The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) offers fans a rare chance to see dozens of new and classic Japanese films with English subtitles on the big screen. Among my own picks for the event’s 31st edition:
‘Another World’ (TIFF Competition): Junji Sakamoto’s drama about two friends from junior high school who reunite after a period of years — and open old wounds as they approach their 40th birthdays. Former SMAP member Goro Inagaki ditches his pop star image to play a conflicted charcoal maker.
‘Just Only Love’ (TIFF Competition): An acclaimed maker of multilayered romantic dramas, Rikiya Imaizumi returns to TIFF with a comedy about a 28-year-old OL (office lady) madly fixated on a guy who is coolly indifferent to her existence.
‘The Gun’ (Japanese Cinema Splash): Four years after winning the Japanese Cinema Splash Award for his boxing drama “100 Yen Love,” Masaharu Take returns with “The Gun.” Nijiro Murakami stars as a young man who finds a pistol by a riverbank — and lets it take over his life.
‘The Manga Master’ (Japanese Cinema Splash): Famed actor and comedian Issey Ogata stars in Moe Oki’s biopic about pioneering manga artist Rakuten Kitazawa.
’21st Century Girl’ (Japanese Cinema Splash): Fourteen short films and an animated title sequence made by young female directors, with a common theme expressed in the title.
‘Gangoose’ (Special Screenings): Yu Irie’s thriller about three thieves who target only criminals — and end up battling the yakuza. Based on a popular manga in turn based on Daisuke Suzuki’s reportage about young people scraping along at society’s depths.
‘Hard-Core’ (Special Screenings): Nobuhiro Yamashita’s black comedy about two social misfits who become inseparable buddies. The story takes a sci-fi turn when they team up with a mysterious sentient robot. Based on a 1990s manga that has become a cult hit.
‘A Geisha’s Diary / The Temple of Wild Geese / The Graceful Brute’ (Japanese Classics): 4K digital restorations of three classics by Yuzo Kawashima. A mentor to Shohei Imamura, Kawashima was long neglected by foreign critics but a re-evaluation of his brilliant social satires and penetrating dramas is now well underway. All three films star Ayako Wakao, Kawashima’s muse.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.