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The Film Forum Japanese Cinema thread
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07-03-2012 7:12am#1I didn't see a thread for this. It's an unconventional depressing Japanese drama from 2002 called Tokyo Sora and it was directed by Hiroshi Ishikawa. I was wondering has anyone else seen it?
It's very slow paced (127 minutes in length) with sparse dialogue. It follows the lives of 6 women in Tokyo.
You may be incredibly bored watching this or you may enjoy it. I found it to be very lethargic but interesting. Particularly one of the last scenes is quite good.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zUdNGKSXfc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkfVjMlo9TkComments
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Let's call this the 'senpai' thread to the anime 'kōhai' thread
So: why do I feel inclined to start a thread about the cinema of an entire nation? Well, personally Japanese cinema is my particular passion, and it's one that doesn't enjoy as much discussion as some other countries (we're looking at you, South Korea). There is a 'perception' that Japanese cinema is overly melodramatic, formulaic and/or bat**** insane. But that, IMO, is a very foggy perspective of the cinematic output of a country. As wonderful as Kurosawa is, and as creepy as girls emerging from TVs are, they are but hints of the variety of Japanese cinema.
Anyway, from my perspective there are two distributors really doing a great job promoting Japanese cinema these days. The first are Eureka and their Masters of Cinema collection which has introduced me not only to Hausu (oh god, how I love Hausu!) but also the wonderful works of Masaki Kobayashi. His sublime Hara-Kiri is a masterpiece, but well worth checking out Kwaiden too. In fact, I'd argue he's every bit the equal of Kurosawa based on the evidence of these two films, and dare I say Kwaidan is a better attempt at a sort of traditional storytelling than Dreams (which shares more than a few similarities in terms of both structure and content)?
Then there's Third Window, the champions of offbeat and quirky Japanese releases these days. They've done a lot to get stuff like Confession and Sion Sono well known over here. They recently released Adrift in Tokyo, a funny but bittersweet tale of two men adrift in the city. It's from the reliable Satoshi Miki, who makes some of the most fun and enjoyable films around:
Hopefully this will get an IFI release over here (Sono's films tend to) but Himizu is due out very soon indeed and looks like a welcome change of pace after his largely successful 'trilogy of hate', consisting of Love Exposure, Cold Fish and Guilty of Romance.
But this pales in comparison to the anticipation for Gyakuten Saiben, known in these parts as Ace Attorney. It's directed by the (sometimes) reliable Takeshi Miike (!), but is genuinely looking like the most loyal and entertaining videogame adaptation of all time. It received a rapturous audience reaction at the Rotterdam Festival recently (I nearly ended up going there, kicking myself I didn't!). No official word on a UK / Ireland release yet, but there's a market for it and Miike himself as said there are plans to release an English version. The sooner the better, Takeshi-san!
I'm always eager to discover more gems - it seems everytime I discover one master Japanese director there's two or three more to track down. So recommendations, thoughts, news, whatever. This is the place, fellow gaijin, this is the place.0 -
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Western friendly is a tough question. Miike's indeed the obvious one, given he's personally responsible for around 25% of Japanese cinematic output every year
. I guess Takeshi Kitano would be another poster-boy in that respect, although he balances his accessible yakuza films with heavily arthouse affairs. It's the sort of contradiction you only get in Japan, really!
TBH, it's probably the anime crowd who make the most accessible films, even if there's still an unfortunate aversion (actually, misunderstanding) to anime in there mainstream over here. I can only re-recommend Miki's stuff too - it's light, but endearingly quirky and fun.
Auteur-wise, there's a few knocking around. Hirokazu Koreeda springs to mind. He did the Ozu-esque Still Walking a few years ago, which was really good. But Nobody Knows grabbed me more - about a bunch of kids whose mother abandons them. It's a subtle and thoughtful film. Powerful stuff. Also did After Life, which imagines purgatory as a sort of bureaucracy and reflects on the people who work there and pass through. Interesting little film.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is another curious one. He's half J-Horror guy, half fascinating auteur. Tokyo Sonata attracted some attention a few years back, and it's a stunning little film about a salaryman who loses his job. Takes some very unexpected directions in the second half. Bright Future is the only other one I've seen, which is definitely worth a watch too.
I'm sure there's more, but they're the ones springing to mind at the moment.0 -
Saw this last week. A real hidden gem that had me smiling all the way through. Really want to see Satoshi Miki's other movies now.0 -
Also everyone who was once an angsty music loving teenager should like this movie. Such a unique atmosphere to it too.0 -
I posted this originally in the modern science fiction thread.
This here, while cyber punk, is still pretty decent. They are all Shozin Fukui films. The Wikipedia articles below will suffice for descriptions of the films as they do not give away too much, just make you curious.- Rubber's Lover.
- 964 Pinocchio.
- S-94. A short film about two women, the only two survivors of a global pandemic, set in Tokyo. While a low budget Indie it is still chilling. Could make a very good feature length film. But as a short it does the business. Very creepy and the twist at the end is just incredibly macabre and depressing, but brilliantly so. Only about 30 minutes in length.
0 - Rubber's Lover.
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Watched Kuroneko by Kaneto Shindo today, and was very impressed indeed. Similar in tone to the likes of Kwaiden and Ugetsu Monogatari, it is however very much its own beast. It's a genuinely creepy ghost story one minute, a romantic / erotic folk story the next and occasionally a samurai story with a larger-than-life cast of characters. Some haunting imagery throughout, and it's careful mesh of tone and genre is to be admired. Definitely worth checking out, and again kudos are due to Masters of Cinema for putting out the gorgeous DVD transfer films like this deserve!
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Also everyone who was once an angsty music loving teenager should like this movie. Such a unique atmosphere to it too.
amazing movie. 3 of Shunji iwais movies are in my all-time-fav's category and i'm sure when I get around to watching his others there'll be one or two new spots opening up.
Rainbow song. Iwai didn't direct this, but he co-wrote and produced it. A love story without a happy ending. The film starts at the end of the story, learning that the girl has died in a plane crash and the rest of the movie is how the boy/girl met, fell for each other and were both too stupid/naieve to tell the other how they felt. One of those movies I have to stick on late at night, just before bed. if I watch it during the day I just spend the rest of the day in a depressed funk.0 -
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Saw this movie on on Irish channel late at night a few weeks ago
RAN
Ran fan trailer 1985 . Set in feudal Japan, this retelling of "King Lear" is an amazing accomplishment in film. . Great show, most expensive japanese movie ever at the time.
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Cork boy 55 wrote: »Saw this movie on on Irish channel late at night a few weeks ago
RAN
Ran fan trailer 1985 . Set in feudal Japan, this retelling of "King Lear" is an amazing accomplishment in film. . Great show, most expensive japanese movie ever at the time.
Thats on US netflix now, will give it a look next week when I can stream it in HD!
Anyone know if Departures is worth a look?0 -
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shootermacg wrote: »Although House was a bit pants, I know for its time it may have been good, but I'm not into whimsical type of moves, for me they break the immersion.
To each his own.
Hausu is just brilliant stupidity, although I can fully see how people would hate it (especially with the second act lull). To me it belongs up there with the Evil Dead series in terms of 'who the heck financed this insanity?'. And cinema is a better, funnier place because someone did.Anyone know if Departures is worth a look?
I really liked it at the time, although it is rather conservative (you can see how the Academy liked it). It's pleasant and occasionally thoughtful, though, and has a superb Joe Hisashi score.
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Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,019 CMod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 28726
A busy weekend of Japanese cinema.
First up was From Up on Poppy Hill: more suitable for the anime thread, but this is an absolute joy and the best Ghibli film in a while, perhaps even since Spirited Away. I won't hyperbolise it, because its simplicity and warmth won't be for everyone but IMO it really hits the spot.
Secondly was the pleasantly surprising Woodsman and The Rain. A rural Japanese woodsman comes of middle age when he forms an unlikely friendship with the timid director of a zombie movie that is shooting in his town. It's a genuinely funny film, with a lot of the comedy thankfully not lost in translation. It's a great look at the often absurd nature of low budget film-making, but underneath it all the characters are very strong and well written. A great little film.
Thirdly, Monster's Club. Hard to make up my mind on this one. The 35mm 2.35:1 photography is absolutely gorgeous, and some of the themes are very provocative and engaging. It's a tricky watch, though, especially at the tail end of a long day of film. That said, it has a pleasantly efficient and lean running-time, and certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. Not a film one 'enjoys', but there are rewards to be discovered. Attended two Q & As with the film's director Toshiaki Toyoda and am eager to check out his earlier work now.
And finally, Himizu. A highly provocative and fascinating film from Mr. Sono. It's as self-indulgent, repetitive and insane as his fans / critics might expect. But set against the backdrop of the tsunami, the film consistently challenges the viewer with surprises, shocks and tragic beauty. Again, this is a very 'difficult' film, and the excessive length will detract many. But for me it ultimately emerged as a film of great beauty, and the final act is pitch-perfect. One of the most intelligent and unexpected films about contemporary society and the aftermath of a tragedy you're likely to see.0 -
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Just saw in the IFI booklet for May that Hara-Kiri - Takeshi Miike's remake of the best samurai film from someone who isn't Akira Kurosawa - is going to be showing from the 4th of May, in glorious/horrible (delete as appropriate) 3D.
Trailer here:
Now, where's that release of Ace Attorney, ey? EY?0 -
johnny_ultimate wrote: »Just saw in the IFI booklet for May that Hara-Kiri - Takeshi Miike's remake of the best samurai film from someone who isn't Akira Kurosawa - is going to be showing from the 4th of May, in glorious/horrible (delete as appropriate) 3D.
Trailer here:
Now, where's that release of Ace Attorney, ey? EY?
This is one case where the 3D adds absolutely nothing. It's perhaps the worst use of the tech that I have seen. The 2D Blu-Ray is out this month but is a play.com exclusive for the time being. I have heard that once play's exclusive deal runs out there will be a bells and whistles 3D edition released but that could be a year away.0 -
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Great idea for a thread, looking forward to watching all the movies mentioned above that I havent seen.
A couple that ive seen recently.
First off is Memories of Matsuko. I would say its one of my favorite movies of all time. Just a gem of a movie from start to finish, dont want to give too much away here, as the fact I knew nothing about it before watching it just made it all the more enjoyable. Would recommend this to anybody.
Another one I saw recently was Caterpillar. Its not for everybody, but its a wonderfully acted tale of how a wife copes when her husband returns from the Second Sino Japanese War maimed. Some scenes are quite disturbing, but the lead performance from actress Shinobu Terajima is absolutely terrific.
Please keep the recommendations coming in 0 -
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OldeCinemaSoz wrote: »I dabbled with the Pinku films for awhile but they
turned out to be much of the samey and eventually
not very interesting.
Never seen Underwater Love then?
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Seen City of Life and Death
it is chinese film but about half of it is told from Japanese side with Japanese actors
it about the rape of naking by the Japanese in WW2
great show 8/10 bit raw
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Battle royal
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/
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Movies about Japan by Americans
Black rain
Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. In Japan, however, he manages to escape. As they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game the Japanese way.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096933/
Rising Sun
At the offices of a Japanese corporation, during a party, a woman, who's evidently a professional mistress, is found dead, apparently after some rough sex. A police detective, Web Smith is called in to investigate but before getting there, he gets a call from someone who instructs him to pick up John Connor, a former police Captain and expert on Japanese affairs. When they arrive there Web thinks that everything is obvious but Connor tells him that there's a lot more going on.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107969/
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Went to see Hara-Kiri today, and can't say I'm too impressed. Kind of a pointless exercise, all in all. First half is pretty much identical to the original. Deviates a little in the second (while still hitting almost the exact same narrative beats) and features a slightly extended epilogue that just rubs in the thematic focus a bit more.The daughter's fate, oddly, is unclear here.
There are a few nice Miike flourishes. The seasonal transition is handled well, especially a snowy climax. The cast are good, and the seppuku scenes are predictably unpleasant without feeling as exploitative as they could have been had Miike indulged in his more extreme side. At its heart, it's still a brilliantly cynical deconstruction of samurai culture. But there's little (and even less of import) that wasn't there in Kobayashi's masterpiece, except colour. But actually not that much of it...
That was the fault of the third dimension. Holy crap it's bad. I would have actually just ordered the Blu-Ray if I didn't feel obliged to support cinema releases of Japanese cinema. I'm not sure if it was the IFI setup, but it was frighteningly dark. Taking off glasses showed a colour scheme that was almost entirely different (possibly artificially brightened) to the moody, over-dark tones with glasses on. Couldn't even make out what was going on at its worst. Shocking stuff, really. Although I can add Miike to the growing list of brilliant directors who have yet to convince me of 3D's worth 0 -
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Today in WTF....
Vaguely Big Man Japan vibe off the trailer.0 -
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A fairly recent Japanese film I've seen would be Love Exposure. It is an odd'un, it's about 4 hours long and the directors cut is supposed to be nine hours. :eek: It will teach you to become a panty snapper ninja and how to cross dress convincingly to seduce someone.
I thought it would have been mentioned by now.
Yes that is a big gold penis at @1:12. It also includes a violent amateur penectomy operation.
It's certainly entertaining and interesting. 0 -
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To be expected, perhaps, given the cinema's fondness for Sion Sono. But anyone who was in the IFI this weekend may have noticed the Himizu poster being displyed in the foyer
It's out in June, and probably the man's best film since Love Exposure.0 -
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Ah nuts
Third Window Films wrote:Due to the resounding opening weekend failure of Himizu (and that of Villain before it), we have decided to suspend all theatrical releasing of films. Unfortunately without being able to release films in cinemas we will not have the power to negotiate the release of any big films in the future, so will focus more on straight to DVD titles or occasional one-off's in cinemas. Unfortunately if there is no public for these films in the cinema, then there just isn't a large enough demand for them to be shown at all.
How ****ing depressing. This is what frustrates me about the repeat business the likes of The Avengers do while interesting, ambitious and accomplished titles are left on the sidelines just because they're subtitled.
This news isn't going to have a big effect on us, really - only their Sion Sono titles tend to get a release over here, bar the Japanese Film Fest - but it's still a kick in the balls. I (and I know many others) go out of my way to support distributors like Third Window who you just know are doing it out of love of the medium. But, alas, it seems to make very little difference.
Hopefully they'll keep up the flow of unusual and interesting DVD titles.0 -
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If anyone wants to support Third Window I'd recommend buying Adrift In Tokyo. It's an absolute gem that manages the tricky task of being quirky, jovial and comedic without being overtly annoying. Just a really warm, engaging and entertaining movie with characters I wanted to spend more time with even after the film ended.
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