Third Window Films are set to release a number of films by legendary director Takeshi Kitano on Blu-ray this year. So far we have had the release of Hana-bi(my review here) and we are going to get a number of others such as Kids Return, A Scene at the Sea, Dolls, and Kikujiro. It’s a phenomenal run of titles and Kikujiro is a very popular film. It’s a family film, a road movie and it will make you laugh and cry and laugh even more. Here’s some info from a press release!
Third Window Films are all set to release Kikujiro on February 22nd and it’s going to be available on Blu-ray with a new 2K master from Office Kitano.
Takeshi Kitano is one of the major figures in the Japanese movie industry. He graduated from television to the film scene in the 1980s with a role in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983). His real impact was felt in 1989 with Violent Cop, the film with which he established himself as a director of crime tales. Soon, his presence became synonymous with the Japanese hardman but it is arguable that his best films don’t feature him on the screen at all as people who have seen A Scene at the Sea (1991) and Kids Return (1996) may attest. When Kitano is present on screen he sizzles with barely restrained energy and coolness and a cracked sentimentality of sorts. No film epitomises this more than Hana-bi (1997), a title where his writing and directing reached its heights of brilliance.
This week I created a Film Review Archive (an excuse to use an image of Rin Takanashi) and trailers for the anime movies Gothicmade andNerawareta Gakuen as well as the release details for Petty Romance. Reviews have been a bit light this week because I saw an uninspiring K-horror and I have been super busy with work helping set up a genuinely unnerving exhibition and trying to post at AUKN and other assorted projects – there are still two follow-up Tsukamoto posts to come. I am now coming into a period of calm and stability. In other words, blue skies are ahead and I can write a lot more. Blue skies the week after next week, to be more precise, because that is when I am going to attend some screenings at THE BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL.
The major change from last week in the chart is the fact that there are three western films muscling their way in. As far as Japanese films go, Resident Evil and Bayside Shakedown switch places at the top. Rurouni Kenshin and Insight into the Universe and Key of Life remain in the top ten while Intouchables remains at six. The Wolf Children Rain and Snow hangs in at number thirteen.
What are the Japanese films released today in Japan?
The Happy Science religion (Kofuku no Kagaku) has released their latest film yesterday in both the US and Japan and it is a feature length anime named Shinpi no Hou – The Mystical Laws.
It is the year 201X… and the newly-formed Empire of Godom has been able to gain access to technology offered to them by Reika Chang (Fujimura), the president of a trading company. With this technology they plan to take over the world. Shou Shishimaru (Koyasu) is the only one who can stop them because he has access to mystical technology as well. The Empire know this and decide to hunt him down but thanks to the intervention of mysterious Indians, he evades capture and sets about trying to fulfil a prophecy about the second coming of a saviour.
Yeah… The religion of Happy Science was founded in Japan on the 6th of October, 1986 by Ryuho Okawa who, according to Wikipedia, “claims to channel the spirits of Muhammad, Christ, Buddha and Confucious and claims to be the incarnation of the supreme spiritual being called El Centre.” If this sounds like a cult to you then you are not alone because mainstream Japanese media regard the as such. Still, the movie does look rather… special. Seiyuu involved include some pretty well known ones like Daisuke Hirakawa (Franz d’Epinay in Gankutsuou), Ayumi Fujimura (Miwa in Bartender, Raimei in Nabai no Ou, Takashi Natsume in Natsume Yuujinchou) and Takehito Koyasu (the legend that is Il Palazo in Excel Saga).
Outrage Beyond recently had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in competition and then at the Toronto International Film Festival. I have half read a review for it and it seems like those who loved the first will find that there is much to enjoy in this as the politics way heavy in the first half and the violence and gangster thrills come clobbering in during the second. The stars are on the poster but if you need more names then take a gander at these: Takeshi Kitano (Kids Return, Boiling Point), Ryo Kase (Like Someone in Love, SPEC: Heaven), Tomokazu Miura (Adrift in Tokyo, Survive Style 5+), Hirofumi Arai (A Road Stained Crimson), Kenta Kiritani (Beck), Yutaka Matsushige (Ring) and Fumiyo Kohinata (Ring 2, Audition) who plays that wiley cop Kataoka who wasn’t as dumb as he looked.
When Tokyo’s anti-gang investigator is found dead the police crack down on the Yakuza. Corrupt cop Kataoka (Kohinata) is in charge of the investigation and he finds himself caught in the machinations of two rival families. Cue the release from prison of Ohtomo (Kitano) who finds himself part of a police plot to destroy his former Yakuza brothers. Not that he would object considering his shabby treatment at their hands.
Chat Noir Lucy
Japanese Title: くろ ねこ ルーシー
Romaji: Kuro Neko Rushi (literally Black Cat Lucy)
ReleaseDate: 06th October 2012 (Japan)
RunningTime: N/A
Director: Toru Kamei
Writer: Yuji Nagamori
Starring: Muga Tsukaji, Megumi Yasu
I a totally unfamiliar with the director and the actors’ Muga Tsukaji (Akko-chan: The Movie) and Megumi Yasu but the trailer is amusing. Both leads have acted alongside each other before in Honcho Azumi television series so I am assuming that fans of that are going to be drawn to this film.
Ken Kamoshida (Tsukaji) is a middle-aged fortune teller who is highly superstitious. Since splitting from his wife (Yasu), he has been beset by difficulties. One day, he encounters two black kittens which represent misfortune and they seem to be living up to the legend since he takes to caring for them but soon he uses them in his fortune telling and he sees what is really important to him.
I would probably avoid this based on the poster and title. I am not even a familiar with two of the actors – Miho Nakayama, Osamu Mukai (Beck, Girls for Keeps). I am familiar with Gou Ayano (The Samurai that Night, Helter Skelter, Tajomaru) and Mirei Kiritani who was Maya in Ace Attorney and Nino in Arakawa Under the Bridge. It is directed and written by Eriko Kitagawa and this is the third film directed by a Japanese woman I have written about this year. She was apparently inspired when she read about the actress Miho Nakayama and her life in France. It is produced by Shunji Iwai (All About Lily Chou-Chou, Vampire, April Story).
Aoi Teshigahara (Nakayama) is a freelance writer based in Paris. She meets Sen Yagami (Mukai) who is a photographer who has just arrived in the city of flowers to join his younger sister Suzume (Kiritani). When Aoi and Sen meet they fall in love over the next three days while Suzume and Kango (Ayano), the beau at the other long distance relationship, meet.
Tsunagu
Japanese Title: ツナグ
Romaji: Tsunagu
ReleaseDate: 06th October 2012 (Japan)
RunningTime: 129 mins.
Director: Yuichiro Hirakawa
Writer: Mizuki Tsujimura (Novel)
Starring: Tori Matsuzaka, Kirin Kiki, Ryuta Sato, Mirei Kiritani, Ai Hashimoto, Ito Ono, Tetsuya Bessho, Miyoko Asada, Kenichi Endo, Manami Honjou
This featured over at Otherwhere in a trailer weekly where I first saw it. It stars Tori Matsuzaka (The King and I, The Wings of the Kirin) and Kirin Kiki (Still Walking, Villain) in the leads with support from Ryuta Sato (Umizaru 4: Brave Hearts, Insight into the Universe) and Ai Hashimoto (Control Tower, Sadako 3D, Another, The Kirishima Thing).
Ayumi (Matsuzaka) is a high school student who is being trained by his grandmother (Kiki) as a tsunagu, an intermediary between the living and the dead.
I have no interest in magical girl anime. I watched a few episodes of Sailor Moon and that was enough for me. However, the Madoka Magica franchise is getting such positive buzz that I may have to check it out. It is looking like the Evangelion of magical girl anime what with its post-modern take on the genre and devastating psychological intrigues. Anyway, the first in the trilogy of movie adaptations is released today and it covers the first eight episodes of the television series. It has been directed by Akiyuki Shinbou who has been connected to some of the most important anime of the last five years like Arakawa Under the Bridge and Bakemonogatari.
Madoka Kanome (Yuuki) is a normal school girl with a caring family and good friends like Sayaka (Kitamura). She leads a calm life until she meets a new transfer student named Homura Akemi (Saito). What changes? She sees Homura attack a creature. When Madoka tries to stop Homura she finds herself transported to a strange world where scary creatures exist and it is only with the help of a girl called Mami Tomoe (Mizuhashi) that she manages to escape. She soon finds herself in a world of magic but soon finds it can be very deadly.
The Toronto International Film Festival is about to launch soon and the number and quality of Japanese films is ABSOLUTELY BLOODY BRILLIANT! Forget Venice, London, Berlin and Cannes. I wish I were living in Toronto! While there are a few titles that were screened at the Venice Film Festival, there are even more which are premieres and have yet to be released in Japan. They are all interesting. Whether you want the number one Japanese movie box office smash (Thermae Romae), a forthcoming drama involving otaku and sex (The Cowards Who Look to the Sky) or Yakuza tearing chunks out of each other (Outrage Beyond), it is all here.
Otaku have proven fertile ground for but when I read more of the plot it sounded quite miserable. I haven’t read the original novel by Misumi Kubo but judging by the trailer, emotions are running very high! It stars the beautiful Tomoko Tabata (Blood and Bones, TheHidden Blade), the handsome Kento Nagayama (Crime or Punishment?!?), the young Masataka Kubota (13 Assassins), Takahiro Miura (Tokyo Playboy Club), and Mieko Harada (Helter Skelter).
Anzu (Tabata) is a depressed housewife who lives with a nagging mother-in-law and indifferent husband. When she attends an anime convention in cosplay she meets Takumi (Nagayama). The two start an affair at Anzu’s home. At this point, those already in Takumi’s life go through emotional upheaval of their own as a classmate confesses her love for him and his friend Fukuda (Kubota) finds himself at the mercy of a loan shark who has come to collect his mother’s debts. This is just the start of the emotional turmoil for all characters involved.
The first of two films at the festival which stars Teruyuki Kagawa and both are dark comedies… but I’m getting ahead of myself here. This one involves a couple who scam lonely women out of money through conning them into marriage. The principal cast are lead by Takako Matsu (9 Souls, Confessions, April Story), Sadao Abe (Paikaji Nankai Sakusen, After Life), Sawa Suzuki (Loft), Tae Kimura (My House, Kaidan, Starfish Hotel, Infection), and Tamae Ando (Noriko’s Dinner Table, Phone Call to the Bar).
When Kanya (Abe) and Satoko (Matsu) celebrate the fifth anniversary of their restaurant they had no idea it would end with the place burning down. This disaster forces Satoko to take on a job at a noodle shop while Kanya gets depressed and does what most movie men do in such a situation: drink and gamble. Then, one night, he returns home with cash and claims he got it by spending time with a lonely woman. Satoko is initially angry but then realises the full potential of the scame and so the two embark on a series of sham relationships to get money together to re-open their restaurant. Surely it wont go that smoothly?
I replied to Andina’s Liebster blog award, reviewed the awesome Korean thriller Desire to Kill, dug into the Japanese films and TV (Kiyoshi Kurosawa is there with his latest TV show!) at the Venice International Film Festival and posted a trailer for the 2013 film entry in the A Certain Magical Index franchise. Scotland Loves Anime announced their line-up and I will post about that tomorrow. Alua has a nice round-up. Just as I wrote that Strange Circus and Eureka were delivered by the postal service \o/.
Kamen Rider Fourze the Movie: Everyone, Space is Here!
The Dark Knight Rises
Fairy Tail: The Phoenix Priestess
Eight Ranger
Helter Skelter
Last week saw the release of Marvel’s The Avengers so there was only one Japanese film released last week. The dust has settled and TheAvengers movie is at the top of the charts while Fairy Tail lies at nine. Umizaru and Wolf Children drop one place each to two and three respectively. Helter Skelter, Another and The Kirishima Thing – Erika Sawajiri and Ai Hashimoto!!! – remain in the top fifteen.
This week sees a flood of Japanese films released and all but one of them are based on manga.
The live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s classic chanbara manga Rurouni Kenshin is released today. The film stars Takeru Sato (BECK, Kamen Rider Den-O) as the titular samurai with Emi Takei (Ai to Makoto) playing Kaoru, Yu Aoi (Memories of Matsuko, Honey and Clover), and Teruyuki Kagawa (Tokyo Sonata, Sukiyaki Western Django). The film is directed by Keishi Ōtomo who directed a popular NHK historical television series named Ryomaden which featured Takeru Sato.
The early Meiji period in Japan is a time of rapid industrialisation and modernisation and a time when samurai like Kenshin Himura are being consigned to the history books. He was once an elite swordsman known as “Battosai” before taking an oath not to kill. He now finds himself as a wandering samurai offering aid to those in need as atonement for his past actions. During his travels he meets Kaoru Kamiya, an instructor at her father’s Kendo school. She offers Kenshin a place to stay at her dojo and their relationship begins to blossom but Kenshin’s past will soon catch up with him as he discovers that somebody has been using the name “Battosai” while committing murders in Tokyo.
I can feel the emotion from this trailer. I’m getting a Okuribito feel from this film. It stars Yuko Tanaka (the voice of Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke), Koichi Sato (Starfish Hotel, Sukiyaki Western Django, Infection), Kimiko Yo (Villain, Ace Attorney), Haruka Ayase (Ichi, Cyborg She), Tadanobu Asano (Kids Return, Survive Style 5+, Bright Future, Vital, Last Life in the Universe), and Takeshi Kitano (Kikujiro, Boiling Point, Fireworks).
Eiji Shimakura (Takakura) is a 53-year-old prison guard in Hokuriku. When he loses his wife Yoko (Tanaka) he receives a letter from her and follows her last wishes, which is to have her ashes spread in the sea next to her home town of Nagasaki. He is curious as to the reason why she wants her ashes taken there and decides to go Nagasaki n his homemade camper van.
The 69th Venice International Film Festival launches on the 29th of August and ends on the 8th of September. It is a place where Japanese films frequently crop up – Himizu premiered at last year’s event. This year’s festival has a few Japanese films and since this is a blog dedicated to Japanese films (most of the time…) here are the titles:
Penance
Romaji: Shokuzai
Japanese Title: 贖罪
ScreeningDates: 2:30 p.m. 30th of August (Palabiennale)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa followed the magnificent Tokyo Sonata with this five-episode TV drama based on Kanae Minato’s novel of the same name (Minato also wrote the novel which the film Confessions is based on). It is playing Out of Competition, a section dedicated to “Important works by directors already established in previous editions of the Festival”. Well that applies to the genius that is Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Anyway this stars a collection of some of the best actresses in Japan including Kyoko Koizumi (Tokyo Sonata, Adrift in Tokyo), Sakura Ando (Love Exposure, Crime or Punishment?!?), Yu Aoi (Memories of Matsuko, All About Lily Chou-Chou), Eiko Koike (Kamikaze Girls, 2LDK) and Chizuru Ikewaki (Haru in The Cat Returns). It seems like 30 minutes has been cut from the total running time but it has Kurosawa’s trademark eerie atmosphere and deep characters.
When a girl named Emiri moves from Tokyo to Ueda she makes friends with four girls named Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuka. One day when the five girls are playing volleyball at school they are approached by a man dressed in work clothes who asks for their help in repairing the ventilation system. He picks Emiri. The two head towards the gym. When there is no sign of Emiri returning her friends head in the same direction and discover her dead. When questioned by the police they cannot describe the man which means leads to the investigation grinding to a halt. Several months later, Emiri’s mother Asako (Koizumi) invites the four girls to her house on Emiri’s birthday. It is there that she tells them that they will have to atone for their inability to describe the man and help in his capture. Fifteen years later, Sae (Aoi), Maki (Koike), Akiko (Ando) and Yuka (Ikewaki) are leading troubled lives and live in fear of the penance expected of them.
Carmen Comes Home
Romaji: Karumen Kokyō ni Kaeru
Japanese Title: カルメン 故郷 に 帰る
ScreeningDates: 5:00 p.m. 31st of August (Sala Perla), 10:00 p.m. 01st September (Sala Volpi)
Carmen Comes Home is screened as part of the Venice Classics section. It was Japan’s first colour film and was released in 1951. It stars Hideko Takamine (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs which Goregirl loved, and Obaasan), Yūko Mochizuki (Ballad of Narayama, Kaidan). It was directed by Kinoshita Keisuke (Ballad of Narayama) and his assistant director was Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri, Kaidan, Samurai Rebellion). No trailer but here’s a scene.
A girl named Aoyama (Takamine) returns to the small village she grew up in after living in Tokyo. When the truth of the life she has been leading in Tokyo is revealed there is a scandal. Her name in Tokyo is Lily Carmen and she is a… I’ll leave that up to the audience to find out.
Outrage Beyond
Romaji: Autoreiji Biyondo
Japanese Title: アウトレイジ ビヨンド
ScreeningDates: 4:30 p.m. 03rd of September (Sala Grande), 10:00 p.m. (Palabiennale)
Outrage Beyond gets its world premiere in September at the Venice International Film Festival in competition. This is ahead of its Japanese release on the 06th of October. Just a look at the synopsis and cast list contains some spoilers for the first film but there you go. It stars that magnificent filmmaker Takeshi Kitano (Kids Return, Boiling Point), Ryo Kase (Like Someone in Love, SPEC: Heaven), Tomokazu Miura (Adrift in Tokyo, Survive Style 5+), Yutaka Matsushige (Ring). After watching the first film I know who I want to see get bumped off first but the guy is so slick he might just survive round two!
When he is released from prison Otomo (Kitano) finds himself part of a police plot to destroy his former Yakuza brothers.
The Millennial Rapture
Romaji: Sennen no Yuraku
Japanese Title: 千 年 の 愉楽
ScreeningDates: 11:30 a.m. 04th September (Sala Grande), 2:00 p.m. 05th of September (Sala Grande),
RunningTime: 118 mins.
Director: Koji Wakamatsu
Writer: Koji Wakamatsu(Script), Kenji Nakagami (Original Novel)
Fresh from premiering 11:25, the Day He Decided His Own Fate, the prolific Koji Wakamatsu uses the wonderful month of September to appear at the Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti section which covers new trends in world cinema. His latest is called The Millennial Rapture and it stars Shinobu Teraima (Helter Skelter, 11:25, The Day He Decided His Own Fate), Shota Sometani (Himizu), Shiro Sano (Vanished, United Red Army), and Kengo Kora (Norwegian Wood, The Woodsman and the Rain, The Drudgery Train, Signal).
This collection of stories is set in Shingu in the Wakayama Prefecture and focusses on the lives of various people of the Burakumin minority group. These people include a womaniser and a yakuza.
That’s a pretty strong line-up of films actually. There are also other titles like Kim Ki-Duk’s latest. Needless to say I wish I was there sipping expensive coffee, gazing at the beautiful women and watching awesome Japanese films. I will try and follow the buzz as I have done with previous festivals.
