The ICA in London is always a great place to hit for the weird and unusual or just downright awesome. A few months back I went there to see Asobi Seksu, a New York based Shoegaze band that sings mostly in Japanese. And it was – downright awesome.
Today my inbox had the usual spatterings of junk, a few funnies and this message from the ICA:
7 July 2009 – 31 August 2009
Classics new and nearly new, comic, horrific, pre-modern and sci-fi, all from Nippon.
Films featured are:
- Ichi
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
- Tokyo Gore Police
- Chanbara Beauty
- Ping Pong
- 20th Century Boys: Chapter 2
Visit the ICA website for more details.
Two In Tracksuits
Jaji no Futari | Jersey no Futari | Two in Tracksuits
There is no real premise to this film, it’s just a pleasant journey of discovery for both those on and off screen. From the opening scene where a dramatically over exposed camera setting manages to show us just how unbearably hot Tokyo can be during the summer, to the cool greens used once we leave the city setting for the mountainous backdrop of the family vacation home, you can feel the movie cool down.
The characters add an amazing depth to this film with an astonishingly plain portrayal of a father and son, not really connecting but just about managing to get along. Add to the mix the occasional visitor and you get a chance to get almost Ocean’s 11 with the score as the habitants try on their respective tracksuits. Add to it the strength of unemotion that seems to be inherently Japanese and you feel the struggle to manage each and every scenario the characters are placed. From the grin-and-bear-it attitude that is accepted to the broiling turmoil underneath that is struggling to break free, Sakai Masato (Honey & Clover, The Wall Man) seethes quietly as ‘The Son‘ whilst Ayukawa Makoto somehow nonchalantly tags along for the ride as ‘The Father‘.
Continue reading ‘[REVIEW] Two in Tracksuits (2008)’
One Million Yen Girl
After being imprisoned for throwing away her room mates possessions, Suzuko Satô – played by Yû Aoi (Don’t Laugh at My Romance, Welcome to the Quiet Room, Memories of Matsuko, Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers) decides to up sticks and travel Japan from town to town, only moving on after saving up a million yen, enabling her to recoup her travelling expenses and set up home.
A story of bad luck, strung together by moments of happenstance, we follow Suzuko as she struggles with her recent history of imprisonment, the shame it involves and ultimately how she manages to deal with becoming an adult.
From town to town we follow as she gets involved with people, changing their lives as well as her own just enough to make her uncomfortable and subsequently have to move on. From being the Ice Cream aficionado, to the Peach Hip Girl to an employee of a garden centre. She longs to find what’s missing in her life but all the time missing what’s right in front of her.
Cleverly put together, director Tanada Yuki gives us a fascinating insight into the mind of a young girl struggling to find out who she is. With great performances by Aoi and expecially by Ryûsei Saitô who plays her younger brother a great addition to any DVD collection.
One Million Yen Girl
2008
Country: Japan
Production Company: Nikkatsu
Available at Yesasia – free shipping.
Happily Ever After
Combine a moody, sullen and angry ex-Yakuza (Abe Hiroshi) with a loving, timid and hard working woman (Nakatani Miki) and you get the epitome of a doomed relationship. However, director Tsutsumi Yukihiko (20th Century Boys: Chapter 1, Memories of Tomorrow) shows us that this doesn’t have to be the case…
Not an ordinary Rom-Com at all, the film is tinged with scenes of battered wife syndrome and shows the problems attached to gambling addiction – but still manages to be quirky and funny at the same time.
We follow Miki’s character, Morita Sachie, from her school life up to present day. It starts off with her not getting on well with any of her classmates and ending up befriending a strange girl that she would probably otherwise avoided.
Continue reading ‘[Review] Happily Ever After (2007)’
Originally written March 2, 2009
Regular readers will know that it was probably a ‘Beat‘ Takeshi Kitano flick that got me hooked on Japanese film. I do gush about the guy quite often and today is not going to be any different.
In his latest outing as Director and star, Kitano offers up a delightfully quirky jaunt through Japanese history as we follow the life of budding young artist ‘Masuchino‘ as he attempts to fulfil his destiny as a painter and artist extraordinaire.
As with all Kitano films, the use of the camera is part of the art form. And this time, the use of colour is brandished about as if he was indeed using a paintbrush. The use of visual gags is not amiss either as we are subtly reminded of the lead characters history by the use of his paintings popping up every now and then in the background.
Achilles & The Tortoise
The film also features some of the more extravagant ways of being
offed as we watch a mentally challenged painter get run down by the bus he is drawing and an artist dies tragically for his efforts as he drive a car laden with paint into a wall to see what kind of pattern it will achieve. And at the films peak the tragic attempt by
Masuchino to finally make the big time in the most gory way sets up the ending with it’s inevitable conclusion.
An absolute must for
Kitano fans, and highly recommended to those who enjoy a good laugh.
Achilles and the Tortoise
2008 – 119 min
Country: Japan
Production Company: Office Kitano | Bandai Visual
Available at Yesasia on [DVD]
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Take a deep breath.
Breathe In, Breathe Out (aka The Necessity of Deep Breathing).
The Okinawa region of Japan is well known for its farmland. Every harvest season, students, farm workers, people escaping their own mundane lives, head to this region to pick fruit, cut sugar cane and experience life in a different way from which they are used to.
This story centres around five people who arrive on a farm to do their seasonal work. Their task is to harvest a field of 70,000 sugar cane stalks in a month. Struggling with each other and the task at hand, the small group spend more time fighting with each other rather than completing their job. Then they become a team when an accident, a previous employee and some past histories come to light, making them dig deep and try to accomplish what seems to be the impossible.
Director Shinohara Tetsuo (Heaven’s Bookstore), gives us this coming of age drama, spattered with magical overtones as a young woman tries to find out what life is really about.
With beautiful scenery, fantastic cinematography and a delightful script. Tetsuo’s vision of a simple, hard working life bringing rewards to those who want it is a tremendous couple of hours of enjoyment. The ups and downs of everyday life, the secrecy of loss, the overwhelming desire to be noticed – they’re all here, and portrayed excellently by a master film maker.
Breathe In, Breathe Out
2005 – 123 min
Country: Japan
Production Company: Shinkokyu Associates
Available at Yesasia – free shipping.
Departures - Okuribito (2008)
Tears and laughs… mostly tears …
Takita Yôjirô (Onmyoji) gives us a rare glimpse into the life of an encoffinner. Seen to be one of the most despised jobs in Japanese society, an encoffinner or nokanfu – a person who prepares dead bodies for burial.
Motoki Masahiro plays Kobayashi Daigo, a down-on-his-luck cellist, recently axed from the orchestra he strived all his life to be a part of. With more than just a little regret, he moves with his wife back to his home-town where he moves into his mother’s old place, the bar/restaurant/family home that he grew up in. His regret stems from his father moving out and leaving him with unwelcome childhood memories.
It becomes quickly apparent that he needs to find a job, so he searches the want ads and comes across a job described simply as ‘Someone needed to help others with their travels‘. Thinking the job is that of a travel agent, Kobayashi goes for an interview where, surprisingly, he is hired on sight. It’s only later that he discovers that he has been employed by the local undertaker and his job of helping people with travel is to help them on their way to their next life as they depart from this one.
Continue reading ‘[REVIEW] Departures (2008)’
Warm Water Under A Red Bridge
Once in a while a film comes along that doesn’t hold any expectations but delivers a burst of delight on many so levels. Today’s film does just that.
Imamura Shohei has an outstanding CV of accomplishments to his name. A string of award winning flicks that date back to 1957/58. Some of them you’ll know, like the US hit ‘
Black Rain‘ others you’ll be familiar with due to their artistic supremacy: ‘
In Front of West Ginza Station‘ and others that are just sitting at the back of the art house section of the DVD stores begging to be watched:
Criterion’s ‘
Pigs, Pimps, And Prostitutes‘ boxset, for example. But for all his accomplishments,
Warm Water Under A Red Bridge brings it altogether in a massive explosion of joy and pleasure!
A word of warning before we start though, this film is not intended to be watched with your Mum or especially your Grandma!
Continue reading ‘[REVIEW] Warm Water Under A Red Bridge (2002)’
Perfect Blue
This is one of those films that I didn’t know existed. It was by chance that I was reading a forum post about the anime, funnily enough trying to find out if a live action version might be made. My interest was immediately peaked as this isn’t the type of anime that would ‘
work‘ as a live action film due to it’s storyline. However…
Sad loner, Toshihiko Horibe (Omori Nao – Ichi the Killer, Tokyo!, 1-Ichi, Mushishi), doesn’t really have much of a life. He works part-time in a local convenience store and has no hobbies, except… his fixation with Idol – Asaka Ai (Maeda Ayako – The Suicide Manual), who hasn’t done much in the way of ‘Idoling’ except appearing in the poster that appears on the wall behind his cash register.
When Ai comes in for some groceries one evening, Horibe stands awestruck as his living dream stands before him. As an act of kindness he gives her fresh milk to help her in her career and a friendship of sorts sparks off.
However, his obsession starts to take over his mind and his conscious world as strange things start to happen to him. His body hair starts to fall out whilst the hair on his head becomes fuller and then breasts develop… The line between the real world and fantasy becomes ever more blurred as Horibe plunges into the depths of his own psyche as he becomes totally besotted with his target.
Continue reading ‘[REVIEW] Perfect Blue (2002)’
Recent problems with either my host or my WP configuration (my host insists that the problem was with my WP install, even though the config hasn’t changed for the last 3 years!!) meant that I wasn’t able to upload a few reviews that had pictures attached. But now the problem seems to be resolved and all those posts that I put into my drafts folder ready for publishing when it was possible to do so, well, can now be published.
So sit back and enjoy a bundle of movie reviews and Asian oriented geekyness … Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ
I hope to get at least 10 pressed today, with the other 25 or so pressed over the next few days … although I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s easier said than done …
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