Welcome to the first of three trailer posts.
The next two follow over the coming days.
Well, two games on my Steam wishlist – “Spirit Hunter II: Death Mark” and “The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story” – went on sale so I bought them, although I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to play them since the last bunch of games I bought have sat untouched. They have Japanese language audio and subtitles so they can be used as study material! That’s how I justified it to myself.
What are the first bunch of films released this weekend?
Release Date: September 27th, 2024
Duration: 95 mins.
Director: Kohei Igarashi
Writer: Kohei Igarashi, Koichi Kudobera (Screenplay),
Starring: Hiroki Sano, Nairu Yamamoto, Yoshinori Miyata, Hoang Nhu Quynh,
Kohei Igarashi, director of Hold Your Breath Like Lover (2014), finds his latest work as the opener to the 2024 Venice Days (Giornate Degli Autori) programme and has appeared in Vancouver film fest as has another film released this week. It also appeared at Busan and San Sebastian.
A story of a man dealing with grief at a holiday resort that looks as if it is told with subtlety and wryness, there is a review by Guy Lodge over at Variety that states something of our chances of seeing it:
This Gallic-Japanese co-production will burnish Igarashi’s reputation on the festival circuit, though it may be too low-key for theatrical distribution in many markets — its youthful slant and quiet formal simplicity make it a viable fit for specialist streaming platforms.
The most recognisable name from the cast is Nairu Yamamoto who appeared in two Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024 titles: On a Boat and Inch Forward.
Synopsis: On August 19, 2023, childhood friends Sano and Miyata spend time in Atami at a seaside resort hotel that is scheduled to close soon. It is the place where Sano met and fell in love with his wife Nagi five years previously. In the intervening time, she died in her sleep and Sano has been consumed with grief. At the resort, Miyata, unable to see Sano’s obsession with memories of his wife, tries to help him out with a date and activities but Sano is consumed with searching for the red cap he gave to Nagi before the two left the resort.
Viva Nik – The Spirit of Niki de Saint Phalle 
タロット・ガーデンへの道 「Tarotto Ka-den he no Michi」
Release Date: September 25th, 2024
Duration: 76 mins.
Director: Michiko Matsumoto
Writer: Michiko Matsumoto (Screenplay),
Starring: Niki de Saint Phalle, Camille Morineau, Roger Nellens, Marina Karella, Jean Gabriel Mitterrand, Chizuko Ueno, Dawn Cardenas, Kyoko Koizumi (Narrator)
The film is narrated by Kyoko Koizumi. It was featured at Vancouver!
Synopsis: Michiko Matsumoto has a background as photographer and she has specialised in photographing female artists and artworks. She makes her film directorial debut with this documentary about feminist artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) who, according to the VIFF site, “is best known for her playfully vibrant, voluptuous Nana statues, which stand proudly as icons of female empowerment in multiple countries’ public spaces.”
Niki was the daughter of a French aristocrat and became aware of the difficulties faced by woman and channelled various reactions and ideas related to that into paintings, outdoor sculptures, buildings, the famous Tarot Garden, which took 20 years to create and features mirrors and mosaics laid down in dreamy patterns, and the “Nana” series of female figures. Director Matsumoto had known her since 1981 and travelled to see Niki’s works around the world. The film explores Niki’s life and work through many of the photographs Matsumoto has taken and interviews with people who knew her.
クラウド 「Kuraudo」
Release Date: September 27th, 2024
Duration: 123 mins.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Masataka Kubota, Daiken Okudaira, Amane Okayama, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Maho Yamada, Tetsuya Chiba, Yutaka Matsushige,
Website Twitter: @cloudmovie2024 IMDB
This is the third Kurosawa film to get a release this year following on from Chime and a remake of Serpent’s Path (which plays in September at San Sebastian). It features a great cast, including Yutaka Matsushige, the antagonist in Kurosawa’s The Guard From Underground.
Synopsis: Yoshii is a factory worker who makes a bit on the side by reselling goods, an occupation he learned from Muraoka, a senior student at a technical college he want to. The reselling business gets so good that he turns down a promotion at the factory and expands his business but just as things start to look good, suspicious events begin to occur around Yoshii and he becomes the target of hatred on the internet that turns into a collective madness and a “hunting game”.
Baby Assassins: Nice Days 
ベイビーわるきゅーれ ナイスデイズ 「Beibi- Warukyu-re Naisu Deizu」
Release Date: September 27th, 2024
Duration: 101 mins.
Director: Yugo Sakamoto
Writer: Yugo Sakamoto (Script),
Starring: Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa, Atomu Mizuishi, Sosuke Ikematsu, Atsuko Maeda,Tomo Nakai, Tsubasa Tobinaga, Mondo Otani,
Stunt Coordinator: Kensuke Sonomura
Website Twitter: @babywalkure2021 IMDB
Synopsis: This is the third entry in the comedy action series where young women, Chisato and Mahiro, balance lives as assassins with part-time work. In this story, they have completed their Miyazaki Prefecture mission early and are enjoying some downtime before the next scheduled kill. Chisato is more worried about getting Mahiro a birthday present when they are ordered on to their next scheduled kill. This is when they see a mysterious man pointing a gun at their target, a lone wolf assassin who aims to kill 150 people.
ふれる 「Fureru」
Release Date: 2024
Duration: 60 mins.
Director: Kyosuke Takada
Writer: Kyosuke Takada (Screenplay),
Starring: Yui Suzuki, Yasuro Kono, Karin Nishina, Matsuoka, Yasuko Yoshida,
Website Twitter: @furerumovie2024
This one screened at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in its 15-minute form and I remember writing that it could be a feature film and it looks like it has been expanded for its release.
It won the Runner-up Grand Prix at the 45th Pia Film Festival and PFF Award 2023.
Here’s what I wrote for OAFF with some slight modification for plot developments:
Director TAKADA’s graduation work from Nihon University College of Art, Touch is an aesthetically assured short that features a visual and aural polish from ICHIKAWA Yuichi’s cinematography and DATE Chiya’s music that amplifies excellent performances from the cast.
Misaki is a fourth grader who is still processing the loss of her mother. Her eccentric behaviour sometimes upsets those around her, especially her absence from school as she begins to hang out at a ceramic artist’s studio. She shows a keen interest in the art but before another momentous change is about to happen in her life when a woman comes to the family home and it appears that she will eventually be Misaki’s new mother.
Shizukana naru Don – Part 2 Kohen 
静かなるドン2 後編 「Shizukananaru Don Kohen」
Release Date: September 27th, 2023
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Kiyoto Naruse
Writer: Kento Yamaguchi (Screenplay), Tatsuo Nitta (Original Manga)
Starring: Kentaro Ito, Miwako Kakei, Motoko Fukami, Yasukaze Motomiya, Hiroki Miyake, Yoshiyuki Tsubokura, Mariko Tsutsui,
Website Twitter: @reiwa_shizudon
This is one of a series of stories that depicts the lives of outlaw protagonists from the Showa and Heisei eras in the modern world. This is a sequel to a film released last year and is the first part of the latest live-action film adaptation.
Synopsis: Shizuya Kondo, the leader of the Kanto region’s largest yakuza gang, the Shinsengumi, also works as an underwear designer and tries to maintain his day job while hiding his criminal alter-ego from his work colleagues. Everything gets fraught when the head of a rival gang unexpectedly proposes peace.
City Hunter 
シティーハンター 「Shitei- Hanta-」
Release Date: April 25th, 2024
Duration: 102 mins.
Director: Yuichi Sato
Writer: Tatsuro Mishima (Screenplay), Tsukasa Hojo (Original Manga),
Starring: Ryohei Suzuki Misato Morita, Masanobu Ando, Asuka Hanamura, Fumino Kimura, Tetta Sugimoto, Ayame Misaki,
Since this is a Netflix production, it should be accessible globally but for now, it gets a limited cinema run.
Synopsis: Ladies man Ryo Saeba works with his partner Makimura to keep Shinjuku ward clean through their skills with guns, fists, and wits. When Makimura is killed, he begins to work with Makimura’s sister Kaori to uncover the truth behind his death. They do so with Saeko, a talented detective of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department…