Happy Weekend!
I hope you are well.
After a month-long sickness, I am continuing to get better and I am hoping that trend continues. I have continued my run of reviews for the New York Asian Film Festival 2022 with Offbeat Cops, Lesson in Murder, and Broken Commandment. All three films are from different genres and all worth watching.
This week I have been playing Dragon’s Crown and I watched Berberian Sound Studio (2012).
What are the films released this weekend?
Even if This Love Disappears from the World Tonight 
今夜、世界からこの恋が消えても 「Konya, Sekai kara kono Koi ga Kietemo」
Release Date: July 29th, 2022
Duration: 121 mins.
Director: Takahiro Miki
Writer: Hana Matsumoto, Sho Tsukikawa (Script), Misaki Ichijo (Original Novel),
Starring: Shunsuke Michieda, Riko Fukumoto, Kotone Furukawa, Koki Maeda, Maki Mizuno, Maho Nonami, Honoka Matsumoto,
Synopsis: When Toru Kamiya is forced by classmates to make a false confession of affection for Maori Hino, he little expected for her to accept it on the basis that they date but don’t fall in love. Even more surprising is that he does genuinely fall in love. However, following a confession of love, Maori reveals she suffers from amnesia and can only remember what has happened to her because of a diary she keeps. Knowing this, Toru resolves to make each day a happy one for Maori…
Lovely Little Ai 
愛ちゃん物語 「Ai chan Monogatari」
Release Date: July 29th, 2022
Duration: 88 mins.
Director: Ono Candice Mana
Writer: Ono Candice Mana (Script),
Starring: Akane Sakanoue, Hisao Kurozumi, Kan Hotoda, Ryo Matsumura, Eri Mori, Kaori Takeshita, Sumire Ueno,
Synopsis: 16-year-old Ai Shimizu lives with her father Tetsuo, a workaholic and overbearing parent who Ai only communicates with by e-mail. He prevents her from wearing skirts, going out, and attending parties and so Ai has no friends and does not know how to dress up. All she knows is study! One day, she crashes into a transgender woman named Seiko. She soon takes Ai under her wing and introduces her to fashion, friendship, and more as the two develop a relationship akin to family.
Mugen Tetsudo – A Man Who Takes a Picture of the Tadami Line for 300 Days 
霧幻鉄道 只見線を300日撮る男 「Mugen Tetsudo Tadamisen o 300-nichi Toru Otoko 」
Release Date: July 29th, 2022
Duration: 80 mins.
Director: Wataru Abiko
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kenko Hoshi, Higashi Yamamoto (Narrator),
Synopsis: This documentary follows Kenko Hoshi, a photographer who has taken pictures of the Tadami Line, a local railroad line, for many decades. It was damaged by torrential rains in Niigata and Fukushima in 2011 and the issue of depopulation hovered over it, so it was closed for a time despite it having spectacular views. That was until locals banded together with Kenko Hoshi to advocate for it to re-open.
The Rain’s Ark 
雨の方舟「Ame no Hakobune」
Release Date: July 30th, 2022
Duration: 70 mins.
Director: Kao Senami
Writer: Emika Matsumoto (Script),
Starring: Nanaho Otsuka, Shohei Matsuzaki, Chihiro Kawashima, Yuto Uehara, Kikuno Ikeda, Manami Nakata,
Kao Senami was apparently the co-director on Randen (2019).
Synopsis: A young woman named Toko who wanders a forest finds herself in a home with four people who live a simple way of life based on living off the land but there is something strange about them and even as she learns to make do in the wilderness, she is left on edge by the atmosphere. And then, something mysterious begins to happen…
Okinawa Kudaka Jima no Izaiho 
沖縄久高島のイザイホー 「Okinawa Kudakajima no Izaiho-」
Release Date: July 30th, 2022
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Kazuo Okada
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: This is a digitally remade version of documentary film which has a different aspect ratio and audio. It is a recording the 400-year-old “Izaiho” festival which is held once every 12 years in Kudaka Island, Okinawa. The film was recorded in 1978 with the help of locals but the origins of the festival go back to the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom and come from Amamikyu, the founding god of Ryukyu. In the festival, women born and raised on the island become goddesses and perform rituals. However, due to social changes and a shortage of successors, the festival didn’t survive the making of this film which makes it a valuable work. This work recorded Izaiho, which was held at the end of 1978, in the video with the cooperation of the people concerned.
Kita no Tomoshibi 
北のともしび 「Kita no Tomoshibi」
Release Date: July 30th, 2022
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Shizu Azuma
Writer: N/A
Starring: Hidetaka Yoshioka (Narrator)
Synopsis: This documentary is about Jewish children who were taken from the Auschwitz concentration camp and sent to a camp for tuberculosis experiments. These children were murdered by the Nazis on the night of April 20, 1945, to destroy evidence of their inhumane acts, just as Germany was about to lose the war. Against the backdrop of this incident, the film depicts the emotional activities of the people of Germany and Europe, who continue to question what must not be forgotten nearly 80 years later.