Tag - gakuryu-ishii

 
 

GAKURYU ISHII

Directed by four different directors, the anthology film “Almost People” focuses on siblings who each lack an emotion.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 28, 2023
‘Almost People’: Anthology on emotions comes together in harmony
The film’s segments, which center on joy, anger, pleasure and loneliness, are beautifully integrated and show compassion for their characters’ flaws.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2023
‘Self-Revolutionary Cinematic Struggle’ is an experimental slog
Gakuryu Ishii's rambling treatise on art and self-actualization spends much more time talking about the magic of movies than actually invoking it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2018
'Punk Samurai Slash Down': An audacious adaptation that may look better on paper
One of the frequent complaints lodged against the Japanese film industry is that producers are reluctant to bankroll anything that isn't based on an existing novel, manga or TV series. There's a lot of truth in the criticism, but not every screen adaptation of an existing property is a product of bet-hedging.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2018
The films and the fury of punk moviemaker Gakuryu Ishii
Last year's release of "Blade Runner 2049" and this year's Netflix series "Altered Carbon" have rekindled interest in the futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic, though those works were decidedly more "cyber" and less "punk."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Dec 7, 2016
'Crazy Thunder Road' is still a mad, but great film
Sogo Ishii — or Gakuryu Ishii, as he now prefers to be known — was just 23 when he released "Crazy Thunder Road," perhaps one of the greatest films to emerge from Japan's punk era (an honor it shares with the director's 1982 follow-up, "Burst City"). A nihilistic tale of warring biker gangs and ultra-nationalist militias, the movie drew comparisons to George Miller's "Mad Max," released a year earlier, though it was closer in spirit to the low-budget filmmaking that was then being pioneered by Sam Raimi in the United States.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores