Update 03/18/24: Added production staff details from anime's official website. The upcoming TV anime adaptation of Jyanome's Twilight Out of Focus boys' love manga today revealed a key visual, more cast members and a July 2024 broadcast in Japan. Reprising their roles from the series' audio drama is Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Mao Tsuchiya, Yuma Uchida as Hisashi Otomo, Makoto Furukawa as Jin Kikuchihara, Masatomo Nakazawa as Giichi Ichikawa, Takuya Eguchi as Rei Inaba and Soma Saito as Shion Yoshino. Key Visual Related: Twilight Out of Focus Bl Anime Debuts 1st Teaser Visual Toshinori Watabe ( Teppen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laughing 'til You Cry ) is directing the adaptation at Studio Deen, with series composition by Yoshimi Narita ( Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie ) and character designs by Yoko Kikuchi ( Junjo Romantica ). Kodansha USA publishes an official English version of the manga and describes the story: Second-years Mao Tsuchiya and Hisashi Ohtomo make three promises: 1) That Mao will...
- 3/18/2024
- by Liam Dempsey
- Crunchyroll
Shinya Tsukamoto’s Shadow of Fire begins as a troubling but measured film, but about a half-hour in something happens that shatters its quietude. Suddenly, a man who to this point has been impotent and deferential throws a small boy out a window and begins beating a woman. From the director best-known for Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and whose other films are often similarly stylish and sexually violent, that might not sound like much, but it is precisely the restraint of Shadow of Fire that makes the violence one of the more harrowing moments in Tsukamoto’s growing oeuvre.
Tsukamoto used to make movies at a swift pace: from his 1989 debut Tetsuo to 2011’s Kotoko, a dozen films. Since then, Shadow of Fire is just his third, all three of which are focused in some way on war, and each has taken longer to arrive than the one before. Whether...
Tsukamoto used to make movies at a swift pace: from his 1989 debut Tetsuo to 2011’s Kotoko, a dozen films. Since then, Shadow of Fire is just his third, all three of which are focused in some way on war, and each has taken longer to arrive than the one before. Whether...
- 2/2/2024
- by Forrest Cardamenis
- The Film Stage
Kon Ichikawa's “Tokyo Olympiad” is revolutionary for documentary filmmaking. The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo had been documented and memorialized on film forever in such an atmospheric, emotional, and cinematic grand scope. Audiences could revel in the emotions of watching athletes pour their hearts into their dedicated craft of physical endurance as people worldwide gather to observe.
Tokyo Olympiad is screening at Black Movie
Assembled by the Organizing Committee for the Games of the Xviii Olympiad and financed by the Japanese government, the initial intentions behind the production were quite different from the final product. With the 1964 Olympics commencing in Tokyo, this was viewed as an opportunity for Japan to highlight its accomplishment of postwar economic resurgence. Kon Ichikawa was selected to direct, and his inclusion ultimately steered the documentary originally meant to primarily celebrate the country's modernization into a completely new and arguably more unique direction. “Tokyo Olympiad” was...
Tokyo Olympiad is screening at Black Movie
Assembled by the Organizing Committee for the Games of the Xviii Olympiad and financed by the Japanese government, the initial intentions behind the production were quite different from the final product. With the 1964 Olympics commencing in Tokyo, this was viewed as an opportunity for Japan to highlight its accomplishment of postwar economic resurgence. Kon Ichikawa was selected to direct, and his inclusion ultimately steered the documentary originally meant to primarily celebrate the country's modernization into a completely new and arguably more unique direction. “Tokyo Olympiad” was...
- 1/22/2024
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
Broadcast Rights
U.K. broadcaster ITV has signed a deal with UEFA to become the new home of England men’s soccer qualifying games. All European qualifiers, UEFA Nations League ties and friendlies between major tournaments will be shown on ITV from September 2024 through to June 2028.
The first set of games will be England’s bid to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals in North America, followed by the European qualifiers to UEFA Euro 2028. In total at least 40 games, approximately 10 each season, will be shown by ITV over the period this new rights deal covers.
ITV had previously held the rights for England European qualifiers from 2018 until 2022 and were succeeded by Channel 4. ITV currently holds the rights to show the UEFA Euro 2024 and 2028 tournaments, sharing coverage with the BBC.
ITV also holds broadcast rights for England women’s soccer team games until 2025 and shared rights for the FIFA Women...
U.K. broadcaster ITV has signed a deal with UEFA to become the new home of England men’s soccer qualifying games. All European qualifiers, UEFA Nations League ties and friendlies between major tournaments will be shown on ITV from September 2024 through to June 2028.
The first set of games will be England’s bid to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals in North America, followed by the European qualifiers to UEFA Euro 2028. In total at least 40 games, approximately 10 each season, will be shown by ITV over the period this new rights deal covers.
ITV had previously held the rights for England European qualifiers from 2018 until 2022 and were succeeded by Channel 4. ITV currently holds the rights to show the UEFA Euro 2024 and 2028 tournaments, sharing coverage with the BBC.
ITV also holds broadcast rights for England women’s soccer team games until 2025 and shared rights for the FIFA Women...
- 9/18/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The ambassador of the Film Heritage Foundation (Fhf), and megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who unveiled the poster of ‘Olympics in Reel Life – A Festival of Films and Photographs’, said it will remind us of the achievements of the Indian Olympians. As India gears up to host the International Olympic Committee (Ioc) session after 40 years, and amid talk of Indian interest in hosting a future edition of the Olympic Games, the Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation, and Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland have joined hands to present ‘Olympics in Reel Life – A Festival of Films and Photographs.’ The festival is in collaboration with The National Centre for Performing Arts (Ncpa), and India International Centre (Iic).
During the release of the poster, Big B was joined by Film Heritage Foundation Director, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur; Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra; hockey legend M.M. Somaya; and the renowned Badminton player Aparna Popat.
Talking about the same,...
During the release of the poster, Big B was joined by Film Heritage Foundation Director, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur; Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra; hockey legend M.M. Somaya; and the renowned Badminton player Aparna Popat.
Talking about the same,...
- 9/17/2023
- by Agency News Desk
The ambassador of the Film Heritage Foundation (Fhf), and megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who unveiled the poster of ‘Olympics in Reel Life – A Festival of Films and Photographs’, said it will remind us of the achievements of the Indian Olympians. As India gears up to host the International Olympic Committee (Ioc) session after 40 years, and amid talk of Indian interest in hosting a future edition of the Olympic Games, the Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation, and Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland have joined hands to present ‘Olympics in Reel Life – A Festival of Films and Photographs.’ The festival is in collaboration with The National Centre for Performing Arts (Ncpa), and India International Centre (Iic).
During the release of the poster, Big B was joined by Film Heritage Foundation Director, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur; Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra; hockey legend M.M. Somaya; and the renowned Badminton player Aparna Popat.
Talking about the same,...
During the release of the poster, Big B was joined by Film Heritage Foundation Director, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur; Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra; hockey legend M.M. Somaya; and the renowned Badminton player Aparna Popat.
Talking about the same,...
- 9/17/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
After years of countless propaganda productions orchestrated by an aggressive government with ultra-nationalistic desires, Japanese cinema started to see more of a pacifistic approach to the sensitive topic of World War II following its conclusion. Yet, plenty of filmmakers in Japan were not proud of the country's war activity and their leaders at the time. Directors like Akira Kurosawa would go on to shamefully disown the jingoistic projects that were assigned to them to make during the Second World War. Fast forward to 1952; once the American occupation was lifted, bold directors like Masaki Kobayashi, Ishiro Honda, and Kihachi Okamoto were free to make anti-war features presented on a more honest and grander scale. For filmmaker Kon Ichikawa, “The Burmese Harp” was his opportunity to express his distaste for the concept of war and his admiration for humanistic values.
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
The...
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
The...
- 5/8/2023
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
The story of the forty-seven ronin of Ako avenging their fallen master is a significant historical event in Japanese history that has practically gone down as a legend. The events that transpired have frequently been retold in media, most notably in literature through the fictionalized accounts known as “Chushingura.” In addition, many retellings of the vengeful retainers' plot for revenge have been depicted in traditional theater and in cinema. Filmmakers that have directed their depictions include Kenji Mizoguchi, Kunio Watanabe, and Hiroshi Inagaki. Of the countless cinematic renditions, one of the more underrated and unique is Kon Ichikawa's “47 Ronin.”
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Director Kon Ichikawa, who had directed a fair share of period pieces beforehand like “An Actor's Revenge” and “The Wanderers,” had expressed interest in adapting “Chushingura” for quite some time. He was finally given the opportunity towards the approaching end of his career.
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Director Kon Ichikawa, who had directed a fair share of period pieces beforehand like “An Actor's Revenge” and “The Wanderers,” had expressed interest in adapting “Chushingura” for quite some time. He was finally given the opportunity towards the approaching end of his career.
- 5/4/2023
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
Novelist Shohei Ooka would captivate readers with his anti-war novel “Fires on the Plain,” published in 1951. Inspired by his personal experiences from being drafted as a soldier, Ooka's chilling story depicts the gruesome violence and insanity that occurred during the Imperial Japanese Army's last stand in the Philippines on the island of Leyte during World War II. The award-winning book was praised for its gripping storytelling and raw examination of the horrors of war. With the success of the title, there were talks for a film adaptation for quite a while. Eventually, the nightmarish narrative would be superbly adapted for cinemas with Kon Ichikawa's “Fires on the Plain.”
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Daiei Film greenlighted the project, and the studio's president, Masaichi Nagata, would produce it. Kon Ichikawa would direct, and his wife, Natto Wada, would write the screenplay. There was initial...
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
Daiei Film greenlighted the project, and the studio's president, Masaichi Nagata, would produce it. Kon Ichikawa would direct, and his wife, Natto Wada, would write the screenplay. There was initial...
- 3/28/2023
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japanese entertainment industry has lost a truly marvelous talent. On January 15th, 2023, versatile character actor Noboru Mitani passed away at the age of 90. On the website Yahoo! Japan, Kyodo News reports the cause of death being “due to acute exacerbation of chronic heart failure”( Kyodo News 1). Mitani worked with an array of filmmakers, frequently appearing in the works of Kinji Fukasaku and Juzo Itami. He was also quite active in television and theatre. Tokusatsu fans may recognize him for his appearances in “Return of Ultraman,” “Ultraman Taro,” and “Space Sheriff Gavan,” while anime enthusiasts may remember him for voice acting in the series “Princess Tutu.” His wide range, colorful personality, and how real he could make his characters feel made him stand out as an actor. He also was often able to convey so much through his facial expressions alone, even in moments without dialogue.
Noboru Mitani and Hiroyuki Kawase...
Noboru Mitani and Hiroyuki Kawase...
- 2/3/2023
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film Forum
One of the most exciting series of 2022 is a study of the Taiwanese New Wave that goes beyond Hou, Yang, and Tsai—included though they are.
Roxy Cinema
Lost Highway has a rare 35mm screening on Saturday, while a two-part experimental animation festival gets underway; Paul Schrader’s Hardcore screens on Friday.
Museum of the Moving Image
Documentary filmmaker Noriaki Tsuchimoto is given his first-ever U.S. retrospective, while The Cotton Club Encore screens on Friday and Saturday.
Bam
A series on unlikable characters includes The Heartbreak Kid and films by Maren Ade, Catherine Breillat, and Dan Sallitt.
Anthology Film Archives
A series of UFO films begins, including Close Encounters and the X-Files movie on 35mm.
Japan Society
A 4K restoration of Kon Ichikawa’s Her Brother screens this Sunday, while his Mishima adaptation Conflagration plays on Monday.
Film Forum
One of the most exciting series of 2022 is a study of the Taiwanese New Wave that goes beyond Hou, Yang, and Tsai—included though they are.
Roxy Cinema
Lost Highway has a rare 35mm screening on Saturday, while a two-part experimental animation festival gets underway; Paul Schrader’s Hardcore screens on Friday.
Museum of the Moving Image
Documentary filmmaker Noriaki Tsuchimoto is given his first-ever U.S. retrospective, while The Cotton Club Encore screens on Friday and Saturday.
Bam
A series on unlikable characters includes The Heartbreak Kid and films by Maren Ade, Catherine Breillat, and Dan Sallitt.
Anthology Film Archives
A series of UFO films begins, including Close Encounters and the X-Files movie on 35mm.
Japan Society
A 4K restoration of Kon Ichikawa’s Her Brother screens this Sunday, while his Mishima adaptation Conflagration plays on Monday.
- 11/10/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Kicking off next week, Japan Society and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan will present an essential look at the remarkable and overlooked contributions of women in contemporary Japanese cinema. “The Female Gaze: Women Filmmakers from Japan Cuts and Beyond,” which takes place November 11 through 20, focuses on the essential roles that female artists play from behind the camera in Japanese cinema—ranging from directing and screenwriting to production and cinematography. Ahead of the Aca Cinema Project series, we’re pleased to exclusively debut the festival trailer along with the announcement of the Closing Night selection.
Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75, a Cannes winner and Japan’s selection for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, will make its East Coast Premiere to close out the festival. The film imagines a near future in which Japan’s aging crisis has hit critical levels, resulting in a government initiative...
Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75, a Cannes winner and Japan’s selection for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, will make its East Coast Premiere to close out the festival. The film imagines a near future in which Japan’s aging crisis has hit critical levels, resulting in a government initiative...
- 11/2/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A survey of the growing prominence and visibility of women in film, the latest Aca Cinema Project series The Female Gaze: Women Filmmakers
from Japan Cuts and Beyond focuses on the essential roles that female artists play from behind the camera in Japanese cinema—ranging from directing and screenwriting to production and cinematography. Presenting an exciting array of screenings and premieres—that include
new mainstream and independent works from Japan Cuts alumni and rising talents alongside a classics selection—The Female Gaze offers a much-needed deep dive into the remarkable and overlooked contributions of women in contemporary Japanese cinema.
Kicking off on November 11 with the North American premiere of Japan Cuts favorite Akiko Ohku’s Wedding High followed by a post-screening discussion and Q&a with the filmmaker and an opening night party, The Female Gaze continues with the latest works of Japan Cuts alumni Riho Kudo (Orphan Blues) and...
from Japan Cuts and Beyond focuses on the essential roles that female artists play from behind the camera in Japanese cinema—ranging from directing and screenwriting to production and cinematography. Presenting an exciting array of screenings and premieres—that include
new mainstream and independent works from Japan Cuts alumni and rising talents alongside a classics selection—The Female Gaze offers a much-needed deep dive into the remarkable and overlooked contributions of women in contemporary Japanese cinema.
Kicking off on November 11 with the North American premiere of Japan Cuts favorite Akiko Ohku’s Wedding High followed by a post-screening discussion and Q&a with the filmmaker and an opening night party, The Female Gaze continues with the latest works of Japan Cuts alumni Riho Kudo (Orphan Blues) and...
- 10/22/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
With so many great Japanese directors who made a name for themselves, it is always interesting to see some collaborate. One of the most interesting collaborative efforts was the company “Yonki-no-Kai,” which translates to the “Club of the Four Knights,” established in 1969 by filmmakers Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kon Ichikawa. The group of friends put together this effort to support one another, as the film industry in Japan at the time was in a state of financial hardships. Yet, things did not go according to plan with Kurosawa’s film “Dodes’ka-den,” being a box-office failure, leading to many projects being shelved. The four wrote a jidaigeki feature that would go unmade for a long-time when they couldn’t raise funds to make it. Years later, following the passing of his companions, Ichikawa would eventually be able to direct this initially canceled feature while...
- 10/6/2022
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
While budgets were far more compromised in the 1970s, there would be a rise in more bold and unorthodox cinema coming from the Japanese film industry. Norms were challenged before in the previous decades, but it was more rampant at this point than before, so much that there was an increase in projects that tread the line of exploitation. There was a surge in pessimistic samurai movies, and yakuza features practically became a recurring norm in entertainment. By this point, versatile filmmaker Kon Ichikawa had already challenged audiences with many of his pictures. He would do that again in his surreal jidaigeki work “The Wanderers,” also known as “Matatabi.”
Even for an Art Theatre Guild project, “The Wanderers” is made on compromised funding. Kon Ichikawa and his team filmed entirely on location in Nagano Prefecture and even utilized abandoned houses for some of the set pieces in the narrative. For the director,...
Even for an Art Theatre Guild project, “The Wanderers” is made on compromised funding. Kon Ichikawa and his team filmed entirely on location in Nagano Prefecture and even utilized abandoned houses for some of the set pieces in the narrative. For the director,...
- 8/9/2022
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
The psychological effect war has on the human mind is unimaginable. Following the end of World War II, many anti-war projects would come out of the Japanese entertainment industry from visionaries like Kon Ichikawa, Kaneto Shindo, and Masaki Kobayashi. Jingoistic propaganda was no longer as common and wasn’t being forced upon artists anymore by militarists. Many post-war Japanese war films stand by a humanist nature while reminding audiences how horrific errors should not be repeated. A notable reminder of evolving from past mistakes in history is the superb political thriller “Japan’s Longest Day.”
Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Kazutoshi Hando and Soichi Oya, this haunting recollection of disturbing events would kickstart the “Toho 8.15 series,” a collection of war movies that recreate Japan’s war history. Fittingly, nihilistic filmmaker and anti-war advocate Kihachi Okamoto would be appointed as the movie’s director and frequent...
Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Kazutoshi Hando and Soichi Oya, this haunting recollection of disturbing events would kickstart the “Toho 8.15 series,” a collection of war movies that recreate Japan’s war history. Fittingly, nihilistic filmmaker and anti-war advocate Kihachi Okamoto would be appointed as the movie’s director and frequent...
- 8/3/2022
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
Third adaptation of Toson Shimazaki’s classic novel “Hakai”, after the ones by Keisuke Kinoshita in 1948 and Kon Ichikawa in 1962, Kazuo Maeda’s edition marks the centenary of Japan’s first-ever human rights declaration, which argued that Burakumin (aka Eta and untouchables), Zainichi Koreans, Ainu and other “disadvantaged minorities” deserve the same respect and freedoms accorded to others, and is set during the Russo-Japanese War.
Broken Commandment is screening on New York Asian Film Festival
Ushimatsu Segawa is a respected teacher in an elementary school, cherished by both his colleagues and his students. However, he harbors a dark secret, as he is actually a burakumin whose father sent him away when he was a child, insisting he never reveals his origin, in an effort to have him avoid the fate of the lower classes. The initial scene, where an older man is kicked from a hotel upon the discovery that he is an Eta,...
Broken Commandment is screening on New York Asian Film Festival
Ushimatsu Segawa is a respected teacher in an elementary school, cherished by both his colleagues and his students. However, he harbors a dark secret, as he is actually a burakumin whose father sent him away when he was a child, insisting he never reveals his origin, in an effort to have him avoid the fate of the lower classes. The initial scene, where an older man is kicked from a hotel upon the discovery that he is an Eta,...
- 7/29/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Hiroshi Inagaki’s “Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto” was a critical and box office success. It was time to continue the narrative in the second entry of “The Samurai Trilogy.” Inagaki would raise more stakes, and much of Musashi’s history would be covered, albeit in a more theatrically romanticized way. Also, a major player in the narrative would be introduced, one that would participate in a significant event in the life of Musashi Miyamoto. So much content would be covered in the entertaining follow-up “Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple.”
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A majority of the cast from the previous returned, but some were recast here. Rentaro Mikuni was replaced in the part of Matahachi Honiden by Sachio Sakai. This change was likely due to Mikuni’s demanding schedule as he became more and more of a popular star in Japan. The renowned talent would work with...
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A majority of the cast from the previous returned, but some were recast here. Rentaro Mikuni was replaced in the part of Matahachi Honiden by Sachio Sakai. This change was likely due to Mikuni’s demanding schedule as he became more and more of a popular star in Japan. The renowned talent would work with...
- 7/15/2022
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
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Japanese auteur and Cannes favorite Naomi Kawase has been accused of violent behavior towards her staff and crew, including an assault that left an employee’s face swollen.
In May 2019 on the set of True Mothers, an assistant director touched Kawase to point out there was an issue with a shot. Though there is no suggestion that the contact was inappropriate, Kawase reportedly shouted “What do you think you are doing?” at the assistant director and kicked him in the stomach.
The entire cinematography team, led by Yuta Tsukinaga, resigned from the shoot following the incident. After the Tokyo-based weekly magazine and scoop factory Shukan Bunshun broke the story, Kawase said on her company’s website that the matter had been settled internally.
However, the magazine then wrote about an incident in October 2015, when Kawase reportedly assaulted a staff member at her production...
Japanese auteur and Cannes favorite Naomi Kawase has been accused of violent behavior towards her staff and crew, including an assault that left an employee’s face swollen.
In May 2019 on the set of True Mothers, an assistant director touched Kawase to point out there was an issue with a shot. Though there is no suggestion that the contact was inappropriate, Kawase reportedly shouted “What do you think you are doing?” at the assistant director and kicked him in the stomach.
The entire cinematography team, led by Yuta Tsukinaga, resigned from the shoot following the incident. After the Tokyo-based weekly magazine and scoop factory Shukan Bunshun broke the story, Kawase said on her company’s website that the matter had been settled internally.
However, the magazine then wrote about an incident in October 2015, when Kawase reportedly assaulted a staff member at her production...
- 6/7/2022
- by Gavin J Blair
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Cannes Film Festival has set its lineup for this year’s Cannes Classics program, which shines a spotlight on restorations of classic movies and features contemporary documentaries about film. Kicking off the sidebar is Jean Eustache’s controversial film The Mother and the Whore, the 1973 Cannes Grand Prize winner which incited riots at the time. Also included in the program are films by Vittorio de Sica (Sciuscià), Satyajit Ray (The Adversary), Orson Welles (The Trial) and Martin Scorsese (The Last Waltz), as well as a new 4K master of Singin’ in the Rain to mark the movie’s 70th anniversary.
Among the documentaries is Ethan Hawke’s study of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, The Last Movie Stars. Executive produced by Scorsese, it features Karen Allen, George Clooney, Oscar Isaac, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Zoe Kazan, Laura Linney and Sam Rockwell among others in an exploration of the iconic couple and American cinema.
Among the documentaries is Ethan Hawke’s study of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, The Last Movie Stars. Executive produced by Scorsese, it features Karen Allen, George Clooney, Oscar Isaac, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Zoe Kazan, Laura Linney and Sam Rockwell among others in an exploration of the iconic couple and American cinema.
- 5/2/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
This year’s line-up will also celebrate classics such as Singin’ In The Rain and Indian director Satyajit Ray’s 1970 work The Adversary.
Late French filmmaker Jean Eustache’s recently restored cult 1973 drama The Mother And The Whore will open Cannes Classics this year, the line-up for which was announced on Monday (May 2).
Other highlights include two episodes of the series The Last Movie Stars directed by Ethan Hawke about Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; a screening of Singin’ In The Rain to coincide with the 70th anniversary of its release and a restored 4K version of Vittorio de Sica’s 1946 work Sciuscià.
Late French filmmaker Jean Eustache’s recently restored cult 1973 drama The Mother And The Whore will open Cannes Classics this year, the line-up for which was announced on Monday (May 2).
Other highlights include two episodes of the series The Last Movie Stars directed by Ethan Hawke about Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; a screening of Singin’ In The Rain to coincide with the 70th anniversary of its release and a restored 4K version of Vittorio de Sica’s 1946 work Sciuscià.
- 5/2/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Olympic competition has long been fertile ground for filmmakers across the world. Both documentary and feature film directors have centred their visions around the world’s largest sporting event, focusing their storytelling eye on the whirlwind of human sporting excellence. The inherent drama of the Olympic events draws enormous crowds and competitors from the four corners of the world, to share the spectacle of human excellence under the most breathtaking conditions.
While some filmmakers strive to capture the essence of the games, such as Kon Ichikawa’s triumphant three hour celebration of the 1964 games in Tokyo Olympiad, others seek to use the event as backdrop for the more human stories. Recent films such as Dexter Fletcher’s Eddie the Eagle, Craig Gillespie’s I,Tonya, Bennett Miller’s bleak and weighty Foxcatcher and even Steven Spielberg, whose 2005 film Munich stands alongside Kevin Macdonald’s gripping One Day in September, chronicled...
While some filmmakers strive to capture the essence of the games, such as Kon Ichikawa’s triumphant three hour celebration of the 1964 games in Tokyo Olympiad, others seek to use the event as backdrop for the more human stories. Recent films such as Dexter Fletcher’s Eddie the Eagle, Craig Gillespie’s I,Tonya, Bennett Miller’s bleak and weighty Foxcatcher and even Steven Spielberg, whose 2005 film Munich stands alongside Kevin Macdonald’s gripping One Day in September, chronicled...
- 2/4/2022
- by Michael Walsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The BFI today announces highlights of the UK-wide programme for BFI Japan 2021: 100 Years Of Japanese Cinema, coming to cinemas from October – December 2021. Highlights of the celebration will include a BFI re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954), a BFI Japan Tour, featuring classics from Yasujirō Ozu and Akira Kurosawa, alongside cult titles from Kon Ichikawa and Toshio Matsumoto, which will feature many new 4K restorations and visit cinemas across the UK. For audiences who cannot attend a screening in their local cinema, there is a vast BFI Japan programme online on BFI Player Subscription. The BFI is also working closely with the National Lottery funded BFI Film Audience Network (Fan) to enable cinemas across the UK to host special screenings and events as part of BFI Japan.
Seasons and events will include Day For Night’s Urban, Natural, Human – exploring Japan on screen programme, showing at Home, Manchester, Close-Up...
Seasons and events will include Day For Night’s Urban, Natural, Human – exploring Japan on screen programme, showing at Home, Manchester, Close-Up...
- 10/6/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
While Western cinema all too often equates film noir with retro pastiche and period fare, Chinese filmmakers continue to sustain the genre in bracingly contemporary, socially relevant ways — often sneaking a wealth of political and economic commentary past censors and straight into their sleek underworld narratives. Zhang Ji’s remarkable debut feature, “Fire on the Plain,” follows in this rich tradition: On the surface, it’s a grand, expansive yarn meshing cool policier with . A collective sense of yearning for other lives and other options runs through the well-oiled mechanics of the plot, elevating this San Sebastian competition standout from merely compelling to truly stirring.
Former cinematographer Zhang is best known for his work on Zhang Bingjian’s “North by Northeast,” and this is about as fully formed as first features come — matching the technical finesse you might expect, given his background, to real storytelling brio. If “Fire on the Plain...
Former cinematographer Zhang is best known for his work on Zhang Bingjian’s “North by Northeast,” and this is about as fully formed as first features come — matching the technical finesse you might expect, given his background, to real storytelling brio. If “Fire on the Plain...
- 9/28/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The 1964 Olympics in Tokyo was a special time for Japan, marking the first major international event to take place in the country in the post-war world. Naturally, coverage leading up to the games was massive, and cinema was taken full advantage of to get the nation excited about the upcoming games. Aside from the titanic effort that is Kon Ichikawa’s “Tokyo Olympiad”, there were many smaller documentaries produced in and around the competition, one of which was Kazuo Kuroki’s “Record of a Marathon Runner”.
Record of a Marathon Runner screened at Japanese Avant-Garde and Experimental Film Festival
Now, I must confess right from the off that it’s seemingly impossible to find a version of Kuroki’s film available with English subtitles, so as for the content of the narration, I cannot comment. However, if a film manages to keep you engaged in the way that “Record of a Marathon Runner” did,...
Record of a Marathon Runner screened at Japanese Avant-Garde and Experimental Film Festival
Now, I must confess right from the off that it’s seemingly impossible to find a version of Kuroki’s film available with English subtitles, so as for the content of the narration, I cannot comment. However, if a film manages to keep you engaged in the way that “Record of a Marathon Runner” did,...
- 9/20/2021
- by Tom Wilmot
- AsianMoviePulse
Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival announces full programme for Jaeff 2021: Bodies in advance of ticket sales on 22 July. Jaeff 2021: Bodies will be held at The Barbican from 16-19th September, and online from 20th-30th September.
Jaeff 2021: Bodies explores how we interact with other beings, spaces around us, and how expressions of the unutterable become vital means of communication and connection.
This third edition of the Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival considers the body and sensation, and features work from directors Kon Ichikawa, Toshio Matsumoto, Susumu Hani, Chiaki Nagano, Takahiko Iimura, Tatsumi Kumashiro, Shuji Terayama and more.
In a time where words, facts and logic are increasingly ineffectual, powerless and absurd, this year’s programme attempts to make sense of the nonsensical. Finding that sometimes, the most powerful form of expression is often what we feel, rather than what we can say, write, or even think.
Jaeff 2021: Bodies explores how we interact with other beings, spaces around us, and how expressions of the unutterable become vital means of communication and connection.
This third edition of the Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival considers the body and sensation, and features work from directors Kon Ichikawa, Toshio Matsumoto, Susumu Hani, Chiaki Nagano, Takahiko Iimura, Tatsumi Kumashiro, Shuji Terayama and more.
In a time where words, facts and logic are increasingly ineffectual, powerless and absurd, this year’s programme attempts to make sense of the nonsensical. Finding that sometimes, the most powerful form of expression is often what we feel, rather than what we can say, write, or even think.
- 7/19/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival are very excited to announce their full programme for Jaeff 2021: Bodies. Curated alongside the delayed 2020 Olympics, this year’s festival aims to explore the human body – in motion, at rest, in agony and in ecstasy.
Tickets go on sale to Barbican Members on 21 July, and to the general public on the 22nd. Stay tuned to our socials for further info (and links!).
Jaeff look forward to seeing you this Autumn!
Thursday 16/9
18:00 – Nanami: The Inferno of First Love + A.I. Mama
Friday 17/9
18:00 Portrait of Mr O + Anma + Rose Color Dance + In Passing
20:30 – Lovers are Wet
Saturday 18/9
Navel and a Bomb
17:50 – Boxer + Transparent, the world is.
Sunday 19/9
11:00 – Japan’s Cinematic Body (Panel Discussion)
13:20 Nippon Express Carries the Olympics to Tokyo + Tokyo Story
16:00 – Tokyo Olympiad...
Tickets go on sale to Barbican Members on 21 July, and to the general public on the 22nd. Stay tuned to our socials for further info (and links!).
Jaeff look forward to seeing you this Autumn!
Thursday 16/9
18:00 – Nanami: The Inferno of First Love + A.I. Mama
Friday 17/9
18:00 Portrait of Mr O + Anma + Rose Color Dance + In Passing
20:30 – Lovers are Wet
Saturday 18/9
Navel and a Bomb
17:50 – Boxer + Transparent, the world is.
Sunday 19/9
11:00 – Japan’s Cinematic Body (Panel Discussion)
13:20 Nippon Express Carries the Olympics to Tokyo + Tokyo Story
16:00 – Tokyo Olympiad...
- 7/18/2021
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Closeup of Fay Wray from Doctor X after restoration work. Image from https://www.cinema.ucla.eduNEWSAfter working together in the film Rojo (2018), director Benjamin Naishtat and actor Alfredo Castro reunite to talk about the terror, pleasure and mystery involved in the process of creating a film. They agree that for both director and actor, the seed of creation is the irrationality of madness, and that uncertainty is an essential factor in filmmaking. Castro and Naishtat call for a subversive cinema that cannot be domesticated by current narrative paradigms and that is also capable of using the imagination as a means and a catalyst to reinterpret our history. To listen to this episode and subscribe on your favorite podcast app, click here.The great French film director Jacques Rozier is being evicted from his...
- 7/14/2021
- MUBI
The Souvenir: Part II Cannes, Day 3: early in the festival, late in the night. I began my first dispatch wondering what the films here would have to say about the past two years, and already a few seem to raise questions that we’ve all been forced to wrestle with in these pandemic times. What is it that makes up a community? What does it mean to exist without one? In Nadav Lapid’s incendiary Ahed’s Knee, screening in the official competition, the dilemmas take place on a national scale. Avshalom Pollak plays Y, a Tel Aviv director in his forties who travels to a remote village in Israel’s Arava region for a screening of his latest work. There, he’s greeted by Yahalom (Nur Fibak), a young officer for the Ministry of Culture who’s there to make sure the Q&a will only touch upon a list of “sanctioned” topics.
- 7/10/2021
- MUBI
It is the second film by French director Arthur Harari.
French director Arthur Harari’s second feature Onoda - 10 000 Nights In The Jungle has been revealed as the opening film of Un Certain Regard at Cannes next month.
This brings the number of films due to be showcased in the section to 20.
The film follows real-life Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda who was sent to an island in the Philippines in 1944, to fight against the US offensive. When Japan surrendered, Onoda, who has been trained to survive in the jungle, refused to capitulate and kept his war going. It took 10 000 days...
French director Arthur Harari’s second feature Onoda - 10 000 Nights In The Jungle has been revealed as the opening film of Un Certain Regard at Cannes next month.
This brings the number of films due to be showcased in the section to 20.
The film follows real-life Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda who was sent to an island in the Philippines in 1944, to fight against the US offensive. When Japan surrendered, Onoda, who has been trained to survive in the jungle, refused to capitulate and kept his war going. It took 10 000 days...
- 6/14/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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When you think about summer movies, big-budget blockbusters tend to come to mind. But it’s smart to diversify your viewing list. For the movie lovers who enjoy watching films in stunning clarity with bonus-scenes and extra content, all from the comforts of home, Criterion Collection Blu-rays are the way to go. To help with your summer movie list, we rounded up a handful of new Criterion Collection movies due out this month, and that you can pre-order right now. The selection includes LGBTQ stories to celebrate Pride Month, a gripping documentary on homeless teens, and much more. Below, find our selection of Criterion Collection Blu-rays to pre-order for the month of June,...
When you think about summer movies, big-budget blockbusters tend to come to mind. But it’s smart to diversify your viewing list. For the movie lovers who enjoy watching films in stunning clarity with bonus-scenes and extra content, all from the comforts of home, Criterion Collection Blu-rays are the way to go. To help with your summer movie list, we rounded up a handful of new Criterion Collection movies due out this month, and that you can pre-order right now. The selection includes LGBTQ stories to celebrate Pride Month, a gripping documentary on homeless teens, and much more. Below, find our selection of Criterion Collection Blu-rays to pre-order for the month of June,...
- 6/1/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
Passing The Torch
Aim for the Best: Sports in Japanese Cinema
May 7- 28
A highlight of Japan Society’s Passing the Torch-series, these three curated films celebrate the history of Japanese athletics with a selection of documentaries and a live action film presented in anticipation of the upcoming Tokyo 2021 Summer Games. Included is Kon Ichikawa’s rarely-seen baseball documentary, “Youth”—premiering for the first time in North America with brand-new subtitles by Japan Society.
Individual Tickets: $10 / 3-Film Bundle: $24 / Japan Society Members: 20% off.
Aim for the Best: Sports in Japanese Cinema
May 7- 28
A highlight of Japan Society’s Passing the Torch-series, these three curated films celebrate the history of Japanese athletics with a selection of documentaries and a live action film presented in anticipation of the upcoming Tokyo 2021 Summer Games. Included is Kon Ichikawa’s rarely-seen baseball documentary, “Youth”—premiering for the first time in North America with brand-new subtitles by Japan Society.
Individual Tickets: $10 / 3-Film Bundle: $24 / Japan Society Members: 20% off.
- 5/15/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The Criterion Collection’s June 2021 lineup has been unveiled, led by Masaki Kobayashi’s staggering, 9.5-hour epic The Human Condition, a seven-film set dedicated to poignant, incisive works of Marlon Riggs, best known for Tongues Untied, and Dee Rees’ acclaimed debut Pariah.
One of the greatest film noirs, Samuel Fuller’s immensely entertaining Pickup on South Street, will also get a release, along with Martin Bell’s two-film series Streetwise and Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell, and the Munich 1972 Olympics feature Visions of Eight, with contributions by Miloš Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch, Juri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger, and Mai Zetterling.
Check out the cover art for each below and see more here.
The post The Criterion Collection's June Lineup Includes The Human Condition, Marlon Riggs, Pariah & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
One of the greatest film noirs, Samuel Fuller’s immensely entertaining Pickup on South Street, will also get a release, along with Martin Bell’s two-film series Streetwise and Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell, and the Munich 1972 Olympics feature Visions of Eight, with contributions by Miloš Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch, Juri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger, and Mai Zetterling.
Check out the cover art for each below and see more here.
The post The Criterion Collection's June Lineup Includes The Human Condition, Marlon Riggs, Pariah & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 3/15/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Ever since his international breakthrough with “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto has been a constant presence on many film festivals. His body of work includes such titles as “Bullet Ballet”, “A Snake of June” and “Fires on a Plain”, most of which discuss the link between body and spirit as well as the changes the body goes through in the face of at times hostile circumstances.
At this year’s Nippon Connection in Frankfurt Tsukamoto was given the Nippon Honor Award for his role as a representative of Japanese film and culture. Asian Movie Pulse met with the director to talk about his new film “Killing”, his inspirations for the project and the possibility of a new “Tetsuo”.
A Collection of Shinya Tsukamoto’s movies are screening on Mubi
First of all thanks for agreeing to this interview. It is an honor to speak with you. Just...
At this year’s Nippon Connection in Frankfurt Tsukamoto was given the Nippon Honor Award for his role as a representative of Japanese film and culture. Asian Movie Pulse met with the director to talk about his new film “Killing”, his inspirations for the project and the possibility of a new “Tetsuo”.
A Collection of Shinya Tsukamoto’s movies are screening on Mubi
First of all thanks for agreeing to this interview. It is an honor to speak with you. Just...
- 11/8/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
By Nicholas Poly
In this article I’m going to take a peek on a double bill. The first title is Kon Ichikawa’s intriguing mystery drama ‘The Inugami Family’ aka ‘The Inugamis’, which was released back in 1976. The second one is Masato Harada’s ‘Inugami’ which was released 25 years later, in 2001.
The interesting fact is the inugami ‘effect’ itself, in both films, which is also the obvious link between the two titles. It must be stressed though, that the theme is presented from a completely different angle in each one of these features. This means that there is no apparent ‘technical’ or ‘artistic’ relation between the two films. Harada’s film is nor a remake neither some kind of ‘hommage’ on Ichikawa’s title. Each one of the films forms a cinematic universe of its own, despite the dramatic overtones and symbolisms that reflect in both features.
Buy This...
In this article I’m going to take a peek on a double bill. The first title is Kon Ichikawa’s intriguing mystery drama ‘The Inugami Family’ aka ‘The Inugamis’, which was released back in 1976. The second one is Masato Harada’s ‘Inugami’ which was released 25 years later, in 2001.
The interesting fact is the inugami ‘effect’ itself, in both films, which is also the obvious link between the two titles. It must be stressed though, that the theme is presented from a completely different angle in each one of these features. This means that there is no apparent ‘technical’ or ‘artistic’ relation between the two films. Harada’s film is nor a remake neither some kind of ‘hommage’ on Ichikawa’s title. Each one of the films forms a cinematic universe of its own, despite the dramatic overtones and symbolisms that reflect in both features.
Buy This...
- 8/2/2020
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
In the absence of this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, why not dive into Japanese cinema instead, beginning with an Olympic classic…
This was supposed to be the month when all eyes would be on Japan, with the presumably lavish festivities for the Tokyo Olympic Games due to kick off shortly. It’s rather surreal to imagine any such scenario now: perhaps, in a year’s time, the hype of an Olympics won’t feel like such an alien concept, though even that feels soon for such a different world to come back into being.
In the meantime, if you are feeling a Tokyo 2020-shaped hole in your life, there is a nostalgic solution. The Olympic Channel, amid its bevy of Games-related video content, has the magnificent Tokyo Olympiad available to stream for free. Kon Ichikawa’s ravishing, nearly three-hour official documentary of the 1964 event belongs in the pantheon of great sporting documentaries,...
This was supposed to be the month when all eyes would be on Japan, with the presumably lavish festivities for the Tokyo Olympic Games due to kick off shortly. It’s rather surreal to imagine any such scenario now: perhaps, in a year’s time, the hype of an Olympics won’t feel like such an alien concept, though even that feels soon for such a different world to come back into being.
In the meantime, if you are feeling a Tokyo 2020-shaped hole in your life, there is a nostalgic solution. The Olympic Channel, amid its bevy of Games-related video content, has the magnificent Tokyo Olympiad available to stream for free. Kon Ichikawa’s ravishing, nearly three-hour official documentary of the 1964 event belongs in the pantheon of great sporting documentaries,...
- 7/18/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Ever since the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the International Olympic Committee has commissioned films of the games to be produced in collaboration with their host countries; though many of them are relatively traditional sports documentaries, there are a handful – such as the experimental anthology film Visions of Eight, which chronicles the 1972 Summer Olympics via segments by Arthur Penn, Milos Forman, John Schlesinger, and other major directors – that are cinematically significant even for viewers who couldn’t care less about anything athletic. The best of the Olympic films that I’ve seen is Kon Ichikawa’s 1965 masterpiece Tokyo Olympiad, a […]...
- 6/27/2020
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Ever since the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the International Olympic Committee has commissioned films of the games to be produced in collaboration with their host countries; though many of them are relatively traditional sports documentaries, there are a handful – such as the experimental anthology film Visions of Eight, which chronicles the 1972 Summer Olympics via segments by Arthur Penn, Milos Forman, John Schlesinger, and other major directors – that are cinematically significant even for viewers who couldn’t care less about anything athletic. The best of the Olympic films that I’ve seen is Kon Ichikawa’s 1965 masterpiece Tokyo Olympiad, a […]...
- 6/27/2020
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Will there even be an Olympics in our foreseeable future? Kon Ichikawa’s 1964 masterpiece is still the most spectacular/intimate film about human athletics ever, a celebration of the human body and its abilities. An epic for people that don’t necessarily like sports, it’s less a documentary of the event than a collection of moving impressions. Who knew that sports could be so emotional? Criterion’s 4K restoration disc is a beauty.
Tokyo Olympiad
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 155
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 168 min. / Tokyo orinpikku / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 23, 2020 / 39.95
Cinematography: Shigeo Hayashida, Kazuo Miyagawa, Shigeichi Nagano, Kenichi Nakamura, Tadashi Tanaka
Art direction: Yusaku Kamekura
Original Music: Toshiro Mayuzumi
Written by Kon Ichikawa, Yoshio Shirasaka, Shuntaro Tanikawa and Natto Wada
Produced by Suketaru Taguchi
Directed by Kon Ichikawa
Japan made preparations for years to host its proud 1964 Olympics. As I just reported last week, an outer...
Tokyo Olympiad
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 155
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 168 min. / Tokyo orinpikku / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 23, 2020 / 39.95
Cinematography: Shigeo Hayashida, Kazuo Miyagawa, Shigeichi Nagano, Kenichi Nakamura, Tadashi Tanaka
Art direction: Yusaku Kamekura
Original Music: Toshiro Mayuzumi
Written by Kon Ichikawa, Yoshio Shirasaka, Shuntaro Tanikawa and Natto Wada
Produced by Suketaru Taguchi
Directed by Kon Ichikawa
Japan made preparations for years to host its proud 1964 Olympics. As I just reported last week, an outer...
- 6/20/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As the eyes of the world turned away from the Olympic Summer Games 1964 in Tokyo, empty stadiums remained and little attention was given to the second Paralympic Games ever that were held only a few days after the Olympic Games. Kimio Watanabe’s documentary “Tokyo Paralympics: The Festival of Love and Glory” is one of six, and only one out of the two preserved films that give an account of that event. This very rare piece of history was long-forgotten and was recently discovered and shown to the public.
Tokyo Paralympics is screening at Japan Society (currently postponed)
Due to a lack of funding, the event itself was on the edge and so was the media coverage. The one-long documentary is therefore an important visual record, which allows insights into Japanese society at that time. Watanabe follows a rather humanitarian path and gives a voice to the unheard athletes, who...
Tokyo Paralympics is screening at Japan Society (currently postponed)
Due to a lack of funding, the event itself was on the edge and so was the media coverage. The one-long documentary is therefore an important visual record, which allows insights into Japanese society at that time. Watanabe follows a rather humanitarian path and gives a voice to the unheard athletes, who...
- 4/16/2020
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
“The Burmese Harp” (1956), “Fires on the Plain” (1959), “An Actor’s Revenge” (1963). Those are only a few of the internationally critically acclaimed feature films of Japanese director Kon Ichikawa. His movies depict wide-ranging topics of Japan’s society in the twentieth century and represent a versatile filmmaker that often falls short in comparison to other masters like Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu or Kenji Mizoguchi.
“Youth” is screening at Japan Society
Primarily known for his fictional works, Ichikawa also produced a handful of documentaries, that had a striking impact especially in the field of sports documentary. Most significant are “Tokyo Olympiad” (1965), “Visions of Eight” (1973), and “Youth” (1968). Ichikawa uses the same approach for all of these documentaries. Focusing on the event itself and the athlete’s endurance during the competition, Ichikawa follows a melodramatic concept of pain and glory.
Three years after the monumental “Tokyo Olympiad” about the Tokyo Olympic Games, the director...
“Youth” is screening at Japan Society
Primarily known for his fictional works, Ichikawa also produced a handful of documentaries, that had a striking impact especially in the field of sports documentary. Most significant are “Tokyo Olympiad” (1965), “Visions of Eight” (1973), and “Youth” (1968). Ichikawa uses the same approach for all of these documentaries. Focusing on the event itself and the athlete’s endurance during the competition, Ichikawa follows a melodramatic concept of pain and glory.
Three years after the monumental “Tokyo Olympiad” about the Tokyo Olympic Games, the director...
- 4/3/2020
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
by Vikram Zutshi
When Akira Kurosawa passed away in 1998, the tributes poured in endlessly. He had been a major influence on some of the most important directors in the history of cinema. It is not enough to say that Kurosawa was a legend. At the time of his demise, he was a colossus whose myth had inspired a number of artists considered legends in their own right. Roman Polanski, Werner Herzog, Andrei Tarkovsky, Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Coppola and George Lucas have all cited Kurosawa as one of their greatest influences.
“Let me say it simply” declared Martin Scorsese, “Akira Kurosawa was my master, and … the master of so many other filmmakers over the years.” Federico Fellini called him “the greatest example of all that an author of cinema should be” and Steven Spielberg declared “I have learned more from him than from almost any other filmmaker on the face of the earth.
When Akira Kurosawa passed away in 1998, the tributes poured in endlessly. He had been a major influence on some of the most important directors in the history of cinema. It is not enough to say that Kurosawa was a legend. At the time of his demise, he was a colossus whose myth had inspired a number of artists considered legends in their own right. Roman Polanski, Werner Herzog, Andrei Tarkovsky, Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Coppola and George Lucas have all cited Kurosawa as one of their greatest influences.
“Let me say it simply” declared Martin Scorsese, “Akira Kurosawa was my master, and … the master of so many other filmmakers over the years.” Federico Fellini called him “the greatest example of all that an author of cinema should be” and Steven Spielberg declared “I have learned more from him than from almost any other filmmaker on the face of the earth.
- 3/23/2020
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
The world may be crumbling, but at least a handful of stellar films are coming to The Criterion Collection this summer. They’ve announced their June slate which includes their first Neon release, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, with Parasite to come at a later date. Also among the slate is Elem Klimov’s anti-war masterpiece Come and See, which we recently explored in-depth here. Also including work from Buster Keaton, Kon Ichikawa, and Paul Mazursky, check out the full slate and special feature details below.
The Cameraman
Buster Keaton is at the peak of his slapstick powers in The Cameraman— the first film that the silent-screen legend made after signing with MGM, and his last great masterpiece. The final work over which he maintained creative control, this clever farce is the culmination of an extraordinary, decade-long run that produced some of the most innovative and enduring comedies of all time.
The Cameraman
Buster Keaton is at the peak of his slapstick powers in The Cameraman— the first film that the silent-screen legend made after signing with MGM, and his last great masterpiece. The final work over which he maintained creative control, this clever farce is the culmination of an extraordinary, decade-long run that produced some of the most innovative and enduring comedies of all time.
- 3/19/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Jidai-geki, chanbara or simply samurai films are probably those that gave Japanese cinema the place it occupies even now in world cinema, with the entries of Akira Kurosawa, Kihachi Okamoto, Masaki Kobayashi and many others being included among the best films of all time. However, and with few exceptions, the majority of international audience are not particularly aware of the entries in the genre that were produced after 2000. This list aims to fill this gap with 25 five great movies presented in chronological order, that cover the whole spectrum of the category, from cult and splatter to arthouse and anime and everything between.
1. Versus
Ryuhei Kitamura directs a film where action is frantic and unrelenting, blending samurai, zombies and Yakuza elements, all of which are connected through extreme gore. “Versus” is evidently low budget; however, the choreography of the swordplay, the martial arts and the gun battles are intricate and the...
1. Versus
Ryuhei Kitamura directs a film where action is frantic and unrelenting, blending samurai, zombies and Yakuza elements, all of which are connected through extreme gore. “Versus” is evidently low budget; however, the choreography of the swordplay, the martial arts and the gun battles are intricate and the...
- 3/16/2020
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
From April 10 to April 25 2020 Japan Society will present its new series which follows the topic of sports within the landscape of Japanese cinema.
“Like cinema, sports have been integral to the development of modern Japan since the late 19th century when the country opened its borders to the West. Intersecting these two major cultural forces is the multifaceted and ubiquitous sports film, a fluid genre that offers fascinating insight into issues related to Japanese national identity, gender roles and the clash between tradition and modernity. Organized in anticipation of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, this series celebrates the Japanese sports film in its myriad iterations—covering a wide range of athletic disciplines and filmmaking styles, from wartime Japan to the present—including classics, documentaries, anime and commercial crowd-pleasers.”
Screenings:
“Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t” by Masayuki Suo
“Sanshiro Sugata” by Akira Kurosawa
“I Will Buy You” by Masaki Kobayashi
“The Sword...
“Like cinema, sports have been integral to the development of modern Japan since the late 19th century when the country opened its borders to the West. Intersecting these two major cultural forces is the multifaceted and ubiquitous sports film, a fluid genre that offers fascinating insight into issues related to Japanese national identity, gender roles and the clash between tradition and modernity. Organized in anticipation of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, this series celebrates the Japanese sports film in its myriad iterations—covering a wide range of athletic disciplines and filmmaking styles, from wartime Japan to the present—including classics, documentaries, anime and commercial crowd-pleasers.”
Screenings:
“Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t” by Masayuki Suo
“Sanshiro Sugata” by Akira Kurosawa
“I Will Buy You” by Masaki Kobayashi
“The Sword...
- 2/14/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme returns from January 2020 with a theme of “Happiness is A State of Mind: Joy and Despair in Japanese Cinema”, touring 22 cities nationwide. From contemporary dramas to anime and classics, it is the largest of its kind focusing on Japanese cinema in the UK.
Happiness is a staple theme in Japanese cinema and it is within its framework that the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2020 has been curated, showcasing diverse cinematic voices which explore the highs and lows experienced in pursuit of happiness.
Embracing the rich and complex spectrum of emotions that go hand in hand with this concept, the programme presents a comprehensive line-up of unique films which shine a light on the best Japanese cinema has to offer, from critically acclaimed documentary I Go Gaga, My Dear which explores the realities of geriatric care in Japan’s aging society, to Kon Ichikawa’s...
Happiness is a staple theme in Japanese cinema and it is within its framework that the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2020 has been curated, showcasing diverse cinematic voices which explore the highs and lows experienced in pursuit of happiness.
Embracing the rich and complex spectrum of emotions that go hand in hand with this concept, the programme presents a comprehensive line-up of unique films which shine a light on the best Japanese cinema has to offer, from critically acclaimed documentary I Go Gaga, My Dear which explores the realities of geriatric care in Japan’s aging society, to Kon Ichikawa’s...
- 1/28/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Winner of the Cannes Special Jury Prize in 1960, and of the Best Foreign Film Award from Golden Globes, “Odd Obsession” is one of the most recognizable films by the late Kon Ichikawa. The story is based on Junichiro Tanizaki’s 1956 novel, “The Key.”
“Odd Obsession” is part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
Kenji Kenmochi is an elderly man, an expert on classical art objects, who is married to a much younger and very beautiful woman, Ikuko. As he is struggling with the lack of sexual drive, Kenji frequently and secretly visits a young doctor, Kimura, who gives him injections to increase his virility. Kimura also has a relationship with Ikuko’s daughter, Toshiko. One night, when Kimura is visiting the Kenmochi residence, Ikuko becomes drunk and laughs with Kimura. When Kenji hears her laughter, he feels jealousy, but at the same time, an extreme plan is shaped in...
“Odd Obsession” is part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
Kenji Kenmochi is an elderly man, an expert on classical art objects, who is married to a much younger and very beautiful woman, Ikuko. As he is struggling with the lack of sexual drive, Kenji frequently and secretly visits a young doctor, Kimura, who gives him injections to increase his virility. Kimura also has a relationship with Ikuko’s daughter, Toshiko. One night, when Kimura is visiting the Kenmochi residence, Ikuko becomes drunk and laughs with Kimura. When Kenji hears her laughter, he feels jealousy, but at the same time, an extreme plan is shaped in...
- 1/8/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
By Wally Adams
Fran Rubel is one of those figures in cinema that left an invisible impact behind the scenes and from multiple angles. Most people would think they never heard of her, but surprisingly very high numbers have partaken of her products, services or things influenced by her and her partner over the years. In concrete terms, she’s best known for making the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” movie which later spawned a more famous TV series. But there’s more to her legacy than that, to which the largely forgotten “Tokyo Pop” was both the stepping stone and emblem towards wider goals.
“Tokyo Pop” is screening at Japan Society
Fresh out of NYU, Rubel had been hired in Japan as a script supervisor for Japanese publishing and film mega-tycoon Haruki Kadokawa’s company. Kadokawa Pictures had achieved huge success in previous years with mega-hits including the classically...
Fran Rubel is one of those figures in cinema that left an invisible impact behind the scenes and from multiple angles. Most people would think they never heard of her, but surprisingly very high numbers have partaken of her products, services or things influenced by her and her partner over the years. In concrete terms, she’s best known for making the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” movie which later spawned a more famous TV series. But there’s more to her legacy than that, to which the largely forgotten “Tokyo Pop” was both the stepping stone and emblem towards wider goals.
“Tokyo Pop” is screening at Japan Society
Fresh out of NYU, Rubel had been hired in Japan as a script supervisor for Japanese publishing and film mega-tycoon Haruki Kadokawa’s company. Kadokawa Pictures had achieved huge success in previous years with mega-hits including the classically...
- 11/21/2019
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
In 1972, Japanese director Akio Jissoji concluded his Buddhist trilogy, whose previous entries were “This Transient Life” and “Mandala”. As viewers are now finally able to experience these films on blu-ray format thanks to a recent release by Arrow Academy, we can take a closer look at an important entry within the Japanese New Wave Movement, which many of us associate with names such as Seijun Suzuki and Nagisa Oshima since they, among others, remain the most known or popular artists of that time (at least for many Western audiences).
In general, Jissoji addition to the movement, or rather Japanese cinema as a whole, is a bridge between modernity and tradition, between the revolutionary ideologies of the 1960s and the system of beliefs which have defined the country for so long (and still do). As film scholar David Desser points out in his introduction to “Poem”, Jissoji has managed to create...
In general, Jissoji addition to the movement, or rather Japanese cinema as a whole, is a bridge between modernity and tradition, between the revolutionary ideologies of the 1960s and the system of beliefs which have defined the country for so long (and still do). As film scholar David Desser points out in his introduction to “Poem”, Jissoji has managed to create...
- 9/2/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
There’s nothing like the term ‘Transcendental Style’ to intimidate a filmgoer, but have no fear: Yasujiro Ozu’s tale of a domestic trial is as accessible as I Love Lucy… only more substantial. The transcendental effect is being drawn into Ozu’s minimalist, precisely simplified and mysteriously profound directing style. Ten minutes in you wonder what the big deal is, but not much later one is hanging onto every cut, absorbed by tiny gestures and facial expressions. And yet it all seems natural. The Ozu ‘stasis’ some people mention is not at all static, but an X-Ray into everyday dramatic realities. With an entire second feature by Ozu, What Did the Lady Forget?
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 989
1952 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 116 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 27, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Koji Tsuruta, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima,...
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 989
1952 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 116 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 27, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Koji Tsuruta, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima,...
- 8/27/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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