Hello dear readers!
I hope you are all doing fine.
I’m at the end of my 12 day work week (it starts again next Monday) and the sunny weather has also taken a break and it’s now raining in the UK. Everybody heaves a huge sigh of relief because climate change has led to health problems, droughts and bad harvests, increased damage to food supplies and dangers from invasive species from tropical countries and what not. Most of all, it allows me to justify watching lots of films. I’ve watched around nine since the last weekend. I wrote about the Venice International Film Festival and posted an old review of the film Jimami Tofu (2017).
What is released this weekend in Japan?
Haman 
歯まん 「Haman」
Running Time: 95 mins.
Release Date: August 11th, 2018
Director: Tetsuya Okabe
Writer: Tetsuya Okabe (Screenplay),
Starring: Nonoka Baba, Yusuke Kojima, Maki Mizui, Mukau Nakamura, Shohei Uno, Miwako Izumi,
Synopsis: The first time Haruka has sex, she killed the person she loved when she had a sudden physical change. After fleeing the scene she lives a life filled with fear and self-loathing but becomes attracted to a man who speaks to her gently…
Shuumatsu no Kemonotachi 
終末の獣たち 「Shuumatsu no Kemonotachi」
Running Time: 69 mins.
Release Date: August 11th, 2018
Director: Yudai Sasaki
Writer: Yudai Sasaki (Screenplay),
Starring: Maki Yoshihara, Mai A, Maki Nishiyama, Shun, Katsuya Maiguma, Tetsuro Mihara, Haruka Kubo,
Synopsis:Told through a series of still photographs and the narration of various actors, this sci-fi tale looks at a world where a virus that only kills men has spread across the world. Now, only women live on the planet and it looks like it’s curtains for the human race. A woman named Tomoko recalls former lovers…
Hopefully the animals and plants can flourish because humanity has done a rubbish job of caring for the planet.
Call of Zon 
ゾンからのメッセージ 「Zon Kara no messe-ji」
Running Time: 117 mins.
Release Date: August 11th, 2018
Director: Takuji Suzuki
Writer: Takeshi Furusawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryudai Takahashi, Ryo Nagao, Shogo Ishimaru, Masahito Karakama, Maya Ino, Ritsuko, Hiromi Furukawa, Kenji Yamauchi,
Synopsis: In this sci-fi film, the inhabitants of a small town full of nostalgia-inducing things found their habitat surrounded by a mysterious phenomenon called “zon” 20 years ago. Now they live in a dream-like village where it is as if time has stopped. This is down to “zon” because the weird atmosphere represented by the strange flickering patterns in the air act as a barrier. People who cross it, never come back, and now there is nobody willing to go beyond “zon” and nobody knows what the outside world looks like. Things begin to change when a mysterious VHS tape arrives in their little world.
Yoru no tanken 
よるのたんけん 「Yoru no tanken」
Running Time: 22 mins.
Release Date: August 11th, 2018
Director: Hiroyuki Mizumoto
Writer: Hiroyuki Mizumoto (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuumi Goto (Elephant), 53235 (Rabbit), Takashi Sakai (Old Man), Tomoko Yokoe (Horse), Shohei Murai, Satoko Murai,
Synopsis: A short stop-motion animation created over the course of eight years, this tells the tale of a group of animals in a port city. A rabbit escapes its box and encourages an elephant to leave its cage so they can explore the city during the night. This comes from the director Hiroyuki Mizumoto who previously made Passage of Jomon and Pakur (2015).