Welcome to the second and final trailer post of this week.
Two documentaries and two indie dramas.
After going on hiatus at the end of 2023, it was good to restart Heroic Purgatory with a round-up of what we consider the films of that year. It was mostly Asian for me but there were two American films and one European film included. My top ten keeps changing depending upon the rules of release – made/screened over the last year or just the best I saw.
I then started this week by posting previews of the Japanese films programmed for the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2024 and this year’s edition of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme and then the first trailer post, which is here. I then transitioned to doing festival work so that’ll be me tied up for the next few weeks. I’ll keep doing the trailer posts, for certain!
What are the other films released this week?
S (Esu) 
エス 「ESU」
Release Date: January 19th, 2024
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Masahiro Ota
Writer: Masahiro Ota (Screenplay),
Starring: Sachiko Matsushita, Tappei Aono, Tatsuma Goto, Kojiro Abe, Yumi Mukai,
Website Twitter: @s_eiga
Masahiro Ota, a director with experience making short films and commercials, has turned the camera on himself, so to speak, by making a fiction film based on his experiences of being arrested and jailed for 30 days.
He has reworked this story into film before, once with a short and then, in 2016, with the feature-length version Sonoda which was at the 2016 SKIP City International D Cinema Film Festival.
Synopsis: Shinichi, a young film director, has been arrested. His friends from the theatre world and from his college days are eager to be there for him. Their number includes a rising actor who was supposed to be the lead in Shinichi’s upcoming film, a college friend who claims to have known Shinichi the longest, and Chiho, a former lover.
Omoi de o, Koete Ike 30th Documentary HAWKS 
思い出を、超えていけ。30th Documentary HAWKS 「Omoi de o, Koete Ike 30th Documentary HAWKS」
Release Date: January 19th, 2024
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: Seiichi Goto
Writer: N/A
Starring: Sadaharu Oh, Hiroshi Ogawa, Koji Akiyama, Kimiyasu Kudo, Hiroki Kokubo, Sosuke Ikematsu (Narration – he’s from Fukuoka),
Website Twitter: @HAWKS_official
Synopsis: This is the first feature-length documentary about the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks who play in the Nippon Professional Baseball leagues and it was produced to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Fukuoka Dome, the team’s stadium and the first stadium in Japan with a retractable roof. The film follows the team over the 30 years that the team have played there and contains footage of games, interviews, and behind-the-scenes stories.
YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI LIVE 2018 SARAVAH SARAVAH! 
Release Date: January 19th, 2024
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Yukihiro Takahashi, Yoshiyuki Sahashi, Dr.kyOn, Tatsuo Hayashi, Hiroyasu Yaguchi,
Website Twitter: @109_PREMIUM_SJ
Synopsis: A video recording of a performance Yukihiro Takahashi put on for one night in 2018. He passed away in January 2023 but viewers will be able to experience this special performance in which he recreated his debut solo album “SARAVAH!” which was produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto and released 40 years ago in 1978. He was joined by musicians who participated in the recording of the original album. Their number includes Haruomi Hosono, Takahashi’s former Yellow Magic Orchestra bandmate.
The film will be screened alongside a short movie about Takahashi’s days in Karuizawa.
Charo no Saezuri 
チャロの囀り 「Charo no Saezuri」
Release Date: January 20th, 2024
Duration: 115 mins.
Director: Nobu Sueyoshi
Writer: Nobu Sueyoshi (Screenplay),
Starring: Keigo Unohara, Akane Tomiya, Meiko, Shintaro Yonemoto, Aili Rissen,
Website Twitter: @charos_song
This is director Nobu Sueyoshi sophomore feature film but it is his first film released theatrically. He made his debut with a film released online. His regular work is commercials and music videos. Musicians he has worked with include LiSA who has provided the song “BEAUTIFUL WORLD” for the film’s theme song.
Synopsis: The film follows the meeting of two people who are at a university in Kitakyushu. One is a student named Mika. She seems perfect but has debts to repay and so she works at a snack bar at night. Then there is Charo, a young man who lost his memory and speech in an accident, and now lives quietly while holding down two jobs, one delivering milk by night and the other working as a cleaner at the university by day. Charo witnesses Mika encounter an unsavoury character and her debt woes and after that, the two begin to grow closer. Than an incident brings them even closer together.