Friends meet at a restaurant for a birthday dinner in the opening scenes of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Passion. Everyone loves the wrong person. Tomoya (Ryuta Okamoto) is engaged to math teacher Kaho (Aoba Kawai), but like the married Takeshi (Kiyohiko Shibukawa), is drawn to post-grad Takako (Fusako Urabe).
Their stories unfold in a world of diners, small apartments, and taxis familiar to fans of Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and the Oscar-winning Drive My Car. Shot as his thesis film at the Tokyo University of the Arts, Passion is Hamaguchi’s second feature. Though filmed in 2008, it only now opens for its North American theatrical run on Friday, April 14 at Film at Lincoln Center.
Ahead of its release, we spoke to the writer-director via Zoom about his second feature, the Oscars, and future projects. Thanks to Monika Uchiyama for her translations.
The Film Stage: What is your screenwriting process? Do...
Their stories unfold in a world of diners, small apartments, and taxis familiar to fans of Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and the Oscar-winning Drive My Car. Shot as his thesis film at the Tokyo University of the Arts, Passion is Hamaguchi’s second feature. Though filmed in 2008, it only now opens for its North American theatrical run on Friday, April 14 at Film at Lincoln Center.
Ahead of its release, we spoke to the writer-director via Zoom about his second feature, the Oscars, and future projects. Thanks to Monika Uchiyama for her translations.
The Film Stage: What is your screenwriting process? Do...
- 4/12/2023
- by Daniel Eagan
- The Film Stage
Fighting ElegyLately, unstable times are shaking countries the world over. While in the West we’re dealing with breakups and a resurgence of conservative politics, the East is not faring well either. The past few months have seen news of escalating tensions between South Korea and Japan on the matter of apparently unresolved issues of compensation for Korean forced laborers during World War II, but frictions between these two countries never ceased to exist after the period of Japanese imperialism came to an end in 1945. Proposing yet again its successful formula of pairing classic new wave films with contemporary experimental shorts, this year’s London-based Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival dove deep into the concept of nation and explored Japan’s multifaceted and problematic relationship with its own past and national identity. Putting together a thriving selection, the festival proved once again to be attentive to current political turmoil and social trends.
- 9/25/2019
- MUBI
With our opening night just days away, we are very excited for all of the attention Nation has received. Starting this Friday 20th and running through Sunday 22nd at the Barbican, Close-Up and MetFilm School, this year we examine national identity, cultural memory and perceptions of history in Japan with a programme of five feature-length films paired with seven short-form pieces, a panel discussion and a free filmmakers’ workshop.
Friday 20th September 2019
Barbican Cinema 3 – Opening night screening 18:00:
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters by Paul Schrader, 1985 + Patriotism (Yūkoku) by Yukio Mishima, 1966.
With intro by Damian Flanagan.
Saturday 21st September
Close-Up Cinema – 20:30 screening:
Fighting Elegy (Kenka erejii) by Seijun Suzuki, 1966 +
Bright Beyond Bearing by Monika Uchiyama, 2017 +
How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been by Mizuki Toriya, 2017 +
Chiyo by Chiemi Shimada, 2019.
With intro by Jasper Sharp.
Sunday 22nd September
Barbican...
Friday 20th September 2019
Barbican Cinema 3 – Opening night screening 18:00:
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters by Paul Schrader, 1985 + Patriotism (Yūkoku) by Yukio Mishima, 1966.
With intro by Damian Flanagan.
Saturday 21st September
Close-Up Cinema – 20:30 screening:
Fighting Elegy (Kenka erejii) by Seijun Suzuki, 1966 +
Bright Beyond Bearing by Monika Uchiyama, 2017 +
How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been by Mizuki Toriya, 2017 +
Chiyo by Chiemi Shimada, 2019.
With intro by Jasper Sharp.
Sunday 22nd September
Barbican...
- 9/17/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Tickets are now on sale for Jaeff 2019: Nation!
This year’s festival will be held at the Barbican Centre, Close-Up Film Centre and MetFilm School from Friday 20 September through Sunday 22 September. Jaeff 2019: Nation will see five feature-length films screened alongside seven short-form films. We will again be hosting a panel discussion at the Barbican, and are very excited to announce a free filmmakers’ workshop at the MetFilm School.
Friday 20 September 201 – Barbican Cinema 3 – 6pm
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
USA 1985, Dir Paul Schrader, 120 mins, Digital presentation
+ Patriotism (Yūkoku)
Japan 1966, Dir Yukio Mishima and Domoto Masaki, 28 mins, Digital presentation
Reimagined in vibrant, expressionist colour, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters marries an author to his fiction—a vivid middle where man and myth collide. Yukio Mishima (Ken Ogata) is considered to be one of Japan’s most important novelists, and via Paul and Leonard Schrader’s unique framing, is...
This year’s festival will be held at the Barbican Centre, Close-Up Film Centre and MetFilm School from Friday 20 September through Sunday 22 September. Jaeff 2019: Nation will see five feature-length films screened alongside seven short-form films. We will again be hosting a panel discussion at the Barbican, and are very excited to announce a free filmmakers’ workshop at the MetFilm School.
Friday 20 September 201 – Barbican Cinema 3 – 6pm
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
USA 1985, Dir Paul Schrader, 120 mins, Digital presentation
+ Patriotism (Yūkoku)
Japan 1966, Dir Yukio Mishima and Domoto Masaki, 28 mins, Digital presentation
Reimagined in vibrant, expressionist colour, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters marries an author to his fiction—a vivid middle where man and myth collide. Yukio Mishima (Ken Ogata) is considered to be one of Japan’s most important novelists, and via Paul and Leonard Schrader’s unique framing, is...
- 7/19/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
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