Konnichi Wa!

Welcome to the Japanese language film festival! I am your co-host, and in this festival we will try to cover some of the highlights of Japanese cinema.

Japanese film is an area I have enjoyed for a number of years, and I think combines interesting elements of western and eastern story lines and story methods. This is true for both love action films as well as the animated variety. In this festival we will look at some of the best of both.

In this intro post, I am going to list some suggestions and films that we plan to discuss. This list will be updated over the next few days, along with IMDB and other web links, and we will also be adding a couple of film nights.

Live Cinema:

Akira Kurosawa - Almost certainly the best known Japanese director, and possibly the most "accessible". Much of the reason for this is that many of his best films are remakes of Shakespearean plays, or were inspired by the american western genre. Here is a quick rundown of his many "must see" films:

Yojimbo - a quintissential Ronin film, it was remade as A Fistfull of Dollars.
The Seven Samurai - inspired by american westerns, this film has been remade many times, but non touch the character studies to be found here
Rashomon - highly influential film about the difference between perception and reality.
Kagemusha - fascinating Samurai epic about a thief who must double for a great warlord.
The Hidden Fortress - Marvelous action film, and a direct inspriration for Star Wars
Throne of Blood - powerful retelling of Macbeth.
Ran - Beautifully shot epic, based on King Lear.
Ikiru - A non samurai, non epic, but extremely powerful film about modern life and its meaning.

Kenji Mizoguchi
Diary of Oharu - His masterpiece, a study of idividual vs. societal expectations, with his characteristic sympathies.
Ugetsu monogatari - interstesting allegory
Sansho The Bailiff - a melodrama with wonderful cinematography
Sisters of Gion and Gion - The first was made pre war, the second after, two tales of the Geisha world.

Masaki Kobayashi
Kwaidan - As much as I love Kurosawa, if I could only recommend one film from Japan, this would be it. The cinematography in this film is unequaled, and the stories a fascinating set of gothic ghost tales.

Kon Ichikawa
The Burmese Harp - A powerful anti-war statement, the themes established here echo through out much postware Japanese film
Kokoro - An adaption of the Soseki Natsume novel

Anime:

Hiyao Miyazaki And Studio Ghibli - while Miyaki was not the one who opened the door to Anime in America, his films, and those of his studio are almost certianly now among the most well known - and in my opionion, many are amoung the best films ever made, animated or live action. Those available in the US include:

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro - His first feature. The main character is not his, but he makes Lupin his own with this wonderful adventure. Not only his first, but one of his best.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds - His first original story, a post-apocolyptic epic that introduce us to his love of flight among many recurring themes
Laputa, Castle in the Sky - Another futuristic film, it further explores the themes of flight and an against nature
My Neighbor Totoro - Enjoyable fluff, a children's film with a child's sense of wonder
Kiki's Delivery Service - A coming of age story that contrasts the modern with the past in an interesting way.
Porco Russo - My favorite Miyazaki film, a seemingly small story that is set in between world wars, at the beginnings of the fascist rise to power. The characters in the film have a depth to them not present in his works to this point
Princess Mononoke - The film that "broke thru" for him in the US, a more mature statement of the themes first seen in Naussica
Spirited Away - His oscar winner, a film that continues another recurring theme, that of the "reality" of the spirit world
Howl's Moving Castle - not quite up to the previous standards, but a fun ride.

Other Studio Ghibli:
Whisper of the Heart - Miyazaki wrote but did not direct, this is my second favorite Ghibli. Among other things, I find it interesting how the opening theme song is transformed through out the film, much like the main character
Pompoko - The most overt statement from Ghibli in the man against nature thematic line. Enjoyable, but the theme works better when it's a bit more understated.
Omohide poro poro - Takahata's most powerful film, the title says it all - it is about the power of memory
Grave of the Fireflies - Takahata again, I rate this below Omohide only because it is the most depressing film I have ever seen, and without question a powerful anti-war statement.

And some others (sticking with US availablity, and with Film):
Project A-Ko - This was my introduction to Anime, though an odd one. It is a spoof of a LARGE number of late 80s/Early 90s animes, including the below mentioned Macross and Gundam. A number of the jokes make sense only if you know the references. But even without knowing them, it is quite hilarious on its own terms. Be sure to watch the last scene closely for the only explanation you will get.
Ninja Scroll - One of the more popular samurai animes, the american market funded a sequal. A well plotted adventure
Dagger of Kamui - A much grander Samurai epic, but oddly inferior to Ninja Scroll even though it is more solidly plotted.
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer - A spinoff from an extremely long running TV anime, the film is a wonderful exploration of the power of dreams.
Slayers - The Motion Picture - Time for some light hearted swords and sorcery starring our favorite sorceress, Lina Inverse. Not quite up to the TV show standards, but excellent action.
Mobile Suit Gundam - Macross, in the form of Robotech is far better known in the US, but Gundam is one of the original "Mecha" animes, and certainly the most long running - having about exhausted the alphabet in its various incarnations. Love it or hate it, Gundam references show up almost everywhere in anime, and that alone is reason to watch one of the films. That many are extremely well told adventures is another. The original film, Char's Counter Attack and Endless Waltz are among the better film options.
SDF Macross - Do You Remember Love Film version of the aforementioned original Macross TV show. Its influence is not so much the Mecha as it is the Minmei character. Be careful in renting this if interested in seeing what Robotech was based on, there is a hacked up version of this released as "Clash of the Bionoid" that should be avoided at all costs.

And Finally:
Akira - The graphic violence in this anime is what opened the door in America.

Hello everyone, I will be your co-host for Japan's festival. I'll be trying my best to keep up with deathawk, and hopefully we'll have plenty of support from all of you, to keep this thread going strong.

I'm going to skip the rest of the formalities and get straight to the point. Deathawk has covered a lot of good stuff above (and even more that I haven't seen), so I'll just go ahead and start out with some recommendations for Japanese films that aren't overly obvious (Seven Samurai, Spirited Away, etc).

<center>
Tokyo Drifer (1966; dir. Seijun Suzuki)

Visually goregous, fun, entertaining, bloody film
about a Yakuza gone straight sucked back into
the action. Absolutely wonderful.

Hana-bi (Fireworks) (1997; dir. Takeshi Kitano)

Another fantastic crime drama that combines beauty
and violence exceptionally well, this time told from a
deeply troubled violent cop's perspective.

All About Lily Chou-chou (2001; dir. Shunji Iwai)

A complex, enthralling masterpiece about a group of kids
and how they interact with each other and society through
the internet and a pop-star called Lily Chou Chou.
Once again, beautiful.

Twilight Samurai (2002; dir. Yôji Yamada)

Lowly widower samurai must provide for his daughters
and senile mother, and deal with a past female friend
re-entering his life. I'm going to try to rewatch this for the
festival - I remember loving it at the time, but not too much else. :o

Maborosi (1995 dir. Hirokazu Koreeda)

A film about a women's coping with her husband's
suicide and subsequent remarriage, this film is slow
but deliberate and breathtakingly beautiful.
(Getting repetitive, I know.)

Battle Royale (2002; dir. Kinji Fukasaku)

I'm not sure what else there is to be said - it's sick,
twisted, gory and insane. But I'd be lying if i said it
wasn't highly entertaining and rewatchable.</center>


More stuff to come!

You should also include 'High and Low' in your Kurosawa list. Magnificent movie, somewhat underrated. Check it if you like police dramas.

And if you like Mizoguchi, I guess you should also check some Yasujiro Ozu.

Just my two cents.

I've actually seen only two Kurasawa films. I'm going to really sit down and watch a few during this festival.

Also, I think your warning, deathhawk, for Grave of the Fireflies is not powerful enough. What you could say, is that after watching it, oone is not meerely depressed, they seriously want to jump off a cliff. Actually, I didn't even finish it. My father and I tried watching it and got so down half-way through, we needed to turn it off. Maybe I will try watching it again, but not if I value having a happy weekend afterwards.

Kypade, I hear so much about Battle Royale, and for some reason its been associated with Tarantino in my mind. Did he ever say he liked it? Or maybe that it was one of his influences? I can't remember, but I do hear so much about this one. I think is a compliment to the crime, I will try and see Maborosi.

For you two, I have some recommendations that you might like.

Double Suicide [url=http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/Doublesuicide.php] But you should know, this is one of the few movies that has gone up in my estimation since I watched it (Lantana, for example, was another one). So consider this review very severe, its even better now.

And for something a little newer: Rendan Which I liked. It was a movie about a family while the couple is divorcing. Its got very good character development of the parents. Not as much the two kids, which jump between supporting their mother, father, and antagonizing eachother, but the parents themselves i lived. It was a typical role-reversal, with the father as a stay-at-home dad and the mother as a business woman, but I think it manages to avoid making the two cliches.

Thanks for the warning about Grave of the Fireflies, i'll make sure i'm not feeling depressed before i start watching it! I bought the Studio Ghibli collection on the strength of Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, I hope they're not all as depressing?

Battle Royale is a little gem, it's always been linked in my mind to Tarantino as well, a quick google found this:



Source

But maybe there's more of a connection? i don't know. Just don't be tempted to see the sequel... awful mess of a film.

What, if anything, have either of you two heard about Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri? I see deathawk has Kwaidan listed for him. Its playing big-screen here late next week, and I'm thinking about checking it out if I can squeeze it into my schedule.

Hiya guys.

Cant wait for this to start!!!! I have soooo much to say, lol

What have you seen? Got any recommendations for us that haven't been listed by the hosts?

I'm going to come in (and quickly leave), having said that Battle Royale is one of the most disturbing, disgusting, and fascinating foreign films I have seen. A league of its own, to be sure. Yikes.

You can see it in parts on YouTube if you simply search for it. Finding it was a problem when I decided to watch it, so that worked out well for me.

Kypade, Deathawk, I'm still waiting on your "movie night" suggestions. Please let me know as soon as possible so I can update the schedule.

Can't wait 'til Friday!

Thanks for the pm Kypade.

Everyone, Kypade's movie night selection is Ikiru and it is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 24th. Cheers!

Picked up Ikiru today after work. I'm going to get some studies done and watch it late night as a break. I really haven't seen much of his work, only two films, and they've been the "epic" end of the spectrum. This looks like it might be a bit quieter of a film, so I'm looking foreward to seeing another side of Kurosawa, and I like how it has a modern setting.

meimei .. never was a fan of her though i fell in love with the robotech series. it was great.

I've never understood the love for Akira. Never thought it was that good.

2 films have change the way i see movies and Akira is one of them, i can say that it was one of those films that made me grow up, it is my alltime favorite animated film, a real wonder for me.

This vid on history of anime is awesome.

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Sorry for my absense been swamped at work. I've managed to work my way thru a few Japanese classic's. Never saw seven samurai until this week and I was quite Impressed. It really did feel like a inspiration for the wild bunch. the camera work and charaterisation was point on. admitadly the ending wasn't as jarring or brutal which left me slightly disapointted but overall it was an impressive acheivement.

I watched Grave of the Fireflies for the first time this week as well. Is it depressing? Yes. Is it the best anti-War movie ever made? not sure. I felt the characters were a tad detached from reality in a way (yes I'm not being very clear). But it's message was well delivered.


Battle Royale! Well I've seen it many times before this festival and I still love it. The contrast of the loss of innocence with what is lets be honest a bloodbath is something I always enjoy. For me its a movie that doesn't say much but is still very enjoyable.

I'm busy seeking out some of the the other movies and will give my views as I can.

I've been pretty sick the last few days so I don't really have the energy to post extended thoughts anyway (I wouldn't make any sense anyway...as opposed to all the other time when I make PERFECT sense).

I watched Ikiru. It is a well made, thoughtful, compassionate film. I especially enjoyed the last third of the film with increasingly candid conversation at the wake as well as the next to last scene which contrasts the previous. Great work on the cinematography particularly some of the camera angles in the night shots.

B+