Happy Weekend
This is the second part of a two-part trailer post. The first part is here.
This week I started with a review of the short film Kidofuji and an interview with its composer/writer/director Atsuru Shimoyashiro. A short set in a real-life standing bar in Koenji, Tokyo. I lived a stop away in Asagaya when I lived in Japan and rarely stopped at Koenji. Thus, this might be a place to visit if I get a chance to go to Japan again!
I followed that up with a review of Drive into Night, one of the free films currently streaming at the Japan Film Festival Plus website. It has a great performance from Tomomitsu Adachi as a man with pent-up emotions uncoiling violently in a small town.
I’ve been watching the Cannes Film Festival coverage and waiting for news on Takeshi Kitano!
I’m still playing Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and I’m at the end of the second chapter!
In terms of films watched, I finished the Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself series and loved the first five entries but prefer to forget the sad sixth entry ;_:
I watched Detective vs Sleuths and Police Story 3: Super Cop!
What are the other films released this weekend?
Idolish7 the Movie Live 4Bit Beyond the Period 
劇場版アイドリッシュセブン LIVE 4bit BEYOND THE PERiOD 「Gekijouban Aidorisshu Sebun LIVE 4bit BEYOND THE PERiOD」
Release Date: May 20th, 2023
Duration: 93 mins
Director: Hiroshi Nishikori, Kensuke Yamamoto
Writer: Bunta Tsushimi (Screenplay) Bandai-Namco Online (Original Creator)
Starring: Atsushi Abe (Sogo Osaka), Kenn (Tamaki Yotsuba), Kensho Ono (Riku Nanase), Satomi Satou (Tsumugi Takanashi), Takuya Eguchi (Nagi Rokuya),
Animation Production: Orange
Synopsis: A smartphone game that is part of a media mix project called Idolish Seven, gets its first anime movie. The story follows a group of aspiring idols with different personalities forming a group called… wait for it… “IDOLiSH7” and the boys do all the singing and dancing etc. There are other idol groups like TRIGGER and Re:vale and ZOOL and there is a battle to win fans.
The River Breathes 
あの子の夢を水に流して 「「Ano ko no yume o mizu ni nagashite」
Release Date: May 20th, 2023
Duration: 70 mins.
Director: Shoji Toyama
Writer: Shoji Toyama (Screenplay),
Starring: Chika Uchida, Reo Tamaoki, Takeo Nakahara, Koji Yamazaki, Shuhei Kato,
Synopsis: A story about Mizunami, a woman with depression following the loss of her unborn son, returns to her hometown of Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, and links up with childhood friends who remained in the area that was devastated by a natural disaster not so long ago. They witness a mysterious phenomenon as they travel along the Kumamoto River and talk about the past.
Aru Hi, Aru Onna 
ある日、ある女。 「Aru Hi, Aru Onna」
Release Date: May 20th, 2023
Duration: 64 mins.
Director: Tetsuya Mitsuhira
Writer: Tetsuya Mitsuhira (Screenplay),
Starring: Mihiro Kaneko, Jin Arai, Kayo Otsuka, Sakura Enomoto, Maki Taki,
Synopsis: This is an ambitious film that has domestic violence and murder wrapped up into a 64-minute one-shot film. It begins when a woman named Yuko tries to cool her relationship with her lover Takeshi and he tries to break into her house to take her back…
Storage Man. 
ストレージマン。 「Sutore-ji man.」
Release Date: May 20th, 2023
Duration: 39 mins.
Director: Tatsuro Manno
Writer: Tatsuro Manno (Screenplay),
Starring: Hirotaka Renge, Kaho Seto, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Naoya Watanabe, Hiroshi Yazaki, Takato Yonemoto,
Kaho Seto (New Religion) has a place in this solid Covid-19 drama with a dark spin on homelessness.
Synopsis: Takashi Morishita is married to a beautiful woman named Akiko and they have a daughter named Sakura. When he loses his job at a car factory, he struggles to find another amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and he has to move out of the company housing he inhabits. During an argument, he strikes his wife. She asks for a divorce. With nowhere to go, Takashi ends up living in a rental storage room, a grim place where others who are desperate are also living. He struggles to earn money by working part time and he struggles to reunite with his family. Pretty soon, that room comes to represent the tight situation Takashi is in…
Sekai de Tatakau Film-tachi 
世界で戦うフィルムたち 「Sekai de Tatakau Firumu-tachi」
Release Date: May 20th, 2023
Duration: 113 mins.
Director: Mutsuki Kameyama
Writer: N/A
Starring: Mutsuki Kameyama, Ryuhei Kitamura, Kenji Tanigaki, Takashi Shimizu, Koji Fukuda, Shinzo Katayama, Kiki Sukezane, Shnobu Terajima, Takuya Matsumoto, Kenichi Ugana, Yuho Ishibashi,
Synopsis: Mitsuki Kameyama (website), director of 12 Months of Kai, has made a documentary about a search for the future of Japanese cinema. She travelled to over 110 overseas film festivals with 12 Months of Kai and interacted with people who attended. This film follows her journey and shows her struggles to build an audience for her film. She also interviews Japanese filmmakers about how to work in the global film world.
Old Narcissus 
老ナルキソス 「Rou Narukisosu」
Release Date: May 20th, 2023
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Tsuyoshi Shoji
Writer: Tsuyoshi Shoji (Screenplay),
Starring: Taijiro Tamura, Atomu Mizuishi, Takeshi Terayama, Hiderou, Moro Morooka, Kanji Tsuda,
Recently played at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2023.
Synopsis: This is the first feature film from Tsuyoshi Shoji and it’s based on a short he made that was well received by the LGBTQ+ community. The story follows an elderly and narcassistic children’s book author named Yamazaki who falls for a lonely sex worker named Leo (who grew up on Yamazaki’s stories) and finds himself experiencing love for the first time and developing healthy relationships with others.
Ryo Takeuchi Week
A filmmaker who is based in China, he has a background in NHK and documentary filmmaking. He has produced many documentaries about China, including Long Time Mo See, Wuhan, which is about the response of normal Chinese people to Covid-19. More here on this Wikipedia page.
Here’s the website with more information.
100 Faces of HUAWEI 
ファーウェイ100面相 「Fau-ei 100 Mensou」
Release Date: May 19th, 2023
Duration: 100 mins.
Director: Ryo Takeuchi
Synopsis: Ryo Takeuchi travelled across China and the world to interview employees of Huawei, the tech company that many Western countries are banning from taking any part in their communication infrastructure. His film tries to give another view on what goes on in the company.
Beyond the Mountain 
大涼山 「Dai Ryo-san」
Release Date: May 19th, 2023
Duration: 70 mins.
Director: Ryo Takeuchi
Synopsis: Ryo Takeuchi visited Liangshan, a remote area in China, one of the country’s poorest and one relatively cut off due to a lack of roads. In what looks to be something straight out of Bird People of China, he had to ride a donkey to the village and shows “another face” of China, an economic superpower.
The Yangtze River 
再会長江 「Saikai Choukou」
Release Date: May 19th, 2023
Duration: 129 mins.
Director: Ryo Takeuchi
Narration: Ruriko Kojima
Synopsis: Ryo Takeuchi first encountered the Yangtze River while working on an NHK program 10 years ago. It inspired in him a desire to find out more about this natural wonder and so when he decamped Japan to live in China, he had the opportunity to do this. He spent two years following the river and, along the way, reunited with people he met on that original NHK programme and also the river itself.
Long Time No See, Wuhan 
お久しぶりです、武漢 「Ohisashiburi desu, Wuhan」
Release Date: May 19th, 2023
Duration: 129 mins.
Director: Ryo Takeuchi
Synopsis: This is a special edition of the one-hour documentary with additional footage added. Ryo Takeuchi covers the lockdown that happened in Wuhan in January 2020 after anti-Covid-19 measures were put in place by the Chinese government. He visited the city after the lockdown was lifted and he interviewed 10 people from there.