Hello dear audience!
I watched one film this week and that was Ran (1985) for the third time this year after watching it at a cinema for the first time ever. If you live in the UK you can watch it on BBC iPlayer – it screened on BBC Four! – for a day more (I should have reported on it being on iPlayer earlier). I have completed lots of writing because I want to spend the next few months studying. Two posts this week, one for Nippon Connection and another for a film screening at the Japanese embassy.
What’s released this weekend?
The Magnificent Nine
殿、利息でござる！ 「Tono, Risoku de Gozaru!」
Running Time: 129 mins.
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Writer: Yoshihiro Nakamura, Kenichi Suzuki (Screenplay), Michifumi Isoda (Original Novel)
Starring: Sadao Abe, Eita, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Karen Iwata, Yudai Chiba, Kitaro, Mitsukoo Kusabue,
I have reviewed many films by Yoshihiro Nakamura such as The Snow White Murder Case (2014) and it is clear that he has become the king of adaptations in recent years. This film is based on a novel from 2012 and stars Sadao Abe (Dreams for Sale), Eita (The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker, Wild 7) and Satoshi Tsumabuki ( For Love’s Sake).
Synopsis: Juzaburo Kokutaya (Sadao Abe) and his fellows are working to meet impossible taxes and labour demands. To overcome their problems they plan to lend large amounts of money to a han (historical term for the estate of a warrior) and distribute the interest annually to the residents, but if they’re caught breaching social etiquette like this they will lose their lives.
HK: Forbidden Super Hero the Abnormal Crisis
HK 変態仮面 アブノーマル・クライシス 「HK Hentai Kamen Abunomaru Kuraishisu」
Running Time: 118 mins.
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Director: Yuichi Fukuda
Writer: Yuichi Fukuda (Screenplay), Keishu Ando (Original Manga)
Starring: Ryohei Suzuki, Fumika Shimizu, Yuya Yagira, Osamu Adachi, Hirofumi Arai, Ayame Misaki,
Synopsis: HK Kamen, real name Kyosuke (Ryohei Suzuki), lives in a city where panties are disappearing but he still wears Aiko’s (Fumika Shimizu) panties to battle evil but she takes her panties back and this leaves Kyosuke unable to transform just as a new enemy appears…
Sinbad
シンドバッド 「Sindobaddo」
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Running Time: 114 mins.
Director: Shinpei Miyashita,
Writer: Hiroyuki Kawasaki (Script Supervision), Hiroyuki Kawasaki (Script)
Animation Production: Nippon Animation
Starring: Tomo Muranaka (Sinbad), Momoko Tanabe (Sana), Tadashi Miyazawa (Najib), Nao Nagasawa (Ali), Takeshi Kaga (Captain Razak),
Synopsis: This is the third in a trilogy of Sinbad films and it includes catch-up on the first two.
The Whispering Star
ひそひそ星「Hiso Hiso Boshi」
Running Time: 100 mins.
Release Date: May 24th, 2016
Director: Sion Sono
Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay)
Starring: Megumi Kagurazaka, Kenji Endo, Yuto Ikeda, Mori Kouko,
The Whispering Star was originally created and screened as part of an art exhibition which had the theme of dystopia running through it. The film was shot in different locations in the Fukushima prefecture, turning depopulated and irradiated areas into a futuristic landscape that speaks of hopelessness, pollution, and abandonment. It stars people who live in the areas and Sion Sono’s wife.
Synopsis: A spaceship shaped like a Japanese bungalow careens through the galaxy. It carries a humanoid robot named Yoko (Megumi Kagurazaka), a sort of interstellar UPS delivery person. Her job is simple: to distribute packages to human beings scattered across sundry planets. But with so much spare time between deliveries, Yoko begins to wonder what’s in those packages.
If Cats Disappeared From the World
世界から猫が消えたなら 「Sekai kara Neko ga Kieta nara」
Running Time: 118 mins.
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Director: Akira Nagai
Writer: Ryoichi Okada (Screenplay), Genki Kawamura (Original Novel)
Starring: Takeru Sato, Aoi Miyazaki, Mieko Harada, Eiji Okuda, Anna Ishii, Gaku Hamada, Eita Okuno
The director for this one is Akira Nagai and he made Judge! (2014) which is a fun comedy a million miles away from this. It’s a serious drama with Takeru Sato (Rurouni Kenshin and Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno), Aoi Miyazaki (The Great Passage, Eureka), Mieko Harada (Ran) and other good actors. I met Akira Nagai and he was a nice chap.
Synopsis: A postman (Takeru Sato) who has recently started living independently learns that he doesn’t have much time left to live due to a terminal illness. A devil (Takeru Sato) appears and offers to extend his life if he picks something in the world that will disappear. The man thinks about his relationships with friends (Gaku Hamada), ex-lovers (Aoi Miyazaki), his mother (Mieko Harada) and father (Eiji Okuda) and other relatives and friends who will be sincerely sad when he dies.
Jonetsu tairiku Presents Sono Shion to iu ikimono
園子温という生きもの 「Sono Shion to iu ikmono」
Running Time: 97 mins.
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Director: Shin Oshima
Writer: N/A
Starring: Sion Sono, Shota Sometani, Fumi Nikaido, Megumi Kagurazaka, Eri, Naoto Tanobe, Takuji Yasuoka,
Synopsis: A documentary about the man, the legend, Sion Sono. We get to hear about his background, his early films and his current ones like Shinjuku Swan and Whispering Star. This documentary was shot by Shin Oshima, son of Nagisa Oshima.
About My Liberty
わたしの自由について SEALDs 2015 「Watashi no juyu ni tsuite: SEALDs 2015」
Running Time: 165 mins.
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Director: Takashi Nishihara
Writer: N/A
Starring:
There’s an English language option on the website so check out this important story if you want to know more about Japanese politics.
Synopsis from the films website: A documentary following the turmoil of summer 2015 in Japan and the student activist group ‘SEALDs’ that led the crowds and kept protesting in front of the National Diet building.
Listen
LISTEN リッスン 「Listen Rissun」
Running Time: 58 mins.
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Director: Eri Makihara, Shizuku Sakai,
Writer: N/A
Starring: Tomomi Yokoo, Makoto Nozaki,
Synopsis from the films website: A documentary which looks into the visual representation of “deaf music” with many of the staff and performers made up of deaf people. It’s an interesting concept.
Futari no tougenkyou
ふたりの桃源郷 「Futari no tougenkyou」
Running Time: 87 mins.
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Director: Satoshi Sasaki
Writer: N/A
Starring: Fusako Tanaka, Torao Tanaka, Etsuko Ota, Yasuhiko Nishikawa, Hiroe Nishikawa, Keiko Yada, Ansei Yada,
Synopsis from the films website: This documentary shows couples in the Chugoku Mountains living independently from the rest of the world once they reach their sixtieth birthday. We see the difficulties in being separated from family as well a good times.
Japanese Movie Box Office Results for this Week:
Zootopia (2016/04/23)
Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare (2016/04/16)
64: Part 1 Prequel (2016/05/07)
Captain America Civil War (2016/04/29)
Crayon Shin-chan Movie 24: Bakusui! Yumemi World Dai Totsugeki (2016/04/16)
Road to High & Low (2016/05/07)
Chihayafuru Part II Shimo no ku (2016/04/29)
I Am a Hero (2016/04/23)
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions (2016/04/23)
TerraFormars (2016/04/29)
