Happy Weekend!
I hope you are well.
This week, I posted a review of Alone Again in Fukushima and a preview of the Tokyo Student Film Festival 2021
What is released this weekend?
Hiraite 
ひらいて 「Hiraite」
Release Date: October 22nd, 2021
Duration: 121 mins.
Director: Rin Shuto
Writer: Rin Shuto (Script), Risa Wataya (Original Novel),
Starring: Anna Yamada, Ryuto Sakuma, Haruka Imou, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Aoba awai, Misako Tanaka, Yuka Itaya,
Synopsis: Ai is a high school student with good grades and a lot of popularity. What she doesn’t have is a boyfriend. She is nursing a crush on her quiet classmate Tatoe but hopes of becoming a couple take a hit when she steals a letter she saw him reading and discovers that he is in a relationship with another girl, Miyuki, a gloomy classmate who suffers from diabetes. Ai approaches Miyuki and a love triangle ensues…
Cube 
CUBE 一度入ったら、最後 「Cube: Ichido Haittara, Saigo」
Release Date: October 22nd, 2021
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Yasuhiko Shimizu
Writer: Koji Tokuo (Script), Vincenzo Natali (Original Film Script),
Starring: Masaki Suda, Anne Watanabe, Masaki Okada, Hikaru Tashiro, Takumi Saito, Kotaro Yoshida,
A remake of the 1997 film of the same name.
Synopsis: Six people wake up to find they are trapped in a mysterious cube that is rife with traps in each room. With no memory of how they got there and no connection between them, they have to pool their talents together to get out. Yuichi (Masaki Suda) is an engineer, Asako (Anne Watanbe) is an organization employee, Shinji (Masaki Okada) is a Freeter, Chiharu (Hikaru Tashiro) is a junior high school student, Hiroshi Takumi Saito) is a mechanic, and a Kazumasa (Kotaro Yoshida) is a company executive. How will their skills help them avoid the murderous traps, which include heat-sensing lasers, wire slicers, and flame jets? Are they all trustworthy individuals?? Will they be able to escape??? Find out as you enter the CUBE!
Godly Time 
映画 神ミタイナ時間 「Eiga Kami mitaina jikan」
Release Date: October 22nd, 2021
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Sho Kubota
Writer: Sho Kubota (Script),
Starring: Yoshiki Tani, Koji Okino, Mai Imade, Munehiro Yoshida, Shota Soeda,
This is a film adaptation of Sho Kubota’s stage play that was originally set to open in October 2020 before the spread of Covid-19 forced its cancellation. The theatre troupe raised funds through crowdfunding to make a film with the same cast as the stage.
Synopsis: Makimoto and Ozaki were a comedy duo on the verge of becoming stars before they broke up due to Makimoto being unreliable. A few years later, tries his hand at starting a new comedy but a leopard doesn’t change its spots and he is still as unreliable as ever, much to his new partner’s irritation. When Ozaki reappears in his life, Makimoto is delivered a message that he hasn’t got much time left to live. The two decide upon a plan…
She is Alone 
彼女はひとり 「Kanojo wa hitori」
Release Date: November 29th, 2020
Duration: 60 mins.
Director: Natsuki Nakagawa
Writer: Natsuki Nakagawa (Script),
Starring: Akari Fukunaga, Hiroto Kanai, Michié, Arata Yamanaka, Yuri Nakamura, Chieko Misaka, Yasuyuki Sakurai, Momoka Eibayashi, Haruna Hori, Ippei Tanaka
This film was directed was Natsuki Nakagawa’s graduation project from Rikkyo University’s Graduate School of Film and New Media. Due to the high quality of the script, Akiko Ashizawa, a cinematographer who has worked on many Kurosawa Kiyoshi films (To the Ends of the Earth, Before We Vanish, Creepy, Tokyo Sonata, Retribution, Loft), lensed the project. Lead actress Akari Fukunaga won an award for her performance.
Synopsis: Sumiko is a high school student who tried to commit suicide by throwing herself off a bridge. It didn’t work. Having survived, she has become apathetic and now spends her days living an increasingly miserable life. This explains why she begins to blackmail her friend Hideaki who is dating a teacher at their school…
Swan Lake in Cinema 
白鳥の湖 in Cinema 「Hakuchou no mizuumi in Cinema」
Release Date: October 22nd, 2021
Duration: 122 mins.
Director: Tetsuya Kumagawa
Writer: Tchaikovsky (Original Ballet),
Starring: Sena Hidaka, Yuuya Takahashi,
Synopsis: Tetsuya Kumagawa’s interpretation of Swan Lake with his K Ballet Company was performed in March 2021 at Bunkamura Orchard Hall. It retells the story of Prince Siegfried trying to save Odette, a beautiful woman he wishes to marry but is afflicted by a curse that turns her into a swan. Sena Hidaka, who joined K Ballet as a principal in January 2021, can be seen playing the roles of Odette and Odile.
Eiga Tropical-Rouge! Precure: Yuki no Princess to Kiseki no Yubiwa! 
映画トロピカル～ジュ！プリキュア 雪のプリンセスと奇跡の指輪！ 「Gekijouban Otoppe Papa Donto Kurai」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2021
Duration: 70 mins
Director: Junji Shimizu
Writer: Yoshimi Narita (Screenplay), Izumi Todo (Original Creator)
Starring: Ai Farouz (Manatsu Natsuumi/Cure Summer), Asami Seto (Asuka Takizawa/Cure Flamingo), Aya Hisakawa (Yuri Tsukikage/Cure Moonlight), Fumie Mizusawa (Erika Kurumi/Cure Marine), Aimi Tanaka (Kururun),
Animation Production: Toei Animation
Synopsis: This is the thirtieth Pretty Cure film, two generations of Precures fight together in this film after Manatsu Natsumi and friends are trapped in the snow kingdom of Shantia and a mysterious monster attacks.
Saudade 
サウダーヂ 「Sauda-chi」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2021
Duration: 167 mins.
Director: Katsuya Tomita
Writer: Toranosuke Aizawa, Katsuya Tomita (Screenplay),
Starring: Tsuyoshi Takano, Ayano, Chie Kudo, Chika Kumada, Tomoko Takeda, Yasushi Sumida, Yota Kawase,
Synopsis: An early film by Katsuya Tomita (Bangkok Nites, Tenzo), it won major awards at the 2011 Nantes Three Continents Festival and 2012 Mainichi Film Awards. The film depicts Japanese-Brazilian and Thai labourers working under harsh conditions through the story of a group of day labourers living in a provincial city, one of whom is Hosaka, a recent returnee from Thailand, another, Seiji, a dedicated worker, and Takeru, a member of a hip-hop crew.
Shari 
Release Date: October 23rd, 2021
Duration: 63 mins.
Director: Nao Yoshigai
Writer: N/A
Starring: Nao Yoshigai,
Check out this interview with dancer, choreographer, filmmaker Nao Yoshigai
Synopsis: This is the first feature film directed by Nao Yoshigai and it was filmed in the town of Sharicho on the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido. This place is nestled in a harsh environment where wild animals coexist with humans. Yoshigai takes on the role of a red creature that suddenly appears in the town…