Happy Weekend
This is the second of a two-part trailer post. The first part can be found here.
This week, I published preview articles for New York Asian Film Festival 2023 and Japan Cuts 2023. I’m hoping to cover the former so please check out the reviews when they are filed here.
Alas, V-Cinema is closing down next month so check out that site and the various reviews and interviews on there. That’s a real slice of Asian film coverage history and I’m proud that I was a part of it thanks to John Berra.
As mentioned yesterday, I took part in a recording of Heroic Purgatory that covered the 2008 Thai martial arts film Chocolate. Films I’ve watched include Drug Connection (1993), Another Lonely Hitman (1995), We Couldn’t Become Adults (2021), 20th Century Nostalgia (1997), Red Spell Spells Red (1983), and The Unbelievable Truth (1989).
What are the other films released this weekend?
Orange Lamp 
オレンジ・ランプ 「Orenji Ranpu」
Release Date: June 30th, 2023
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Mitsuhiro Mihara
Writer: Hiroko Kanasugi, Hideyuki Yamakuni, (Screenplay), Hideyuki Yamakuni (Original Work)
Starring: Shihori Kanjiya, Masato Wada, Mitsunori Isaki, Nanaka Hirao, Yasuhiro Arai, Kaoru Mizuki,
A drama based on a true story.
Synopsis: When Koichi Tadano is diagnosed with juvenile Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 39, he initially begins to fall into despair even with his wife, Mao, aiding him. Thoughts about what will happen to Mao and their two daughters plague him. An encounter that the couple experience renews their hope for life.
GONZA 
Release Date: June 30th, 2023
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Toshimitsu Chimura
Writer: Toshimitsu Chimura (Screenplay), Makoto Sato (Original Work)
Starring: Yu Uemura, Arisa Sakamaki, Kohari Kusumi, Ryo Shinoda, Yuria Suzuhara, Takahiro Konishi, Ayumu Mochizuki,
Synopsis: Takumi Kashima is a video gamer and not much else. Looking to move forward in life, he takes part in a training program at a company in Nara. This is where he falls in love with Nadia Kitajima, a talented colleague who has just joined the company. When given the opportunity to give a presentation as part of a team with Nadia, he finds himself going out to eat with the others and one of the things they consume is Gonza, a food offered to gods, and deer crackers, which is said to bring punishment if eaten by a human. A body swap comedy ensues as mystical penalties are wrought on the team…
Satsutaba to Onsen 
札束と温泉 「Satsutaba to Onsen」
Release Date: June 30th, 2023
Duration: 74 mins.
Director: Ryo Kawakami
Writer: Ryo Kawakami (Screenplay),
Starring: Aika Sawaguchi, Momona Kohama, Yuki Kogoshi, Nanaha Itose, Ayu Okuma, Kyo Sato,
Synopsis: When a group of high school girls find a bag full of money at a hot spring resort, a crime comedy begins as the yakuza mistress who took it wants it back as does a hitman sent to retrieve the cash and even the girl’s teacher…
Hoarder on the Border 
断捨離パラダイス 「Danshari Paradaisu」
Release Date: June 30th, 2023
Duration: 101 mins.
Director: Takayuki Kayano
Writer: Takayuki Kayano (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryo Shinoda, Masayasu Kitayama, Tomu Muto, Yumiko Nakamura, Mac Sekioka,
Synopsis: Ritsuki Shirataka had a promising career as a pianist but hand tremors cut that short. Not even able to teach the piano, his musical career is at an end. Looking to start anew, he joins a cleaning company that specialises in clearing out houses stuffed with old items hoarded by people. While doing his job, he discovers more about his co-workers, the clients, and the objects he is disposing of.
The Waxing and Waning of Life 
命の満ち欠け 「Inochi no Michikake」
Release Date: July 01st, 2023
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Shota Koseki, Kentaro Kishi
Writer: Shota Koseki (Screenplay),
Starring: Shota Koseki, Takeshi Uehara, Saki Kato, Keitoku Ito, Masahiro Umeda, Hirota Otsuka, Yasuhiro Isobe,
An excellent ensemble drama co-directed by actor Shota Koseki and actor/writer/director/cinematographer Kentaro Kishi (The Sower, Hammock). The desperation caused by drug use and the family drama really hits home.
Synopsis: Aspiring writer Shota is working on a screenplay when he takes in his younger brother Yusaku after his sibling has left a drug rehab group. Shota is using Yusaku’s drug experiences for his work and interviews him for realistic material. For his part, Yusaku struggles to stay clean as a miserable job in trash disposal and drug withdrawal wear him out. Soon, the brothers are in conflict with each other.…
Double Red 
赫くなれば其れ 「Kagayaku Nareba Sore」
Release Date: July 01st, 2023
Duration: 65 mins.
Director: Hachi Nekome
Writer: Hachi Nekome (Screenplay)
Starring: Sodai Kadota, Soichiro Tanaka, Mitsuki Akiba, Kazuki Hoshino, Gaku Hosokawa,
A quiet and restrained drama filled with beautiful images.
Synopsis: When Konosuke lost his childhood friend Natsume, he became closed off. Undeclared feelings swell inside Konosuke and they emerge when a parcel arrives from a cameraman who worked on a film Natsume was making.
Zesshou Rokyoku Story 
絶唱浪曲ストーリー 「Zesshou Rokyoku Suto-ri-」
Release Date: July 01st, 2023
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Achika Kawakami
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kosome Minatoya, Koryu Minatoya, Yuuko Tamagawa, Toyoko Sawamura, Koyuki Minatoya,
Synopsis: A documentary about a storytelling style known as Rokyoku – narrative storytelling done with singing. It delves into it through the efforts to learn it by a newbie performer, Kosome Minatoya, who is apprenticed to the nankyoku master Koyanagi Minatoya. We see her training and stage debut and all of the other performers and audiences she meets along the way.
Modern or Anarchy 
モダンかアナーキー 「Modan ka Ana-ki-」
Release Date: July 01st, 2023
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Daichi Sugimoto
Writer: Daichi Sugimoto (Screenplay),
Starring: Daichi Kaneko, Yuumi Kawai, Takuma Fujie, Nijiro Murakami,
Daichi Sugimoto, winner of the Pia Film Festival 2015’s Grand Prix for A Road, returns with a drama about skateboarders and fleeting lives.
Synopsis: After news of a skateboarding highschooler falling to his death spreads, a senior at the same school, and fellow skateboarder, named Ko thinks back to an estranged friend.