Masayuki Suo is a director not afraid to touch on cultural taboos in his work, most notably with 1996’s breakthrough “Shall We Dance?”. There, he tackled a foreign influence in ballroom dancing, and its lack of acceptance as a respectable activity for a middle-aged salaryman. His earlier “Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t”, however, looks at a more traditional Japanese activity, but how a younger generation embrace the foreign and see the past as taboo.
“Youth” is screening at Japan Society
Shuhei (Masahiro Motoki) is a slacker student, confident that he has no need to go to class or make any efforts, as his family connections have already landed him a job on graduation. There’s just one problem with this: he actually has to graduate. As such, he feels it’s about time he met with his professor, Anayama (Akira Emoto).
Anayama is something of a sumo wrestling buff; a lean man,...
“Youth” is screening at Japan Society
Shuhei (Masahiro Motoki) is a slacker student, confident that he has no need to go to class or make any efforts, as his family connections have already landed him a job on graduation. There’s just one problem with this: he actually has to graduate. As such, he feels it’s about time he met with his professor, Anayama (Akira Emoto).
Anayama is something of a sumo wrestling buff; a lean man,...
- 4/5/2020
- by Andrew Thayne
- AsianMoviePulse
Everyone has seen Kikuhrio and Pk, but there’s nothing wrong with adding a few other titles to your rotation. Did you know that watching movies with your loved ones brings two times greater positive effects that watching them alone? You can always use this site to find someone to spend some time with.
With that said, let’s get right into it!
5. A Werewolf Boy (2012)
As one of the most popular Korean romantic movies, it should be no surprise it’s on this list. In this movie, Song Joon Ki plays the role of Chul Soo, the “werewolf” boy and Park Bo Young portray the lovely teen, Soon Yi.
When Soon Yi’s family moves to the countryside because of her illness, she meets Chul Soon and helps him acclimate to civilized life. As you guessed, they fall in love!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGyLPT6pQs8
4. Two...
With that said, let’s get right into it!
5. A Werewolf Boy (2012)
As one of the most popular Korean romantic movies, it should be no surprise it’s on this list. In this movie, Song Joon Ki plays the role of Chul Soo, the “werewolf” boy and Park Bo Young portray the lovely teen, Soon Yi.
When Soon Yi’s family moves to the countryside because of her illness, she meets Chul Soon and helps him acclimate to civilized life. As you guessed, they fall in love!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGyLPT6pQs8
4. Two...
- 7/10/2019
- by AMP Training
- AsianMoviePulse
The Harimaya Bridge is an emotional drama that focuses on Daniel Holder (Ben Guillory), an American who travels to rural Japan to claim some important items belonging to his late son, Mickey Holder (Victor Grant), from whom he was estranged at the time of his death. While there, he learns several secrets his son left behind as an African-American artist living and teaching in Japan. The story takes place in Kochi Prefecture, a deeply rural part of Japan where traditional customs remain strong.
While still so angry by the thought that his own father died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, Holder travels there to pickup Mickey’s paintings. He’s so blinded by this pent up anger that he plans to lay claim to his son’s artwork even though they were given as gifts to friends and a school. Daniel hesistanly meets his son.s Japanese wife,...
While still so angry by the thought that his own father died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, Holder travels there to pickup Mickey’s paintings. He’s so blinded by this pent up anger that he plans to lay claim to his son’s artwork even though they were given as gifts to friends and a school. Daniel hesistanly meets his son.s Japanese wife,...
- 11/19/2010
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Hard to believe, but popular actress Kyoko Fukada has not had top billing in a film since Mayumi Miyasaka’s “Tenshi”, which was released over 4 years ago. Today comes word that Fukada will be making her return to leading lady status the hard way in Renai Gikyoku: Watashi to Koi ni Ochite Kudasai (literally “Love Drama: Please Fall in Love with Me”), playing a role consisting of 3 distinct parts.
The film is an adaptation of playwright Shoji Kokami‘s hit stage play “Renai Gikyoku”, and Kokami himself will direct. Fukuda will play a popular television screenwriter named Mayumi Taniyama and actor Kippei Shiina will play a hapless producer named Mukai in his first purely comedic role.
Taniyama is suffering from writer’s block, so when Mukai enthusiastically asks her to write a script for him, she asks him to fall in love with her.
Fukada’s role is broken down...
The film is an adaptation of playwright Shoji Kokami‘s hit stage play “Renai Gikyoku”, and Kokami himself will direct. Fukuda will play a popular television screenwriter named Mayumi Taniyama and actor Kippei Shiina will play a hapless producer named Mukai in his first purely comedic role.
Taniyama is suffering from writer’s block, so when Mukai enthusiastically asks her to write a script for him, she asks him to fall in love with her.
Fukada’s role is broken down...
- 6/14/2010
- Nippon Cinema
You can’t go wrong with Gary Oldman in a movie about a hitman, a pretty girl, and evil CIA assassins. The film, which we reported on last year but have heard nothing about since, is called “Rain Fall”, and my guess is that Gary Oldman either plays the head of those evil CIA guys, or, well, he’s probably the head of the evil CIA guys. I’m just guessing, of course, but you don’t pay Gary Oldman and not have him play the heavy. It’s just wrong. Directed by the very cool-sounding Max Mannix, the movie is based on a novel by Barry Eisler, and has an assassin protecting the daughter of one of his victims against other assassins. Probably because he feels bad for whacking her old man or something. That seems to happen a lot in movies about assassins, if you haven’t noticed.
- 2/18/2009
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
On the 50th anniversary of Cannes comes a Competition entrant that easily might have played in the first festival -- such is its mind-set and aesthetic. The story of an ex-con and a jilted woman, "Unagi" is a generally unremarkable story of two people whose psychological scars get in the way of a potential relationship. Overall, the film's 1950s-style socio/sexual sensibility will not likely appeal to U.S. audiences.
"Unagi" begins most savagely as young Takuro (Koji Yakusho) catches his wife in bed with a lover and hacks them both to death with a fishing knife. Not remorseful about his deed but respectful of the law, Takuro turns himself in.
With the brutal murder as prologue, the main narrative occurs eight years later, after Takuro has been paroled from prison. Upon his release, he relocates to a provincial town, where he sets up a barbershop. His only concern and interest seem to be with the pet eel he kept while imprisoned. While scouting the local swamp, he finds a young woman, Keiko (Misa Shimizu), who has overdosed on sleeping pills in a suicide attempt. While he is concerned about possibly getting into trouble in this situation, he selflessly calls for help and she is saved.
As so often happens when three screenwriters are credited, the scenario seems to be an amalgam of committee-think with no overriding point of view or moral sense attached to the film. Proceeding in an utterly predictable fashion -- Keiko becomes attracted to her "savior," goes to work in his barber ship and lights up the place -- the story never scratches beneath the characters' psychological surfaces. And, regrettably, it seems padded with Spielbergean "moments" and sequences, including a Japanese version of Richard Dreyfuss' character in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
What lifts "Unagi" beyond its generic dimensions are the solid performances, particularly Shimizu, who is enchantingly brittle as Keiko.
As the stiff and upright ex-con, Yakusho evinces a proud demeanor but shows the frailty of a man plagued by his dogmatic personality.
Shohei Imamura's workmanlike direction never infuses any sense of personality or perspective other than to delineate the essential story line. It is a yarn that deserves richer and deeper treatment.
UNAGI
In competition
Eiseigekijyo Co./KKS
In association with Imamura Prods.
Director Shohei Imamura
Screenwriters Motofumi Tomikawa,
Daisuke Tengan, Shohei Imamura
Based on a story by Akira Kurosawa
Director of photography Shigeru Komatsubara
Music Shinichiro Ikebe
Editor Haijime Okayasu
Cast:
Takuro Yamashita Koji Yakusho
Keiko Hattori Misa Shimizu
Jiro Nakajima Fujio Tsuneta
Misako Nakajima Mitsuko Baisho
Jukichi Takada Makoto Sato
Tamotsu Takasaki Akira Emoto
Running time -- 117 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Unagi" begins most savagely as young Takuro (Koji Yakusho) catches his wife in bed with a lover and hacks them both to death with a fishing knife. Not remorseful about his deed but respectful of the law, Takuro turns himself in.
With the brutal murder as prologue, the main narrative occurs eight years later, after Takuro has been paroled from prison. Upon his release, he relocates to a provincial town, where he sets up a barbershop. His only concern and interest seem to be with the pet eel he kept while imprisoned. While scouting the local swamp, he finds a young woman, Keiko (Misa Shimizu), who has overdosed on sleeping pills in a suicide attempt. While he is concerned about possibly getting into trouble in this situation, he selflessly calls for help and she is saved.
As so often happens when three screenwriters are credited, the scenario seems to be an amalgam of committee-think with no overriding point of view or moral sense attached to the film. Proceeding in an utterly predictable fashion -- Keiko becomes attracted to her "savior," goes to work in his barber ship and lights up the place -- the story never scratches beneath the characters' psychological surfaces. And, regrettably, it seems padded with Spielbergean "moments" and sequences, including a Japanese version of Richard Dreyfuss' character in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
What lifts "Unagi" beyond its generic dimensions are the solid performances, particularly Shimizu, who is enchantingly brittle as Keiko.
As the stiff and upright ex-con, Yakusho evinces a proud demeanor but shows the frailty of a man plagued by his dogmatic personality.
Shohei Imamura's workmanlike direction never infuses any sense of personality or perspective other than to delineate the essential story line. It is a yarn that deserves richer and deeper treatment.
UNAGI
In competition
Eiseigekijyo Co./KKS
In association with Imamura Prods.
Director Shohei Imamura
Screenwriters Motofumi Tomikawa,
Daisuke Tengan, Shohei Imamura
Based on a story by Akira Kurosawa
Director of photography Shigeru Komatsubara
Music Shinichiro Ikebe
Editor Haijime Okayasu
Cast:
Takuro Yamashita Koji Yakusho
Keiko Hattori Misa Shimizu
Jiro Nakajima Fujio Tsuneta
Misako Nakajima Mitsuko Baisho
Jukichi Takada Makoto Sato
Tamotsu Takasaki Akira Emoto
Running time -- 117 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 5/13/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A young woman and her friend unknowingly invade a gay beach, where the open displays of affection and naked flesh intrigue pretty, self-sufficient Sayoko. So begins Takehiro Nakajima's accomplished dramatic comedy that ranks as the most thorough examination of gay life in modern Japan.
While non-fatally flawed by an excessive running time -- some viewers will begin to lose interest -- ''Okoge'' transcends its specific milieu to provide the expected high and low points of a screen romance. The soft-core lovemaking scenes and same-sex romantic maneuvering limit its appeal, but Nakajima's film is a fully realized character study that thoughtful audiences of all persuasions will enjoy and ponder.
Sayoko (Misa Shimizu) is an ''Okoge'' -- a woman who seeks the company of gay men -- with no romantic life of her own. She finds the love between young craftsman Goh (Takehiro Murata) and his married lover Tochi (Takeo Nakahara) a thing of beauty and comfort. Indeed, she invites them to use her apartment for their clandestine meetings, then watches their relationship gradually fall apart as Tochi succumbs to pressure at work and home about his closeted homosexuality.
When Sayoko attempts to find a new lover for Goh, she follows his lead with momentous results. Not only is her friendship with Goh temporarily ended, but she is raped and impregnated, a poignant and ironic fate for one we learn was sexually abused as a child. Goh, meanwhile, confesses his gayness to his family with mixed results. His mother, beginning to lose her grip on reality, is particularly unable to accept the situation and blames herself.
''Okoge'' covers a lot of ground with the urgency of a story that must be told. Years pass and characters come and go, but the scattered story never feels less than authentic. Strengthened immeasurably by the performances of Shimizu and Murata, ''Okoge'' is carefully consistent in its approach. Yoshimasa Hakata's cinematography is outstanding as are the rest of the film's technical aspects.
OKOGE
Cinevista
Producer-writer-directorTakehiro Nakajima
Producers Yoshinori Takazawa, Masashi Moromizato
Director of photography Yoshimasa Hakata
Sound Makio Ika
Art direction Kunihiro Inomata
Editor Kenji Goto
Music Hiroshi Ariyoshi
Color
Cast:
Sayoko Misa Shimizu
Goh Takehiro Murata
Tochi Takeo Nakahara
Kurihara Masayuki Shionoya
Kineo, Goh's mother Noriko Sengoku
Yayoi Toshie Negishi
Tamio Atsushi Fukazawa
Running time -- 120 minutes
No MPAA Rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
While non-fatally flawed by an excessive running time -- some viewers will begin to lose interest -- ''Okoge'' transcends its specific milieu to provide the expected high and low points of a screen romance. The soft-core lovemaking scenes and same-sex romantic maneuvering limit its appeal, but Nakajima's film is a fully realized character study that thoughtful audiences of all persuasions will enjoy and ponder.
Sayoko (Misa Shimizu) is an ''Okoge'' -- a woman who seeks the company of gay men -- with no romantic life of her own. She finds the love between young craftsman Goh (Takehiro Murata) and his married lover Tochi (Takeo Nakahara) a thing of beauty and comfort. Indeed, she invites them to use her apartment for their clandestine meetings, then watches their relationship gradually fall apart as Tochi succumbs to pressure at work and home about his closeted homosexuality.
When Sayoko attempts to find a new lover for Goh, she follows his lead with momentous results. Not only is her friendship with Goh temporarily ended, but she is raped and impregnated, a poignant and ironic fate for one we learn was sexually abused as a child. Goh, meanwhile, confesses his gayness to his family with mixed results. His mother, beginning to lose her grip on reality, is particularly unable to accept the situation and blames herself.
''Okoge'' covers a lot of ground with the urgency of a story that must be told. Years pass and characters come and go, but the scattered story never feels less than authentic. Strengthened immeasurably by the performances of Shimizu and Murata, ''Okoge'' is carefully consistent in its approach. Yoshimasa Hakata's cinematography is outstanding as are the rest of the film's technical aspects.
OKOGE
Cinevista
Producer-writer-directorTakehiro Nakajima
Producers Yoshinori Takazawa, Masashi Moromizato
Director of photography Yoshimasa Hakata
Sound Makio Ika
Art direction Kunihiro Inomata
Editor Kenji Goto
Music Hiroshi Ariyoshi
Color
Cast:
Sayoko Misa Shimizu
Goh Takehiro Murata
Tochi Takeo Nakahara
Kurihara Masayuki Shionoya
Kineo, Goh's mother Noriko Sengoku
Yayoi Toshie Negishi
Tamio Atsushi Fukazawa
Running time -- 120 minutes
No MPAA Rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 7/21/1993
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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