The L’Etrange Festival runs from September 05 to 17 and there are a grip of films from Japan with two Joe Shishido classics and a few 2000s titles.
What Japanese films are programmed at L’Etrange this year?
Mondays – See You This Week 
MONDAYS このタイムループ、上司に気づかせないと終わらない 「MONDAYS Kono Taimu Ru-pu, Joushi ni Kizuka Senai to Owaranai」
Release Date: October 14th, 2022
Duration: 82 mins.
Director: Ryo Takebayashi
Writer: Ryo Takebayashi, Saeri Natsuo (Screenplay),
Starring: Wan Marui, Makita Sport, Koki Osamura, Yuugo Mikawa, Kotaro Yagi, Harumi Shuhama,
Following on from yesterday where we had a time-loop horror, we get a time-look comedy that stars Wan Marui (Kontora) and Makita Sports (All Esper Dayo!).
Synopsis: Yoshikawa is an ambitious young woman seeking to leave a small advertising agency to go to a major firm but, one Monday morning, she is informed by two junior staff members that they are repeating the same week over and over again. Soon the rest of the staff notice. Well, everyone except that manager and it seems like he holds the power to break the loop but first he has to notice what is going on!
Carte Blanche – Gareth Evans
拳銃は俺のパスポート 「Koruto wa ore no pasupo-to」
Release Date: February 04th, 1967
Duration: 85 mins.
Director: Takashi Nomura
Writer: Shinji Fujiwara (Novel), Hideichi Nagahara, Nobuo Yamada (Screenplay),
Starring: Joe Shishido, Chitose Kobayashi, Jerry Fujio, Shoki Fukae, Jun Hongo, Akio Miyabe, Shoki Fukae, Zenji Yamada,
This is the stylish tale of a hitman on the run after assassinating a powerful yakuza boss. A Nikkatsu borderless actioner that up is solid until that exciting end fight which gains the praise of everyone who watches it.
Synopsis: Contract killer Shuji Kamimura and his partner Shun Shiozaki lie low at a truck stop after completing a yakuza-ordered hit but with gangsters on their tails, the two have to rely on their skills and the truck stop waitress to stay ahead of their pursuers.
DEAD OR ALIVE: 犯罪者 「Dead or Alive Hanzaisha」
Release Date: November 27th, 1999
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Takashi Miike
Writer: Ichiro Ryu (Screenplay),
Starring: Riki Takeuchi, Sho Aikawa, Renji Ishibashi, Ren Osugi, Susume Terajima, Hitoshi Ozawa, Dankan, Tomorowo Taguchi,
Takashi Miike takes typical yakuza tropes and adds the immigrant factor and a large dose of hyper-violence and grotesquery for what is a stunning opening film to a highly-rated trilogy – you’ll come around to the third film after reading Tom Mes’ writing on it.
Synopsis: A group of gangsters under the leadership of Ryuichi, muscle in on the Shinjuku territory of a yakuza trying to deal with Triads. Said yakuza turns to a cop in his debt to ferret the newcomers out. Insane action and mutilation ensue amidst betrayals.
Nuggets of L’Etrange
野獣の青春 「Yajū no seishun」
Release Date: April 21st , 1963
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Writer: Ichiro Ikeda, Tadaaki Yamazaki (Screenplay), Haruhiko Oyabu (Novel)
Starring: Joe Shishido, Misako Watanabe, Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Go, Akiji Kobayashi, Yuzo Kiura, Hiroshi Kono, Seijun Suzuki.
Youth of the Beast was one of two films Seijun Suzuki made with Joe Shishido in 1963 (the other being Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!) and the two make a fantastic combination as the director uses his star’s rough and raw charisma to power an action-packed, cool, and fun film. This is one of those films where Suzuki transitioned into a more colourful and visually theatrical style compared to his older works.
Synopsis: An ex-cop/ex-con named Mizuno finds himself embroiled in an investigation into yakuza-run sex work when his former partner winds up dead in a love hotel in what is ostensibly a lovers’ suicide. Behind the whole charade is Nomoto Enterprises and Mizuno decides to infiltrate their operations with anarchic and violent effect.
フリーズ・ミー 「Furi-zu Mi-」
Release Date: May 27th, 2000
Duration: 101 mins.
Director: Takashi Ishii
Writer: Takashi Ishii (Screenplay),
Starring: Harumi Inoue, Kazuki Kitamura, Naoto Takenaka, Shunsuke Matsuoka, Shingo Tsurumi,
A nasty revenge-thriller that will leave you desolate. It is now hard to believe that it was screened on UK TV.
Synopsis: A woman named Chihiro is on the verge of getting married but when an unwanted face from the past barges into her life, the young woman’s plans look set to be ruined. That face belongs to Noboru, one of three people who raped her when she was in school. The three men force Chihiro to submit to their cruel plans with the threat of exposing her past. She can only take so much before she snaps…
お天気お姉さん 「Otenki Onee-san」
Release Date: April 25th, 1995
Duration: 84 mins.
Director: Tomoaki Hosoyama
Writer: Tomoaki Hosoyama (Screenplay), Tetsu Adachi (Original Manga)
Starring: Saori Taira, Kei Mizutani, Yasuyo Shiroshima, Takashi Sumida, Ren Osugi,
Synopsis: A substitute weather woman named Keiko gains popularity when she finishes her set, hikes up her skirt, and flashes her underwear live on air. When the woman she replaced comes back to work, a competition ensues, with an old high school flame of Keiko’s trapped in the middle.
Here’s my past coverage of the event: