Genkina hito’s Top Fourteen Films of 2020

Wow, I had no idea that 2020 would turn out like this when I wrote last year’s end post. We’re a few days away from the end of what has been a plague year. I almost got caught out at the start when I was in Japan and the borders were going to be closed, back at the end of March, but I escaped with the help of some friends. Since then, I have been in work on reduced duties or at home waiting to be called in for odd jobs. When not working, I was doing shopping with my mother and checking in on my grandmother.

During this time of waiting, I watched a lot of films, some as part of the Osaka Asian Film Festival, Nippon Connection, Japan Cuts and the New York Asian Film Festival, a lot just for pleasure. I took part in a physical film festival in Japan and I helped organise and execute an online film festival twice and during all of this I wrote a lot of reviews. Probably more reviews than in previous years. On top of it all, I also helped start a podcast about Asian films called Heroic Purgatory where I discuss films with fellow writer John Atom (the Christmas special is already out and the second season coming in 2021!).

When I was able to go to the cinema I watched a wide variety of things. In the UK, the last film I watched was Parasite with my mother. In Japan, I went to numerous screenings at the Osaka Asian Film Festival and an animation festival at the Yujiku Asagaya (just before Tokyo’s lockdown). At home with a lot of time on my hands I got into the cinema of Mario Bava and re-watched lots of Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento movies. I waded through hours of 70s and 80s horror movies from America and I went back to some tried and trusted Japanese classics. Most of all, I tried to get more Japanese indie films out there and so I think this is reflected in my list of top films from 2020.

So, what are they?.  

Au revoir l’ete ほとりの朔子 Dir: Koji Fukada (2014)

Au revoir l’ete          

Au revoir lete Film poster

ほとりの朔子 「Hotori no Sakuko」

Running Time: 125 mins.

Release Date: January 18^th, 2014

Director: Koji Fukada

Writer: Koji Fukada (Screenplay)

Starring: Fumi Nikaido, Mayu Tsuruta, Kanji Furutachi, Taiga, Ena Koshino, Makiko Watanabe, Kiki Sugino

Website

Koji Fukada is a film-maker inspired by the cultures of France and Indonesia as best evidenced by him transplanting elements to his native Japan in his many works. His like of French New Wave cinema is made obvious by this film, Au Revoir l’ete, which means goodbye summer and plays like an Eric Rohmer film where relationships are unpicked in a nonchalant manner as we get to a deeper understanding of some human relationships. It’s the perfect title for a film that describes the quiet misadventures of a teenage girl who waves goodbye to her naivete and matures a little more while in the company of some childish adults.

It is late August and an eighteen-year-old Tokyoite Sakuko (Fumi Nikaido) is a ronin student who is preparing to take her university entrance exam after flunking her previous one. Studying is the perfect excuse for her to tag along with her aunt Mikie (Mayu Tsuruta) who is house-sitting for her sister, Sakuko’s mother, in a sleepy coastal town.

Girls und Panzer das Finale Chapter 1,Vigilante, Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura, Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FINAL: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Riders, Discovery of images = Age of Toshio Matsumoto, ALL YOU NEED is PUNK and LOVE, Koi to Wolwachia, Sekai wo kaenakatta futashikana tsumi, Nacchan ha mada Shinjuku, Hedoroba, For Real kanarazu modoru to chikatta, ano butai e. Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend people!

I hope everyone is well!

With a story-check finished, I soon find myself braced for more movie action with a trip to the cinema due next week and a whole lot of films to go through. I also managed to hit a milestone in my kanji learning but now I have to make words with all of the characters I can write from memory. Work continues apace but with Christmas approaching, I am looking forward to having a few days off.

I posted reviews for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2016 horror film Daguerrotype, (a real return to form) and the charming, amiable dramedy, Neko Atsume House (2017)

What is released this weekend?

Fullmetal Alchemist, Demekin, Akai tasuki tomioka seishijō monogatari, The Last Shot in the Bar, Touken Ranbu Hanamaru Intermission Flashback Record, Laughing Under the Clouds Gaiden – Parting The Oath of the Yamainu, Thunderbolt Fantasy Shōshi Ikken, Cocolors, Ashita ha docchi da, Terayama Shuji, Sugite ike, entai 10-dai, Yagate mizu ni kae (kae) ru, Nigeta sakana wa oyoi deru., Fuku Kaze wa Aki Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend People!

I hope everyone is doing well. After a couple of months of pretty decent output in terms of Japanese practice and film-watching and balancing my day-job, I hit a week where, due to emergencies and meeting friends, I didn’t get as much as I wanted done. Pushing on through that, I have got back on track and just in time to. I need to finish off a script quick-sharp and watch six more films before the year is out and re-watch two special ones. I can do it!

This week, I reviewed the films Tokyo Idols (2017) and Rage (2016). What films are released in Japan this weekend?

FEEL THE HYPE!

Yoji Yamada’s “A Class to Remember” Screening at the Japanese Embassy in London on May 23rd

The Japanese embassy in London regularly screens films that are hard to find in the West and they are an eclectic bunch. The latest one programmed is one from the venerable director Yoji Yamada. It’s called A Class to Remember and it’s from the 1996 and was Japan’s submission to the 69^th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category but it was not accepted as a nominee (source: Wikipedia).

Here’s the information and here’s the link to the embassy’s page:

A Class to Remember 2: The Learning Circle   

学校ＩＩ 「Gakko II」

Running Time: 122 mins.

Release Date: October 19^th , 1996

Director: Yoji Yamada

Writer: Yoji Yamada (Screenplay),

Starring: Toshiyuki Nishida, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masatoshi Nagase, Ayumi Ishida, Pinko Izumi, Takashi Sasano, Ayumi Hamasaki,

IMDB

“Woman in the Dunes” Screened at the Barbican on May 14th

The Barbican are running an exhibition about Japanese homes and domestic architecture called The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945. It began on March 23^rd and lasts until June 25^th. As part of the exhibition there will be films screened. The first film in this exhibition is:

Woman in the Dunes   

砂の女 「Suna no Onna」

Release Date: February 15^th, 1964

Running Time: 124 mins.

Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Writer: Eiko Yoshida, Kobo Abe (Screenplay), Kobo Abe (Original Novel),

Starring: Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida, Hiroko Ito, Koji Mitsui, Sen Yano, Ginzo Sekiguchi,

IMDB

“Tampopo” Screening at London’s Picturehouse Cinema on May 17th

Movie fans in London will have the chance to see the film on the big screen at Picturehouse Central for one night. The screening takes place on 17th May at 18.30pm and tickets are already on sale over at the Picturehouse website.

There are a small group of films which have almost universal praise and go down in cinema history as they transcend borders, languages, and cultures. Tampopo is one of them. It was written and directed by Juzo Itami just as he was entering the height of his creative powers. After an early career as an actor, he shifted to roles behind the camera and made a series of fondly remembered and critically acclaimed films starting with Tampopo and including A Taxing Woman.

Tampopo is all about the glories of food, the sexiness and spirituality that goes into making something as simple as ramen and while that may sound like one for foodies, it transcends that particular category to become a hilarious comedy thanks to its funny character-filled script which parodies and creates new tropes and genres. Everywhere I have been in Japan, the moment I mention Tampopo, people’s faces light up. “Ah! You know that one!” It seems to be universally loved.

I am guilty of throwing the word classic around with abandon but if you want to be convinced about this particular film’s greatness then here’s a paragraph from an excellent review from the excellent writings of Roger Ebert:

“Tampopo” is one of those utterly original movies that seems to exist in no known category. Like the French comedies of Jacques Tati, it’s a bemused meditation on human nature in which one humorous situation flows into another offhandedly, as if life were a series of smiles.

The 4K restoration of Juzo Itami’s classic ramen western Tampopo was released on blu-ray in the UK on May 01^st of this year thanks to The Criterion Collection. Here’s the trailer:

The Korean Cultural Centre Will Screen the film “Scenery” on May 11th

Scenery (2013) is a documentary film by Chinese-Korean director Zhang Lu. He has many features to his name and has toured the international film festival circuit including Europe. One of the director’s other films, A Quiet Dream (2016) was recently reviewed over on Windows on Worlds.

Here’s information on the latest film as pulled from the website:

The Korean Cultural Centre Will Screen the film “Bandhobi” on May 04th

Bandhobi is a film by Dong-il Shin, a Korean filmmaker who I had the chance to meet and talk to at the Osaka Asian Film Festival when he brought over his latest title, Come, Together (2017). His films cover a variety of social issues and Bandhobi looks at issues of racism, illegal immigration and the stresses faced by young people in education and work and those from broken homes and he does this through two sensitively drawn characters.

Here’s information on the latest film as pulled from the website:

The Japanese Embassy in London Will Screen “Night Train to the Stars” on May 18th

The Japanese embassy in London regularly screens films that are hard to find in the West and they are an eclectic bunch. This one features the story of the Japanese literary giant Kenji Miyazawa and has animation. It’s from the 1990s but despite its vintage there were no trailers.

Here’s the information on the embassy’s film website:

Night Train to the Stars    

わが心の銀河鉄道 宮沢賢治物語 「Waga kokoro no ginga tetsudou miyazawa kenji monogatari」

Running Time: 111 mins.

Release Date: October 19^th , 1996

Director: Kazuki Omori

Writer: Machiko Nasu (Screenplay), Kenji Miyazawa (Life Story),

Starring: Naoto Ogata, Tetsuya Watari, Maki Mizuno, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Ryuji Harada, Yuriko Hoshi, Sayaka Osawa, Yuki Saito, Kippei Shina,

IMDB

Synopsis from the embassy’s site: A biographical film of Kenji Miyazawa, Japan’s most popular fantasy novelist.

Kenji is an idealist from an early age, forming a utopian vision with his friend Kanai Hosaka that inspires them to work for the happiness of farmers, although his pawnbroker father, Masajiro, objects to such idealism. Kanai is expelled from school for outlining his revolutionary plans in an essay. Meanwhile, Kenji develops a devotion to the Nichiren sect of Buddhism and goes to Tokyo. While proselytising on a voluntary basis, he continues writing his fantasy stories at night. Kenji urges Kanai to join his group but Kanai refuses, saying that it will not benefit the farmers, and makes a decisive break from Kenji. On top of this, the death of his biggest supporter, his beloved sister Toshi, hits Kenji hard. Subsequently he regains contact with Kanai, who is now farming in Yamanashi prefecture and has gone a long way toward realising their original vision. Encouraged by what Kanai has achieved, he returns to Iwate prefecture to start his own experimental school in the family summer house. A tragic rainstorm hits the northern area of Japan and ruins most of the crops as well as many of those at Kenji’s school. His efforts to develop new farming methods and help poor farmers only serve to undermine his health, forcing him to close the school. Kenji dies at the age of just 37. It is only after his death, through the help of his family, that his writings become widely read. The film was made in 1996 to commemorate the centennial of his birth.

The event takes place on May 18th at 18:30pm. The location is the Embassy of Japan in the UK, 101 – 104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT and you can find out how to book tickets with this link.

私はいろうな友達と東京でぶらぶらする好きです