involved with strange things, of course. The film mixes sci-fi, fantasy and fairy tales. F*ck it, that was so delightful, it’s my trailer of the week. Trailer of the century, maybe.

Website

Death’s Live Coverage Movie Version   

Japanese: 死の実況中継　劇場版

Romaji: Shi no Jikkyo Chukei Gekijouban

Running Time: 80 minutes

Release Date: April 19^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masaaki Jindo

Writer: Yoshikazu Sugiyama (Screenplay),

Starring: Saki Funaoka, Yusuke Arai, Seiya Eto, Shohei Nanba Misato Kawauchi, Ami Nojo

If nothing else, this film will prove that the only thing people should use the internet for is to watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. In this J-horror ttle, a college student is sent a URL to an unfamiliar website and witnesses “the live coverage of someone dying.” After seeing this film, a woman in red with a large pair of scissors dashes into the scene and chases a bunch of girls, some of whom are in the idol unit Nogizaka 46. The film is reminiscent of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s J-horror classic Pulse but with none of the atmosphere…

Website

Rent-a-Cat   

Japanese Title: レンタネコ

Romaji: Rentaneko

Running Time: 110 mins.

Release Date: May 12th, 2012 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Ogigami

Writer: Naoko Ogigami

Starring: Mikako Ichikawa, Reiko Kusamura, Ken Mitsuishi, Maho Yamada, Kei Tanaka

There is a woman who roams a riverbank in a contemporary Japanese city. She pulls a cart which has a selection of cats in the back. This is actually part of her business. As she moves at a leisurely pace she calls out to people through a megaphone with simple slogans and questions to attract the right customers:

“Rent-a-cat. Rent-aaaaaaaaaa-cat. Feeling lonely? I’ll lend you a cat.”

Her name is Sayoko (Ichikawa) and it seems that she does this daily. Tall and slender, with short hair and a long face, she is dressed in an imaginative array of colourful though unfashionable clothes that look like they were put together after a foray in a charity shop. She is a magnet for cats and lives in a house full of former strays that join her feline family. One might class her as a free thinker and her employment renting out cats certainly seems to indicate this. She has earned a bit of a reputation since two elementary school-boys are so familiar with her that they brazenly refer to her as “that weird cat lady.” However, far from being ostracised by society most ignore her but there are some who hear her voice and are drawn to her. These are the lonely people with holes in their hearts. Sayoko can spot them a mile off and knows that the best medicine for that is the tender friendship of a cat. She knows because of a lonely hole in her own heart…

I posted the trailer for this film back in 2012 because I like cats and the idea was quirky enough to catch my attention. Soon, other cat lovers were commenting on the post and it still gets visitors to this day. In 2012/3, the film toured film festivals around the world (like Berlin) and made its way to the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Thanks to this, the film is available on the Edinburgh Filmhouse player, a treasure-trove of indie and foreign titles which can be streamed for a low price. Some titles like Shun Li and the Poet, and What Maisie Knew are on DVD in the UK but some like Rent-a-Cat would probably not make the transition to physical distribution because its delights are  subtle.

Writer and director Naoko Ogigami has crafted a deceptive film. It is billed as a comedy but is rarely laugh out loud funny. She has split her film into a series of vignettes with Sayoko’s story acting as a frame. Most of the stories are familiar and simple and the pace is gentle and languid with a level of quirkiness that is layered over stories of profound loneliness. Each vignette begins with Sayoko pottering about her home before she traipses along the riverbank with her cats, calling out to other lonely people who soon take her up on her offer of feline companionship. The customers range from a widow with a negligent son who wants a companion to break the loneliness, a businessman (the fantastic Ken Mitsuishi who was in Noriko’s Dinner Table) who finds more love from a cat than he does from his wife and daughter and a lonely woman at a little used rental car store who has little contact with anybody and spends all her time alone. These are all specimens of a highly atomised society where people are too timid to strike out and make friends or tell the people close to them what they feel, the sort of recognisable people we might pass without a second thought but all yearning for human contact.

Each person is wracked by insecurities and loneliness that contact with a cat can cure or assuage and help them move on with their lives. Then we retreat back to Sayoko’s house. The stories are subtle and often bittersweet, although very familiar and easily resolved. The lightning rod of each sequence is Sayoko who comes with her cats to lighten lives and with her quirky behaviour, provides a lot of the comedy and proved to be the most interesting.

Sayoko spends sluggish sun-sick summer days either pulling her cart along the river or lolling around her traditional cosy home amidst her many cats (I imagine this to be a dream location all women have), slowly doing chores and complaining about the heat – “Atsui. Atsui. Atsuuuuui.”

The more time we spend with her and in her home, the more we appreciate her. The focal point of her home is a shrine. It has been two years since her beloved Grandma passed away and Sayoko is battling a lonely hole in her own heart. Such is her loneliness that she makes wall-scrolls with characters proclaiming, “This year I’ll get married.” She has a deeply caring relationship with her cats but it seems that the only human contact she has is with a guy in a dress who turns up to mock her loneliness.

I hope she doesn’t turn into a crazy cat lady because there are strange, creative and fun elements to Sayoko’s quirky personality, like the unique way she eats somen noodles to the way she makes a large cat’s cradle in her house to hang her washing up on a rainy day.

Ichikawa is a delight to watch. She is a bit of a tom-boy with unconventional looks but has an attractive personality which is equal parts kindness, devotion and endurance, not least shown in the way she treats her cats so well and there are a lot of cats, each with their own personality and quirks.

While the loneliness of others is easily packaged up, Sayoko’s isn’t and her ending is very enigmatic. I prefer to read that she has moved on herself and found happiness.

The film is definitely about the people and Ogigami’s direction focusses on them. Shot composition and camera placement help to deliver the emotions intended. Most of the shots are long takes and eye-level so we see the look of despondency over the neglect and worry they feel to the look joy on people’s faces when a feline friend enters their life. My personal favourites include some great shots to show Sayoko on the riverbank.

And a great low-angle shot that shows her small house surrounded by tower blocks.

The film is always pleasant to watch which further enhances its gentle atmosphere.

Rent-a-Cat was entertaining and I am glad that I have finally watched it but what got me was that behind the gentle and relaxing pace, the wry and very dry comedy and strangeness was a kernel of human emotion, the loneliness that people can feel in contemporary society. The film is billed as a comedy but do not expect to be howling with laughter, more entertained and warmed by the film and maybe, a little emotional at points. Ogigami, in probing loneliness, does not make a depressing film, more a gentle and low-key comedy.

4/5 

Other reviews from fellow Asian film bloggers include Alua‘s, MiB‘s, and SCUM Cinema‘s.

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter and everything. Even though most of the nation has a break, I spent most of the holiday in my museum (who the heck opens a museum on Easter Sunday????). I also had this song going through my head while in work:

On Good Friday, I watched Rent-a-Cat, on Easter Sunday, I watched more Knights of Sidonia and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and so only one post this week and that was for Rent-a-Cat. I’m busy studying for a Japanese exam, an attended a press conference for a film festival (more on that on Monday) and watching films like Museum Hours, Cold Eyes and Monster. So a lot more film related stuff than usual.

Here are the trailers:

Thermae Romae II  

Japanese Title: テルマエ・ロマエII

Romaji: Terumai Romai II

Running Time: 113 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hideki Takeuchi

Writer: Hiroshi Hashimoto (Screenplay), Mari Yamazaki (Original Manga)

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Aya Ueto, Riki Takeuchi, Masachika Ichimura, Takashi Sasano, Kai Shishido, Kazuki Kitamura

In between the last Thermae Romae (2012) and this new one, I have read Mari Yamazaki’s original manga and it looks like it adapts more of the stories, which is no bad thing because the manga was enjoyable. Parts of it memorable. In this film, Lucius (Abe) has used the techniques her learnt from Japanese onsen of the uture to create famous bathhouses in ancient Rome. Now he has to renovate the Colosseum during a time when Rome is at risk of splitting apart due to politics. He soon finds that he travels forward in time where he meets Mami (Ueto) who has become a successful writer for a bath magazine.

Website

Naked Ring Finger  

Japanese: はだかのくすりゆび

Romaji: Hadaka no Kusuriyubi

Running Time: 92 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuya Yamaguchi

Writer: Tadashi Shimizu (Screenplay),  Tsuyatsuya (Original Manga)

Starring: Noriko Hamada, Keisuke Tarumi

Another manga adaptation. More hentai. Looks awful but then I haven’t read the manga or watched the film so I could be wrong. It’s about a woman named Midori who gets into an affair with her daughter, Maya’s fiancé in an arranged marriage.

Website

A.F.O. (All For One)   

Japanese: A.F.O. (All For One)

Romaji: Hadaka no Kusuriyubi

Running Time: 105 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

General Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Director: Yoshiaki Tago

Writer: Tadashi Shimizu (Screenplay),  Tsuyatsuya (Original Manga)

Starring: Takuya Ishida, Azusa Okamoto, Ronaldo Santos

After the filth of the last film comes something more good-natured film which sees genius director Yukihiko Tsutsumi team up with students at the Aichi Institute of Technology to make a story about a poor football team who scent a chance of victory by trying to recruit a skilled footballer from Brazil. However, he says that he hates football and refuses to play…

Website

Tamako Love Story   

Japanese: たまこラブストーリー

Romaji: Tamako Rabu Suto-ri-

Running Time: 83 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Yamada

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuri Yamashita (Shiori Asagiri) Aya Suzaki (Tamako Kitashirakawa), Atsushi Tamaru (Mochizou Ooji) Juri Nagatsuma (Kanna Makino),

Tamako Love Story continues as Mochizou and Tamako inch closer and closer together… I think. I haven’t watched the TV anime. Main cast and staff from the TV anime are returning and Kyoto Animation are doing the animating.

Website

Sora no Otoshimono Final Eternal My Master   

Japanese: そらのおとしものFinal 永遠の私の鳥籠（エターナルマイマスター）

Romaji: Sora no Otoshimono Final: Eien no Watashi no Torikago (Eta-naru Mai Masuta)

Running Time: 49 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hisashi Saito

Writer: Jiyu Ogi (Screenplay), Suu Minazuki (Original Creator)

Starring: Saori Hayami (Ikaros) Souichiro Hoshi (Tomoki Sakurai), Aki Toyosaki (Chaos) Yoko Hikasa (Hiyori Kazane),

The Heaven’s Lost Property franchise gets a new film where a harem of busty angels get involved with the school boy Sakurai Tomoki, a super-pervert and one in particular, Ikaros, demands that he becomes her master…

Website

Ride For Life The Eigo Sato Story    

Japanese: ライド・フォー・ライフ The Eigo Sato Story

Romaji: Raido Fo- Raifu The Eigo Sato Story

Running Time: 87 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoko Yamada

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay),

Starring: Eigo Sato, Mike Metzger, Daisuke Suzuki,

This documentary is big news in the motocross world because Eigo Sato was a much respected freestyle motocross veteran of around a decade when he died last year in his home of Iwaki City. He was much respected by fellow competitors and that respect can be seen in a documentary directed by his friend Hitoshi Kajino.

Website

Number 10 Blues/Goodbye Saigon    

Japanese Title: ナンバーテンブルース　さらばサイゴン

Romaji: Namba- Ten Buru-su Saraba Saigon

Running Time: 99 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Norio Osada

Writer: Norio Osada (Screenplay),

Starring: Yusuke Kawazu, Lan Thanh, Kenji Isomura, Eiichi Kikuchi 

This one is a film rescued from obscurity and screened at last year’s Rotterdam International Film Festival. It is a road movie/Vietnam war film about a Japanese businessman naed Toshio Sugimoto who flees the country with his lover when the war goes south. This is a action film shot in Vietnam during the Vietnam war and it was to be the directorial debut of Norio Osada, a scriptwriter who had worked with Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honour or Humanity, Battle Royale) but when funding dried up the film was never finished and sat in the National Film Centre of Japan. It was rediscovered recently and the film was completed.

Website

Kuro                                                  

Japanese Title: はなればなれに

Romaji: Hanare Banareni

Running Time: 86 mins.

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Daisuke Shimote

Writer: Daisuke Shimote (Screenplay),

Starring: Airi Kido, Yu Saitoh, Hideo Nakaizumi, Wakana Matsumoto

This one screened at last year’s East End Film Festival where Alua saw it and found it enjoyable enough to give it 8 out of 10 in her review. It’s getting a limited screening in Tokyo.

Three people recently traumatised by life’s ups and downs meet up: Kuro once had dreams of being a baker until she was fired, Eito has recently broken up with his fiancé and Gou’s career as a theatre director is in imminent danger of dying when the lead actress of his own play goes missing. The three retreat from the world to a remote seaside hotel where a schoolgirl named Momo falls in with them and they all indulge in silly games.

Website

Ueshima Jane Beyond   

Japanese: 上島ジェーンビヨンド

Romaji: Ueshima Je-no Biyondo

Running Time: 116 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Maccoi Saito

Writer: Yayoi Fujitani (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuhei Ueshima, Katsuhiro Higo, Kayoko Okubo, Hiroshi Shinagawa, Yumi Seimiya, Kayo Noro, Aika Ando, Aino Kishi

In 2009, popular entertainer Ryuhei Ueshima tried to learn how to surf and made a film about it. 5 years later and he’s back making a fool of himself as he enters a serious competition. While that’s happening he’s trying to avoid other complications like romance and the law.

Website

Aibou: The Movie III   

Japanese: 相棒劇場版III 巨大密室！

Romaji: Aibou Gekijouban III Kyodai Misshitsu!

Running Time: 114 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Seiji Izumi

Writer: Yasuhiro Koshimizu (Screenplay),

Starring: Hiroki Narimiya, Yutaka Mizutani,  Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Koji Ishizaka, Yumiko Shaku, Toru Kazama, Tsuyoshi Ihara

A new year, a new Aibou movie! Ukyo Sugishita and Toru Kai are sent to a small island near Tokyo by their boss at the National Police Agency to investigate a mysterious death. The island is privately owned by a wealthy businessman and seems to be the site of a small community of former members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force. Could the mysterious death be linked to these guys? Ukyo and Toru find their investigation halted by these ex-soldiers!

Website

Sayonara Cake and Mysterious Lamp  

Japanese: さよならケーキとふしぎなランプ

Romaji: Sayonara kēki to fushigina ranpu

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Junichi Kanai

Writer: Junichi Kanai, Bi-guru (Beagle?) Otsuka (Screenplay),

Starring: Kohei Dojima, Kaoru Hirata, Masahiko Sakata

Singer-songwriter Kohei Dojima stars as a guy making a cake and going through all sorts of family strife after fighting with his father. Okay, there’s more to it than that as he hooks up with a new collective of people at a café he finds work in.

Website

Jingū Kirin Watashi no Kamisama   

Japanese: 神宮希林　わたしの神様

Romaji: Jingū Kirin Watashi no Kamisama

Running Time: 96 minutes

Release Date: April 26^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Takeshi Fushiwara

Writer: N/A

Starring: Kirin Kiki

The actress Kirin Kiki travelled to the Ise Grand Shrine in 2013 and a documentary of her journey was broadcast by Tokai TV. This is the re-edited version for theatres (hey, if trashy TV anime can do it, Kiki can too). We see her start from her home in Tokyo and the people she interacts with as she learns more about the shrine and what it means to other people.

Website

The full line-up for this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival was revealed last week ahead of its run at The Institute of Contemporary Art and The Prince Charles Cinema in London between May 23^rd and June 01^st. I then wrote a preview for it at Anime UK News and now I’ve put together another, expanded view on the festival.

This will be the sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival and it still remains the best place to see a wide variety of releases from East Asian cinema. There are a number of different strands to the festival such as Current Asian Cinema where the latest titles from territories like Japan and Hong Kong are played. The Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter makes a welcome return with some great looking titles mixing ghosts and serial killers. The Spotlight On section uncovers the hottest titles that remain undiscovered. Last year’s festival saw Indonesia as the focus, this year the Philippines takes centre stage with six films released within the last year getting screened. The festival is made opens on May 23^rd at The Institute of Contemporary Arts with the Spotlight On: Philippines. The festival will then move to The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st where the festival will screen films from The Current Asian Cinema and Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter sections.

Enough of the intro, the next part has the films, dates and times. Click on the title to get taken to the festival page.

Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014 Films:

Spotlight On: The Philippines

The Spotlight On: The Philippines section takes place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts from May 23^rd to May 27^th and showcases Filipino films released within the last year. There are many UK premieres and some of the actors and directors will be present. 

On The Job (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Fri May 23^rd, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 121 mins

Director: Erik Matti

Cast: Joel Torre, Gerald Anderson, Piolo Pascual

Dangerous inmates Daniel (Torre) and Tatang (Anderson) are granted temporary release from prison – but only to carry out traceless assassinations for crooked government officials before being returned to their cells. Young gun Daniel seems to love the job while old hand Tatang (Anderson) wants out of the cycle of violence and prison altogether. As their story plays out, a young cop named Francis (Pascual) discovers the corruption taking place in his own department.

This film was inspired by a real-life scandal and is considered so good that the Filipino original has got a UK release and Hollywood are doing a remake. Director Erik Matti will be present for a Q&A after the film.

Shift (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 24^th, 2014 at 16:00

Duration: 81 mins

Director: Siege Ledesma

Cast: Yeng Constantino, Felix Roco, Matt Valena, Alex Medina

Shift is the acting debut of flame-haired Filipina singer-songwriter Yeng Constantino who is making waves in the music world. In this she stars as a directionless dreamer named Estela who works the night shift at a dead-end call centre. Estela’s slacker routine changes when is assigned a mentor. He is Trevor (Roco), a Senior Sales Agent, a smart, funny and cute guy who is also gay. As the two become close friends she falls in love with him.

Shift is an example of independent Filipino cinema described as being driven by the natural chemistry of the two leads and full of vibrant visuals. The actor Felix Roco will be present for a Q&A.

A Thief, A Kid and A Killer (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 24^th, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 92 mins

Director: Nathan Adolfson

Cast: Felix Roco, Avy Viduya, Epy Quizon, Lance Raymundo, Jade Lopez, Jack Falcis

In this bitter-sweet comedy an unlikely bond develops between a privileged but bullied ten year old boy named Maximo (Viduya) and two small-time thieves who invade his apartment named. The thieves are Nico (Roco) and his cousin Lloyd who are on the lam following a bungled jewellery heist. Despite their differences in age and circumstances, Maximo and Nico become friends but Lloyd becomes increasingly twitchy, especially since corrupt cops could be closing in on the thieves and their black market diamonds…

Lead actor Felix Roco, director Nathan Adolfson, and producer Gene Lacson will be present for a Q&A after the film.

Tuhog (2013) (International Premiere)   

Screened: Sun May 25^th, 2014 at TBC

Running Time: 105 mins

Director: Veronica Velasco

Cast: Eugene Domingo, Enchong Dee, Leo Martinez, Empress Schuck, Jake Cuenca

This dark comedy begins when a swerving bus and a steel bar result in three bus passengers finding themselves impaled and stuck together! The three, one a student desperate to lose his virginity, one a prickly bus conductor haunted by family troubles and the third, a long-suffering father who wants to follows his dreams; reveal their backstories as a team of doctors try to get free them. Their connections to each other run deeper than their present situation…

How to Disappear Completely (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sun May 25^th, 2014 at TBC

Running Time: 79 mins

Director: Raya Martin

Cast: Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino, Ness Roque

After a successful and awards-packed film festival run, How to Disappear Completely finally shows up in the UK and audiences will get to experience this unique film which has an acclaimed ambient electro soundtrack from London-based Filipino music producer EYEDRESS. The tale concerns a young girl (Roque) searches for a way to disappear from a life spent with suffocating parents more concerned with drink and religion. Her life takes a very dark turn as an unnatural presence in the forest changes her into someone more violent… The atmosphere has the words, dread, hypnotic and claustrophobia used to describe it and the trailer is a bit of a trip.

The Search for Weng Weng (2007) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Tue May 27^th, 2014 at 20:40

Running Time: 92 mins

Director: Andrew Leavold

Cast: Eddie Nicart, Bobby A Suarez, Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Maria Isobel

Andrew Leavold, the former owner of Australia’s largest cult video rental store, turned detective for three years to track down a forgotten action hero, the two foot nine inch tall action star Weng Weng. The name will be familiar to anyone who watches bad movies since he was big in the 80’s with James Bond parodies, starring as Agent 00 in For ‘Y’ur Height Only. On screen, he was a spy, martial artist and ladies’ man but off screen, he led a different life.

The film is full of interviews with actors, directors and even the former President of the Philippines Imelda Marcos (she of the many shoes). Director Andrew Leavold will be present for a Q&A.

The festival then moves to The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st where the Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter and Current Trends in Asian Cinema sections take place.

Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter

Terror Cotta is back with a mix of horror titles from Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.  The all-night screening is packed full of premieres and It starts on Saturday, May 31^st from 22:40. 

Lesson of Evil (2012) (London Premiere)   

Running Time: 129 mins

Director: Takashi Miike

Cast: Hideaki Ito, Fumi Nikaido, Shota Sometani, Mitsuru Fukkoshi, Takayuki Yamada, Takahiro Hira, Kento Hayashi, Kodai Asaka

The Terror Cotta All-Nighter gets going with Lesson of Evil, one of the latest crop of titles from Takashi Miike, a film which genre fans will be sure to love. It is about a cool and charismatic teacher named Seiji (Ito) who is popular with students and teachers. But his actions soon take a turn revealing that behind his smile lurks a dangerous man and when a student and a teacher start to discover this after a number of disappearances from the school, chaos erupts. The film will be released by Third Window Films on September 29^th, 2014.

In the Dark (2014) (European Premiere)   

Running Time: 99 mins

Director: Yeo Joon Han

Cast: Wang Po Chieh, Candy Lee, Jennifer Foh

Malaysian director Yeo Joon Han scored an award-winning film with Sell Out!, a Manglish (Malaysian-English) musical comedy creates a ghost story full of twists and unrelenting horror. The story begins when a guy named Joseph (Wang Po Chieh) defies a fortune-teller’s warnings and proposes to his girlfriend May (Foh) who soon dies in a car accident. Joseph is distraught and tries to contact May in the afterlife with the help of May’s friend, Vivien (Lee) but they disturb demons… 

Killers (2013) (London Premiere)  

Running Time: 137 mins

Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto

Cast: Oka Antara, Kazuki Kitamura, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Mei Kurokawa, Tara Basro, Ray Sahetapy

This violent Indonesian film was released in Japan a few weeks back and is another title due to get a UK release thanks to Lionsgate UK. Troubled Indonesian journalist Bayu (Antara) finds himself drawn to the member’s only website of a Japanese serial killer named Nomura Shuhei (Kitamura). Bayu uploads footage of his own and both he and Nomura become closer…

Tik Tik: The Aswang Chronicles (2012) (UK Premiere)  

Running Time: 102 mins

Director: Erik Matti

Cast: Dingdong Dantes, Lovi Poe, Joey Marquez, Janice De Belen

Tik Tik is a special effects driven comic book action adventure with a dark sense of humour as the world gets to see the vampires that reside in the Philippines. The story follows a cocky layabout named Makoy (Dantes) who travels to a remote village to reconcile with his pregnant girlfriend. He tries to win favour by purchasing a suckling pig but that pig isn’t what it seems and soon Makoy and the family are under attack from a bunch of Aswang. It comes from the director Erik Matti who has another film at the festival and was the first full-length Filipino film to be shot using green screens, with stylised sets.

Current Asian Cinema

The Current Asian Cinema strand also plays at the Prince Charles Cinema and audiences get to see 12 of the latest films from various territories like Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. There are many UK and European premieres and even an international premiere. Here’s the list: 

Unbeatable (2013) (UK Premiere) 

Screened: Wed May 28^th, 2014 at 20:15

Running Time: 122 mins

Director: Dante Lam

Cast: Nick Cheung, Eddie Peng, Mei Ting, Crystal Lee,

Hong Kong directing legend Dante Lam crafts a film about MMA where the actors took home awards because of the great drama! The story is about an disgraced ex-boxing champion named Scumbag Fai (Cheung) who is chased out of Hong Kong by debt collectors and seeks to rebuild his fighting career in Macau where he meets others who are down on their luck: struggling single mother Gwen (Ting) and Lin Si-Qi (Peng), a rookie fighter looking at entering lucrative MMA tournament to raise themselves up from their bleak situations.

Warrior King 2 (2014)   

Screened: Thurs May 29^th, 2014 at 20:30

Running Time: 104 mins

Director: Prachya Pinkaew

Cast: Tony Jaa, RZA, Jeeja Yanin, Marrese Crump,Ratha Pho-ngam

Fresh from Thailand comes Warrior King 2 and Tony Jaa is back together with Prachya Pinkaew to make another extreme action film full of stunts and fights. In this film, Jaa portrays a man named Kham and he finds himself framed for the murder of an elephant camp boss named Suchart. With the police and Suchart’s deadly twin nieces on his tail, Kham goes on the lam while also searching for his elephant Khon, who disappeared during the time of the murder. Kham also finds himself drawn into an underground fighting ring run by a crime lord named LC (RZA). To get out of this, he must fight the beautiful but deadly Twenty (Pho-ngam) and the diabolical NO.2 (Crump). Expect much violence.

Remote Control (2013) (UK Premiere)

Screened: Wed May 30^th, 2014 at 12:15

Running Time: 90 mins

Director: Byamba Sakhya

Cast: Enkhtaivan Bassandorj, Nergui Bayarmaa, Chagnaadorj Ganbaatar

Remote Control is an award-winning film from Mongolia and looks at the modernisation that the country is undergoing through a coming of age film about a naïve teenager named Tsog (Baasandor) who moves from the country to the city and falls for an older woman, Anya (Bayarmaa). To make a connection, he steals a remote control and starts to manipulate her television.

Forever Love (2014)   

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 15:15

Running Time: 124 mins

Director: Aozaru Shiao, Toyoharu Kitamura

Cast: Lung Shao-hua, Blue Lan, Amber An, Li Yi-chieh, Edison Wang, Tien Hsin, Shen Hai-jung, Liao Jun, Chen Ping-nan

From Taiwan comes a fantastical fish story all about love and the golden age of Taiwanese-language films which were weird and wild. It is split between the present where an energetic old man named Liu Chi-sheng who retells the story of meeting his wife to their granddaughter. The film flashbacks to 1969 when Chi-sheng (Lan) was the hottest scriptwriter in Taiwan’s film industry and his wife, Mei-Yue (An) was an aspiring actress in love with a posturing matinee idol. The film is full of egotistical drunken directors, stars and men in rubber monster suits as the Taiwanese film industry of the time is brought back to life.

Be My Baby (2014) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 18:10

Running Time: 138 mins

Director: Hitoshi One

Cast: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yuumi Goto, Aya Kunitake, Hiroki Ueda, Daisuke Sawamura, Kenta Enya,

This Japanese film is a product of the ‘workshop’ indie films that are released nearly every weekend in Tokyo. Be My Baby is a low-budget film shot I four days for under $10,000 in a couple of locations. It is based on a play by award-winning dramatist Daisuke Miura (which was screened at cinemas) and it’s directed by Hitoshi One, director of the big-budget Love Strikes!. It’s a very adult film about the aftermath of a party attended by a group of drop-out twenty-somethings who are all flawed and caught up in damaging relationships.

Moebius (2013) (UK Premiere)   

Screened: Fri May 30^th, 2014 at 20:55

Running Time: 89 mins

Director: Kim Ki-duk

Cast: Cho Jae-hyun, Seo Young-ju, Lee Eun-Woo

Controversial director, or should that be, director of controversial films, Kim Ki-duk, is a man who makes extreme films with extreme subject matter and in this one (which has no dialogue) a spurned wife wants revenge against her adulterous husband and tries to castrate him. He fights her of and so she castrates their teenage son. The father, desperate to help his son, goes to extreme lengths to try and make amends… This helps bring the two together… Apparently, this is a comedy…

Chinese Zodiac (2012)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 12:20

Running Time: 109 mins

Director: Jackie Chan

Cast: Jackie Chan, Kwone Sang Woo, Zhang Lanxin, Yao Xingtong, Liao Fan, Laura Weissbecker, Oliver Platt

Writer, director, choreographer and superstar Jackie Chan goes back to the films he made in the 80’s by dropping the drama for the stunts and comedy in a globe-trotting adventure that is unofficially regarded as the latest in his fun Armour of God franchise. In this film he plays maverick treasure hunter JC (Chan) who leads a team which is hired by the Max Profit Corporation to track down six missing bronze sculptures, part of a set of twelve representing the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. This launches the crew on a global adventure that stretches from France to China.

Commitment (2013) (European Premiere)   

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 14:45

Running Time: 113 mins

Director: Park Hong-soo

Cast: Choi Seung-hyun, Han Ye-ri, Kim Yoo-jung

Choi Seung-hyun, a.k.a. rapper T.O.P. from the group Big Bang, takes the lead In a South Korean spy thriller where he displays his acting and action skills. He plays a young man named Ri Myung-hoon who is imprisoned in a North Korean labour camp with his sister. He makes a deal to save himself and his sister and becomes a spy in the South where he has to track down an assassin picking off fellow agents. Pretending to be a high school boy, he befriends bullied classmate Hye-in (Han Ye-ri) and finds that his allegiances change and he has to think of a new way to save his sister.

Special ID (2014) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 17:45

Running Time: 99 mins

Director: Clarence Fok Yiu Leung

Cast: Donnie Yen, Jian Tian, Andy On

Hong Kong makes lots of contemporary police thrillers and action hard man Donnie Yen takes to the screen in this brutal looking action film which sees him beat gangsters in Hong Kong and on the mainland of China. He plays Chen Zilong (Yen), a deep undercover agent who infiltrates a Hong Kong gang and finds himself ordered to head to the mainland to take out Sunny (On), an old adversary causing problems for both police and gangsters. He isn’t alone, however. His lover and fellow police officer, Fang (Tian) is ready to crack some skulls in a film with lots of action.

Snow White Murder Case (2014) (International Premiere)  

Screened: Sat May 31^st, 2014 at 20:00

Running Time: 126 mins

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Cast: Mao Inoue, Go Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao

This is one of the big titles for the festival and its story is a contemporary suspense thriller based on a work by the novelist Kanae Minato who is the writer of the award-winning Confessions. It looks at the devastating power of social media from multiple perspectives and the hyperactive media world. It starts with the death of a beautiful girl named Noriko (Nanao). The scandal-hungry media make it their latest fixation. Twitter addict and newbie director Akahoshi (Ayano) gets a tip-off, via Twitter, that Noriko’s dowdy co-worker Miki Shirono (Inoue) is the killer. His investigation sparks a massive media sensation that turns very dark…

The Face Reader (2013) (UK Premiere)  

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 12:15

Running Time: 139 mins

Director: Han Jae-rim

Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Jung-Jae, Baek Yun-shik, Kim Hye-soo, Jo Jung-suk

The Face Reader brought a high-profile and talented cast to a film full of action and historical drama and it was a hit in South Korea.  The setting is 15^th century Korea, ruled over by the Joseon dynasty. Gifted physiognomist Nae-kyung (SONG Kang-ho) seizes the opportunity to cast off his peasant existence and tries to advance through the ranks of the warrior nobles in the capital but gets caught up in the court intrigues and dangerous games played between two deadly power players—Grand Prince Sooyang (LEE Jung-jae), known as “the Wolf”, simmering with menacing ambition, and Kim Jong-seo (BAEK Yoon-shik), “the Tiger”, charged with maintaining royal power.

Firestorm (2013) (UK Premiere)   

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 15:00

Running Time: 110 mins

Director: Alan Yuen

Cast: Andy Lau, Yao Chen, Lam Ka Tung, Hu Jun

We get another explosive police thriller from Hong Kong where the island’s brave police force face-off against mainland gangsters. Tou Shing-bong (La Ka tung) is released from prison and links up with mainland criminal Nam Cao (Hu Jun) and his brutal gang of armed robbers. Police Inspector Liu (Andy Lau) hunts them down but the lack of evidence means that he cannot lock the guy up. In his desperation to catch the crooks, Liu begins to lose control. Expect many chases and gun battles!

Judge! (2014) (International Premiere)   

Screened: Sun June 01^st, 2014 at 17:15

Running Time: 105 mins

Director: Akira Nagai

Cast: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Keiko Kitagawa, Yosiyosi Arakawa, Lily Franky, Denden

The festival ends on a high with the hit comedy, Judge!, getting its international premiere. Furthermore, the director Akira Nagai will be appearing for the festival and conducting a Q&A after the film which should be fascinating because Nagai and the screenwriter, Yoshimitsu Sawamoto, are both veterans of the Japanese advertising world.

The film itself is a comedy about a hapless ad agency employee named Kiichiro Ota (Tsumabuki) who is sent by his almost-namesake boss to the Santa Monica Advertising Festival to scheme, bribe and cheat as much as possible to ensure that his company’s ad wins. However his English skills are lacking and so he drags along his brilliant colleague Hikari (Kitagawa) for support. With lots of culture clash gags, larger than life characters, and slapstick comedy, this is definitely one to attend. Post-screening Q&A wit director Akira Nagai

Festival Extras:

On top of the festival there are a number of events taking place such as the short film competition which I posted about a few weeks back.

Festival Hub

During the festival, Terracotta will be operating a festival hub at the Opium Cocktail & Dim Sum Bar on China Town’s Gerrard Street (next to Dumplings Hero). Free wi-fi will be available and maybe some of the stars will appear…

Forever Love Poster Exhibition

There will be a special display of Taiwanese theatrical posters at the hub for the duration of the festival.

The Venues and the Ticket Prices: 
Here’s where we get to the nitty-gritty of how to see the films: the locations and contact details and prices.

Spotlight On: The Philippines will take place at Institute of Contemporary Arts(ICA) from May 23^rd to 27^th:
The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH / Box Office: +44 (0)20 7930 3647
Tickets at the ICA: £10 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members

Current Asian Cinema and TERROR COTTA Horror All-Nighter takes place at The Prince Charles Cinema from May 28^th to June 01^st:
7 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BY / Box Office: +44 (0)20 7494 3654
Individual tickets at Prince Charles Cinema cost £9.50 for non members, no concessions/ £6.00 for members
(Friday afternoon: £7.50/ £5.50)
The Festival Pass costs £66.50 non members/ £56.50 for members
The Early Bird Pass* costs £65 non members/ £55 for members (excludes Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter and ICA Spotlight ON: Philippines)
*early bird price available for purchases before midnight, Thursday 1st May
Terror-Cotta Horror All-nighter: £22 non members/ £19.50 members

Keep an eye on the main website for updates and more information about the festival.