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Clik here to view.There are enough film released this week to warrant a double-trailer post. Rain has poured forth from the heavens and a fierce wind gusts about outside so the poor weather is a great excuse to stay inside and write about films. I also got the chance to write about an interesting Kickstarter project concerning a wonderful anime I highly recommend.

The UK anime distributor All the Anime launched a Kickstarter for an English language release of Mai Mai Miracle. The initial goal was US$30,000 and it was reached within less than a day. The campaign to raise money continues with a stretch-goal of $60,000 being added to provide an English language dub. Although the focus of the funding is on creating a High Definition Master for the Blu-Ray and DVD version, supporters have the chance to dictate just what will be released including extras. Backers can get their hands on a selection of goodies access a downloadable wallpaper. I’ve already pledged and wrote about the project on Anime UK News because I really took to the film and I hope others can experience its magic. Judging by the overwhelming response I think others feel the same.

Anyway, on to the trailers:

Tiger Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.and Bunny: The Rising

Japanese: 劇場版Tiger & Bunny The Rising

Romaji: Gekijouban Tiger & Bunny The Rising

Running Time: 100 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Yoshitomo Yonetani

Writer: Masafumi Nishida (Screenplay), Hajime Yatate (Original Creator)

Starring: Hiroaki Hirata (Kotetsu T. Kaburagi/Wild Tiger), Masakazu Morita (Barnaby Brooks, Jr.), Mariya Ise (Pao-Ling Huang/Dragon Kid), Minako Kotobuki (Karina Lyle/Blue Rose), Rina Hidaka (Kaede Kaburagi)

This is the second Tiger and Bunny film and it’s getting a release in the west as well as Japan. I must admit that I’ve missed this one and there are all sorts of things going on like new characters being added. The film will apparently revolve around a mystery that happens on the day of the “Justice Day” festival that celebrates Sternbild’s legendary goddess. It is written by the chap behind the TV series scripts and directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani, an anime vet who has directed episodes of Nadia – The Secret of Blue Water, Brigadoon and Amuri in Star Ocean.

Website

Yukihiko Nishino’s Love and Adventure Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: ニシノユキヒコの恋と冒険

Romaji: Nishino Yukihiko no Koi to Boken

Running Time: 122 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Nami Iguchi

Writer: Nami Iguchi (Screenplay), Hiromi Kawakami (Original Novel)

Starring: Yutaka Takenouchi, Machiko Ono, Riko Narumi, kumiko Aso, Fumino Kimura, Tsubasa Honda, Sawako Agawa, Yurika Nakamura, Yoji Tanaka.

Yukihiko Nishino (Takenouchi) is super popular with the ladies but he always ends up getting dumped. Yukihiko yearns for true love. The ladies falling in love with Nishino include work colleagues, housewives and more! The director of this film is Nami Iguchi and one of her previous works was Don’t Laugh at my Romance.

Website

Tears of the Vampire

Japanese: ヴァンパイアの泪

Romaji: Vampaia no Namida

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Kazuo Yamamoto

Writer: Chiba Misuzu (Screenplay),

Starring: Reina Fujie, Miina, Kanon

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A short film starring Reina Fujie of AKB48 where she portrays a young fashion designer named Nao Tachibana who is in a creative slump. She ventures into a European-style building where a famous designer is meant to be residing and encounters the mysterious sisters Kana and Naomi. One of them is a vampire…

Buddha 2 Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: BUDDHA2 手塚治虫のブッダ-終わりなき旅-

Romaji: Buddha 2: Tezuka Osamu no Buddha: Owarinaki Tabi

Running Time: 85 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Toshiaki Komura

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay), Osamu Tezuka (Original Manga)

Starring: Hidetaka Yoshioka (Siddhartha), Sayuri Yoshinaga (Queen Maya), Yoko Maki (Prince Ruri), Kenichi Matsuyama (Tatta), Nana Mizuki (Migera)

This is the second part of a series of film adaptations of Osamu Tezuka’s seminal manga and it follows on from the first instalment released in 2011. There are some big names in the seiyuu department including Yoko Maki and Kenichi Matsuyama.

The place is India and the time is some 2500 years ago. We follow Siddhartha, a prince of the Shakya clan who has renounced his place at the royal court and embarked on a journey around the world. What he sees is the suffering of others but he also falls in with strange and interesting people including Assaji, a boy who can predict a future and Depa, a monk with one eye. As he tavels Prince Ruri of Kosara attacks the Shakya clan!

Website

Kami-sama to no yakuso ku tainai kioku o kataru kodomo-tachi Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: かみさまとのやくそく　胎内記憶を語る子どもたち

Romaji: Kami-sama to no yakuso ku tainai kioku o kataru kodomo-tachi

Running Time: 114 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Norio Ogikubo

Writer: N/A

Starring: Akira Ikegawa, Masayuki Daimon, Yumiko Hitani, Chikako Kagami

The title for this documentary translates as something like, Promise to God Children Talk About Memories of the Womb. I think, and my translation may be off, in this film we see children speak of their experiences in their mother’s womb.

Website

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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.I started this week by returning home from London where I attended the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme. Out of the six films I saw, my top three were Shindo, Parade and Otaku in Love. The best film that I saw within the space of this week wasn’t Japanese but a western title. The best film I saw was 12 Years a Slave, directed  by Steve McQueen. It was an emotionally stunning and gruelling experience and I was in tears at the end much like the case of McQueen’s last film, Shame. That written, it was the most rewarding film I have watched in recent months and I figure it will be my number one film by the end of the year, much like Steve McQueen’s last film, Shame, was back in 2012. I hope that 12 Years a Slave sweeps the Oscars and BAFTA’s.

This week was catching up on reviews like The Ravine of Goodbye and Our Sunhi. I also posted some trailers yesterday which had a bit about the Mai Mai Miracle Kickstarter.

Kokkuri-san Gekijoban Shin Toshi Densetsu  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: こっくりさん　劇場版　新都市伝説

Romaji: Kokkuri-san Gekijoban Shin Toshi Densetsu

Running Time: 85 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Masaaki Nidou

Writer: Masaaki Nidou (Screenplay),

Starring: Mariya Suzuki, Momoko Kaechi, Mao Kanjo. Masa, Yukari Torikai, Mao Kanjo, Seiya Konishi

The first idol horror film of the year if my memory serves me correct and it has some girls from AKB48 and SNH48 (Shanghai 48). Mari (Suzuki) and Saki (Kaechi) are high school students who love fortune-telling. Their particular favourite type is Angel Sama but it soo becomes deadly when people who participate in it start to die!

Website

Earth Defense Widow  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 地球防衛未亡人

Romaji: Chikyuu Bouei Miboujin

Running Time: 84 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Minoru Kawasaki

Writer: Minoru Kawasaki (Screenplay),

Starring: Mitsu Dan, Yusuke Fukuda, Hide Fukumoto, Nocchi, Shunichi Okita, Fuyuki Moto, Masami Horiuchi, Koji Moritsugu

Dan (Mitsu) is a former geisha turned pilot for the Earth Defense Troops. The space monster Bemurasu kills her husband and so Dan wants vengeance but whenever she attacks Bemurasu she feels ecstasy. What’s going on with this lady?

Low-budget kaiju silliness. If you want to shoot giant monsters, robots and insects then go and play the newest Earth Defense Force video game.

These games are addictive especially when played with others! All together now, EDF! EDF! EDF!

Website

Basujack          Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: バスジャック

Romaji: Basu Jakku

Running Time: 77 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Yoshifumi Fukazawa

Writer: Yoshifumi Fukazawa, Hidekatsu Takei (Screenplay),

Starring: Anna Ishibashi, Masaki Akagaki, Maaya Aso, Shozo Endo, Mitsuhiro Fujiwara, Honkon, Mayumi Hori, Yuki Ishii

What happens when a recently made redundant man with toothache is mistaken for bus hijacker and finds himself on a bus full of yakuza, Yankees, lunatics and angry people with a mad driver at the wheel? Hilarity! There’s a pretty good actress in the cast here with Anna Ishibashi (Pet Peeves, Your Friends) and the director was editor on a wide vriety of films like Infection, Ju-On: White/Black Ghost and the Madam Marmalade Films.

Website

Undressed Minako R – 18        Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: ハダカの美奈子 R-18

Romaji: Hadaka no Minako R – 18

Running Time: 102 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Toshiyuki Morioka

Writer: Toshiyuki Morioka (Screenplay), Minako Hayashita (Original Book)

Starring: Tomoko Nakajima, Takashi Shigematsu, Minako Hayashita, Natsumi Hirajima, Natsumi Kurisu

This is the R-18 version of a film released last November with eight extra minutes. The two films stem from “Tsuukai! Big Daddy” which is a documentary television series about the life of Kiyoshi Hayashishita and his family. His ex-wife, Minako Hayashishita, is the focus of the film and claims to reveal the secrets about their divorce and her past with her abusive father and the fact that Minako had a baby at the age of 15…

Website

7 Days Report   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: セブンデイズ リポート

Romaji: Sebundeizu Ripo-to

Running Time: 82 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Masahiro Kondo

Writer: Ohkura (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuichi Haba, Itsuji Itao, Rio Yamashita, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Kazuki Namioka, Alan Shirahama, Suzunosuke

This is the story of clones in a school which stars some male idols from the groups EXILE and Generations from Exile Tribe.

Website

Neo Ultra Q Special Screening Part IV    Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: ネオ ウルトラQ 特別上映 part IV

Romaji: Neo Urutorakyū Tokubetsu Jōei part III

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: January 09^th, 2014

Director: Gakuryu Ishii, Yu Nakai, Yu Irie, Kiyotaka Taguchi

Writer: Kiyotaka Inagaki, Akari Yamamoto, Ayako Kato (Screenplay)

Starring: Rin Takanashi, Seiichi Tanabe, Hiroyuki Onoe, Akemi Fuji 

Neo Ultra Q is the latest series of adaptations of a sci-fi project created by Eiji Tsuburaya, special effects director on Godzilla, about three characters who investigated supernatural and alien phenomena. Apparently the show ran for 28 episodes from January to July in 1966, received a radio drama and movie edition. This latest one is a collection of 12 episodes from the TV sequel and features excellent actors like Rin Takanashi (Goth: Love of Death) and Shota Sometani (Himizu) and has the director Gakuryu Ishii (Isn’t Anyone Alive?). Yesterday was the 09^th of January and on the 09^th of every month is now known as “Q Day” which means that the latest three episodes of the TV show Visitor Q are rolled into one movie and screened for an appreciative audience. There are also additional treats for said audience at each screening such as a Q&A and old episodes. Sounds and looks fun. This screening comes with an old episode of Ultra Q called Challenge of 2020.

Three people: a psychologist doing research on the supernatural, a young beautiful journalist with an inquisitive mind and a bartender who has sympathy towards other forms of life. Together the trio set out to look into the paranormal and futuristic phenomena that confront our life and society. 

Website

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The 2014 Berlin Film Festival is underway and there are lots and lots of films. Enough from me, here’s the line-up.

New Features

Forma             Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 小さい　おうち

Romaji: Chiisai Ouchi

Running Time: 145 mins.

Director: Ayumi Sakamoto

Writer: Ryo Nishihara (Screenplay), Ayumi Sakamoto (Original Story)

Starring: Emiko Matsuoka, Ken Mitsuishi, Ryo Nishihara, Seiji Nozoe, Nagisa Umeno

Ayumi Sakamoto has been in the film industry for a spell having worked as an actress and in the camera and electrical department of a number of films like Vital and other Shinya Tsukamoto films where she learned directing and cinematography skills. Shot in a muted palette of greys, blacks and beiges in perfect tandem with the colourless lives of its protagonists, Ayumi Sakamoto’s striking debut has a keen grasp of friendship’s grey areas and linguistic cadences. A slow-burning thriller whose long, rigorously composed shots demand closer scrutiny: never disregard the unspoken and the unseen.

Head to this German film site for a trailer.

One day, Ayako Kaneshiro is reunited with her former classmate Yukari Hosaka. She invites her to join her company, and she accepts. However, Ayako begins to treat Yukari coldly and act strangely around her. Yukari feels increasingly pressured, but Ayako has her reasons. The pent-up hatred within her deepens the darkness in her heart. To confirm her own feelings, Ayako confronts Yukari. Their conflicting emotions intertwine… What lies at the end of this cycle of hatred?

Website

Little House  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 小さい　おうち

Romaji: Chiisai Ouchi

Running Time: 136 mins.

Director: Yoji Yamada

Writer: Yoji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu (Screenplay), Kyoko Nakajima (Original Novel)

Starring: Takako Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Takataro Kataoka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baisho, Fumino Kimura,

Yoji Yamada regularly features at Berlin and so the lucky audience get to see his first romantic film in his long career. It stars Takako Matsu (Dreams for Sale), Haru Kuroki (The Great Passage) and Satoshi Tsumabuki (For Love’s Sake).

Takeshi (Tsumabuki) finds several notebooks left by his recently deceased spinster aunt Taki Nunomiya (Baisho) which tells of her life before and during World War II.

As a young woman, Taki (Kuroki) worked as a housemaid in a little house with a red triangular roof in Tokyo. She served a family which consisted of a husband Masaki Hirai (Kataoka) who works at a toy factory his wife Tokiko (Matsu) and their son Kyoichi. Taki longs for her employer Tokiko but both women find themselves intrigued by a young artist Hirai brings home. However, the war takes a turn for the worse and so do the relationships in the house.

Website

A Tale of Samurai Cooking – A True Love Story   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 武士　の　献立

Romaji: Bushi no Kondate

Running Time: 121 mins.

Director: Yuzo Asahara

Writer: Michio Kashiwada, Yukiko Yamamuro, Yuzo Asahara,

Starring: Kengo Kora, Aya Ueto, Kimiko Yo, Toshiyuki Nishida

This is historical film set during the Edo period and starring popular talent Aya Ueto and great actor Kengo Kore (The Story of Yonosuke).

She takes the lead role as Oharu (Ueto) who is an excellent cook and because of her skills she gets to marry into the Funaki family through Yasunobu (Kora). The Funaki family are the cooks of the Kaga Domain and they utilise Oharu’s cookery talents to teach Yasunobu how to better his skills.

Website

Joy of Man’s Desiring  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 人の　望みの　喜びよ

Romaji: Hitono Nozomino Yorokobiyo

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: Masakazu Sugita

Writer: Masakazu Sugita (Screenplay),

Starring: Ayane Ohmori, Riku Ohishi, Naoko Yoshimoto, Koichiro Nishi

Part of the Generation KPlus (Generation is a section devoted to movies from young people) Ugh. Kids in peril and kids being sad make me cry easily and this one has all the hallmarks of being a sad one…

The story revolves around two siblings, a young boy named Sotha and his older sister Haruna, who lost their parents after a major earthquake. Despite finding a safe home with their aunt and uncle the two children find it hard to fit in with their new lives  not least because Sotha doesn’t know that their parents are dead and Haruna wants to tell him.

Website

Homeland　　Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 家路

Romaji: Ieji

Running Time: 118 mins.

Director: Nao Kubota

Writer: Yoji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu (Screenplay),

Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Yuko Tanaka, Sakura Ando, Takashi Yamanaka, Seiyo Uchino

I need to revamp and update the 3/11 film list because nearly four years on from the event and Japanese filmmakers are still making films concerning the disaster. This drama stars some impressive names like Kenichi Matsuyama (Norwegian Wood) and Sakura Ando (Love Exposure).

Jiro (Matsuyama) returns to his former farming village which has been evacuated due to the fact that it lies near Fukushima Daichi and is badly contaminated. Jiro begins cultivating the land and teams up with an old school friend to plant rice despite the spreading radioactivity and its effects on their health. Meanwhile, Jiro’s half-brother has left the town with his wife and child and their mother. When their mother hears that Jiro has returned to their land she wants to go home and see him again.

Website

Classics

Continuing on from the last two years, the organisers have selected a lot of classic titles from golden age (from directors like Ozu, Mizoguchi, Naruse) and older (1930s and 20s!) because of all the films undergoing digital restoration in Japan. Last year of Keisuke Kinoshita was the focus while this year audiences can get to watch films from multiple directors.

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There are some war and government sponsored films including Five Scouts, Tomotaka Tasaka’s 1938 tale of a group of scouts fighting through heavy opposition to deliver reconnaissance information to his company so his wounded comrades can evacuate back home. Apparently it depicts the war ‘realistically’ to show the dreariness and misery of operations. The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya was a 1942 propaganda film designed to encourage patriotism as it shows attacks on Pearl Harbour and British warships. The main character is a hot-blooded young man who flies from an aircraft carrier. As we follow his training we see documentary-style footage of training and possibly even actual news images. The 1926 film Light of Compassion by Henry Kotani is a social drama commissioned by the government and is about a boy named Junichi who lives in the slums with his mother but finds a way out when he defends a rich girl named Shigeko from bullies and she and her family take a shine to him.

There are quite a few jidaigeki like Teinosuke Kinugasa’s 1928 film Crossways which takes place in the Yoshiwara district and follows a young man named Rikiya who falls for the beautiful Oume and the tragedy that follows when violence enters his life. Humanity and Paper Balloon is the 1937 film from Sadao Yamanako (and easily available in the UK) which takes place in a crowded slum in 18^th century Tokyo where a samurai named Mori and a barber named Shinza battle each other for control of gambling and Shinza kidnaps Mori’s wife who was forced to marry him… Singing Lovebirds (1939) is a musical about a cast of characters who fight for the affections of a young woman named Oharu who only has eyes for a ronin named Reisaburo. An Actor’s Revenge (1935/6) by Teinosuke Kunigasa is just as the title describes. Set in 1863 the story follows a man named Yukinojo takes revenge on three local officials who drove his parents to suicide. Yukinojo, in the intervening years, has become a well-known ‘onnagata’ (a man playing female roles) in a kabuki troupe which travels to Edo (the old name of Tokyo) where he discovers his three archenemies in the audience and plots revenge.

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There is the silent film Tokyo Hero (1935 Dir. Hiroshi Shimizu) about the wife of a man who flees his creditors being forced to be a bar girl (scandalous at the time) and the impact it has on her children.

A Mikio Naruse film is screened in the shape of Tsuruhachi Tsurujiro (1938), a melodramatic story about the thwarted love between a shinnai singer and his partner who plays the shamisen.

Never mind Kurosawa, Naruse and all the rest. The big title amidst all of these classics is Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Kenji Mizoguchi’s wonderful Ugetsu Monogatari from 1953 which is set in the Sengoku period and follows a potter named Genjuro and his brother-in-law who leave their loyal wives to become famous samurai only for tragedy to strike Genjuro when he comes under the spell of Lady Wakasa and the ghosts she is surrounded by.

There’s an Akira Kurosawa classic in the form of Rashomon, the 1950 classic and Oscar winning title that adapts Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story. A murder and rape have taken place in a bamboo grove and the bandit Tajomaru has confessed to crimes. However things aren’t as they seem as there are different accounts of the story…

The list of Ozu films include Late Autumn about the schemes of a group of men to marry off the daughter and widow of a recently deceased friend. That Night’s Wife is Ozu’s crime drama from 1930 where a guy desperate for money for his daughter’s medical bills robs a bank but the police are hot on his tail. Apparently, what makes this interesting apart from Ozu’s eye for great visuals, are the social changes taking place (Japan modernising, financial crisis) that are noted in the film and Ozu’s usual interest in family matters.

There are three features from the director Noboru Nakamura: Doshaburi (When it Rains, It Pours), released in 1957, is a melodrama about a family where the women love men who treat them badly as they refuse to commit to marriage and yet still hang around. The Shape of Night about a bored factory worker who falls for a vile Yakuza and moonlights as a bar hostess and worse… To end on a happier note there is a screening of Home Sweet Home (1951), where a common family, mother and father and four children, all live in a house. The parents struggle to pay their bills and support the artistic ambitions of their children like Tomoko, an aspiring painter, and it looks like they might lose their house when a stroke of good fortune comes to provide them happiness.

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Short Films

Japan is also well represented in the Berlinale Shorts Competition. Wonder, an 8 minute short from animation artist Mirai Mizue, which combined music from the orchestral group Pascals combined with a collection of images the director created and uploaded onto the internet over 365 consecutive days. The music and sound create sequences of colour and movement, tones and rhythmised oscillations to create abstract animation. Table Game is all about porcelain (which came to international prominence during the Rococo art era in Europe) and it’s history in Arita and the way it emerges when a Catalan restaurant develops a replica of the porcelain handicraft. Kamakura is a 5 minute short by Yoriko Mizushiri which is described thusly:

A snow-covered house is situated in the middle of a rice field.

What should one do, in a space of white and quietude?

By spring, the snowy hut melts and loses its appearance.

The Japanese MA, the inbetween state of time and space –

an animation, a haiku.

The Generation 14plus Short Film selection features Rhizome, which was directed by Masahiro Ohsuka and is described as an experimental study in black-and-white comprising a fast montage of hand-drawn images like brains with bar codes hovering in front of skyscrapers. Soliton, a 14 minute short film directed by Isamu Hirabayashi, where the camera is pointed down at the ground only thing we see is a guy’s camouflage trousers and boots as he traverses a variety of terrain like grass, sand, rubble, metal and concrete and human detritus. We hear gun fire and in the distance and the sounds of aerial attacks. As he journeys he encounters someone else…

The festival is already under-way but there are multiple chances to see all of these films over the course of this week! 

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All is Lost  Image may be NSFW.
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Running Time: 106 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: J.C. Chandor

Writer: J.C. Chandor (Screenplay),

Starring: Robert Redford (Our Man)

All is Lost is the second feature from J.C. Chandor whose Oscar nominated debut, Margin Call (2011) was a star-studded, dialogue heavy Wall Street drama about the recent financial crisis. The two could not be more different…

“I’m sorry. I know this means little at this point, but I am. I tried. I think you would all agree that I tried. I am sorry. To be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right. But I wasn’t. All is lost here, except soul, and body. I fought till the end. I will miss you. I’m sorry.”

The film starts in the Indian Ocean where Our Man (Redford) is alone on a yacht 1,700 nautical miles from the Sumatra Straits. He awakes one morning to find water rushing into his cabin. Upon investigation he discovers that a cargo container has struck his boat and gouged a hole in the hull. Damage has also been done to his communication systems, which means that Our Man cannot contact anyone. He is alone and so he sets about repairing the damage under a clear sky and blazing sun but there is a storm on the horizon and he is racing to fix the damage to his ship and communications systems but new problems keep emerging…

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The film can be summed up as Robert Redford trying to avert disaster at sea for over 90 minutes. It is more. It is about a man confronting death and his will to survive. It is a film which is visually beautiful and frightening and will make you think twice about sailing on the open seas alone.

Events play out like a horror title as one person, isolated from others, struggles to survive hostile conditions and a monster, in the form of an uncaring and relentless mother nature, batters the character. The whole thing is slightly tedious especially because Redford’s character barely expresses himself (not even swearing after disasters!) and he is alone throughout the film but we sympathise because of the strong physical performance Redford gives.

It’s all about the performance because the script is less about characterisation and more about incident, relying on the actor to carry the audience. The character is stripped of anything that we can identify him with. Try as you might, you never see any details that reveal his history and we never hear any dialogue about friends or family. He doesn’t even have a name, we only know him as “Our Man”. The only time we hear his voice in full flow is when he narrates his final message (above), and yet we still sympathise with him because of Redford’s performance.

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Robert Redford is magnetic as the resourceful character that thinks things through and takes a direct hands-on approach to fixing situations. We understand that he is of a generation of males who rely on resourcefulness and grit instead of smart phones with access to Google. We see him battered and bruised, dragged through the sea, baked by a merciless sun and lashed by howling storms and yet he perseveres and continue to work hard. Watching this old-school Hollywood legend (77 at the time of filming) go through his ordeals with a taciturn, weathered but not withered face (he still retains his good-looks) is compelling. It is a very physical performance that demonstrates his character’s strength and desire to live, and a statement of how committed Redford is to the role.

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The cinematography is magnificent. The camera insistently sticks on him or his POV as he rushes from one crisis to the next and he is continually pounded by storms and misfortune. Seeing the situation from his perspective is stirring as we see that no problem is insurmountable but as things proceed they get more dramatic and perilous and we are witness to the awful and sublime aspects of nature through the wider shots of the vast ocean and sky. Calm or stormy, the sight of endless blue grips your insides, takes your breath away, as you realise that sailing out on the high seas potentially involves losing all contact with others. Seeing it on a cinema screen is staggering stuff.

To be honest, I was quite surprised that I felt anything at the end because the film features a lot of slow moments when Redford is adrift and simply baking in the sun (to be blunt) but the film’s visual strengths and Redford’s performance mean that the proceedings takes on wider themes and isn’t just about seeing a man practice DIY at sea. Perhaps a religious or existential reading can be taken because life teems around Our Man as he suffers privations and is stripped of all mod-cons and means of saving himself. What’s left to him is hope. Whether it’s a tale of never losing faith in life or hanging on until chance and luck/hard work win out, one cannot deny that the ending is stirring stuff.

3.5/5

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Clik here to view.The first trailer post of the week features all sorts of different films but the most impressive is The Tale of Iya. Watch the trailer and tell me you aren’t impressed by it. I’m so impressed that I’m tempted to attend a UK screening. It’s a temptation that is hard to resist much like women, meat, and uniforms (that’s a Wooser reference, by the way, and Wooser continues being funny). It looks better than The Mole Song, Takashi Miike’s latest title, the big-budget release of the week. The rest of the trailers include documentaries and awful J-hora. There are more films tomorrow.

The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: 土竜の唄 潜入捜査官 REIJI

Romaji: Mogura no Uta Sennuu Sosakan REIJI

Running Time: 130 mins.

Release Date: February 13^th, 2014

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Kudo Kankuro (Screenplay), Noboru Takahashi (Original Manga)

Starring: Toma Ikuta, Ren Osugi, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Riisa Naka, Takayuki Yamada, Mitsuru Fukikoshi

When I first read the synopsis I thought of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs but this is based on a manga by Noboru Takahashi. The trailer is crazy but that’s par for the course with Takashi Miike (For Love’s Sake). The film has a great cast of characters like Shinichi Tsutsumi (Why Don’t You Play in Hell? – review coming next week), Ren Osugi (Exte) and Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Cold Fish). The film was at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival!

Reiji Kikukawa (Ikuta) has a strong sense of justice but graduates at the bottom of his class from the police academy. He is so useless his superiors send him on what should be a suicide mission. First the police chief fires him for disciplinary issues and then sets him up as a mole in the Sukiyaki gang, the largest crime group in the Kanto area. His target is Shuho Todoroki, the boss, and so Reiji goes through hell to get his man!

Website

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Japanese Title: 祖谷物語 -おくのひと-

Romaji: Iya Monogatari – Oku no Hito

Running Time: 169 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Tetsuchiro Tsuta

Writer: Tetsuchiro Tsuta, Masayuki Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Rina Takeda, Shima Ohnishi, Sachi Ishimaru, Hitoshi Murakami, Min Tanaka, Reika Miwa, Takahiro Ono, Naomi Kawase, Christopher Pellegrii, Keiko Taoka, Shigeru Kimura

Well this one looks special and it’s going to get screened at the Pan-Asian Film Festival. the trailer has a somewhat magical atmosphere and getting an insight into traditional Japan is always a plus. It also features Kick Girl Rina Takeda in a strictly dramatic role – as in she doesn’t kick anybody in the teeth or wrestling like she normally does.

It is winter. A man finds a baby girl in the snow by a freezing lake in the mountains of Tokushima and takes her in. He gives her the name Haruna and they live far away from other people. The baby grows into a caring woman (Rina Takeda) who looks after the man.

It is summer. A stranger from Tokyo arrived at “Iya”, where the riches of nature still abound. His name is Kudo, and he wants to start a new life in the country to refresh his tired soul. Unfortunately the reality was not as easy as he thought because there is a confliction between a local construction company and a group of nature conservationists.

One day, Kudo meets the old man and Haruna and finds out that they lead lives completely different from his own. The old man is a farmer who climbs up the mountain to go to the little shrine to offer Omiki (sake) to the mountain god and Haruna goes to high school an hour away from home, and after that, helps Grandpa to plow his field. Feeling his heart gradually healing, Kudo thought that he finally found what he was looking for in their calm life but a destructive winter occurs…

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Fankī Katō My Vu~oisu Fan Mon kara Aratana Mirai E  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: ファンキー加藤 My VOICE ファンモンから新たな未来へ

Romaji: Fankī Katō My Vu~oisu Fan Mon kara Aratana Mirai E

Running Time: 90 mins.

Release Date: February 14^th, 2014

Director: Takuei Sumita

Writer: N/A

Starring: Funky Kato, Mon Kichi, DJ Chemical

The Funky Monkey Babys disbanded last year and one of their members, Funky Kato, had a documentary made about his final performance with the group and his new life playing solo stuff.

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Exte Girl The Movie   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: エクステ娘　劇場版

Romaji: Ekusute Musume Gekijōban

Running Time: 110 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Kei Morikawa

Writer: Kokoya Anzu (Screenplay)

Starring: Tomomi Nakatsuka, Yuka Rikuna, Hana Tojima, Shizuka Umemoto, Naoto Iyoku, Koujin Gama

Another Exte: Hair Extensions film? No Sion Sono and no Ren Osugi singing his bizarre song in this version? This film fails already. Low-budget effects and the presence of an AKB48 girl do nothing to improve things… or maybe I’m being harsh. You decide.

The story is a re-run of the first and concerns Mami Takano (Nakatsuka) who works at a hair salon which specialises in hair extensions but there’s a problem and it’s the fact that the hair extensions come from an evil organisation whose members kidnap women, tear their hair off and kill them. Unsurprisingly, the people with the hair extensions start getting possessed and dying….

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`Taberu koto’ de Miete Kuru mono Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:「食べること」で見えてくるもの

Romaji: `Taberu koto’ de Miete Kuru mono

Running Time: 110 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Nanaoki Suzuki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Michiyo Mori, Satoken, Hisao Nagayama, Inemi Akita

[youtube-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFIT7qke_zc]

This 2012 documentary will make audiences “re-examine” their relationship with food by presenting them with the stories of four experts like Michiyo Mori who wrote Green Juice for Life: Eating Light and went on tour with her cookery.

Dear Girl Stories THE MOVIE2 ACE OF ASIA  Image may be NSFW.
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JapaneseTitle: Dear Girl Stories THE MOVIE2 ACE OF ASIA

Romaji: Dear Girl Stories THE MOVIE2 ACE OF ASIA

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Hiroyuki Uchida

Writer: Masaru Suwa (Screenplay)

Starring: Hiroshi Kamiya, Daisuke Ono,

Hiroshi Kamiya and Daisuke Ono, two popular seiyuu, star in the movie version of their radio play DearGirl Stories. Also showing up are the Masochistic Ono Band. It was filmed in Hong Kong.

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Clik here to view.I want to start this post by congratulating Haru Kuroki who won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at this year’s Berlin Film Festival for her performance in Yoji Yamada’s Little House. Head over to the BBC website to see her reaction in a video which is adorable and very Japanese.

This week was all about getting information about the Japanese films playing at the Berlin Film Festival out to the wider world and putting up the review of the first new film I saw in 2014, All is Lost. I hope to have my review for 12 Years a Slave up next week and get the rest of the BFI London Film Festival reviews posted (two large ones which I’ll try and edit down to something more accurate, brief and concise) and start in on the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme.

The second trailer post of the week rounds up the trailers and the documentaries. Hello! Junichi is the big drama here and it is surrounded by lots of 3/11 documentaries. Here they are! Let’s go!

Hello! Junichi   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: ハロー！　純一

Romaji: Hallo! Junichi

Running Time: 91 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Katsuhito Ishii, Kanoko Kawaguchi, Atsushi Yoshioka

Writer: Atsushi Yoshioka, Kanoko Kawaguchi (Screenplay), Noriko Ishii (Original Novel)

Starring: Hikari Mitsushima, Amon Kabe, Ryushin Tei, Chizuru Ikewaki, Tatsuya Gashuin, Yoshiyuki Morishita

Hello! Junichi is a film that follows the lives of a group of people in a small village including 6 elementary school students and a university student (Mitsushima) apprenticing as a teacher in their school.

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Ryusei  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: リュウセイ

Romaji: Ryuusei

Running Time: 80 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Kenji Tani

Writer: Midori Sato (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryoma Baba, Kaname Endo, Yuki Sato, Shizuka Midorikawa, Riki Miura, Ryohei Abe, Tomoko Aihara, Chisato Katagiri,

Ryusei is a drama about three friends in Nagano and the different paths in life they take. When Kyo (endo), Ryuta (Sato) and Haruhiko (Baba) were in middle school they saw a meteor and life seemed so full of promise. Twelve years on and Kyo has quit his band and works at a bar, Ryuta has moved to Tokyo where he works in a nightclub and Haruhiko is heavily in debt and needs his parent’s help. Their lives will soon change…

Website

Murakami Kazuo Dokyumento `SWITCH’ Idenshi ga Mezameru ShunkanImage may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: 村上和雄ドキュメント「SWITCH」　遺伝子が目覚める瞬間

Romaji: Murakami Kazuo Dokyumento `SWITCH’ Idenshi ga Mezameru Shunkan

Running Time: 80 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Nanaoki Suzuki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Kazuo Murakami, Junko Suzuki, Momoko Suzuki, Fumiko Irie

The award-winning geneticist Kazuo Murakami had this film about him made back in 2011. He is a man who travelled to the US and launched a meteoric career in the field which culminated in him decoding the human enzyme renin. More recently he has linked genetics to spirituality and suggested that the power of positive thinking can activate ‘positive genes’ and potentially turn us into geniuses. I’m all for positive thinking!

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Hōmuresu Riji-chō Taigaku Kyūji Saisei KeikakuImage may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: ホームレス理事長　退学球児再生計画

Romaji: Hōmuresu Riji-chō Taigaku Kyūji Saisei Keikaku

Running Time: 110 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Hiroshi Hijikata

Writer: N/A

Starring: Go Yamada

Go Yamada sees to be a guy who once owned a business but lost everything, including his house, but worked hard to maintain a baseball team made up of boys who dropped out of high school. The film crew follow him as he tries to raise funds.

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Metamorphosis  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: 変身

Romaji: Henshin

Running Time: 63 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Jun Hori

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Jun Hori is a former NHK announce and founder of the 8bit News organisation and director of this documentary which draws links between nuclear accidents in Japan and the US. He interviews people about topics like radiation exposure.

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Fukushima Rokkasho Mirai E no Dengon  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: 福島　六ヶ所　未来への伝言

Romaji: Fukushima Rokkasho Mirai E no Dengon

Running Time: 105 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Megumi Shimada

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Photographer Megumi Shimada takes her camera and documents the continued struggle of people living with the aftereffects of the March 11^th earthquake and tsunami. More specifically, some families in Fukushima and Rokkasho who were affected by the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, farmers, fishermen and people suffering from te effects of radiation.

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Taekwondo Soul REBIRTH  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: テコンドー魂 REBIRTH

Romaji: Tekondō Tamashi REBIRTH

Running Time: 88 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Hideyuki Katsuki

Writer: Hideyuki Katsuki (Screenplay)

Starring: Masahiro Inoue, Ryoma Baba, Kyosuke Hamao, Shinichi Hashimoto, Yuichiro Hirata, Rina Koike

Holy crap! Taekwondo is magic! In this film we see a bunch of guys training for the All Japan Taekwondo championship. Lead character Toshimichi is meant to take over his father’s dojo and hopefully inherit the title of Taekwondo champion of Japan but disasters and enemies strike while he trains in a forest. Plus some yakuza show up thanks to Toshimichi’s brother.

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12 Years a Slave  Image may be NSFW.
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Running Time: 106 mins.

Release Date: February o8^th, 2014

Director: Steve McQueen

Writer: John Ridley (Screenplay), Solomon Northup (Original Book)

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt, Alfre Woodard

12 Years a Slave is based on the true story of Solomon Northup, one of many free blacks kidnapped and forced into slavery and one of the few to escape back to freedom. He soon turned his exploits into a book and stage play which abolitionists in the north of America used to help bolster their cause against slavery. Solomon’s story fell into obscurity after the American civil war but was discovered by Bianca Stigter, the wife of British Turner Prize winning artist of Steve McQueen who was seeking to make a film about slavery but struggling to find a narrative. McQueen is a man who has successfully made the leap from art to film with his first two features Hunger (2008) and Shame (2012) and now the critically acclaimed 12 Years a Slave which is an incredible adaptation of an incredible story.

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Saratoga Springs, New York, 1841. Solomon Northup (Ejiofor) is a free black man. He earns a living as a skilled carpenter and violinist and resides in a comfortable house with his wife and two children. In New York he is relatively safe from slavery which is the biggest and most commerically important industry in the world and is generally respected by his neighbours. Two musicians invite Solomon on a two-week tour as a musician but behind the smiles are ruthless kidnappers who drug Solomon and sell him into slavery. He is beaten repeatedly and given the name Platt before being resold to a plantation owner named Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). Solomon earns the respect of Ford but the ire of the overseer Tibeats (Dano) who threatens his life. Ford decides to resell Solomon to a slave-breaker named Edwin Epps (Fassbender) to avoid any bloodshed but Solomon is far from safe from this vicious drunk who exercises his reign of terror on his slaves and Solomon’s years of captivity become even more brutal and dangerous.

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To reveal the horror of slavery is a hard task that many films avoid or have failed to do adequately. Many are wrong like Birth of a Nation, romanticised like Gone with the Wind, or exploitative like Mandingo. Few in my experience come close to describing what I imagine the reality of the institution used to be, how big and brutal it was to put it bluntly. Through Solomon’s real-life first person narrative we get the reality of plantation life but in framing the story through that of an individual we sacrifice the scale of the thing. However with McQueen using his aesthetic principals he makes a stunning and raw film that does not shy away from the issues involved and gives audience every detail to place them in Solomon’s world and establish a slave narrative that feels the most honest thus far.

People familiar with McQueen’s art, more specifically his video installations, will know of his intense attention to detail and his interest on the effects of action and physicality on bodies and environments. One of his pieces, Deadpan (1997), is the recreation of the Buster Keaton stunt in which a house collapses around McQueen but he is left unscathed because he is standing in the spot of a missing window. The film is visceral stuff to see because he captures the collapse from various angles and distances and in very slow motion so audiences can see the resulting pressures on his body, the way he shakes and clothes ripple and dirt from the ground is thrown up and so forth. This rigorous attention to detail, this style and focus on bodies is in his feature films and creates heavy emotional blows that mount up for bravura knock-out endings that allow the audience to attain a sense of catharsis, especially here.

12 Years a Slave is a gruelling and harrowing watch. What makes this film an important and powerful adaptation of a vital historical document is McQueen’s rigorous and relentless and detailed approach and the skill of his regular cinematographer Sean Bobbit in capturing things. The long takes that give perspective and the constant focus on Solomon’s point of view means that the drama of the narrative is informed and complimented by the visuals captured and this makes Solomon’s story real and all the more impressive.

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The film takes place in locations with strong connections to the plantation system and on highly detailed sets that conjure up powerful feelings of verisimilitude so that we feel that we have been transported back in time. We are not in cinemas but in the simmering humid bayous, in an atmosphere sticky with heat and thick with Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.moisture. We are under a burning sun in huge cotton fields that surround the beautiful plantations. It is reality. It is all scenic but McQueen is not interested in romanticising things. As much as we hear cicadas we also hear the clink of chains and the snap of whips. The sun mercilessly beats down on the dirt paths that the slaves faint under as they pick cotton before heading back to the shacks where they are crowded in together. In forests of oak trees, men hang from a noose and in the yards in front of the opulent plantations people are whipped raw. Amidst the beauty there is great cruelty and McQueen does not flinch from showing the severity of the beatings, whippings, lynchings and general mistreatments. By forcing the audience to watch, by using long takes and capturing the details, we understand how these things happened daily to millions.

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A whipping becomes a highly traumatic thing to watch as we see flecks of flesh and the spray of blood from every stroke. We get to see the results which are gut churningly awful. No flogging in any movie past or present will ever be worth taking seriously again after this.

Next to the whipping is the lynching Solomon almost perishes from which best illustrates the point of McQueen’s style being effective. We see Solomon dangling from a rope in one long sequence composed of a long shot of his dangling body inter-cut with close-ups of his feet as he struggles to gain purchase and avoid dying. It is long and exhausting. These scenes are all the more horrific because life goes on around it as the work of adults and the play of children carries on in the background and off-screen. Sights like this are common for these people but their severity is shocking to a modern audience and so we understand the extent that violence was used.

McQueen does not let violence dull from overuse, he places it in a real context in which it is used to keep slaves in check and it hangs heavy over the film creating an atmosphere of foreboding so when violence is used it can be devastating for both the audience and characters.

I have focussed on the images and violence because it is used to imbue the film with a specific feeling and it is of sadness. It is a story of the inhumanity people can show to each other once they are trapped in an institution and mind set. Much like the abuse of prisoners in Hunger or the way some unspecified trauma has affected Brandon to such an extent that his body in Shame, the politics and finance behind slavery warp everyone and everything from religion to morality. Here we see how people treat others they regard as property and inferior and how they suffer for it morally and physically.

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You can see the actors disappearing into roles. The costumes worn, the mannerisms and dialogue of the cast all further these feelings. Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon gives a remarkable performance. The camera focusses on him. He remains sympathetic as his physicality exudes a stoicism and pragmatism with hints of vulnerability. He radiates the strength man who goes through such traumas and does his best to survive while refusing to let go of his former life and hope. Michael Fassbender brings a fierce performance as Edwin Epps, a slave owner conflicted with his love for one of his property. Like Ejiofor, he sinks into his role and his emotions play out in his face on physicality which alternates between that of a patient father, a menacing bully and the extreme frenzy of a whirling dervish. He bursts with a vindictive and violent nature and both he and Ejiofor spark off each other well as the latter tries to placate the former. Even though we follow the first person narrative of Solomon and the men who own his life, the story has a range of women who provide some of the longest lasting memories. Perhaps the most scary character is portrayed by Sarah Paulson as Mistress Epps. While Edwin’s rage is easy to identify, if hard to control, hers is powered by an ice cold vindictiveness that radiates from the screen.  It is aimed at Patsey, played sympathetically by newcomer Lupita Nyong’o, who is the object of Edwin’s obsessions and the target of a lot of the horror. The look exchanged between Solomon and Patsey in their final encounter is heart breaking and a reminder that while he may have escaped many more slaves did not and there were so many like Patsey who suffered awfully.

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I was hesitant about watching this because of my emotional reaction to Shame which was pretty powerful. How would I react to a slave narrative already earning notoriety for its toughness? At the end of the film, after drying my tears, I was glad that I did make the effort to watch the film and I regard it as one of the best films I have seen in recent years. Despite having been brought up with knowledge of slavery it made me understand what it may have been like and it made me consider my actions, thoughts and feelings on a lot of issues. It is a film that informs the audience of a history many try to ignore, it makes one sad over the inhumanity that people can show each other and marvel over a person’s power to survive. It is a beautiful and painful spectacle of endurance and an important historical film and a powerful drama and I would not be surprised if it remained the best film I have seen in 2014.

5/5

Congratulations go out to the makers of the film for their success at last night’s BAFTA awards where it won Best Film and Best Actor.

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Third Window Films have a great line-up of films from Korea and Japan getting a release this year but the one that I think everybody should be looking out for is Shady.

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SHADY

Japan / 2012 / 94 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour

Starring:  Mimpi*β, Izumi Okamura

Out on DVD March 24th, 2014

DVD Special Features
Anamorphic Widescreen transfer with 5.1 Surround Sound
Interviews with director Ryohei Watanabe and actresses Mimpi*β & Izumi Okamura

Because of her last name “Kumada” (bear + rice paddy) and her appearance, Misa’s high school classmates call her “Pooh” disparagingly. She obviously has no friends and can only let down her guard around her pet parrot and the goldfish in the science room at school. But then she finds herself quickly becoming best friends with Izumi, a cute and popular classmate. Although somewhat puzzled by Izumi’s interest in her, Misa is excited about having a friend for the first time ever. But Izumi’s initial angelic demeanor gradually transforms…

I saw Shady at last year’s Raindance Film Festival and I was blown away. It is like a mixture of Shunji Iwai’s school-based films and some dark psychological stuff you would see in Roman Polanski’s films back when he was living in Britain. I was sucked in at the start and gripped all the way through to the finish. What makes it more remarkable is that it is the debut film of Ryohei Watanabe and he made the film at the age of 24. He made it with only a £10,000 budget and yet it looks like a high class film, so refined and beautiful to look at and with great set and sound design and fantastic performances. I am so glad I caught it in a cinema! I thought the film was so good that I have taken to telling all sorts of people at my film club and Japanese class about it and alerting people to its upcoming release.

If you think  Japanese cinema is all adaptations of manga and doramas (which it mostly is) then check this out and have your faith restored in the creative talents of Japanese filmmakers! I would consider it one of the best films I saw last year and I recommend that you purchase it!

I’ll get a review up the week after next so I can finish my Top Ten Films of 2013. I wonder where it will land… Hint: higher than three.

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Clik here to view.Lots of films get released this weekend and there is a wide variety of genres and mediums! In this trailer post there are many action films, a concert and wrestling matches and anime. The only title that stands out to me is Red X Pink and that’s for obvious reasons: sexy kick ass girls. This is what a live-action Dead or Alive video game should look like. More trailers (really interesting ones) follow tomorrow with the week’s round-up.

Aragure II Roppongi v.s. Shibuya   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: アラグレ II Roppongi v.s. Shibuya

Romaji: Aragure II Roppongi v.s. Shibuya

Running Time: 75 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Hajime Gonno

Writer: Masao Ikegaya (Screenplay),

Starring: Nobuyuki Suzuki, Tamiyasu Cho, Yuya Endo, Shizuka Nakamura, Shingo Kawaguchi, Hiroaki Kitami, Shuhei Nogae

This follows on from the last Aragure film where Seiya (Suzuki) from Roppongi  has no tried his hand at normal life and taken a job at a store in Shibuya but feels the call of the streets and the urge to fight. He soon gets involved in underground fighting but this starts a conflict between Roppongi and Shibuya…

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Wonderfull!! Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: ワンダー・フル!!

Romaji: Wanda- Furu!!

Running Time: 80 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Mirai Mizue

Writer:  N/A

Starring: N/A

Mirai Mizue took her 8-minute film Wonder to the 2014 Berlin Film Festival. It is a co-production between France and Japan funded on Kickstarter. This is the long version at 80 minutes combined music from the orchestral group Pascals combined with a collection of images the director created and uploaded onto the internet over 365 consecutive days. The music and sound create sequences of colour and movement, tones and rhythmised oscillations to create abstract animation.

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GameCenter CX: The Movie – 1986 Mighty Bomb Jack Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: ゲームセンターCX THE MOVIE 1986　マイティボンジャック

Romaji: Ge-mu Senta- CX THE MOVIE 1986 Maitei Bonjakku

Running Time: 109 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Masatoshi Kurakata

Writer: Kensaku Sakai (Screenplay),

Starring: Shinya Arino, Hajime Yoshii, Yuna Taira, Kaita Matsushima, Kakeru Yoshida, Takamasa Abe,

Retro video game action in this comedy adventure as the film is split between 1986 and 2006. In 1986, we follow a boy name Daisuke (Yoshii) who wants to impress classmate Kumiko (Taira) by standing up to some tougher kids and getting his game “Mighty Bomb Jack” back!

In 2006, a man named Arino (Arino) who is challenged by the same game and finds it difficult. Will he overcome it on the TV programme “Game Center CX”?

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Giovanni’s Island Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: ジョバンニの島

Romaji: Giovanni no Shima

Running Time: 109 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Masatoshi Kurakata

Writer: Kensaku Sakai (Screenplay),

Starring: Kota Yokoyama (Junpei Senou), Junya Taniai (Kanta Senou), Masachika Ichimura (Tatsuo Senou), Yukie Nakama (Sawako), Polina Ilyushenko (Tanya)

Production I.G and Warner Bros. Japan release Giovanni’s Island today. It is a story set just after World War II and it is a hand drawn film based on a screenplay from Shigemichi Sugita and Yoshiki Sakura (GitS: SAC, Blood+). Mizuho Nishikubo (Video Girl Ai) is directing.

Junpei and his younger brother Hirota live on a peaceful island of Shikotan with their father Tatsuo and grandfatherGenzo. The island lies north of Japan and close to the Soviet Union. They get their names from the Kenji Miyazawa novel “Night on the Galactic Railroad” which their late mother enjoyed reading. Then on August 15th, 1945, Soviet troops arrive. The boys glimpse the chaos and fear an army occupation brings but they also feel love for a Russian girl named Tanya.

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Nakajima Miyuki Girls’ Festival Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  中島みゆき　雛まつり

Romaji: Nakajima Miyuki Hina Matsuri

Release Date: February 22nd, 2013

Running Time: 175 mins.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring: Miyuki Nakajima

This is the second part of a series of recordings of the musical performances of Miyuki Nakajima.

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Buddy Fight Presents World Wrestling 3D eighth edition 1.4 Tokyo Dome Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  バディファイトPresents ワールドプロレスリング3D 第8弾 1.4東京ドーム 2014

Romaji: Badifaito Presents wārudopuroresuringu 3 D dai 8-dan 1. 4 Tōkyō dōmu 2014

Release Date: February 22nd, 2013

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tetsuya Naito

The stars of the New Japan Pro Wrestling circuit make an appearance in this 3D wrestling film.

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Red x Pink  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 赤ｘピンク

Romaji: Aka X Pinku

Running Time: 118 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Koichi Sakamoto

Writer: Takehiko Minato (Screenplay), Kazuki Sakuraba (Original Novel)

Starring: Yuria Haga, Sanae Hitomi, Rina Koike, Takahisa Maeyama, Yukiko Suo, Haruka Oshima, Ayame Misaki, Misaki Momose, Rina Sakuragi

Koichi Sakamoto is a big name in the super-sentai film world and had two action films released last year – Travelers and 009-1: The End of the Beginning. This looks far more risqué and just one glance at the poster made me think that this is what a live-action Dead or Alive video game adaptation should look like. Some steamy scenes in this trailer!

“Girl’s Blood” is an underground fighting tournament held in Roppongi. Taking part in the fights are a myriad of girls all with different stories. Satsuki (Haga) suffers from a gender identity disorder, Chinatsu (Tada) has fled an abusive husband, Mayu (Koike) is a Lolita girl and Miko (Misaki) is an S&M queen.

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Kamen Teacher The Movie  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 劇場版　仮面ティーチャー

Romaji: Gekijouban Kamen Teacher

Running Time: 93 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Kentaro Moriya

Writer: Junpei Yamaoka (Screenplay), Toru Fujisawa (Original Manga)

Starring: Taisuke Fujigaya, Aya Omasa, Kenichi Endo, Mikie Hara, Ryu Nakatani, Takumi Saito, Maika Yamamoto

It is the near future and Japan’s public schools are full of troubled students. With the educational system about to fall apart, the government sends Kamen Teacher in to sort the situation out. Meet Gota Araki (Fujigaya), a new homeroom teacher whose students are all violent. Even though he is allowed to use extreme force to subdue them, he would rather change his students by using his heart. Seeing Gota’s determination makes them change but when his old trainer from the Education Ministry shows up and uses violence to beat the students, Gota must decide who he will side with.

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Clik here to view.What a week!  The focus was on Japanese classes and getting to grips with constructing complex sentences with clauses embedded here, there and everywhere. In between that I’ve started clearing out 20 years worth of stuff – old magazines, video games, letters and cards. Very busy.

In live-action movie terms I wrote my review for 12 Years a Slave and then an announcement from Third Window Films for their forthcoming release of Shady. I started watching the dorama Double Face and… that was it. More anime than live-action. Yesterday was the trailer post. Next week I will post the final two reviews from last year’s BFI London Film Festival.

What about today’s trailers? Yesterday had a nice mix of titles but my true favourites lie in today’s post with Hello Superova and ‘Shun ka’ to wa, nandatta no ka? both bringing a more experimental edge to cinema screens.

Refugee in Tokyo  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 東京難民

Romaji: Tokyo Nanmin

Running Time: 130 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Kiyoshi Sasabe

Writer: Takeshi Aoshima (Screenplay),  Tetsuzo Fukuzawa (Original Novel)

Starring: Aoi Nakamura, Chihiro Otsuka, Sho Aoyagi, Mizuki Yamamoto, Akiyoshi Nakao, Jun Inoue, Nobuaki Kaneko

Shu Tokieda (Nakamura) was a college student in Tokyo but when he is kicked out for failing to pay his tuition fees, he soon falls down the social ladder and survies near the bottom working part-time at an internet café. Shu makes the decision to become a successful host…

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Train Heroes the Movie Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 劇場版　トレインヒーロー

Romaji: Gekijouban Torein Hi-ro

Running Time: 88 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Masae Takeharu

Writer:  N/A

Starring: Daisuke Namikawa (Aru), Daisuke Ono (Gou), Kazuyuki Okitsu (Samu), Misuzu Togashi (Ann), Hideki Tanaka (Aito)

Ah, this is a co-production between a Chinese animation company and TV Tokyo. This CG action film is about trains with artificial intelligence who join forces to stop a malfunctioning satellite from attacking earth.

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Ikeshima Ballade Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 池島譚歌

Romaji: Ikeshima Tanka

Running Time: 117 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Kinshirou Ogino

Writer:  N/A

Starring: Noboru Kaneko, Saori Tominaga, Tatsuya Tanaka, Ryuto Tajima,

Ikeshima is an island near Nagasaki and on this island exist a diverse mix of people from guys who work at the coal mine to normal school kids like Ryoichi He is a new transfer student. His mother has returned home after a divorce and he finds it tough to adjust but he finds three friends to help him get through things. Unfortunately, his mother goes missing and Ryoichi suspects she is in the coal mine. With the hlp of his friends, he heads into the mine…

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Bodacious Space Pirates Abyss of Hyperspace Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: モーレツ宇宙海賊 ABYSS OF HYPERSPACE 亜空の深淵

Romaji: Mōretsu Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace -Akū no Shien-

Running Time: 95 mins.

Release Date: February 22^nd, 2014

Director: Tatsuo Sato

Writer:  Tatsuo Sato (Screenplay)

Starring: Kana Hanazawa (Chiaki Kurihara), Mikako Komatsu (Marika Kato)

This is the movie adaptation of the TV anime Bodacious Space Pirates (Mōretsu Pirates) which is an adaptation of the sci-fi comedy light novel series Mini-Skirt Uchū Kaizoku (Mini-Skirt Space Pirates) written by Yūichi Sasamoto (Venus Wars, Dirty Pair). The film and TV series is animated by Satelight (Aquarion Evol) and directed by Tatsuo Sato (Cat Soup, Martian Successor Nadesico). Art design comes from Masahiro Sato (Armitage III, Colorful, House of Five Leaves). Momoiro Clover are on hand to sing these. Voice actors from the television series return including Mikako Komatsu (Keita in Natsuiro Kiseki) as Marika, Kana Hanazawa (Mayuri Shiina in Steins;Gate) as Chiaki, Keiji Fujiwara (Ladd Russo in Baccano!) as Hyakume, Masaya Matsukaze (Kasper Hekmatyar in Jormungand) as Kane Mac Dougall, and Shizuka Itou (Haruka Morishima in Amagami SS) as Misa Grandwood.

High school student Marika lives in a distant galaxy known as Uminoakeboshi. When she isn’t studying she spends her days working at a space yacht club and a retro café. All that changes when two men appear claiming to have been part of a crew of a space pirate ship named Bentenmaru which was owned by her father. It turns out that the ship has to be inherited by the captain’s descendatnts and that means Marika and so she finds herself embarking on a new life in space priacy. Presumably in a mini skirt.

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Hello Supernova  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  ハロー、スーパーノヴァ

Romaji: Harō, Sūpānova

Release Date: February 22nd, 2013

Running Time: 88 mins.

Director: Yuichiro Konno

Writer: Yuichiro Konno (Screenplay)

Starring: Chisato Ushio, Mitsuharu Kobayashi, Azusa Uemura, Kaoru Ozawa

This film comes from Yuichiro Konno, a multimedia artist who has worked with photography, theatre and now film. In this film, a woman who has been stuck in her house for a long period of time ventures out an encounters all sorts of people in various situations. It looks different and interesting and when so many films are adaptations, being unique is a good thing.

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‘Shun ka’ to wa, nandatta no ka?  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  「瞬か」とは、なんだったのか？

Romaji: ‘Shun ka’ to wa, nandatta no ka?

Release Date: February 22nd, 2013

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Kosuke Mori

Writer: N/A

Starring: Sugadairo, Ryohei Kondo, Hana Sakai, misako Tanaka, Manami Kita, contact Gonzo

This looks pretty damn interesting. Sugadairo is a free jazz pianist and he, together with dancers and actors, performed all sorts of improvised pices expressing ideas and feelings on family.

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The Great Passage                Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: 舟を編む

Romaji: Fune wo Amu

Release Date: April 13^th, 2013 (Japan)

Seen at the BFI London Film Festival 2013

Running Time: 133 mins.

Director: Yuya Ishii

Writer: Shion Miura (Original Novel), Kensaku Watanabe (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuhei Matsuda, Aoi Miyazaki, Joe Odagiri, Haru Kuroki, Misako Watanabe, Kumiko Aso, Shingo Tsurumi, Chizuru Ikewaki, Hiroko Isayama, Kaouru Kobayashi, Go Kato, Kaoru Yachigusa, Ryu Morioka, Shohei Uno, Kazuki Namioka

The year is 1995 and the place is the Dictionary Editorial Department of the publisher Genbu Books. The staff include Matsumoto (Kato), a veteran editor in chief of dictionaries who is assisted by his key right-hand man Araki (Kobayashi), a skilled editor who is on the verge of quitting because his wife is ailing and he wants to be by her side. Also in the department are Sasaki (Isayama), the oil for the team ensuring that word entries are logged on computers and filed away and young blade Nishioka  (Odagiri) who, while not as is good at defining words, is a pro at getting more up to date definitions and examples because he has skill with human contact.

And that’s it for the dictionary team. All dedicated to the beauty of words but considered weird by the rest of the staff at the publisher. Fact of the matter is that compiling dictionaries is not hot shot work in publishing terms because such things are boring and costly in an age when digital technology is coming to prominence and everybody else would rather work on glossy magazines.

With Araki seeking to retire it places great strain on the department at a time when Matsuoka wants to initiate a new project called The Great Passage, a 240,000 word dictionary that will capture everything from the most current youth slang to the most technical terms of different fields like theatre and literature making it the most comprehensive and representative dictionary in the country.

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The team will need a capable editor and so Araki and Nishioka stalk the halls of Genbu publishers for a replacement but there are few interested. Fortunately Nishioka’s girlfriend Renmi directs them to Mitsuya Majime (Matsuda), a post-grad in linguistics who is so shy he actually lacks the ability to communicate his feelings to others except his cat Tora-san and his landlady at the Sou-Un-Sou Rooming House Take (Watanabe), but with his involvement in The Great Passage dictionary, he may find that his world opens up and over the course of fourteen years things get better when Take’s granddaughter Kaguya (Miyazaki) arrives. A cook by trade but uncertain about her career choice, she provides the impetus for Majime and he finally finds the by right words to say to people.

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Aaaaaannnd this is Japan’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar category. Ostensibly a film about the creation of a dictionary over fourteen years sounds boring but when you consider the diverse mix of people who could be responsible for compiling the thing then there is great potential. Put a director like Yuya Ishii, a man given to creating indie movies full of funny characters as demonstrated by Sawako Decides and Mitsuko Delivers (well, maybe not the last one), then there is the guarantee that The Great Passage will be able to tickle your funny bone. It does more than that though as it presents a warm-hearted and amusing gentle drama/comedy centred on a group of intelligent individuals brought together through a love of words which provides as some insight into the art of making a dictionary and the changes in publishing and culture as it does general amusement and a stirring tribute to team work. I bet you’d never thought a film about dictionaries would be able to do the former without sacrificing the latter things!

The world of the characters is established clearly and concisely with every interaction, line of dialogue, scene and sequence the dictionary team have. The team is small and their status in publishing terms is handily shown by the state of the building they work in. Not Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.the flashy modern office that their parent company resides in but the squat ageing ivy covered relic from a bygone age that is just next door. The interiors are dimly lit and clogged with ancient tomes. When they first start writing the dictionary it is mostly by hand, a laborious task involving leafing through older dictionaries, holding rigorous debates about the meaning of words and filling in index cards and using a creaky old word processor to file entries. As time passes we note the changes connected to the small team’s efforts at making the dictionary like word usage and the computer software and the technology that both threatens the worth of a paper dictionary and makes its creation possible.

The world is the background for a sometimes comic, sometimes serious look at the people involved who demonstrate the power of words. Through the passage of time we see the changes in fashion and hairstyles as the characters age, the relationships forged and how those connected to the project grow as people thanks to their work and their unwavering dedication belief. People meet, get married, children are born and all of these experiences happen because of, and inform the content of the dictionary.

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Matsumoto wants to name the dictionary The Great Passage because he knows that words are important and it will allow people to navigate that sea of words and communicate with others, make connections. By the end we come to share this belief not least because we have Majime’s slow but steady character growth which means blossoming from shy-guy to wooing Kaguya.

Ryuhei Matsuda is absolutely loveable as Mitsuya Majime¹. He is your typical great thinker. A bespectacled beanpole who doesn’t bother with fashion, he floats around in his own world when his nose isn’t in a book. He is an introvert who is precise with his definitions and actions but finds himself lost for words when dealing with other people whether it is his co-workers at the publisher or the girl he loves most.

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That said girl is the beautiful Aoi Miyazaki is a pretty good spur to change and the two make a nice couple. Kaguya is a character with some depth in terms of emotions.  Although more forceful than Majime, she is beset by doubts over her career choice as a cook but through Majime’s support and seeing his genuine passion for his work, Kaguya is empowered herself.

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Perhaps the more interesting roles for me were Joe Odagiri as the more worldly Nishioka, a man totally different from Majime who acts as a sort of friend/guide that manages to loosen up Majime and is brusque enough to ensure their relationship doesn’t get too sickly sweet – his reaction to Majime’s love-letter is priceless. Kaoru Kobayashi who acts as a father-figure is another great actor who I came to care about.

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Clik here to view.The film never loses sight of the people at the heart of the dictionary so when it comes to the crunch moments – when people have to negotiate for its continued development and help has to be asked for from students and others who love words, we are hooked during these moments. At the heart of the film are a bunch of characters that we come to know and love. Each character has their own distinctive traits and is fleshed out enough so that the flow of comedy comes across as natural and funnier and we are invested in their lives and the project as a whole.

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Clik here to view.The excellently written script is full of intelligent people we connect with and direction which compliments and highlights the skilled performances brought by an impressive cast who bring these characters to life.

As Yuya transitions from the indie world into the larger budget with a star-studded cast this comes as a sign that he has lost none of his observational skills or comedic tone. A lot of the laughs may come from the source novel by Shion Miura and it may be a little longer than necessary but Ishii films everything perfectly. The editing and use of camera angles are all smoothly utilised to create an amusing human tale of dedication, growth and making connections.

4/5

¹Majime is the Japanese for diligence (something I didn’t know) and Majime has diligence in spades (not like me with my Japanese studies ;_; )

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Why Don’t You Play in Hell?           

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Japanese Title: 地獄　で　なぜ　悪い Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

Romaji: Jigoku de Naze Warui Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

Release Date: September 28^th, 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 119 mins.

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay),

Starring: Jun Kunimura, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Fumi Nikaido, Tomochika, Hiroki Hasegawa, Kotou Lorena, Gen Hoshino, Tak Sakaguchi

This has been a long time coming. I saw Why Don’t You Play in Hell? at last year’s BFI London Film Festival and I had huge expectations. In the months leading up to the screening I had posted trailers and made posts full of Gifs. It was my final festival film of the year and walking into the cinema I was tingling with excitement. Why? Because Sono is one of my two favourite Japanese directors and this looked awesome. I can confirm that it was God-tier awesome. 

The film opens on a teenage director named Hirata who, along with his amateur film crew The F*ck Bombers, is busy shooting a gang fight between some Yankees. The main ambition of The F*ck Bombers is to make the most miraculous movie ever with realistic action! These guys will come into play later as the film switches to Muto (Kunimura), a yakuza crime boss who is the top target of a rival gang.

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A hit-squad from the rival gang head to Muto’s home. Except he’s not there. His wife Shizue (Tomochika) is. What results is a bloodbath as Shizue defends her home from the gangsters… 

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Meanwhile, as mother dearest is chasing one of the few survivors of her rage, Muto’s daughter, the angelic child actress Mitsuko, arrives home to find herself wading in a sea of blood. Lying on the kitchen floor and bleeding out is lone survivor Ikegami (Tsutsumi) who is charmed by Mitsuko so much that he develops a bit of an obsession. He stumbles out of the crime scene where he runs into Hirata and The F*ck Bombers who realise he is an honest to God blood-covered yakuza and begin to film him.

Cut to a timid schoolboy named Koji across town. He is watching Mitsuko on television in an advert for toothpaste and falls in love with her. 

With this ad she’s going to make it big… Except the scandal of the yakuza assault on her parents derails her career. 

10 years later

Shizue is in prison, the rival gangsters still despise and battle each other and Ikegami is still in love with Muto’s actress daughter Mitsuko (Nikaido) who is a rebel…

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That’s an understatement. She is a deadly kick-ass girl who thinks nothing of beating the crap out of men and is frustrated that her acting career has been derailed. 

Muto is desperate to get Mitsuko into a film as a reward for his wife’s loyalty. Shizue still desperately wants Mitsuko to be a star but the girl is constantly escaping her controlling father’s grasp and causing trouble which she does during a gang battle. 

In order to evade her father’s gangsters she hooks up with Koji (Hoshino), the timid schoolboy we saw earlier who has grown up to be a timid normal person. He is still massively in love with Mitsuko and so hangs around with her even when it means that he gets kidnapped and his life is threatened.

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The only way he will keep breathing is to pretend to be a film director and promise to make Mitsuko a star. When dealing with gangsters you don’t mess around but Koji is in over his head until he contacts a cinephile named Hirata (Hasegawa) who is waiting for a chance to exercise his skills (and madness). His last film, The Blood of the Wolves, has yet to find a distributor and this is his big chance. He prays, “Movie god, if I can make one hell of a movie, then I won’t mind dying.”

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He may just get his prayer answered as the gangster start working for him… 

Why Don’t You Play in Hell? is great. Do not let others persuade you that it is not. Some critics have wrongly dismissed this crazy crime comedy probably because of a misplaced sense of humour or misplaced expectations. Sion Sono’s last two films, Himizu and The Land of Hope, were earnest and intense issue dramas about the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami and perhaps critics expected him to continue in this vein, to mature as they see it, but Sono is the wild man of Japanese cinema who defies expectations and conventions. With Why Don’t You Play in Hell? Sono promised us an “Entertainment Film” and he delivers entertainment in spades.

The script was written 17 years ago in a pre-digital era. In the process of dusting it off and reinterpreting it for a new age Sono has included bits about the death of 35mm with scenes of nostalgia such as the F*ck Bombers crashing with a projectionist (played by the venerable Mickey Curtis) in a community cinema and luxuriating in celluloid dreams, references to past directors, sly nods over the links between the yakuza and films  and amusing passages criticising the current state of a Japanese movie industry choking on commercialism, idols and low-merit cash-ins of books and whatnot.  More importantly the script is the firm and funny basis for a film that has all of the energy and fervour for spectacle that Sono is known for.

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The film is high energy sugar-filled chaos from start to finish. The plot synopsis may suggest that the narrative is pretty complicated but it really isn’t. It is easy to follow and as the different characters race towards each other it is much like watching a picture flip book breeze by as the narrative hurtles towards an elaborate and gory final image dedicated to celebrating exploitation cinema.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of ‘Why Don’t You Play in Hell?’ is the way it is packed full of incident and detail but it flows effortlessly and has the smooth and quick pacing of a gag anime. The script helps in this in the way it spends a little time with a lot of people in lots of different settings. Rapid transitions between scenes and sequences are used for the narrative to corral the many characters zooming about and colliding together into a coherent story where nary a detail is wasted. This sense of speed and action is achieved visually by using every tool in the editing armoury and marshalling the camera with ninja-like precision. Everything from smash cuts, cross cuts and zooms transport us through time and space and into hilarity and the film never drags, it just keeps on becoming funnier and funnier until its bloody extended climax. Couple the fast pace with cute jingles and cool music, the excellent set and costume design, intense use of bright colours and an overall mise-en-scene that is like cinema’s visual equivalent of a sugar rush, it so good-natured and you will want to run with it to the end.

The acting from everybody is designed to milk the most entertainment from the characters but the film is not missing dramatic weight in some of the relationships. Amidst some of the mugging and through a lot of the gags is some great acting. Japanese film fans will know of Tak Sakaguchi as an action star and fight choreographer but he has a stellar scene with Hasegawa when his character Sasaki decides to quite the F*ck Bombers. The drama rippled off the screen as we saw a man, body hunched with barely contained aggression and brows knit with frustration and disappointment, fighting with the realisation that his dreams of stardom may be dashed and he needs to grow up. Fumi Nikaido is cool and sexy as Mitsuko but beneath the exterior is a girl frustrated by her circumstances and those around her as evidenced by her sullen countenance which is on display just as much as her fierce and fiery visage when she gets to run around with a swords and look positively deadly. Hasegawa, who plays the mad cinephile, delirious with the power he wields and the vision he has nurtured, is another favourite, an example of the dedication cinephiles have for their love. He, like all of the cast, give excellent and committed performances!

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Much like 13 Assassins, Sono uses the beginning as a build up to a climatic ending and the main point of the film is that it is entertaining and Sono achieves it with the extended bloodbath where things get even more extreme and absurd. Gangsters and filmmakers are caught up in waves of blood carrying severed limbs which are tossed around with abandon. I have not seen so much gore since Cold Fish and the opening for Suicide Club and it is all played for laughs.

The entire film is amusing, from the insanely cute and catchy toothpaste ad (which is my phone’s ringtone) that is a sustained joke throughout the film (and a joke that actually works every time) all the way to the bloodbath at the end, the film is a hilarious experience that had me and the audience I was with laughing regularly and with more intensity as the situations became more chaotic and insane.

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When the film ended I was happy. After the applause, I said out loud, “This is the best film since Citizen Kane. Better actually.” I was half serious. The film contains everything that makes cinema unique and fun. It is stuffed full of comedy and carnage, the actors and the staff are having fun and so should the audience. It’s a love-letter to films a generation of adventurous cinephiles grew up on. It uses every editing technique and channels all of Sono’s directorial skill and his penchant for the absurd as well as excellent performances to make a demented film that is beautifully insane and energetic and yet cosy and familiar. Sono aimed to make an entertainment film and he succeeds.

5/5

There was no proper place for this in the review but I love it. Ladies and gentlemen,<quietvoice>Bloodslide</quietvoice>

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Clik here to view.This is the first of the two trailer posts for this week. This instalment features a lot of anime because Anime Mirai 2014 is featured. There is a film that was featured at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. This weekend also sees the release of the live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service. Check out the trailer to get a glimpse at what Japanese cinema-goers might see.

Here are the trailers:

Homeland   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 家路

Romaji: Ieji

Running Time: 118 mins.

Release Date: March 01^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Nao Kubota

Writer: Kenji Aoki (Screenplay),

Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Yuko Tanaka, Sakura Ando, Takashi Yamanaka, Seiyo Uchino

This drama was at Berlin Film Festival and is all about the fallout from the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown. It stars some impressive names like Kenichi Matsuyama and Sakura Ando but it has earned a pretty mixed review from Variety – great acting but visually bland and ducks the dangers of radiation.

Jiro (Matsuyama) returns to his former farming village which has been evacuated due to the fact that it lies near Fukushima Daichi and is badly contaminated. Jiro begins cultivating the land and teams up with an old school friend to plant rice despite the spreading radioactivity and its effects on their health. Meanwhile, Jiro’s half-brother has left the town with his wife and child and their mother. When their mother hears that Jiro has returned to their land she wants to go home and see him again.

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Kiki’s Delivery Service                         Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: 魔女　の　宅急便

Romaji: Majo no Takkyubin

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: 108 mins.

Director: Takashi Shimizu

Writer: Eiko Kadono (Original Novel), Satoko Okudera (Screenplay)

Starring: Fuka Koshiba, Ryohei Hirota, Machiko Ono, Miho Kanazawa, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Rie Miyazawa, Michitaka Tsutsui

The big day is finally here and I’m on the fence as to whether I like the trailer or not. I like the poster and Fuka Koshiba makes a pretty cute Kiki but the in-movie Jiji isn’t as cute or charming as the Ghibli one. Others I have shown the trailer to are not so impressed. The film is the second movie adaptation of Eiko Kadono’s famous six volume novel series following Studio Ghibli’s anime in 1989. The two have no connection. Reinforcing this fact is the presence of J-horror maestro Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On: The Curse 1 and 2, Marebito) as director and he is working from on a screenplay written by Satoko Okudera (The Wolf Children). I’ll let you take a gander at what’s on offer.

Kiki (Koshiba) has turned 13 and must leave home to start her apprenticeship in witchcraft and become independent. She hops on her broom with her cat Jiji and bids farewell to her friends and mother (Miyazawa) and father (Tsutsui) and settles in a coastal city where she must decide what sort of area in the witching profession she should specialise in. The trouble is her only skill is flying her broom…

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The Who’s Who of the Machiya  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: まちや紳士録

Romaji: Machiya Shinshiroku

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: 88 mins.

Director: Yuki Ito

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

This is a documentary about a city named Yame in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan which is famous for tea, paper lanterns, woodworking and traditional crafts and buildings. The documentary which seeks to record the history of the place and the craftsmen who hope to protect the buildings and pass on skills to a new generation.

Website

Anime Mirai 2014 

This year’s round of Anime Mirai projects are released in Tokyo cinemas (TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills) today and the trailer gives a nice snapshot of what’s on offer. Four studios shared 38 million yen to help make a 30 minute anime and train a new generation of animatiors. Here’s the website and the following is a little more detail and plot synopses from Anime News Network:

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Japanese Title: アルモニ

Romaji: Arumoni

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: N/A

Director: Yasuhiro Yoshiura

Writer: N/A

Production Studio: Ultra Super Pictures

Starring: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Akio Honjo), Reina Ueda (Juri Makina), Manami Numakura (Mayumi), Kenta Matsumoto (Yoshida), Ryo Iwasaki (Watanabe)

From the director of Time of Eve and Patema Inverted comes a school tale:

Every person has his or her own little world. Among the 34 bustling students of classroom 2-1, there are many such worlds.

Akio Honjō’s world — my world — is filled with passionate talk about last night’s anime with Yoshida, Watanabe, and other friends. It’s a fun, comfortable place…. But, I always wonder. Wonder about the world of Juri Makina, smiling and surrounded by gorgeous friends on the other side of the classroom.

One day, I enter her world. But it’s not as simple as it sounds.

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Japanese Title: 大きい1年生と小さな2年生

Romaji: Okii Ichinensei to Chiisana Ninensei

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: N/A

Director: Ayumu Watanabe

Writer: N/A

Production Studio: A-1 Pictures

Starring: Mutsumi Tamura (Masaya), Misako Kuno (Mariko), Akiko Yajima (Akiyo)

This anime comes from Ayumu Watanabe who was director on Space Brothers and the rather icky Mysterious Girlfriend X.

First-grader Masaya is a crybaby despite his large stature, so he can’t walk by himself on the dark path to school. The one who holds his hand is Akiyo, a tiny but capable second-grader.

Masaya wants to be strong like Akiyo and admires her, but one day, something happens that leaves Akiyo in tears.

To lift Akiyo’s spirits, Masaya goes trekking to the distant Ipponsugi forest to find the spotted bellflowers that Akiyo loves.

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Japanese Title: パロルのみらい島

Romaji: Paroru no Miraijima

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: N/A

Director: Kazuaki Imai

Writer: N/A

Production Studio: Shinei Animation

Starring: Ayumi Fujimura (Paroru), Anri Katsu (Zuzu), Ayako Kawasumi (Rikotto)

Kazuaki Imai is a newer director compared to others but he has worked on key animation for titles like Dennou Coil, Monster, Paranoia Agent and the anime movie The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

There is a tiny island floating on the other side of a distant sea. Strange animals, still unknown to humans, live there. The children of the island — Paroru, Zūzu, and Rikotto — come across a photo of the human world one day, and fascinated by this beautiful wonder, break the rules and rush out of the island. Paroru and the others are surprised and excited to see the human world for the first time. However, unforeseen pitfalls await them there…. Can they safely reach their journey’s destination?

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Japanese Title: 黒の栖　クロノス

Romaji: Kuro no Su Chronus

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: N/A

Director: Naoyuki Onda

Writer: N/A

Production Studio: Studio 4°C

Starring: Natsuki Hanae (Nakazono), Daisuke Ono (Seno)

Naoyuki Onda has worked mostly as a character designer and animation director on titles like Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I, Witch Hunter Robin, Moldiver and Armitage III.

Makoto Nakazono is a high school student with a small dark secret. Since he was little, he has had the mysterious power to see “black entities” that steal souls.

One day, he is suddenly interrogated by one of the “black entities,” Akira Seno: “Will you get in our way?”

But Makoto replies with an air of resignation, “There’s nothing I can do anyway, so I won’t.”

At that moment, Makoto didn’t notice the threatening shadow approaching his childhood friend Hazuki …

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Clik here to view.The epic clearing out of about 20 years of my life continued this week as I recycled lots of CDs and VHS tapes, a computer with the Windows 98 OS and a lot of Edge magazines. I also got covered in a heck load of dust. Work has been hectic what with school holidays but I had a few days off (HA!). On Thursday I went to see The Book Thief at the cinema. The film was pretty good.

As far as Japanese things go I read the manga for Helter Skelter, watched the first two episodes of the funny Watashi no Kiraina Tantei dorama and I am now convinced that Hoozuki no Reitetsu and Space Dandy are the best shows this winter season as I watched episode 8 for both.

I published some trailers yesterday and the reviews for The Great Passage and Why Don’t You Play in Hell, two Japanese films I recommend to everyone. Now… on to the trailers! There are some really interesting ones today!

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Japanese Title: 不気味なものの肌に触れる

Romaji: Bukimina mono no Hada ni Fureru

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: 54 mins.

Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Writer: N/A

Starring: Shota Sometani, Natsumi Seto, Jun Murakami, Ayumi Mizukoshi, Hoshi Ishida, Aoba Kawai, Kiyohiko Shibukawa,

There are some really awesome, awesome actors here but this trailer is hard to figure out. It looks a little shounen ai, a little horror and a lot of interperaive dancing and that last one scares me the most because I just. Cannot. Stand. It. The story is about a guy named Chihiro (Sometani) who lost his father and is tormented by loneliness despite living with others. To conquer his emotions he takes up dancing…

Website

Love’s Whirlpool  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title: 愛の渦

Romaji: Ai no Uzu

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: 123 mins.

Director: Daisuke Miura

Writer: Daisuke Miura (Script/Stage Play/Original Novel)

Starring: Yoko Mitsuya, Hirofumi Arai, Mugi Kadowaki, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kenichi Takito, Ryusuke Komakime, Tokio Emoto, Eriko Nakamura

This trailer is not safe for work so you have been warned.

A group of people gather at a well-furnished apartment in Roppongi for sex that will last from midnight to 5AM. They are all strangers to each other and lead ordinary lives like being a college student, office worker, nursery teacher and part time worker but all desire sex. It is meant to be plutonic, just fun but for some it becomes more as other emotions are tapped…

Website

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Japanese Title: 猫侍

Romaji: Neko Samurai

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Yoshitaka Yamaguchi

Writer: Yuji Nagamori, Yoshitaka Yamaguchi

Starring: Kazuki Kitamura, Misako Renbutsu, Yasufumi Terawaki, Yosuke Asari, Kanji Tsuda, Megumi Yokoyama, Shingo Mizusawa,

Who can kill a cat? Cats rock! It seems this samurai agrees in this fun looking film which is based on a TV show.

Kyutaro (Kitamura) was once a fearsome samurai but has fallen on hard times and tries to keep a low profile. When a man named Sakichi (Mizusawa) sees an example Kyutaro’s swordsmanship he hires the samurai to kill a white cat named Tamanojoh who has bewitched his boss Yozaemon (Ito) and left him immature. Kyutaro takes the job but when he sees how lovely the white cat is he has a change of heart.

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Japanese Title: 隙間女　劇場版

Romaji: Sukima Onna Gekijouban

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: N/A

Director: Jiro Nagae

Writer: Jiro Nagae, Tsuyoshi Akama (Script)

Starring: Ayaka Kikuchi, Yurika Tachibana, Eiji Moriyama, Yu Ashihara

Ah, another AKB48 idol gets plunged into a horror movie. The cinematography looks better than what is usually seen in film projects of this kind but the imagery is super familiar. The yurei is a girl who can crawl through gaps. See girls from Idling and AKB48 get chased by GAP GIRL!

Koharu (Kikuchi) visits her sister Kyoko (Ashihara) at her apartment and finds her unconcious in a room covered in masking tape. When Kyoko regains consciousness she tells the story of tempting the curse an evil spirit who exists in a vacant house. The spirit can travel through gaps and doesn’t like being disturbed which is what Kyoko did when she entered that house. Koharu investigates…

Website

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Japanese Title: 台風一家

Romaji: Taifū Ikka

Release Date: March 01st, 2014

Running Time: 81 mins.

Director: Oku Hidetaro

Writer: Oku Hidetaro (Script)

Starring: Yuko Miyamoto, Arata Furuta, Seiji Nozoe

In this movie we follow a family where people suffer various things and rebel. A son doesn’t take an entrance exam, there’s sexual abuse going on and the mother moves away with her disabled daughter.

Website

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Mother           Image may be NSFW.
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Running Time: 128 mins.

Release Date: May 28^th, 2009

Director: Bong Joon-Ho

Writer: Bong Joon-Ho, Park Eun-Kyo (Screenplay),

Starring: Kim Hye-Ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yoon Je-moon, Jeon Mi-Sun, Chun Woo-Hee

Bong  Joon-Ho is about to make a return to the screen with his latest title Snowpiercer (2012) ¹ which is great because he is a highly talented director.

I first got to know him when BBC Four screened Memories of Murder (2003), a stunning and troubling (although still blackly comic at points) film about a bungled police investigation into a series of gruesome rapes and murders. The film also had something to say on the changing politics of a Korea shaking off authoritarian governments.

I next saw his impressive monster movie The Host (2006). The film was an unconventional movie for its genre in the sense that its focus was less about monsters and more politicised in that rather Korean way since it was about a family with its protagonists facing unsympathetic authorities and American interference as well as the beast.

Mother followed three years later earning rave reviews and even attaining the cover on Sight & Sound in the UK. Bong Joon-Ho twists a genre again to create a satisfyingly complex film.

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We first see the titular mother, Hye-ja (Kim Hye-Ja). She staggers through wind-swept tall grass, the lowering sky is heavy with dark clouds. She looks back at the route she has taken. She seems pensive, resigned to having embraced a certain fate. Then she starts to dance to a salsa tune that springs to life on the soundtrack. This is the beginning of a murder mystery, an unconventional and intriguing opening that signals something about how the story will also be unconventional and intriguing an defy expectations.

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Hye-ja is a single mother who lives in a small town. She spends her days in her store where she sells herbal remedies and constantly worries about and dotes on her adult son Do-Jun (Weon Bin), a beautiful man who suffers from slight mental impairments like a faulty memory. He is essentially childlike and people regard him as good-natured but he is easily taken advantage of by people like his friend Jin-Tae (Jin Gu), a rough around the edges type with a capacity for lawlessness when it suits him.

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One day, the two guys agree to meet at Bar Manhattan for a night on the town, but Jin-Tae doesn’t show up and so Do-Jun gets drunk and staggers home alone in the dark at the same time and on the same route that a school girl takes just before she is found dead, hanging off a roof, head bashed in. Witnesses from the bar place him at the scene. The police think it is an open and shut case, but his loyal mother Hye-ja thinks otherwise.

How could her son do such a thing?

He has no memory and he has been bullied into confessing to the murder. She starts an investigation into the case and finds that her small town has some dark secrets. As one suspect says to her,

“Threre are only three motives for murder. Money, passion and vengeance.”

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Try a mother protecting her only child even when faced with overwhelming evidence.

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A combination of media frenzy and general small town nosiness has made her and Do-Jun the centre of a circus. It is understandable. There is an air of stifling boredom to the place. Its predominant colour-scheme is one of muddy browns and murky greens, the skyline is made up predominantly of low-level buildings in a faceless urban sprawl surrounded by featureless fields and rocky hills. The natural light is dull and flat. The landscape is deluged with sheets of fine rain or meekly lit by wan sunlight. The gruesome murder is a distraction from life’s mundanity for most but for Hye-ja it is a shock.

Defying shame and scandal, she launches her campaign to prove her son’s innocence and catch the real killer. She hires the best lawyer in town and constantly questions the police. She hands out leaflets protesting her son’s innocence and uses her social links to gather information. What she finds is a lot of gossip which has a dark edge regarding the girl.

The more she does, the more she places herself in the cross-hairs of those bigger and tougher than her, men who flaunt laws.

So we back her in her campaign because we have seen how incompetent and borderline dangerous the authorities can be and how the lawyer bleeds her for money. We back her because she physically looks so weak and is alone and yet she has the resilience to continue on. We back her because she is a mother looking after her helpless son. She is not a traditional hero who acts out but one who survives and scrapes her courage and pennies together to make her moves.

We back her because things look conventionally suspicious in movie terms and she earns our sympathy but things get a lot more complicated and that is the delight of the film.

The plot is simple enough up until a certain point but the audience is blind-sided by what happens in a lot of the second half because our expectations of genre and Joon’s refined approach to metatextual matters leave us wide open. Bong Joon-ho is subtly playing us. He feeds us clichés, stokes our assumptions and confirms our beliefs with editing and camera placement and great casting.

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The good guys and bad guys seem obvious enough. The mother and son at the centre are perfectly cast with the docile looking Kim Hye-je and the handsome and youthful Weon Bin immediately earning sympathy. Their performances are convincing of a relationship in which she has always taken extra special care over a son who is not quite all there. They are filmed sympathetically as well what with the dolly shots that track Hye-je through driving rain and the canted angles and POV shots where we see the world from her perspective and shot-reverse shot, where potential suspects glower at her and it looks scary.

As the list of suspects narrows and widens our expectations come unstuck and what seems like a formulaic film takes a turn into surprising territory with different shades of morality. The ending is, quite frankly, surprising since it is not a clean and simple one. There is no easy sense of satisfaction in wrapping things up neatly but in tackling a film full of ambiguities that invite thought on the story.

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The narrative is intelligent and the technical skill in front of and behind the camera is well played. Mother uses film conventions to paint a twisting story about a town full of people who are all tarnished in some way and all have motivations andpassions and hide things.

4/5

¹ It opened in Korea last year and Japan earlier this month and hopefully the west will see it some time soon, unedited as well.

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The 37^th Japan Academy Prize results were announced on Friday and two films, Like Father, Like Son and The Great Passage, dominated the proceedings.

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The Great Passage, the film about the making of a dictionary which turned out to be a lot more funnier than anticipate, allowed the cast and staff to win the prizes for best picture, best director (Yuya Ishii), best screenplay (Kensaku Watanabe), best art and editing and for best actor (Ryuhei Matsuda).

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The emotionally powerful Like Father, Like Son scooped up the awards of supporting actress (Yoko Maki) and supporting actor (Lily Franky).

Further good news for Yoko Maki came when she won the award for best actress for performance in The Ravine of Goodbye.

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Best cinematography went to the Japanese adaptation of Unforgiven.

Hayao Miyazaki’s latest (and supposedly last) film, The Wind Rises, won in the animation category, beating Captain Harlock and the latest Madoka film. The film’s soundtrack composer, Joe Hisaishi, took the award for best soundtrack although he would have had a hard time losing since he was nominated for three films this year – Tokyo Family, The Wind Rises, and Princess Kaguya.

Nagisa Oshima and Isao Natsuyagi were awarded posthumous Chairperson’s Special Awards for lifetime achievement.

Les Miserables took the award for best foreign film.

This is the first year I have seen nearly all of the films nominated and I have to say that the results are pretty spot on for what I regard as the best films. Ryuhei Matsuda was fantastic in the lead for The Great Passage and Yoko Maki stole my attention in the films she starred in. It’s great to see Yuya Ishii win a big award but I felt that Kore-eda’s direction was slightly better. Of course, Why Don’t You Play in Hell? should have won everything but wasn’t nominated because it’s too much for some people to handle…

To get a full list of winners, head over to the official site. Congratulations to all involved.

Here are posters for the nominated films!

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Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I was blown away by an unexpected anime called Mai Mai Miracle at last year’s Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme. 

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After watching it, I wrote a glowing review and took to recommending it to others via this blog and on the Anime UK News website where it featured in end of year picks and news reports.

Last month, Anime Limited launched a Kickstarter campaign to help deliver Mai Mai Miracle to the English speaking world and that campaign finished today in spectacular fashion!

The initial target was US$30,000 to secure a release and that was smashed within 48 hours. The campaign then soared past a number of stretch-goals including getting the production of an English dub and an art book. The final total now stands at US$107,153 from 1,903 backers. I was one of those backers having pledged. Here’s a slice of the film.

Shinko, is a third grade elementary school student with a magically active imagination. She spends a lot of her time listening to her grandfather’s history lessons, imagining what her town was like 1,000 years earlier. One day, a sad and sombre girl called Kiiko transfers to Shinko’s school from Tokyo. A strong friendship soon grows between the two girls as Shinko helps Kiiko come out of her shell and deal with her loss – all thanks to their adventures, both imagined and real.

The anime was directed by Sunao Katabuchi (director on Black Lagoon and assistant director of Kiki’s Delivery Service) and produced by MADHOUSE in 2009. Although not a major success when first released in Japan it won a slew of awards including Best Animated Film at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montréal along with the Excellence Prize for Feature Length Animation at the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival. It has appeared at certain festivals in the UK such as being part of The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2013 which is how I watched it. This will be the first time that the anime will be released in the UK and US on DVD.

I’m not sure if it’s an indication of how interested the world is in the project but a number of my news reports on Anime UK News hit nearly 1000 readers and one smashed that number which surprised and pleased me.

I’m not new to Kickstarter, having used the site to check up on videogames and I’m used to getting people sending films my way for me to support but this was the first time I actually used the site and it was surprisingly easy. The great thing is being involved in bringing a film to a new audience and also deciding what will be packed on the disc. As a supporter I could dictate which selection of goodies I wanted from a number of options:

For pledging $10 or higher, supporters received a postcard of thanks from Anime Limited.

For paying $25 or higher, backers received digital copies of the artbook, wallpaper, and movie.

Backers could have spent as much as $10,000 and for that they could have had a chance to travel to Japan for the Mai Mai Miracle tour which includes accompanying the director around sites used in the film (flight, translator and accommodation included).

Sounds great and the reality reflected that as many people flocked to pledge money. The director, Sunao Katabuchi was so taken with the whole campaign that he also took part himself!

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For the amount I pledged I can get the film on DVD and BD, a digital copy, art cards and the film and credit as being involved in the crowd production process as well as other things.

I just want to congratulate the Anime Limited team and thank all involved for making it happen. It was a fun experience and one I hope to take part in again!

Check out Otherwhere (Alua convinced me to see the film despite initial reluctance) for a series of great posts tracking the Kickstarter campaign.

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Clik here to view.The first of the two trailer posts for the weekend where Japan finally gets to experience 12 Years a Slave (congrats go to the filmmakers for winning big at the Oscars) there are lots of adaptations of feel-good books, anime and what not. In this first trailer post we have the live-action Silver Spoon and Doraemon but more interesting is The Court of Zeus from Gen Takahashi.

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Japanese: 銀の匙 Silver Spoon

Romaji: Gin no Saji Shiruba Supun

Running Time: 111 mins.

Release Date: March 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Keisuke Yoshida

Writer: Ryo Takada (Screenplay), Hiromu Arakawa (Manga)

Starring: Kento Nakajima, Alice Hirose, Tomohiro Ichikawa, Haru Kuroki, Kazue Fukiishi, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Sho Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Renji Ishibashi

Hiromu Arakawa is famous amongst anime and manga fans for Full Metal Alchemist but what some may not realise is that she has created other titles like Silver Spoon which has become a favourite amongst anibloggers. I’ve read that she grew up on a farm which explains why she created a farm story… Anyway, the movie adaptation has some great named in the cast like Haru Kuroki, Mitsuru Fukikoshi and Sho Aikawa.

Yugo Hachiken (Nakajima) is an ace at studying and believes that he can attend any school around the country and succeed. Then he heads to Ooejo agricultural high school and finds that he’s completely lost while his classmates, who are from farming families, are totally fine. They know what they want to do with their lives while Yugo flounders. To succeed, Yugo begins to get to know the other students and rural life. As he must studies harder and interacts with others more, he grows as a person.

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Japanese Title:  ゼウス　の　法廷

Romaji: Zeus no Houtei

Running Time: 136 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Gen Takahashi

Writer: Gen Takahashi (Screenplay),

Starring: Hijiri Kojima, Hironobu Nomura, Shun Shioya, Shigeru Sugimoto, Jun Kawamoto

Gen Takahashi’s latest film was at last year’s Raindance Film Festival. It was one of the few Japanese films I did not watch despite liking his coming-of-age slow murder mystery Goth. He’s now carving out a career as a director exposing the problems in the Japanese criminal justice system with titles like Confessions of a Dog which looked at problems in a police force and this which is about a merciless prosecutor facing a difficult trial.

Megumi is going to marry to Kano, a judge with an iron fist and favours the police and prosecutors over defendants. Megumi’s decision is a shock to her friends because she is a liberal and she soon finds living with him difficult. Her former lover Yamoaka likens Kano to the omnipotent Greek god Zeus. Tellingly, he also reasons that this makes her Themis – Zeus’ wife who is considered to be the embodiment of justice. In a dramatic chain of events, Megumi finds herself in the dock as Kano takes on the hardest trial of his life. 

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Japanese: 絆　再びの空へ Blue Impulse

Romaji: Kizuna Futatabi no Sora e Blue Impulse

Running Time: 118 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masaaki Tezuka

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Blue Impulse are the aerobatic team of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force and during the Great East Earthquake and Tsunami their airbase, Matsushima, was heavily damaged when Miyagi prefecture was hit. The results feature the heartbreak that the entire region suffered. Although their aircraft had been moved to another base to take part in the event, much worse was in store for some of the pilots who lost family members. The documentary tracks the recovery of the team from this disaster and we get to see some who took part in the rescue efforts and the way they bring delight to people at displays.

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Zetsu ōkami Zero Black Blood Shiro no Fumi  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 絶狼 ZERO BLACK BLOOD 白ノ章

Romaji: Zetsu ōkami Zero Black Blood Shiro no Fumi

Running Time: 72 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ryu Kaneda/ Keita Amemiya

Writer: Kenji Aoki (Screenplay),

Starring: Rei Fujita, Naoki Takeko,

I’m totally unfamiliar with the background details of this fantasy action film.

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Shinema Toraberu Eigakan de Miru Seikaiisan no Tabi Machupichu Nasuka Ankōru Iseki-hen  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: シネマ・トラベル　映画館でみる世界遺産の旅　マチュピチュ・ナスカ・アンコール遺跡編

Romaji: Shinema Toraberu Eigakan de Miru Seikaiisan no Tabi Machupichu Nasuka Ankōru Iseki-hen

Running Time: 45 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiroshina Yamazaki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Michio Hazama, Mika Doi

Cinema-goers get a high-def virtual tour of some world heritage sites like Angkor Wat Machu Piccu and Nazca. Alas, no trailer.

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Go! Go! Kaden Danshi The Movie Afureko Panikku   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: Go!Go!家電男子 THE MOVIE アフレコパニック

Romaji: Go! Go! Kaden Danshi The Movie Afureko Panikku

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: ROKUGOU

Writer: Kenji Aoki (Screenplay),

Starring: Kenta Hamano, Kana Hanazawa, Daigo Matsui, Shigeki Hosokawa,

This film is about the live-action adaptation of the flash animation Go! Go! Consumer Electronics Boy and it features seiyuu like Kana Hanazawa, directors, producers and other staff as well as clips from the animation. See how the Japanese film industry mercilessly plunders even trashy ideas for live-action films… F*ck that, see Kana Hanazawa, my favourite seiyuu, in a film role!

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Stand By Me Doraemon  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 映画ドラえもん　新・のび太の大魔境　ペコと5人の探検隊

Romaji: Eiga Doraemon Shin Nobita no Dai makyō Peko to 5-ri no tanken-tai

Running Time: 109 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ryuichi Yagi, Takashi Yamazaki

Writer: Takashi Yamazaki (Screenplay), Fujiko F. Fujio – Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko (Original Creators)

Starring: Wasabi Mizuta (Doraemon) Megumi Oohara (Nobita), Subaru Kimura (Gian), Yumi Kakazu (Shizuka), Tomokazu Seki (Suneo)

The latest Doraemon film is the 34^th in the movie series and is about the nuclear powered time-travelling cat taking Nobita and friends to an unexplored part of the word where they encounter a giant dog statue in a jungle. The directors are Takashi Yamazaki (Space Battleship Yamato and Returner) and Ryuichi Yagi.

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New Directions in Japanese Cinema

The funding from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs went to anime studios last week and now the live-action world gets a shot this week. The folks organising this year’s New Directions in Japanese cinema have released their latest batch of 30 minute shorts and there are five getting shown in a cinema in Tokyo.

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Kaori and Machine Oil  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  カオリと機械油

Romaji: Kaori to Kikaiyu

Running Time: 30 mins.

Director: Obihiro (?) Kitagawa

Writer: Obihiro (?) Kitagawa

Starring: Yuka Hyodo, Yukari Horibe, Take Manabe, Nagisa Matsunaga, Shigeki Kato,

Something about a woman with strange body odour who works in a small machine shop has a quiet existence with her dull boyfriend until the business goes bust…

Fashionable Bangaichi  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  オシャレ番外地

Romaji: Oshare Bangaichi

Running Time: 30 mins.

Director: Kosuke Takaya

Writer: Kosuke Takaya (Screenplay)

Starring: Wataru Takara, Koshika Kobayashi, Rumi Hiragi, Satoshi Sakata

Naoto is hired to be the model of a fashion brand but the clothes are a strange selection.

Michizure         Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  ミチずレ

Romaji: Michi Zushi

Running Time: 30 mins.

Director: Sungho Moon

Writer: Wataru Mimura (Screenplay)

Starring: Motoki Ochiai, Yuma Yamato, Sho Yakumaru, Ken Takagi,

Motoki Ochiai (The Kirishima Thing) gets caught up in a scam involving the delivery of luggage to some suspicious place.

The Iron Horse and the Wind  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  鉄馬と風

Romaji: Tetsu Uma to Kaze

Running Time: 30 mins.

Director: Naoya Asanuma

Writer: Naoya Asanuma (Screenplay)

Starring: Keisuke Tarumi, Takaki Uda, Ai Kitaura, Kenji Kawahari

Naoya Asanuma, director of Heart Beat and second unit director of the recently released Ikeshima Ballad, takes the helm of a film about two young guys on a motorcycle. The bike is a pristine Harley-Davidson owned by a poor brother of one of the lads. How did he come by it and why did he own it?

Setagaya, 39-chome  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese Title:  世田谷区，39丁目

Romaji: Setagaya, 39-chome

Running Time: 30 mins.

Director: Seiji Yamashita

Writer: Seiji Yamashita (Screenplay)

Starring: Shota Shimoda, Minami Hamabe, Hinako Saeki

In this short, a fifth-grader named Kou step into a bizarre world where people have violent personalities and meets a girl named Mio.

Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
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This week has been spent clearing even more of my room out and coming to the realisation that my film collection is larger than I had first thought and most of it is stored in boxes. I watched a couple – Happy Together, Chungking Express, and Ghost Dog. In cinema terms, I have watched Ride Along which wasn’t as bad or as unfunny as I thought it would be. I ended up missing the Japanese adaptation of Unforgiven due to a lack of time and general tiredness. As far as the blog goes, I posted a review of Mother which I urge people to watch. As my review makes clear I thought it was brilliant. I also posted about the dates of the next Terracotta Far East Film Festival and some trailers. Yesterday I posted some trailers and more follow…

Decontextualisation. Here are the trailers! 

Puzzle  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: パズル

Romaji: Pazuru

Running Time: 85 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Eisuke Naito

Writer: Yusuke Yamada (Screenplay),

Starring: Kaho, Shuhei Nomura, Kazuya Takahashi, Saori Yagi, Kokone Sasaki, Ryuzo Tanaka

Ah, this year’s first adaptation of a Yusuke Yamada novel! It is directed by Eisuke Naito (Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club) and stars Kaho, the leading lady of a drama that Naito directed called Demon Ward. Looks kinda fun. In fact I’d say it was the best trailer this weekend and it points to a film that might be quite unconventional – weird camera angles, editing, acting and fun! It’s the only trailer I have watched more than twice this week and it’s my favourite!

A high school students named Azusa (Kaho) jumps off a school building but survives. A month later, that same school is taken over by a group of people wearing bizarre masks. The head teacher and all of the male students disappear and a pregnant teacher is imprisoned. Azusa is in the school and was given an envelope by a classmate named Shigeo (Nomura). The envelope holds pieces of a puzzle connected to these events but Azusa sees something unimaginable…

Website

Yuigon Genpatsu Sae Nakereba   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 遺言　原発さえなければ

Romaji: Yuigon Genpatsu Sae Nakereba

Running Time: 225 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naomi Toyoda, Masaya Noda

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

This documentary comes with a running time of 3 hours and 45 minutes and that’s because it was edited down from footage recorded over 800 days following the Great East Japan Earthquake. The directors are photojournalists by trade and they rushed to cover the developing disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and what happened to the resident who were nearby. The English part of the site gives more details.

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Itsutsu Kazoereba Kimi no Yume  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 5つ数えれば君の夢

Romaji: Itsutsu Kazoereba Kimi no Yume

Running Time: 85 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuki Yamato

Writer: Yuki Yamato (Screenplay),

Starring: Miyu Yamabe, Hitomi Arai, Mei Shoji, Ayano Konishi, Yuri Nakae, Shuntaro Yanagi, Kensuke Owada, Kaori Tsubaki, Rei Hirano, Shungiku Uchida

What nice music we heard in the trailer! This film stars the girls of Tokyo Girls’ Style (the only idol group whose songs I have listened to more than once) and they play a group of students in the run-up to their school’s cultural festival. We see the highs and lows of their relationships. Apparently, the director won the Special Jury Award at the 24^th Tokyo Student Film Festival for a school girl film. This looks intriguing.

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Idai Naru, Shurarabon  Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: 偉大なる、しゅららぼん

Romaji: Idai Naru, Shurarabon

Running Time: 114 mins.

Release Date: March 08^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yutaka Mizuochi

Writer: Mitsuhiko Fujiki (Screenplay), Manabu Makime (Original Novel)

Starring: Masaki Okada, Gaku Hamada, Kyoko Fukada, Dai Watanabe, Shihori Kanjiya, Ito Ono, Yu Koyanagi, Hinata Kashiwagi

Gaku Hamada… I’m still not sure what to make of him as an actor. I hated his performance in one of the last two films I saw him in… Enough about me. This is an adaptation of a Manabu Makime novel and this looks kind of fun. Direction in the clips shown is free-flowing and the CGI looks decent. Something about the way the characters act and how their reactions are captured reminds me of Wes Anderson films… Maybe I’m reaching a bit because I’m going to see his latest film… Anyway, this looks kind of fun.

Ryosuke Hinoda (Okada) is part of a family who have special powers. When he enters high school he finds himself relocating to Ishibashi Castle in Lake Biwa where he meets Tanjuro (Hamada), the heir of the family and an eccentric. The two work together when they confront the rival Natsume family lead by Hiromi (Watanabe)

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Pretty Rhythm All Star Selection: Prism Show☆Best Ten (movie)   Image may be NSFW.
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Japanese: プリティーリズム・オールスターセレクション プリズムショー☆ベストテン