With the 65th Cannes Film Festival closing today I think it would be fair to say that based 
on critical reception Michael Haneke’s Amour is going to take the Palme d’Or (The Paperboy sounds so outrageous I want to see it.). How the other awards shake out is another question but I hope best actress goes to the beautiful Rin Takanashi! For a better overview of the awards handed out at the festival head over to Bonjour Tristesse. Anyway critical reception for the third and final feature-length Japanese film has comes in and it is mixed much like Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love which leaves Ai to Makoto as the only Japanese film to receive mostly positive reviews.
Day 10: 11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate – Un Certain Regard
Director: Koji Wakamatsu, Writer: Masayuki Kakegawa, Starring: Arata, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Tasuku Nagaoka, Takatsugu Iwama
Prolific veteran director Koji Wakamatsu tackled the violent and tough story of an extreme far left group during the turmoil of 1960’s Japan in the award winning United Red Army and now he is tackling a controversial figure on the right in the shape of Yukio Mishima, a writer, critic, and nationalist who espoused traditional values based on the Bushido code. He and his militia attempted to launch a coup d’Etat by taking a military commander hostage.
He is at Cannes with his film where he took part in a Q&A which had some interesting quotes:
What does Un Certain Regard mean to you?
It is an honour for me to be selected at “Un Certain Regard” since making film means how director express own “regard”.
Why is cinema essential to you?
Film making is my essential weapon for expression.
What about that critical reception?
“11/25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate is not as rigorous a work as it should be, but it is a complex and absorbing re-interpretation of the Mishima legend.” Simon Abrams (indiewire)
“Flat as a TV movie, Wakamatsu goes earnest with biopic, sans Schrader’s arty flamboyance & RED ARMY’s ferocious autocannibalism” Budd Wilkins (Slant Magazine)
After watching the trailer the film seemed like heavy going. Wakamatsu’s latest movie gets released in Japan next month.
Genkinahito 
This was one I wasn’t expecting too much out of from the synopsis, but I may still check it out if it comes my way. If I learned one thing from covering Cannes the past two years, it’s that the initial reviews from the professional English/American critics don’t often fall in line with my own tastes.
I was disappointed by the lack of strong Japanese films but at least Ai to Makoto looks good – probably the best fun at the festival apart from The Paperboy. I prefer this type of Miike film to his remakes and Yakuza flicks.