Director Mitsuhiro Mihara has outlined a few characters around the idea of the grumpy, ageing artisan, last bastion of some sort of art or tradition that is destined to vanish in the modern world, and Tatsuya Fuji seems to be his default choice to flesh out those characters. He was an old-school family photographer in “Photo Album of the Village” (2004), a skilled Chinese chef in “Flavor of Happiness” (2008) and he is a committed tofu maker in his latest effort, “Takano Tofu”.
Takano Tofu is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
Tatsuo Takano (Tatsuya Fuji) and his daughter Haru (Kumiko Aso) run a small artisanal tofu production with attached shop, in their town of Onomichi, in the Hiroshima Prefecture. To tell the truth, after many years of working together, Takano is still the craftsman and Haru the helper; the art of making his wonderful and unique tofu is a jealously kept...
Takano Tofu is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
Tatsuo Takano (Tatsuya Fuji) and his daughter Haru (Kumiko Aso) run a small artisanal tofu production with attached shop, in their town of Onomichi, in the Hiroshima Prefecture. To tell the truth, after many years of working together, Takano is still the craftsman and Haru the helper; the art of making his wonderful and unique tofu is a jealously kept...
- 4/2/2024
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Beyond the fact that both films star Sonny Chiba taking revenge against the Yakuza, Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences (Ôkami Yakuza: Tomurai Ha Ore Ga Dasu) has almost nothing to do with Yakuza Wolf 1: I Perform Murder.
While imprisoned, Ibuki (Chiba) befriends Goro Yuki (Tatsuya Fuji). Ibuki and his new buddy plot escape and a heist that will avenge his betrayal by the Yakuza. On the cusp of the prison break the pair are comically and unexpectedly released. Shortly after gaining their freedom, they are saved from assassination by an old friend. Undeterred, they go about putting together a crew for the heist.
As a movie, Yakuza Wolf 2 feels somewhat confused as to what it is. Is it a buddy comedy, a crime caper or a WW2 style men on a mission film? It tries to cram in a bit of everything. The film's construction is also a.
While imprisoned, Ibuki (Chiba) befriends Goro Yuki (Tatsuya Fuji). Ibuki and his new buddy plot escape and a heist that will avenge his betrayal by the Yakuza. On the cusp of the prison break the pair are comically and unexpectedly released. Shortly after gaining their freedom, they are saved from assassination by an old friend. Undeterred, they go about putting together a crew for the heist.
As a movie, Yakuza Wolf 2 feels somewhat confused as to what it is. Is it a buddy comedy, a crime caper or a WW2 style men on a mission film? It tries to cram in a bit of everything. The film's construction is also a.
- 2/21/2024
- by Donald Munro
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
San Sebastián, Spain, native Jaione Camborda took the top prize, the Golden Shell for best film, at the 71st San Sebastián Film Festival, for her The Rye Horn, a 1970s-set drama about a midwife forced to flee Galicia, Spain, to Portugal when, after a tragedy strikes, a teenage mother asked her for an abortion.
The audience award for best film went to J.A. Bayona’s Netflix real-life survival thriller Society of the Snow, while San Sebastián viewers voted Matteo Garrone’s migration drama Io Capitano the best European film at the festival. Both Society of the Snow and Io Capitano are in the running for the 2024 Oscar in the best international feature category.
The best performance award went to both Marcelo Subiotto for his performance as a philosophy teacher at the University of Buenos Aires battling a bitter rival over a professorship position in the dramedy Puan and Tatsuya Fuji...
The audience award for best film went to J.A. Bayona’s Netflix real-life survival thriller Society of the Snow, while San Sebastián viewers voted Matteo Garrone’s migration drama Io Capitano the best European film at the festival. Both Society of the Snow and Io Capitano are in the running for the 2024 Oscar in the best international feature category.
The best performance award went to both Marcelo Subiotto for his performance as a philosophy teacher at the University of Buenos Aires battling a bitter rival over a professorship position in the dramedy Puan and Tatsuya Fuji...
- 10/1/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Janet Novás in The Rye Horn Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival Jaione Camborda's The Rye Horn took the top award of the Golden Shell as San Sebastian Film Festival drew to a close last night. The San Sebastian-born director's second film is set in 1970s Galicia and relates the struggles of a woman who finds herself forced to flee on a smugglers' route between Spain and Portugal.
The Best Director Silver Shell went to to Tzu-Hui Peng and Ping-Wen Wang for Taiwanese film A Journey In Spring and the Silver Shell for Best Screenplay went to María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat for Argentinian comedy Puan. Its star Marcelo Subiotto also won a Silver Shell for his portrayal of the hapless philosophy professor at the film's heart, which he shared, ex-aequo, with Tatsuya Fuji for his role in Japanese dementia drama Great Absence.
Jaione Camborda with her Golden...
The Best Director Silver Shell went to to Tzu-Hui Peng and Ping-Wen Wang for Taiwanese film A Journey In Spring and the Silver Shell for Best Screenplay went to María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat for Argentinian comedy Puan. Its star Marcelo Subiotto also won a Silver Shell for his portrayal of the hapless philosophy professor at the film's heart, which he shared, ex-aequo, with Tatsuya Fuji for his role in Japanese dementia drama Great Absence.
Jaione Camborda with her Golden...
- 10/1/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The San Sebastian Film Festival awarded O Corno (The Rye Horn) with the Golden Shell for Best Film. San Sebastián native Jaione Camborda took the top prize of the night for the feature she directed.
Additionally, the jury gave the Silver Shell for Best Director to Tzu-Hui Peng and Ping-Wen Wang for Chun xing / A Journey in Spring (Taiwan), while the Best Screenplay Award went to María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat for Puan (Argentina-Italy-Germany-France-Brazil).
The Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance fell ex aequo upon Marcelo Subiotto and Tatsuya Fuji for their respective roles in Puan, by Alché and Naishtat, and Great Absence (Japan), by Kei Chika-ura, while the Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance went to Hovik Keuchkerian for his character in Un amor (Spain) by Isabel Coixet.
Check out the full list of winners below.
San Sebastian 2023 Award Winners List Golden Shell For Best Film
O Corno (The Rye Horn...
Additionally, the jury gave the Silver Shell for Best Director to Tzu-Hui Peng and Ping-Wen Wang for Chun xing / A Journey in Spring (Taiwan), while the Best Screenplay Award went to María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat for Puan (Argentina-Italy-Germany-France-Brazil).
The Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance fell ex aequo upon Marcelo Subiotto and Tatsuya Fuji for their respective roles in Puan, by Alché and Naishtat, and Great Absence (Japan), by Kei Chika-ura, while the Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance went to Hovik Keuchkerian for his character in Un amor (Spain) by Isabel Coixet.
Check out the full list of winners below.
San Sebastian 2023 Award Winners List Golden Shell For Best Film
O Corno (The Rye Horn...
- 9/30/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Spanish director becomes the fourth consecutive woman director to win the festival’s top prize
The Rye Horn (O Corno), the second feature by Jaione Camborda, has won the top prize, the Golden Shell, at the 2023 San Sebastian Film Festival.
Set on an island off the coast of Galicia in 1971, the film tells the story of a woman who earns a living harvesting shellfish. She is also known on the island for helping other women in childbirth but has to flee and try to cross the border into Portugal after an unexpected event.
Camborda, who was born in San Sebastian,...
The Rye Horn (O Corno), the second feature by Jaione Camborda, has won the top prize, the Golden Shell, at the 2023 San Sebastian Film Festival.
Set on an island off the coast of Galicia in 1971, the film tells the story of a woman who earns a living harvesting shellfish. She is also known on the island for helping other women in childbirth but has to flee and try to cross the border into Portugal after an unexpected event.
Camborda, who was born in San Sebastian,...
- 9/30/2023
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
A predictably spectacular sunset spreads streaks of pink and orange across a northern Spanish late September sky, heralding the end of another packed edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, where at the closing gala, “The Rye Horn” the second feature from Spanish director Jaione Camborda has just been handed the Golden Shell, the festival’s top award.
It is perhaps a surprising win, but does now mark the fourth consecutive year that the festival’s most prestigious prize has gone to a female director. But in another way it has to be a first: the international jury, comprising French director Claire Denis, alongside Chinese actor and producer Fan Bingbing, Colombian producer-director Cristina Gallego, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Spanish actor Vicky Luengo, Canadian producer and distributor Robert Lantos and German director Christian Petzold, has chosen to award not just a Spanish film, but one from a female director who was...
It is perhaps a surprising win, but does now mark the fourth consecutive year that the festival’s most prestigious prize has gone to a female director. But in another way it has to be a first: the international jury, comprising French director Claire Denis, alongside Chinese actor and producer Fan Bingbing, Colombian producer-director Cristina Gallego, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Spanish actor Vicky Luengo, Canadian producer and distributor Robert Lantos and German director Christian Petzold, has chosen to award not just a Spanish film, but one from a female director who was...
- 9/30/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Tatsuya Fuji, Mirai Moriyama star.
Gaga Corporation has acquired international sales rights excluding Japan on Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Platform entry Great Absence ahead of its European premiere in San Sebastian later this month.
Tatsuya Fuji and dance artist Mirai Moriyama star in the recent TIFF world premiere, which marks director Kei Chika-ura’s second feature after Complicity premiered at 2018 TIFF.
Great Absence is inspired by Chika-ura’s own experiences and centres on Takashi, a man who has been estranged from his father Yohji for 20 years and returns home with his wife after receiving a call from the police...
Gaga Corporation has acquired international sales rights excluding Japan on Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Platform entry Great Absence ahead of its European premiere in San Sebastian later this month.
Tatsuya Fuji and dance artist Mirai Moriyama star in the recent TIFF world premiere, which marks director Kei Chika-ura’s second feature after Complicity premiered at 2018 TIFF.
Great Absence is inspired by Chika-ura’s own experiences and centres on Takashi, a man who has been estranged from his father Yohji for 20 years and returns home with his wife after receiving a call from the police...
- 9/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Great Absence, the second feature film from Japanese director Kei Chika-ura, is receiving its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section.
Inspired by Kei’s real-life experiences, the film tells the story of an actor living in Tokyo who is forced to travel home when the police call to say his father is suffering from dementia and has lost touch with reality. Making matters worse, his father’s second wife appears to be missing.
The actor makes the trip home with his own wife, full of conflicted emotions over a man who left the family when he was still a child, and starts an exploration into the mysteries of his father’s life. Along the way, the film touches on themes including time and memory, familial obligation and the role that women play in male-dominated Japanese society.
Veteran actor Tatsuya Fuji (In The Realm Of The Senses) plays the father,...
Inspired by Kei’s real-life experiences, the film tells the story of an actor living in Tokyo who is forced to travel home when the police call to say his father is suffering from dementia and has lost touch with reality. Making matters worse, his father’s second wife appears to be missing.
The actor makes the trip home with his own wife, full of conflicted emotions over a man who left the family when he was still a child, and starts an exploration into the mysteries of his father’s life. Along the way, the film touches on themes including time and memory, familial obligation and the role that women play in male-dominated Japanese society.
Veteran actor Tatsuya Fuji (In The Realm Of The Senses) plays the father,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
In the last decade, there has been a flourishing of films in which ageing heroes demonstrate that there is more than petanque and bingo in post-retirement life. Franchises like “Red” and “The Expendables” satisfy the collective desire to stay active and fit and never get old, and are also a vehicle for recycling old and beloved stars. But Kitano’s old bad guys of his “Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen” are more “amiable losers” than their Hollywood heroic counterparts.
on Amazon
Ryuzo is a non-affective grandfather, with a turbulent past as a member of a Yakuza “family” who is not ready yet to stay calm and sit on an armchair. When not terrorizing the children of the neighborhood and insulting his daughter-in-law, Ryuzo spends his time wearing a “wife-beater” vest showing off his gang tattoos in plain sight and training with the bokken (the wooden katana) under...
on Amazon
Ryuzo is a non-affective grandfather, with a turbulent past as a member of a Yakuza “family” who is not ready yet to stay calm and sit on an armchair. When not terrorizing the children of the neighborhood and insulting his daughter-in-law, Ryuzo spends his time wearing a “wife-beater” vest showing off his gang tattoos in plain sight and training with the bokken (the wooden katana) under...
- 8/8/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
When discussing Meiko Kaji, it is difficult not to rely on the word ‘iconic’. After all, what better term is there to describe a performer whose work has influenced and inspired countless filmmakers and who was once the face of female empowerment in Japanese cinema? First gracing the screen billed under her birth name, Masako Ota, Kaji has over a hundred acting credits to date and has also enjoyed a successful music career. However, her golden period undoubtedly came during the height of the exploitation boom in Japan, a time when cheap films characterised by sex and violence were produced en masse in an attempt to pry audiences away from their television sets. It was during this era that the feisty young actor earned herself a lasting place in the history of cult cinema.
Kaji had already appeared in over thirty feature films for Nikkatsu when she starred in what...
Kaji had already appeared in over thirty feature films for Nikkatsu when she starred in what...
- 3/26/2021
- by Tom Wilmot
- AsianMoviePulse
The swan song of the series is a whole other animal, since Meiko Kaji has a distinctly secondary role as Ruriko while the social commentary of the rest of the movies has given its place to intense action, which frequently feels and looks a bit too much like a western.
Buy This Title
The story begins literally in the bushes, where Ruriko and her boyfriend Ryumei attempt to have sex in hiding. Unfortunately, even before they have taken off their clothes, a biker gang headed by The President appears and beats them up, despite the latter’s effort to resist. However, Ryumei manages to stab one of them to death, before the gang takes him with them after the instructions of a yakuza, who even proceeds in putting the murder weapon in Ruriko’s hands. The unconscious girl is arrested and sent to prison; however, after her release a few months later,...
Buy This Title
The story begins literally in the bushes, where Ruriko and her boyfriend Ryumei attempt to have sex in hiding. Unfortunately, even before they have taken off their clothes, a biker gang headed by The President appears and beats them up, despite the latter’s effort to resist. However, Ryumei manages to stab one of them to death, before the gang takes him with them after the instructions of a yakuza, who even proceeds in putting the murder weapon in Ruriko’s hands. The unconscious girl is arrested and sent to prison; however, after her release a few months later,...
- 3/21/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The fourth entry of the series changes its focus from racism to drugs, while retaining the same, music promoting (the film also features Meiko Kaji’s sister Tomoko Arisawa giving a performance), exploitation/action premises that characterizes the whole series. At the same time though, it becomes obvious that the peak of the collection, had already been met in “Sex Hunter”, and there was nowhere but down to go from there.
Buy This Title
Maya is the leader of a gang of girls who have teamed up with a motorcycle gang of men, the Dragons, led by Sakura, in order to have fun doing drugs and listening to music in clubs but also to terrorize the area they spend their time in. One day, they encounter two “country bumpkins”, Nobo and Sabu, and they proceed on harassing them for no reason, particularly for not being from Tokyo. A bit later,...
Buy This Title
Maya is the leader of a gang of girls who have teamed up with a motorcycle gang of men, the Dragons, led by Sakura, in order to have fun doing drugs and listening to music in clubs but also to terrorize the area they spend their time in. One day, they encounter two “country bumpkins”, Nobo and Sabu, and they proceed on harassing them for no reason, particularly for not being from Tokyo. A bit later,...
- 3/19/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Shot at the same time with “Wild Jumbo” (and premiering just one month later), Yasuharu Hasebe saw his protagonists shuttling between the two sets. However, while they seemed to mostly have fun in Fujita’s film, they reserved their more serious work for “Sex Hunter”, which emerges as the best part of the series.
The film revolves around two delinquent gangs; one all-female, named “Alleycats” and led by Mako, and one all-male, named “Eagles” and led by The Baron. The two crews have a peculiar relationship, since there is a definite attraction between the two leaders, but things take a turn for the rather worse, when Alleycat Mari turns down the advances of Eagle Susumu, in favor of a half-Japanese, half-African American named Ichiro. Her attitude enrages the Eagles and especially the Baron, whose sister was raped by a half-breed American Japanese man many years ago, with...
The film revolves around two delinquent gangs; one all-female, named “Alleycats” and led by Mako, and one all-male, named “Eagles” and led by The Baron. The two crews have a peculiar relationship, since there is a definite attraction between the two leaders, but things take a turn for the rather worse, when Alleycat Mari turns down the advances of Eagle Susumu, in favor of a half-Japanese, half-African American named Ichiro. Her attitude enrages the Eagles and especially the Baron, whose sister was raped by a half-breed American Japanese man many years ago, with...
- 3/17/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
After the success of “Delinquent Girl Boss”, Nikkatsu released the sequel only three months later, a decision that took its toll on the film, since Fujita barely had time to shoot it, much less writing it, which resulted in a script that hardly holds itself together.
Buy This Title
The story revolves around a group of delinquents, namely C-ko, Taki, Gani-shin and Jiro, who hang around mostly riding around in a buggy playing pranks to people, with no particular purpose. Another member however, Debo, who seems half-mad, spends most of his time digging holes during the nights in a school yard obsessively, to the point that his “work” eventually is even featured in the papers. Meanwhile, a gang of rich youths who spend the time much like the protagonists, provide an arch-enemy, with the feud eventually escalating to violence.
Two events change the story however. The appearance of Asako, a...
Buy This Title
The story revolves around a group of delinquents, namely C-ko, Taki, Gani-shin and Jiro, who hang around mostly riding around in a buggy playing pranks to people, with no particular purpose. Another member however, Debo, who seems half-mad, spends most of his time digging holes during the nights in a school yard obsessively, to the point that his “work” eventually is even featured in the papers. Meanwhile, a gang of rich youths who spend the time much like the protagonists, provide an arch-enemy, with the feud eventually escalating to violence.
Two events change the story however. The appearance of Asako, a...
- 3/14/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The “Stray Cat Rock”-series was designed by Nikkatsu to compete with Toei’s “Delinquent Boss”-series, in an effort of the company at the time, to attract more youth audiences to its movies, an approach that also included the appearances of pop idols and rock bands, as either themselves or playing supporting character. The first film of the series, “Delinquent Girl Boss”, was co-produced by talent agency Horipro, that also represented the protagonist, pop singer Akiko Wada. However, the one who truly shined in the film was Meiko Kaji, who became the protagonist of the remaining four films of the series.
Mei is the hard-nosed leader of an all girls gang, the Stray Cats, who, as the film begins, are about to have a fight with similar group. Mei, who has just before met girl biker Ako, emerges victorious, even slashing the opponents’ leader with her knife,...
Mei is the hard-nosed leader of an all girls gang, the Stray Cats, who, as the film begins, are about to have a fight with similar group. Mei, who has just before met girl biker Ako, emerges victorious, even slashing the opponents’ leader with her knife,...
- 3/3/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Many have probably heard about the scandal surrounding Nagisa Oshima’s 1976 feature “In the Realm of Senses”, a story based on an incident involving a woman named Abe Sada, which has been adapted many times in the past as the case sparked quite a lot of controversy at the time. Knowing the film industry of his home country all to well, especially its link to the censors, Oshima decided early on to find producers outside of Japan, and eventually found them in France in order to make his vision of the story, which, upon its release and screening during international film festivals, was banned in many countries due to its explicit sex scenes. However, if one was to approach this feature, it is necessary to look beyond singular scenes or images and take a look at the context, the deeper message Oshima is after, since “In the Realm of Senses...
- 1/25/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Two years after the release of “In the Realm of the Senses”, arguably his most notorious work given the scandal it caused in many countries, Nagisa Oshima made “Empire of Passion”, which was advertised as a spiritual successor to his last work. Based on a novel by Itoko Nakamura “Empire of Passion” shares the idea of a fatal affair, emphasizing the link between devotion, passion and violence, but in the end is quite a different movie, especially due to its horror elements, which caused many to regard it as one of the inspirations for Hideo Nakata’s “Ringu”. You might even go one step further by not just calling it a different, but in many ways also a much more refined and better feature than its predecessor, telling the story of a small community whose deeply-rooted blend of superstition and predilection for gossip make it a very bitter portrayal of Japanese society and politics.
- 1/16/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
I have to admit here, Yuki Tanada is one of the my favorite representatives of the contemporary Japanese indie, with films being like “Moon & Cherry”, “Ain’t No Tomorrows” and “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman” being among the main reasons I enjoy the category so much. “My Dad and Mr Ito” follows in same footsteps as the above films.
“My Dad and Mr Ito” screened at Japan Cuts
Aya is a 34-year-old woman, who, by the standards of the male-dominated, conservative Japan of the past (?), is the epitome of unsuccessfulness: she has a part-time job at a bookstore, she is not married or has any children, and she lives an unambitious but happy life with a man 20 years older than her, Mr Ito. The aforementioned standards come crashing upon her when her father decides to stay with the couple, after driving Aya’s sister-in-law insane with his stubborn and very demanding attitude,...
“My Dad and Mr Ito” screened at Japan Cuts
Aya is a 34-year-old woman, who, by the standards of the male-dominated, conservative Japan of the past (?), is the epitome of unsuccessfulness: she has a part-time job at a bookstore, she is not married or has any children, and she lives an unambitious but happy life with a man 20 years older than her, Mr Ito. The aforementioned standards come crashing upon her when her father decides to stay with the couple, after driving Aya’s sister-in-law insane with his stubborn and very demanding attitude,...
- 9/1/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
A nightmare for many, a relief for others, having a parent (or both) cohabiting is, inevitably, a disruption of a couple’s privacy. However, it is something that many family-based cultures expect, especially from daughters. Adapted by Hisako Kurosawa from a novel by Hinako Nakazawa and directed by Yuki Tanada’s ,“My Dad and Mr. Ito” explores these familial dynamics, unraveling within an unconventional clan.
“My Dad and Mr. Ito” is screening as part of Father’s Day Cheer on Asian Pop Up Cinema
In few words at the beginning of the narration, Aya (Juri Ueno) describes Mr. Ito (Lily Franky), who for a short time was her co-worker at a combini (convenience store), as someone she would never go out with. Guess what? They are a couple now and live together. Yes, he is ambition-less and a bit childish even if 20 year older than her, but they both seem...
“My Dad and Mr. Ito” is screening as part of Father’s Day Cheer on Asian Pop Up Cinema
In few words at the beginning of the narration, Aya (Juri Ueno) describes Mr. Ito (Lily Franky), who for a short time was her co-worker at a combini (convenience store), as someone she would never go out with. Guess what? They are a couple now and live together. Yes, he is ambition-less and a bit childish even if 20 year older than her, but they both seem...
- 6/18/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
My thoughts and admiration for Mark Schilling’s work have already been shared in the review of “Art, Cult and Commerce“. In that regard, continuing with his bibliography was inevitable, and the fact that the present book deals with the oldest Japanese motion picture studio, and particularly its Action Cinema period, made its appeal even more intense. Even more so, since, during the latest years, there seems to be a renewal of interest regarding the genre, especially through the home video releases of companies like Arrow and Eureka.
The book begins with the history of Nikkatsu, focusing on the period from the late 50s until the early 60s, when the Nikkatsu Action genre started, flourished and declined. The second part deals with the main male protagonists of those movies, presenting detailed biographies of Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi, Keiichiro Akagi and Tetsuya Watari, highlighting the concept of the...
The book begins with the history of Nikkatsu, focusing on the period from the late 50s until the early 60s, when the Nikkatsu Action genre started, flourished and declined. The second part deals with the main male protagonists of those movies, presenting detailed biographies of Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi, Keiichiro Akagi and Tetsuya Watari, highlighting the concept of the...
- 5/15/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Yukiko (Chieko Baisho) and Masaru (Tatsuya Fuji) have been married for 5 decades. However, despite this impressive persistence, it seems that there is not much life left in their marriage. Yukiko, a dutiful obedient wife, silently takes care of her husband like the loyal servant, while he doesn’t seem to care. He is semi-retired, so if he wished, he could spend quality time with his spouse, but instead, he prefers to visit a shogi club. Whenever the fateful couple is together, Masaru hardly notices Yukiko’s presence and doesn’t bother to listen to her, while she is trying to connect with him. He also takes Yukiko’s commitment for granted – as if she were a piece of furniture in their apartment. It is just obvious for him she is there, doing the chores and preparing meals. Their estrangement is loud and clear, and watching the pair is somehow a painful experience.
- 3/14/2020
- by Joanna Kończak
- AsianMoviePulse
In the perhaps golden period of Miike at the beginning of the second millennium, where he already consolidated his cult following, comes “Man in White”, divided into two parts: “Bloody Battle of Lions” and “Requiem for the Lion”. There is a single international cut condensed in 150 minutes, but make sure to watch the first and second parts separately to delve deeper into the film and the characters that are presented to us.
The protagonist, Asuza, is a yakuza – always dressed in white – raised in the streets in a setting of tragedy marked by the death of his parents. The father is killed by his stepbrother, and the mother subsequently commits suicide. The feeling of guilt tortures Azusa while leaning on the father figure of his boss. Sadly, fate will play tricks again, when his superior dies suddenly murdered in his presence. The man in white will search the killer obsessively,...
The protagonist, Asuza, is a yakuza – always dressed in white – raised in the streets in a setting of tragedy marked by the death of his parents. The father is killed by his stepbrother, and the mother subsequently commits suicide. The feeling of guilt tortures Azusa while leaning on the father figure of his boss. Sadly, fate will play tricks again, when his superior dies suddenly murdered in his presence. The man in white will search the killer obsessively,...
- 8/6/2019
- by Pedro Morata
- AsianMoviePulse
“I’ve always had lots of dreams when I sleep. The dreams have always been about the future.”
In 2002, the hype for Japanese horror films was declining rapidly, as the sequels to series like “Ring” or “The Grudge” were commercially and critically unsuccessful. Even though directors such as Hideo Nakata and Takashi Shimizu came to Hollywood to helm the remakes to their films or their sequels, Hollywood had already adapted J-horror tropes to its own productions. As Jerry White points out, one of the perhaps most disappointing entries in the J-horror remakes was Jim Sonzero’s version of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Pulse” (2001). Perhaps it was this particular experience which made Kurosawa change genres with his next project “Bright Future”.
In general, Kurosawa is best known for his unique horror films such as “Pulse” or “Cure”, films which years after their release now unfold their true impact. At the same time,...
In 2002, the hype for Japanese horror films was declining rapidly, as the sequels to series like “Ring” or “The Grudge” were commercially and critically unsuccessful. Even though directors such as Hideo Nakata and Takashi Shimizu came to Hollywood to helm the remakes to their films or their sequels, Hollywood had already adapted J-horror tropes to its own productions. As Jerry White points out, one of the perhaps most disappointing entries in the J-horror remakes was Jim Sonzero’s version of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Pulse” (2001). Perhaps it was this particular experience which made Kurosawa change genres with his next project “Bright Future”.
In general, Kurosawa is best known for his unique horror films such as “Pulse” or “Cure”, films which years after their release now unfold their true impact. At the same time,...
- 4/14/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japanese film producer / writer / director Kei Chakaura tackles the topics of immigration, integration, sense of family and food in his feature debut “Complicity”. The film premiered last year in the Discovery competition of Toronto, was shown in Busan and won the audience award at Tokyo FILMeX before its European premiere at the Culinary Cinema sidebar of this year’s Berlinale.
“Complicity” is screening at Helsinki Cine Aasia 2019
Immigrating to Japan sounds like a better idea than it actually is. The economy is basically stagnating for a very long period of time and the immigration and integration policies are quite strict. Most of the people from the neighbouring countries interested in living and working there stand no chance to obtain a visa so, if they want to, they have to explore some illegal options like using a fake identity.
One of those people is a Chinese citizen Cheng-liang (Lu Yulai...
“Complicity” is screening at Helsinki Cine Aasia 2019
Immigrating to Japan sounds like a better idea than it actually is. The economy is basically stagnating for a very long period of time and the immigration and integration policies are quite strict. Most of the people from the neighbouring countries interested in living and working there stand no chance to obtain a visa so, if they want to, they have to explore some illegal options like using a fake identity.
One of those people is a Chinese citizen Cheng-liang (Lu Yulai...
- 3/15/2019
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
Kei Chikaura was born in Japan in the year 1977. and before he got into filmmaking he majored in economics at the University of Osaka, while studying also film history. He learned the filmmaking trade while working for various production companies. Later on, Chikaura founded a production company through which he developed his shorts, some of them screened at the most prestigious film festivals.
His first feature film “Complicity” premiered in Toronto and was shown in Busan before its European premiere at Berlinale where we got the chance to have a quick chat about the film, food and its importance, soba and other topics.
“Complicity” is screening at Berlin Film Festival
“Complicity” is your feature debut. Can you tell me the difference regarding working on a feature versus working on a short film?
At first I thought that a feature film is a six-piece set of short films. Later, I found out I was totally wrong.
His first feature film “Complicity” premiered in Toronto and was shown in Busan before its European premiere at Berlinale where we got the chance to have a quick chat about the film, food and its importance, soba and other topics.
“Complicity” is screening at Berlin Film Festival
“Complicity” is your feature debut. Can you tell me the difference regarding working on a feature versus working on a short film?
At first I thought that a feature film is a six-piece set of short films. Later, I found out I was totally wrong.
- 2/15/2019
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japanese film producer / writer / director Kei Chakaura tackles the topics of immigration, integration, sense of family and food in his feature debut “Complicity”. The film premiered last year in the Discovery competition of Toronto, was shown in Busan and won the audience award at Tokyo FILMeX before its European premiere at the Culinary Cinema sidebar of this year’s Berlinale.
Immigrating to Japan sounds like a better idea than it actually is. The economy is basically stagnating for a very long period of time and the immigration and integration policies are quite strict. Most of the people from the neighbouring countries interested in living and working there stand no chance to obtain a visa so, if they want to, they have to explore some illegal options like using a fake identity.
Complicity is screening at Berlin Film Festival
One of those people is a Chinese citizen Cheng-liang (Lu Yulai...
Immigrating to Japan sounds like a better idea than it actually is. The economy is basically stagnating for a very long period of time and the immigration and integration policies are quite strict. Most of the people from the neighbouring countries interested in living and working there stand no chance to obtain a visa so, if they want to, they have to explore some illegal options like using a fake identity.
Complicity is screening at Berlin Film Festival
One of those people is a Chinese citizen Cheng-liang (Lu Yulai...
- 2/11/2019
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
Review by Roger Carpenter
Director Yasuharu Hasebe was a well-known director in Japan right up until his death in 2009. He directed most of the Stray Cat Rock series of films in the early 1970s as well as the final installment of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series, Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Song. He became known as the “Father of Violent Pink,” after directing a series of graphically violent and sexually sadistic films for Nikkatsu Studios with titles such as Rape!; Assault! Jack the Ripper; Rape! 13th Hour; and Secret Honeymoon: Rape Train. These films proved to be both highly controversial and very lucrative for Hasebe and Nikkatsu but, typical of Nikkatsu, the studio execs got cold feet after much bad press and began toning down their series of violent pink films.
But before all this, Hasebe cut his teeth as an assistant director for the great Seijun Suzuki, himself a...
Director Yasuharu Hasebe was a well-known director in Japan right up until his death in 2009. He directed most of the Stray Cat Rock series of films in the early 1970s as well as the final installment of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series, Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Song. He became known as the “Father of Violent Pink,” after directing a series of graphically violent and sexually sadistic films for Nikkatsu Studios with titles such as Rape!; Assault! Jack the Ripper; Rape! 13th Hour; and Secret Honeymoon: Rape Train. These films proved to be both highly controversial and very lucrative for Hasebe and Nikkatsu but, typical of Nikkatsu, the studio execs got cold feet after much bad press and began toning down their series of violent pink films.
But before all this, Hasebe cut his teeth as an assistant director for the great Seijun Suzuki, himself a...
- 1/3/2018
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
While Naomi Kawase‘s cachet stateside hasn’t necessarily increased in the last few years, her last film, Sweet Bean, did manage to get a U.S. release. The Japanese filmmaker is now returning with her follow-up, Radiance (aka Hikari), which is set for a Japanese release at the end of May, hinting at a likely return to the Cannes Film Festival.
The first teaser trailer has landed, which previews the story of a film writer who meets a photographer who is losing his eyesight. Starring Masatoshi Nagase (last seen at the end of Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson), Ayame Misaki, and Tatsuya Fuji, check out the trailer below (via Cine Maldito), which is currently without subtitles, but we’ll update if they arrive.
Misako is a passionate writer of film versions for the visually impaired. At a screening, she meets Masaya, an older photographer who is slowly losing his eyesight.
The first teaser trailer has landed, which previews the story of a film writer who meets a photographer who is losing his eyesight. Starring Masatoshi Nagase (last seen at the end of Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson), Ayame Misaki, and Tatsuya Fuji, check out the trailer below (via Cine Maldito), which is currently without subtitles, but we’ll update if they arrive.
Misako is a passionate writer of film versions for the visually impaired. At a screening, she meets Masaya, an older photographer who is slowly losing his eyesight.
- 3/16/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
We just debuted our list of the movies we’re hoping will hit Cannes, and while Naomi Kawase‘s “Radiance” didn’t make the main list, that doesn’t mean we’re not still eagerly awaiting what the Japanese filmmaker has on the horizon. And now we have our first taste.
Starring Masatoshi Nagase, Ayame Misaki, and Tatsuya Fuji, the film details the relationship that develops between a filmmaker and an older photographer, who is starting to lose his eyesight.
Continue reading First International Trailer For Naomi Kawase’s ‘Radiance’ at The Playlist.
Starring Masatoshi Nagase, Ayame Misaki, and Tatsuya Fuji, the film details the relationship that develops between a filmmaker and an older photographer, who is starting to lose his eyesight.
Continue reading First International Trailer For Naomi Kawase’s ‘Radiance’ at The Playlist.
- 3/9/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Bright Future is playing May 20 - June 19, 2016 in the United States.As cinematic monsters go, a jellyfish—luminescent red but home-aquarium-sized—is a perverse choice. Left alone, it floats in a saltwater ecosystem resistant to humans on a large scale; only when poked does it react with precognitive venom. But Bright Future (2003) is another of Kiyoshi "No Relation" Kurosawa's piecemeal apocalypses, where the destructive force presents itself anew to all victims. Unlike the planetary threats of kaiju, alien armies, or environmental collapse, Kurosawa imagines society's end as something closer to mass suicide than massacre. It requires individual complicity. Coming after his definitive J-Horror entry Pulse (2001), for which Kurosawa is probably best known, Bright Future was somewhat off-handedly derided for a category error about objects of fear: small things in aquariums are only as threatening as observers are stupid. However,...
- 5/15/2016
- MUBI
Writer/ Director Takeshi Kitano returns to Japanese underworld with this juvenile Yakuza outing that replaces the brutality of his earlier work (Zatoichi, Brother, Sonatine) with blithe and bungled comedy. After opening with a colourful credit sequence, tiny sized letters exploding on a black backdrop, we are introduced to Ryuzo (Tatsuya Fuji): a doddery ex-Yakuza turned
The post Lff 2015: Ryuzo and His Seven Henchmen Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post Lff 2015: Ryuzo and His Seven Henchmen Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 10/6/2015
- by Daniel Goodwin
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
When dealing with exploitation cinema of the 1970s in the post-Tarantino era, there’s something of a heightened balance between “the thing” and “what the thing looks like.” The dichotomy was always there – the posters typically promised a good deal more than could be delivered on small budgets and quick schedules – but has since become even more grotesque now that celebrating such films has become an industry unto itself. Arrow Video has become a key player in this with their dozens (nearing hundreds) of Blu-ray editions celebrating the best, and a good deal of some of the lesser, genre films from decades past. Their new collection rounding up the films in the Stray Cat Rock series offers a little of each end of the spectrum. None are the sort of hyper-charged, riotous, nonstop-sex-and-carnage onslaughts that modern imitators revel in, but at its best, the series is a rather potent drug...
- 9/23/2015
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Before Toshiya Fujita shot the icon making Lady Snowblood films and Yasuharu Hasebe lensed Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Son, each staring their ice cold action muse Meiko Kaji, they all teamed up at the famed Nikkatsu Studios just prior to its increased interest in the sexualized pink films on a quintet of psychedelic pop infused series of films produced under the banner title Stray Cat Rock. Bathed in pop tunes and shot, cut and performed with hyper-stylized fervor over the course of just two years from 1970-1971, the series, loosely connected by cast, crew and aesthetics alone, thrives in the clubbing circuit of underground street gangs while dabbling in every pop genre imaginable, from heist film to jailbreak picture with varying results.
Kicking off the series with wild-eyed ambition, Hasebe’s Delinquent Girl Boss sets the tone for the series with a complex yarn of girl power infused gang...
Kicking off the series with wild-eyed ambition, Hasebe’s Delinquent Girl Boss sets the tone for the series with a complex yarn of girl power infused gang...
- 8/18/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
The 19th Fantasia International Film Festival is right around the corner. Though the full lineup for the festival won't be unveiled until early next month, the second wave of Fantasia titles have been revealed and horror fans have a lot to look forward to.
Press Release: "Montreal, June 11, 2015 – The 19th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival, presented by Ubisoft and Anchor Bay, will soon be stunning Montreal with three weeks of cinematic ingenuity from July 14 until August 4, 2015.
Fantasia's complete lineup of programming and special events will be revealed on July 7th. To tide you over until then, we're thrilled to announce an incredible Second Wave of titles!
The International Premiere Of Takeshi Kitano’S Ryuzo And The Seven Henchmen
Coming immediately after his Outrage saga, Takeshi Kitano’s hilarious crime story stars screen legend Tatsuya Fuji (In The Realm Of The Senses) as a retired yakuza who realizes...
Press Release: "Montreal, June 11, 2015 – The 19th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival, presented by Ubisoft and Anchor Bay, will soon be stunning Montreal with three weeks of cinematic ingenuity from July 14 until August 4, 2015.
Fantasia's complete lineup of programming and special events will be revealed on July 7th. To tide you over until then, we're thrilled to announce an incredible Second Wave of titles!
The International Premiere Of Takeshi Kitano’S Ryuzo And The Seven Henchmen
Coming immediately after his Outrage saga, Takeshi Kitano’s hilarious crime story stars screen legend Tatsuya Fuji (In The Realm Of The Senses) as a retired yakuza who realizes...
- 6/11/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
A little over one month away, the Fantasia Film Festival announced it’s second wave of titles this morning. Fantasia Film Festival holds a special place in the hearts of Sound on Sight and we could not be more excited for their upcoming edition which promises to be bigger and better than ever. Arguably the largest genre film festival in the world, Fantasia will run from July 14th to August 4th this year and feature a large number of world and international premieres. The full-lineup, including special events, will be announced on July 7th.
From the official press release, here are some titles we can now look forward to:
The International Premiere Of Takeshi Kitano’S Ryuzo And The Seven Henchmen
Coming immediately after his Outrage saga, Takeshi Kitano’s hilarious crime story stars screen legend Tatsuya Fuji (In The Realm Of The Senses) as a retired yakuza who realizes...
From the official press release, here are some titles we can now look forward to:
The International Premiere Of Takeshi Kitano’S Ryuzo And The Seven Henchmen
Coming immediately after his Outrage saga, Takeshi Kitano’s hilarious crime story stars screen legend Tatsuya Fuji (In The Realm Of The Senses) as a retired yakuza who realizes...
- 6/11/2015
- by Justine Smith
- SoundOnSight
Stars: Akira Kobayashi, Jô Shishido, Hideaki Nitani, Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Gô, Tatsuya Fuji, Jirô Okazaki, Meiko Kaji, Shôki Fukae, Ryôji Hayama, Kaku Takashina | Written by Yoshihiro Ishimatsu, Keiji Kubota | Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
There’s something about Japanese gangster movies, whether it be the Stray Cat Rock films or others like Massacre Gun. These movies are getting Arrow Video Blu-ray releases and as I review them I’m beginning to get a taste for the effortlessly cool style of not only the directors but also the actors, especially Jô Shishido. Retaliation is an excellent example of just why I am getting hooked.
Jiro (Akira Kobayashi) an ex-convict is released onto the streets after being in jail to find his gang all but disbanded with only the aging boss hanging in there on his sick-bed. Still loyal Jiro approaches the Hasama family for assistance. Hasama gives Jiro a job, to settle...
There’s something about Japanese gangster movies, whether it be the Stray Cat Rock films or others like Massacre Gun. These movies are getting Arrow Video Blu-ray releases and as I review them I’m beginning to get a taste for the effortlessly cool style of not only the directors but also the actors, especially Jô Shishido. Retaliation is an excellent example of just why I am getting hooked.
Jiro (Akira Kobayashi) an ex-convict is released onto the streets after being in jail to find his gang all but disbanded with only the aging boss hanging in there on his sick-bed. Still loyal Jiro approaches the Hasama family for assistance. Hasama gives Jiro a job, to settle...
- 5/12/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Arrow Video restores a rare title from director Yasuharu Hasebe with his sophomore directorial effort, Massacre Gun. A late 60’s yakuza narrative, the film displays Hasebe’s influence of American film noir, but defined by a striking amount of violence that makes it feel ahead of its time despite a familiar premise. Fans of genre icon Jo Shishido should be especially excited for this restoration, and it bodes well as a reconsideration for the work of Hasebe, a once prominent name that’s fallen into relative obscurity in cinematic conversations.
Ryuichi Shishido (Jo Shishido) is a mob hitman ordered to execute his lover. He follows through with the tasking but is visibly bothered by it, causing his younger brother, Saburo (Jiro Okazaki), an aspiring boxer, to directly challenge the dreaded mob boss Akazawa (Takashi Kanda). For his hubris, Saburo is badly beaten, leading his older brothers Ryuichi and Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji...
Ryuichi Shishido (Jo Shishido) is a mob hitman ordered to execute his lover. He follows through with the tasking but is visibly bothered by it, causing his younger brother, Saburo (Jiro Okazaki), an aspiring boxer, to directly challenge the dreaded mob boss Akazawa (Takashi Kanda). For his hubris, Saburo is badly beaten, leading his older brothers Ryuichi and Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji...
- 4/14/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Stars: Jô Shishido, Tatsuya Fuji, Jirô Okazaki, Ryôji Hayama, Takashi Kanda, Hideaki Nitani, Ken Sanders, Tamaki Sawa | Written by Yasuharu Hasebe, Ryûzô Nakanishi | Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
Gangster movies have always been popular, especially with the likes of The Godfather Trilogy and Goodfellas almost defining what we see as masterpieces of the genre. When we look to world cinema though, and especially Japan there are some movies that fans should look at to broaden their perspective. Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenjû) is one of them which gets a release on Blu-ray from Arrow Video this week.
When hitman Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is ordered by his employers to kill the woman he loves he joins forces with his brothers Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) and Saboruo (Jirô Okazaki) to gain revenge on the wrongs that have been done to them. As their power rises and the violence escalates Kuroda knows the inevitability is...
Gangster movies have always been popular, especially with the likes of The Godfather Trilogy and Goodfellas almost defining what we see as masterpieces of the genre. When we look to world cinema though, and especially Japan there are some movies that fans should look at to broaden their perspective. Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenjû) is one of them which gets a release on Blu-ray from Arrow Video this week.
When hitman Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is ordered by his employers to kill the woman he loves he joins forces with his brothers Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) and Saboruo (Jirô Okazaki) to gain revenge on the wrongs that have been done to them. As their power rises and the violence escalates Kuroda knows the inevitability is...
- 4/8/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Mvd Entertainment Group continues to distribute Arrow Video in North America with a strong schedule of April 2015 releases receiving the deluxe treatment in video, audio, supplements and artwork:
"Blood and Black Lace" (Blu-ray / DVD), plus a Limited Edition Steelbook, follows "...the 'Cristiana Haute Couture' fashion house, a home to models, backstabbing, blackmail, drug deals and murder. This influential film by director Mario Bava, newly restored from the original camera negative, would have a huge effect on filmmakers as diverse as Dario Argento and Martin Scorsese..."
"Massacre Gun" on Blu-ray and DVD, stars Jo Shishido in a classic 'yakuza' action film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, following
"...'Kuroda' (Shishido), a mob associate who turns on his employers after being forced to execute his lover. Joining forces with his similarly wronged brothers are hot-headed 'Eiji' (Tatsuya Fuji) and aspiring boxer 'Saburô' (Jirô Okazaki), as the trio escalate their retaliation to an all-out...
"Blood and Black Lace" (Blu-ray / DVD), plus a Limited Edition Steelbook, follows "...the 'Cristiana Haute Couture' fashion house, a home to models, backstabbing, blackmail, drug deals and murder. This influential film by director Mario Bava, newly restored from the original camera negative, would have a huge effect on filmmakers as diverse as Dario Argento and Martin Scorsese..."
"Massacre Gun" on Blu-ray and DVD, stars Jo Shishido in a classic 'yakuza' action film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, following
"...'Kuroda' (Shishido), a mob associate who turns on his employers after being forced to execute his lover. Joining forces with his similarly wronged brothers are hot-headed 'Eiji' (Tatsuya Fuji) and aspiring boxer 'Saburô' (Jirô Okazaki), as the trio escalate their retaliation to an all-out...
- 2/3/2015
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Nagisa Oshima movies: From Death by Hanging to Taboo [See previous post: "Nagisa Oshima: In the Realm of the Senses (Truly) Iconoclastic Filmmaker Dies."] Among Nagisa Oshima’s other seminal works are Death by Hanging (1968); and the Cannes Film Festival entries Empire of Passion (1978), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), Max Mon Amour (1986), and Taboo (1999), which turned out to be Oshima’s last effort. With the exception of Max Mon Amour, the Cannes titles were also nominated for multiple Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Picture. (Photo: Nagisa Oshima.) Much like In the Realm of the Senses, Death by Hanging was inspired by a real-life incident: the botched hanging of a young Korean man convicted of rape and murder. In Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, David Bowie plays a World War II prisoner of war who has a complex Billy Budd-like — desire/hate — relationship with a Japanese captain (played by rock star Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film’s score). Despite its title and the presence of Tatsuya Fuji,...
- 1/17/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Nagisa Oshima: In the Realm of the Senses (Truly) Iconoclastic Filmmaker dead at 80 Nagisa Oshima, best known as the director of the sexually charged 1976 psychological drama Ai No Corrida / In the Realm of the Senses, died of pneumonia on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at a Fujisawa hospital, near Tokyo. Oshima, who in the last 15 years had suffered a series of strokes, was 80. (Photo: Eiko Matsuda, Tatsuya Fuji in Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses.) Some refer to the likes of Quentin Tarantino or Spike Lee or Martin Scorsese or Terrence Malick as "iconoclastic filmmakers." Those people clearly haven’t bothered learning the definition of the word. Having said that, "iconoclast" is the perfect label for Nagisa Oshima. For once, in fact, laudatory obituary headlines — those announcing the "iconoclastic" Oshima’s death — perfectly reflect the personal and social standing of the deceased. Really, if Tarantino, for one, were a true iconoclast,...
- 1/17/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Japanese director, who has died aged 80, deserves to be known for more than In the Realm of the Senses. He was a brilliant satirist who took aim at hypocrisy and confirmity
The last time the director Nagisa Oshima came into my head was while watching Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad. A teenage boy kills himself in a failed auto-erotic strangling experiment and his father (Robin Williams), a failed writer, disguises it as a heart-wrenching suicide and writes a sucrose bestselling "memoir" of his tragic son.
Without Oshima's sensational 1976 masterpiece Ai No Corrida – known to English-speaking audiences as In the Realm of the Senses – none of that could exist. Western audiences were stunned at the film's dark and fanatical intensity, its violence, its fusion of eros and thanatos, and of course its erotic choking scenes, that black mass of ritualised sexuality with which a woman kills her lover. Many...
The last time the director Nagisa Oshima came into my head was while watching Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad. A teenage boy kills himself in a failed auto-erotic strangling experiment and his father (Robin Williams), a failed writer, disguises it as a heart-wrenching suicide and writes a sucrose bestselling "memoir" of his tragic son.
Without Oshima's sensational 1976 masterpiece Ai No Corrida – known to English-speaking audiences as In the Realm of the Senses – none of that could exist. Western audiences were stunned at the film's dark and fanatical intensity, its violence, its fusion of eros and thanatos, and of course its erotic choking scenes, that black mass of ritualised sexuality with which a woman kills her lover. Many...
- 1/15/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A soldier embarks on an affair with an older married woman.
After the controversial In The Realm Of The Senses, acclaimed director Nagisa Ôshima returned to theatres with this less explicit follow up - a dramatic ghost story.
The year is 1895, in a remote mountain village in Japan, a young soldier Toyiji (Tatsuya Fuji) has an affair with the fortysomething wife of the litter carrier Seki (Kazuko Yoshiyuki). Toyiji becomes jealous of her husband Gisaburo (Takahiro Tamura) and plots with Seki to kill him. They...
After the controversial In The Realm Of The Senses, acclaimed director Nagisa Ôshima returned to theatres with this less explicit follow up - a dramatic ghost story.
The year is 1895, in a remote mountain village in Japan, a young soldier Toyiji (Tatsuya Fuji) has an affair with the fortysomething wife of the litter carrier Seki (Kazuko Yoshiyuki). Toyiji becomes jealous of her husband Gisaburo (Takahiro Tamura) and plots with Seki to kill him. They...
- 10/19/2011
- by Paul Logan
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
★★★★☆ Claimed by many to be a film that blurs the boundaries between art and pornography, Nagisa Ôshima's In the Realm of the Senses (1976) - starring Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda and Aoi Nakajima - is certainly a piece of cinema that presents the viewer with a visual and emotional challenge, pushing the limits of what might be acceptable or appealing to some and remaining vulnerable and wide-open to judgement.
Based on real events, the film follows the life of a maid and former prostitute, Abe Sada, who becomes involved with her married boss Kichi in an obsessive love affair that transcends the carnal and crosses limits that society has imposed. Their sexual obsession only grows stronger and more dangerous and they enclose themselves in that world of passion, making love compulsively, randomly, endlessly, alone or in front of others. Life outside the doors of the chamber, where they share their intimate moments,...
Based on real events, the film follows the life of a maid and former prostitute, Abe Sada, who becomes involved with her married boss Kichi in an obsessive love affair that transcends the carnal and crosses limits that society has imposed. Their sexual obsession only grows stronger and more dangerous and they enclose themselves in that world of passion, making love compulsively, randomly, endlessly, alone or in front of others. Life outside the doors of the chamber, where they share their intimate moments,...
- 10/19/2011
- by Daniel Green
- CineVue
Today sees the hi-def release of two of the most controversial and sexually explicit films of the 1970s, both of which came courtesy of Japanese New Wave auteur Nagisa Oshima – later the director of the more widely seen David Bowie-starring WWII movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (incidentally itself coming to Blu-ray next week… we are giving copies away Here).
In two tastefully presented “double play” Blu-ray/DVD sets from StudioCanal come 1976′s In the Realm of the Senses and 1978′s more restrained thematic follow-up Empire of Passion. Both films share the same leading man, Tatsuya Fuji, but whilst the former was either banned or heavily censored upon released due to its many graphic scenes of “unsimulated sex”, the latter (less explicit) work earned Oshima a well deserved Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the Realm of the Senses
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Oshima’s most critically significant text,...
In two tastefully presented “double play” Blu-ray/DVD sets from StudioCanal come 1976′s In the Realm of the Senses and 1978′s more restrained thematic follow-up Empire of Passion. Both films share the same leading man, Tatsuya Fuji, but whilst the former was either banned or heavily censored upon released due to its many graphic scenes of “unsimulated sex”, the latter (less explicit) work earned Oshima a well deserved Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the Realm of the Senses
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Oshima’s most critically significant text,...
- 10/17/2011
- by Robert Beames
- Obsessed with Film
Written & Directed by Nagisa Ôshima, the UK Blu-Ray Premiere of In the Realm of the Senses with a new uncut version will be available as a Double Play disc on 17th October. We have three copies of the Double Play Blu-Ray & DVD to give away.
Based on a true story set in pre-war Japan, a man and one of his servants begin a torrid affair. Their desire becomes a sexual obsession so strong that to intensify their ardour, they forsake all, even life itself.
In The Realm of the Senses has been passed uncut by the BBFC for the first time.
Starring
Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda and Aoi Nakajima
Blu-Ray Extras:
- Recalling the Film: 2003 Program featuring interviews with consulting producer Hayao Shibata, line producer Koji Wakamatsu, assistant disrector Yoichi Sai and distributer Yoko Asakura
- Panel discussion at Birkbeck College with Japanese film scholars
- Once Upon a Time:...
Based on a true story set in pre-war Japan, a man and one of his servants begin a torrid affair. Their desire becomes a sexual obsession so strong that to intensify their ardour, they forsake all, even life itself.
In The Realm of the Senses has been passed uncut by the BBFC for the first time.
Starring
Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda and Aoi Nakajima
Blu-Ray Extras:
- Recalling the Film: 2003 Program featuring interviews with consulting producer Hayao Shibata, line producer Koji Wakamatsu, assistant disrector Yoichi Sai and distributer Yoko Asakura
- Panel discussion at Birkbeck College with Japanese film scholars
- Once Upon a Time:...
- 10/13/2011
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
To mark the release of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983), In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion (1978) all from Writer / Director Nagisa Oshima and all of which are all making their way to Blu-ray on 17th October, Studio Canal have given us 5 copies of each movie to give away!
Scroll down for more info on each:
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983)
Written by Nagisa Ôshima Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti and Ryûichi Sakamoto Available in Double Play disc set
In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers (David Bowie) comes to a Japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi (Ryûichi Sakamoto), who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In Yonoi’s view, the allied prisoners are all cowards after choosing to surrender in the war instead of committing suicide. When one of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence (Tom Conti), tries to explain the Japanese way of thinking,...
Scroll down for more info on each:
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983)
Written by Nagisa Ôshima Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti and Ryûichi Sakamoto Available in Double Play disc set
In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers (David Bowie) comes to a Japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi (Ryûichi Sakamoto), who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In Yonoi’s view, the allied prisoners are all cowards after choosing to surrender in the war instead of committing suicide. When one of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence (Tom Conti), tries to explain the Japanese way of thinking,...
- 10/12/2011
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Japanese director Takahisa Zeze (Flying Rabbits; Moon Child) disaster movie come medical thriller ‘Kansen Rettou’ (aka Pandemic) is heading for UK DVD next month. A great cast including; Satoshi Tsumabuki (Dororo), Kanningu Takeyama (Memories Of Matsuko) and veteran actor Tatsuya Fuji (Empire Of Passion) keeps the - world threatened by a mysterious killer virus - plot moving at pace, and the love story (this is a Japanese disaster movie after all) sub plot, thankfully veers away from full blown melodrama…most of the time. Pandemic streets on May 9.
- 4/18/2011
- 24framespersecond.net
Lest anyone think Rinko Kikuchi has nothing better to do than pose for obscure magazines or engage in public displays of affection with Spike Jonze, she’s once again defied expectations by joining the cast of a traditional jidaigeki drama. Today it was announced that Kikuchi will play the heroine in Tetsuo Shinohara’s Ogawa no Hotori, opposite Noriyuki Higashiyama.
The film is based on a short story by Shuhei Fujisawa (The Twilight Samurai, Love and Honor). Shinohara previously directed an adaptation of Fujisawa’s “Yamazakura” in 2008 which also co-starred Higashiyama.
Set in the fictional Unasaka domain, the story involves a samurai who’s obligated to follow an order that could destroy his relationship with his own younger sister.
Kikuchi, who had to dye her hair from blond back to black for the role, has never appeared in a jidaigeki drama before now. “The screenplay is very good,” she said.
The film is based on a short story by Shuhei Fujisawa (The Twilight Samurai, Love and Honor). Shinohara previously directed an adaptation of Fujisawa’s “Yamazakura” in 2008 which also co-starred Higashiyama.
Set in the fictional Unasaka domain, the story involves a samurai who’s obligated to follow an order that could destroy his relationship with his own younger sister.
Kikuchi, who had to dye her hair from blond back to black for the role, has never appeared in a jidaigeki drama before now. “The screenplay is very good,” she said.
- 9/29/2010
- Nippon Cinema
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.