Film / Reviews Oct 2, 2019
'The Forest of Love': Netflix feature lets Sono be Sono
by James Hadfield
Sion Sono's return to filmmaking sees him blend all of his hallmarks into one gore-drenched epic
Film Oct 24, 2018
Junji Sakamoto points his camera at small-town Japan in 'Another World'
by Mark Schilling
Born in Osaka in 1958, Junji Sakamoto belongs to a generation of Japanese directors who carved out independent paths in the industry, outside the then-defunct studio system. His feature debut, the 1989 boxing film "Knockout," won a shelf of domestic prizes, including the Blue ...
Film / Reviews Oct 17, 2018
'Passage of Life': A family drama that treats refugees with respect
by Mark Schilling
Hollywood films about the immigrant experience are common enough (see "The Godfather" and other classic gangster movies for examples), while Japanese films on the same topic are rare, save for those about Zainichi (ethnic Koreans) in Japan. (Among the best is Zainichi director Yoichi ...
Film / Reviews Oct 10, 2018
'The Chaplain': Ren Osugi shines as a clergyman working on death row
by James Hadfield
The sudden death of Ren Osugi last February robbed Japanese cinema of one of its most dependable actors. That loss is rendered all the more acute by "The Chaplain," Osugi's final screen role, and his debut as producer. It's the kind of serious, intelligent ...
Film / Reviews Sep 26, 2018
'My Dad is a Heel Wrestler': A body-slamming celebration of a spandex brotherhood
by Mark Schilling
Movies about pro-wrestling seldom star actual pro wrestlers. Instead we get Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler") or Ryuta Sato ("Gachi Boy: Wrestling with a Memory"). But the ascent to Hollywood stardom of Dwayne Johnson, who wrestled professionally as "The Rock," has inspired New Japan Pro-Wrestling, ...
Film Sep 5, 2018
Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Cannes submission tackles the difficulties of relationships
by Mark Schilling
It has been more than two decades since Takeshi Kitano, Naomi Kawase, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda began collecting major festival invitations and prizes as the leaders of Japanese cinema's 1990s new wave. Since then younger directors have struggled to crack this "4K" establishment ...
Film / Reviews Jun 27, 2018
'The Name': Ren Komai's performance raises a multilayered drama
by Mark Schilling
What's in a name? On one level, it's how you identify yourself to yourself (as in dorky name, dorky self-image). On another, it's your social calling card, your link to family, going back generations (or not, if an ancestor decided to exchange one name ...
Film Jun 13, 2018
Juliette Binoche gets to see the 'real' Japan in 'Vision'
by James Hadfield
"It's so warm in here!" exclaims Juliette Binoche. "You know in (Michael) Haneke's film, I have a scene where I kind of suffocate and I think that I'm going to die? It feels like that! Do you think you can open the window?" The grande ...
Film / Reviews Jun 13, 2018
'Shoplifters': Kore-eda's Palme d'Or winner is an eloquent look at the human condition
by Mark Schilling
When a Japanese director wins the Palme d'Or — the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival, the film world's equivalent of soccer's World Cup — the response of the local media is to celebrate: Our side won. Making the victory sweeter for Hirokazu Kore-eda ...
Film / Reviews Mar 28, 2018
'Eriko, Pretended': Fake tears fuel a tale of self-discovery
by Mark Schilling
People who secretly fear they are phonies when in actuality they aren't are said to suffer from "imposter syndrome." The title heroine of Akiyo Fujimura's debut feature "Eriko, Pretended" has the opposite problem: She calls herself an actress but in 10 years has only ...
Lifestyle | CHILD'S PLAY May 14, 2017
Weekend drama can be great for the kids
by Danielle Demetriou
My two daughters rub the backs of their ears to retrieve some magic dust, which they then use to summon a pile of pizza and ice cream, before tucking into the newly created feast with arm-waving gusto. This sounds like the stuff of dreams for ...
Stage Mar 23, 2017
Samurai drama to put unique spin on evolution of theater
by Nobuko Tanaka
Japanese audiences will soon join those in Holland as the only people in the world with access to a theater whose seating area rotates to face a ring of multiple stages. So when Kazuki Nakashima's acclaimed samurai drama "Dokurojo no Shichinin" ("Seven Souls in the ...