‘A Balance’: The real-life dangers of telling the truth
Yujiro Harumoto’s drama about a documentary filmmaker who struggles with a moral dilemma as she looks into the cover-up of a bullied schoolgirl’s death is a rare achievement.
Haruhiko Arai: Still pushing boundaries after 40 years in film
In a four-decade career, Haruhiko Arai has become an acclaimed scriptwriter with credits that include "Vibrator" (2003), "It's Only Talk" (2005) and "Kabukicho Love Hotel" (2014), three of the best films by his frequent collaborator, the director Ryuichi Hiroki. Arai also edits and publishes "Eiga ...
'It Feels So Good': An explicit escapade, artfully told
The average bride-to-be spends the final days before her wedding fretting about seating plans and whether she'll be able to squeeze into her dress, but Naoko (Kumi Takiuchi) decides it's a good time to hook up with an old flame instead. In the years since ...
'Side Job.' presents an authentic portrayal of life in Fukushima after disaster
The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and its aftermath have been the focus of many films, both fiction and nonfiction. However, most of them have been by filmmakers who've come from outside Fukushima Prefecture, where the disaster hit hardest. Ryuichi Hiroki, a native of ...
