Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Cannes submission tackles the difficulties of relationships
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 ...
'Asako I & II': Things are vague in this girl-meets-boy-meets-boy's doppleganger tale
"There will never be another you" goes the old song. Then again, some people believe in doppelgangers, doubles to living humans who are ghostly in form and malign in intent. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Asako I & II," which screened in competition at this year's Cannes Film ...
Crowdfunding offers freedom to filmmakers
It's not easy making indie movies in Japan. The big studios only want commercial projects with proven fan appeal, usually based on hit manga, novels or TV dramas. Given the need, government funding schemes are paltry, with much of the money going to films ...
Ryusuke Hamaguchi's study of human love, loss and trust
One Asian film reviewer of my acquaintance writes “(J-film title) could be cut by (number of minutes)” so often that he’s probably made it into a keyboard shortcut.
Four Japanese win best actress award at Locarno film festival
Four Japanese women together won the best actress award on Saturday at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland for their performances in the film "Happy Hour," festival organizers said. The four — Sachie Tanaka, 41, Hazuki Kikuchi, 37, Maiko Mihara, 41, and Rira Kawamura, ...
