Newly released after a month’s wait, are these films! Documentaries are the first out of the gate, two of which have similar themes of depopulated places and natural beauty, there’s a quick cash-in horror movie from Takashi Shimizu, a J-horror veteran, an Eisuke Naito, and then there is the next documentary which is brilliant.
Tagore Songs 
タゴール・ソングス「Tago-ru Songusu 」
Release Date: June 01st, 2020
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Mika Sasaki
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
This documentary is a bit of a stunner. I had no idea about the poet Rabindranath Tagore or his place in Bengali culture, something I am also ignorant about, but after watching this film I felt I had been educated, a whole culture had been opened up to me and I wanted to learn more.
If you are coming out of lockdown and see one film to free your mind and lose yourself in, choose this one.
Synopsis: Rebindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a poet and musician from India who created over 2000 poems and songs that have shaped Bengali culture. In 1913, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature and he also campaigned against British imperial rule. Despite his songs and poems being made nearly a century ago, they are still relevant and impact the lives of people today.
Mika Sasaki and her crew travelled to India, Bangladesh and Tokyo and interviewed people people from different layers of society to learn what the songs mean to them and they get a real cross-section of society from students to teachers and street musicians and randoms on the street who are all able to recite at least a verse and do so with a depth of emotion that shows the songs power for them. Beautiful landscapes and interesting cityscapes and the myriad of people in them paint an evocative picture of the culture of these places as well. Most importantly, it features the poetry and the words are sooooo beautiful!
After the Flowers: The Way You Walked by Mutsu-san 
花のあとさき ムツばあさんの歩いた道「Hana no atosaki Mutsubaasa no Aruita Michi」
Release Date: June 01st, 2020
Duration: 112 mins.
Director: Michiharu Momozaki
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
If you’ve stayed at home due to a lockdown or if you live in an urban area, you might want to take a look at this documentary which transports us to Chichibu, a place in Saitama, north of Tokyo, famous for its natural beauty.
Synopsis: NHK had a documentary series set in Chichibu (Saitama) following a couple who plant flowers in the terraced fields found around a small village in the mountains. It was called “Chichibu Yamanaka Hana no Saki” and was aired in 2002. Mutsu Kobayashi is the wife and she continues to care for the fields with her husband Koichi despite fewer and fewer people are living in the village each year. The flowers continue to bloom but the couple will face a difficult event as charted in this documentary follow-up…
On the Island 
島にて「Shima nite」
Release Date: June 01st, 2020
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Koichi Omiya, Kei Tanaka
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: This is a documentary about people living on the remote island of Tobishima, in Yamagata Prefecture. It is located 75 minutes by liner from Sakata Port in Yamagata Prefecture and has been designated as a national park. It was once a prosperous town due to its location on the Sea of Japan side with many islanders making living from fishing and agriculture but, due to depopulation and ageing, there are now about 140 people are now living on the island. The documentary asks the question what it takes to live life there and follows the stories ofa range of people from the last junior high school student on the island, to people who have settled there after living on the mainland and an elderly couple who were born on the island.
Forgiven Children 
許された子どもたち「Yurusa reta kodomotachi」
Release Date: June 01st, 2020
Duration: 131 mins.
Director: Eisuke Naito
Writer: Eisuke Naito, Tetsuo Yamagata (Script),
Starring: Yu Uemura, Yoshi Kuroiwa, Shosei Abe, Akana Ikeda, Kota Oshima, Go Jibiki,
Eisuke Naito has come a long way from Puzzle with a filmography full of titles looking at delinquent kids like Liverleaf and this one looks pretty bleak. It also plays at Nippon Connection which starts this month.
Synopsis: Kira Ichikawa (Yu Uemura) is the leader of a group of high school delinquents who take their bullying of their classmate Isuki Kuramochi (Abe Shosei) too far. When he dies, it looks like Kira and his gang will face punishment but Kira’s mother, Mari (Yoshi Kuroi), manages to get him off the charge at the juvenile court. A backlash ensues, not least from the victim’s family who decides to file a civil lawsuit…
“Howling Village” Fear Avoidance Version 
映画「犬鳴村」恐怖回避ばーじょん 劇場版 「Eiga “Inukai Mura” kyōfu kaihi bajyon gekijouban」
Release Date: June 06th, 2020
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Writer: Takashi Shimizu, Daisuke Hosaka (Script),
Starring: Ayaka Miyoshi, Ryota Bando, Renji Ishibashi, Reiko Takashima, Masanobu Takashima,
Takashi Shimizu of Ju-on / Ju-on 2 fame brings to life a cursed village. This is actually a re-release from February 08th, 2020 (link to trailer post). This was a bit of a hit with around one million people seeing it in cinemas so a new “fear-free” version has been made for scaredy-cats. This updated version features calming things such as cute dogs appearing in horror scenes.
Synopsis: Inunaki Village is a haunted place and a clinical psychologist named Kanae (Ayaka Miyoshi) is drawn there when her older brother Yuma and his girlfriend Akina go missing there. It’s a good thing Kanae can see spirits because she uncovers some sordid family history she will have to escape…