Film / Reviews Feb 13, 2020
'Beneath the Shadow': Too obscure for its own good
by James Hadfield
Keishi Otomo's latest film looks at two colleagues whose blossoming bromance threatens to turn into something more mysterious.
Film / Reviews Oct 30, 2019
'Family of Strangers': An admirable ode to the institutionalized
by James Hadfield
Hideyuki Hirayama's latest feature, filmed in a real psychiatric hospital in Nagano Prefecture, tells the story of three residents of an institution who form an unlikely bond
Film / Reviews Oct 16, 2019
'The Promised Land': Zeze's latest is far from heaven-sent
by Mark Schilling
Takahisa Zeze unveils his latest feature, an ambitious film based on two short stories by best-selling author Shuichi Yoshida
Film / Reviews Jun 14, 2017
Kendo drama 'Mukoku' takes a stab at Showa Era sports spirit
by Mark Schilling
One of the attractions of Asian martial arts for many Westerners (including this one) is the promise of self-improvement that goes beyond better street fighting. In Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's "Mukoku," a turgid film set in the kendo world, mastery of the sword is supposed to not ...
Film / Reviews Jun 22, 2016
'Twisted Justice': Gangster black comedy is a shade off
by James Hadfield
In 2003, a Hokkaido cop named Yoshiaki Inaba was sentenced to nine years in jail, on charges including drug use and possession with intent to supply. During his trial, the former police inspector revealed that his impressive career record had involved an unhealthy degree ...
Film May 4, 2016
'Six Four': Japan held hostage by the Showa Era
by Kaori Shoji
'Don't you understand what is to have a child taken from you? How could you be a policeman and not understand that?" That's a line from "Rokuyon" ("Six Four") the latest addition to Japan's host of films about kidnapping. "Six Four" is distinctive in the ...
Film Apr 24, 2014
Painful love in decaying Hokkaido port town
by Mark Schilling
My interview with Mipo Oh, the director of the turbulent new love drama "Soko Nomi Nite Hikari Kagayaku (The Light Shines Only There)," did not begin smoothly.
Film Mar 27, 2014
Trial by media, conviction by word of mouth
by Mark Schilling
Yoshihiro Nakamura makes movies that puzzle, surprise and illuminate their themes both cleverly and literally (the fireworks of "Golden Slumber," the comet of "Fish Story"). Everyone's heard of the "butterfly effect" — how a small action in one place (a butterfly flapping its wings ...