Happy Weekend, everyone.
I hopee you are doing good!
While I was watching Wong Kar-Wai films last week, this week was all about Osaka Asian Film Festival titles and Peninsula, the sequel to Train to Busan, which is on Amazon Prime. In terms of the Osaka films, I posted an interview with Hiroshi Gokan, director of Gotō-san and I rewrote my review here and sent it to V-Cinema where it was published alongside the interview – a similar case with JOINT and that film’s director Oudai Kojima. Thanks go out to the directors for making the films and to everyone involved in taking part in the interviews!
I also posted a review of the documentary Green Jail and the drama Over the Town.
What was released this weekend?
Over the Town 
街の上で 「Machi no Ue de」
Release Date: April 10th, 2021
Duration: 130 mins.
Director: Rikiya Imaizumi
Writer: Rikiya Imaizumi, Hiroyuki Ohashi (Script),
Starring: Ryuya Wakaba, Moeka Hoshi, Kotone Furukawa, Minori Hagiwara, Seina Nakata, Ryo Narita, Hirobumi Watanabe,
Continuing his career chronicling the many configurations of youthful coupledom, IMAIZUMI Rikiya hits upon a cute story of people searching for true love that is steeped in the atmosphere of Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa Ward, a town known currently changing just as much as the emotions of the characters.
Synopsis that I wrote for the Osaka Asian Film Festival: Getting dumped is never easy and ARAKAWA Ao (WAKABA Ryuya) gets a particularly brutal drubbing when the love of his life, Yuki (HOSHI Moeka), admits to cheating on him in every way and tosses him aside to try life with the other guy. Lovelorn and stuck on Yuki, Ao carries on working at a second-hand clothing store and hanging out at the same bars and coffee shops in Shimokitazawa where mutual friends remind him of what he has lost. From the ashes comes hope as, despite the heartache, this seems to be the start of his “moteki” moment as three fascinating women enter his life, a bookseller (FURUKAWA Kotone), a costumier (NAKATA Seina) and a director (HAGIWARA Minori) who are all taken with Ao’s solitary air and his bluesy attitude. However, these three women could be using him just like Yuki did…
My Blood & Bones in a Flowing Galaxy 
砕け散るところを見せてあげる 「Kudakechiru Tokoro o Misete Ageru」
Release Date: April 09th, 2021
Duration: 127 mins.
Director: SABU
Writer: SABU (Script), Yuyuko Takemiya (Original Manga)
Starring: Taishi Nakagawa, Anna Ishii, Kai Inowaki, Kaya Kiyohara, Airi Matsui, Takumi Kitamura, Hana Kino, Tomoyo Harada, Akiko Yada, Shinichi Tsutsumi,
Synopsis: Kiyozumi Hamada (Taishi Nakagawa) is the golden boy in high school and a strong believer in justice. When he takes a bullied student named Hari Kuramoto (Anna Ishii) under his wing, the two grow closer but this drags Kiyozumi into a dangerous situation.
A Garden of Camellias 
椿の庭 「Tsubaki no Niwa」
Release Date: April 09th, 2021
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Yoshihiko Ueda
Writer: Yoshihiko Ueda (Script),
Starring: Sumiko Fuji, Shim Eun-Kyung, Kyoka Suzuki, Chang Chen, Seiichi Tanabe, Koji Shimizu,
Synopsis: Recently widowed Kinuko (Sumiko Fuji) lives with her granddaughter Nagisa (Shim Eun-Kyung) in a house full of memories and a garden full of camellias. One day, Kinuko finds a dead goldfish in the garden. She wraps it up with a camellia flower and berries in the garden.Then, Kinuko gets a phone call.
Supporting Actors 2: Moshimo 100-nin Meiwakiyaku ga Eiga o Tsukuttara 
バイプレイヤーズ もしも100人の名脇役が映画を作ったら 「Baipureiya-zu: Moshimo 100-nin Meiwakiyaku ga Eiga o Tsukuttara」
Release Date: April 09th, 2021
Duration: 100 mins.
Director: Daigo Matsui
Writer: Mitsuhiko Fujiki, Takeshi Miyamoto (Script),
Starring: Tomorowo Taguchi, Yutaka Matsushige, Ken Mitsuishi, Kenichi Endo, Koji Yakusho, Yuki Amami, Kasumi Arimura, Gaku Hamada, Tokio Emoto, Nanao, Denden, Tae Kimura, Shohei Uno, Yoji Tanaka, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Ryo, and on, and on, and on, and on…
This is an edited version of the TV show where the biggest character actors in Japanese movies play out a riff on their personas and profession.
Synopsis: In a studio at the foot of Mt. Fuji, Gaku Hamada is struggling to shoot a movie with a dog in the lead role. Enter a huge cast of veteran actor who get involved in misadventures while on set.
BLUE ブルー 
ブルー 「Buru-」
Release Date: April 09th, 2021
Duration: 107 mins.
Director: Keisuke Yoshida
Writer: Keisuke Yoshida (Script),
Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Fumino Kimura, Tokio Emoto, Masahiro Higahide, Pistol Takehara, Ayuri Yoshinaga, Shinichiro Matsuura,
Synopsis: Nobuto Urita (Kenichi Matsuyama) and Kazuki Ogawa (Masahiro Higashide) are two boxers at the same gym but leagues apart in talent as Kazuki is a top fighter while Nobuto is a loser. They are also connected another way: Kazuki is engaged to Chika Amano (Fumino Kimura), Nobuto’s childhood friend and his first love…
Osaka Loan Shark 
大阪闇金 「Osaka Yamikin」
Release Date: April 10th, 2021
Duration: 100 mins.
Director: Takahiro Ishihara
Writer: Takahiro Ishihara (Script), Shozen Matsudaira (Original Story)
Starring: Reiya Masaki, Tetsuji Sakakibara, Daichi Asai, Haruka Koadma, Keisuke Kida, Kokoro Nakayama, Sari Tachibana, Mitsuki Koga,
Synopsis: Haruo Sugimura is fresh from serving a two-year stint in prison for assaulting someone when he is recruited by a loan shark named Sakai to help collect money for a company called Minami Hachi Ban Kogyo, baesd in Osaka. Their rates are ruthless: 10% interest is added every 10 days. Their customers are desperate: a hostess who owes money to other loan sharks, a man made suicidal because his family don’t love him anymore. Haruo learns about the art of the loan shark as well as the dark side of peoples personalities.
Yako Aru Teiji Seikoko no Monogatari 
夜光 ある定時制高校の物語「Yako Aru Teiji Seikoko no Monogatari」
Release Date: April 09th, 2021
Duration: 70 mins.
Director: Hisashi Takeda
Writer: Hisashi Takeda (Script),
Starring: Shuuta Tamori, Miru Nagase, Soken Sugiyama, Mio Noda, Haru Ikeda,
Synopsis: Hino Mitsunari runs evening classes at a high school attended by foreigners, the elderly, and students struggling with various difficulties. The lessons are called “Community Ball” and involve everyone, including the teacher, sitting in a circle and thinking together on a question under the rule that no one should argue while someone is speaking. The various perspectives of the students all inform the film.