Happy weekend, everyone!
I hope everyone is staying safe during these troubled times.
I went back to work this week, the first time since February. I’ve been on something of an extended holiday, first in Japan then in my bedroom as I’ve self-isolated. I’m healthy as far as I know but there is always the worry when being around other people and I hope it stays that way. I hope you’re feeling fine and dandy, as well.
I’ve been writing, catching up on reviews and interviews but my head is in a funny space where I cannot focus on much but piecemeal work. Studying Japanese has gone out of the window. I’m trying to get back into that.
I started watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and I have been impressed by what I’ve seen and Zenitsu Agatsuma is one of my new favourite characters, a golden-haired cowardly lothario with a heart of gold and exaggerated behaviour that makes me laugh a lot.
This week, I watched all Indiana Jones films since the BBC screened them and I’ve always got time for Indiana Jones. I posted about two ways people can help Japanese indie movies. The first post was about the Mini Theater Aid Campaign to save small movie theatres that host indie movies. The second post was about a Kickstarter campaign to help publicise the film Coming Back Sunny run by Noriko Yuasa, the director of the fabulous film Ordinary Everyday (2017).
Just like last week’s one, this trailer post is a catch-up from the one I missed in March. It happened just as the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2020 was about to reach its climax so my mind was elsewhere.
What was released that weekend – March 13 – 15th?
Columbus 
Release Date: August 04th, 2017
Duration: 114 mins.
Director: Kogonada
Writer: Kogonada (Screenplay)
Starring: John Cho, Haley Lu Richardson, Parker Posey, Rory Culkin, Eren Allegretti,
This had it’s Japanese premiere at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2018 where I watched it and pretty much burst into tears at the end. You can read my review here but it’s one of the best movies I saw in the last decade.
Synopsis: The foundations of the story lie with a meeting outside the grand Victorian-style hotel Korean-American Jin (John Cho) is staying in. He has arrived in Columbus from Seoul to look after his estranged father, an admired architecture professor who has fallen into a coma on the eve of a lecture. Pretty much alone and isolated in town, he experiences something akin to culture-shock as he wrestles with being away from work in Korea and looking after a man he hasn’t spoken to in over a year. During one phone call with “home”, he encounters Casey (Haley Lu Richardson) who was planning on attending his father’s lecture. This bright and intelligent 19-year-old graduated from high school a year ago but has taken on part-time work as a librarian to look after a troubled mother, having convinced herself this is the right path instead of pursuing her own dreams. Meeting over cigarettes shared over a fence, Casey and Jin talk. Small stuff at first. He hates being in Columbus while she genuinely likes it. He’s not fond of architecture while she believes in its power to change people. She tries to win him over by telling him about the town. Teasing and uneasiness turns into a form of connection and their world expands little by little as the conversation flows between the two and they recognise shared problems with errant parents and filial piety.
Extro 
Ekisutoro 「エキストロ」
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
Duration: 89 mins.
Directors: Naoki Murahashi
Writers: Hirohito Goto (Script), Mariko Kikuchi (Original Book)
Starring: Kozo Haginoya, Koji Yamamoto, Yuki Saito, Tatsumi Fujinami, Ryo Kato, Riho Kotani, Nobuhiko Obayashi,
Naoki Murahashi makes his debut with this feature and it looks absolutely charming. It featuress Nobuhiko Obayashi who passed away last week.
And here’s a music video:
Synopsis: This is a mockumentary that follows real-life bit-part player Kozo Haginoya (Kozo Haginoya), a man who works as an extra for drama series and movies. He is 64-years-old and while he works as a dental technician and part-time farmer in Ibaraki Prefecture,, his true passion is for acting. The camera follows him around the set of a period drama shot in a film studio and things go slightly awry when two cops on the hunt for a drug dealer go undercover in the same production.
Kizoku Korin: Prince of Legend 
貴族降臨 PRINCE OF LEGEND 「Kizoku Korin: Prince of Legend」
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
Duration: 93 mins.
Directors: Hayato Kawai
Writers: Yuko Matsuda (Script), Mariko Kikuchi (Original Book)
Starring: Alan Shirahama, Ryota Katayose, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Itsuki Fujiwara, Tomoki Hirose, Reo Sano, Ryo Kato,
I don’t even know where to begin with this one other than it’s the continuation of a series which looks as coherent as the K Missing Kings anime – essentially a lot of pretty boys fighting for dominance of territory.
Synopsis: There is a town where handsome hosts control what goes on and they fight each other for supremacy through fists, profits and panache. Their code of conflict is the only law this town knows. One man, Shintaro, is seemingly divorced from things since he is the president of a civil engineering group he inherited from his parents. Then, the number one host of the number one club, “Texas”, appears. He is Shintaro’s brother. appears. Why? Who knows. It’s probably revealed in the film. Meanwhile, over at St. Brilliant School, some other pretty boys are getting ready for a basketball tournament but they are drawn into the brother’s conflict.
Toki no Kouro 
時の行路 「Toki no Kouro」
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
Duration: 111 mins.
Directors: Seijiro Kouyama
Writers: Yasufumi Tsuchiya, Seijiro Kouyama (Script), Hajime Tajima (Original Book)
Starring: Ken Ishiguro, Shinobu Nakayama, Jun Matsuo, Sakura Murata, Dai Watanabe,
Synopsis: A human drama about the human cost of the financial shock of 2008 when the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused economic calamity around the world. Yosuke Gomi works in a factory of a major car manufacturer in Shizuoka. He left his loving wife in Aomori. Yosuke’s skills as a veteran technician means he is trusted by his bosses and his colleagues. However, one day, suddenly, a large number of part-timers and freelance workers are fired. Yosuke joins the labour union with his colleagues after hearing about this scandalous behaviour and he stands up for his coworkers in solidarity…
The capitalists may have the money but the workers have the numbers and those oligarchs are nothing without the people who generate their wealth. All power to the people!
Independent Living 
インディペンデントリビング 「Indipendento Ribingu」
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
Duration: 98 mins.
Directors: Yuki Tanaka
Writers: N/A
Starring: N/A
I recognise some of the areas in these films because I was there a month ago ;_;
Synopsis: A documentary recording the activities of people at the Independent Living Center in Osaka and their struggle. The place is managed by those with disabilities and helps people with disabilities who need assistance to live independently in their local communities rather than with their families or in facilities. This could be a life-threatening challenge for some and there are failures but everyone makes their own decisions and forges their own identity. Director Yuki Tanaka, who also works as a carer, shot the film over three years and looks at those who struggle to change themselves and society, and reflects the moments and brilliance and humanity of people who are frequently ignored or locked away.