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Based on the novel “Real Onigokko” by Yusuke Yamada, which has spawned six other films, “Tag” is another bloodthirsty trip by one of the masters of the category, Sion Sono.

The film starts in a fashion expected from Sion Sono, as a bus filled with schoolgirls is torn in half along with them, by something that seems like wind, in a bloodbath that leaves only Mitsuko standing. The cutting in half of schoolgirls continues for a while, until Mitsuko arrives in a school where Aki greets her, although she cannot remember who she is. The story continues in that fashion, with the protagonist finding herself in different settings, in one as Keiko, a woman who is about to get married, and in another as Izumi, a runner. The rest of the movies is a sequence of battles and constant running, in a story that is quite hard to follow.

Over the last decade, Asian horror cinema has become a major cultural export that has breached the international markets, as more exposure than ever before has shown off the immense talent making genre films over the years. Getting a chance to see the work of many different individuals in this part of the world has highlighted the work of Yeon Sang-ho, Joko Anwar, Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto and Yoshihiro Nishimura, to name just a few, from out of the shadows of their home countries to the world at large.

Several trends emerged throughout the decade as time rolled on. The first is the South Korean onslaught of talent that emerged where the country ascended to the top of the genre market, and international acclaim and awards followed. They proved time and again that they were developing a core of talented and creative technicians that churned out some of the most...

Sion Sono produced his feature film “The Forest of Love” for Netflix, in 2019. Now, the streaming platform is releasing the miniseries that was part of the initial project with the director. In seven episodes of between 32 and 51 minutes, the material now receives an extension that adds greater uniformity and harmony to the whole concept. It could be argued that it is a bit irritating why a compressed form appeared, when the series is obviously the original – probably marketing reasons play an important role here.

Sono was inspired by a real criminal case. The viewer is informed about this at the beginning of each episode. This goes through your mind over and over again during the course of the series and gives an additional level to what you see. Each episode is based on a similar structure, which divides the plot into three time spans. 1993 is usually at the beginning. Three friends,...

One of the most popular and influential Japanese directors of his generation, the multi-talented Shunji Iwai is commonly recognized for his distinctive and innovative visual style. Although describing himself as an “eizo sakka” (visual artist), characters and plot themes are often excellently developed in his films, all of which he has personally scripted. Iwai has also edited several of his films, and has even scored the music for more recent efforts. Often using women protagonists, Iwai has garnered fine performances from Japanese Pop singers in key roles, most notably Miho Nakayama in Love Letter (1995) and Chara in Picnic (1996), Swallowtail Butterfly (1996) and Cocco, in A Bride For Rip Van Winkle. A trend-setter, he has created a style that resonates with Japanese pop culture, striking a chord with contemporary Japanese youth, especially young women.

We speak with him about his career, his latest film, “A Bride for Rip Van Winkle”, Japanese society and other topics.

A very odd production that combines the Pinku film with the body horror and the splatter, “The Eye’s Dream” also harbors an interesting story behind its production. It was produced by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor of Harvard University’s Sensory Ethnography Lab, the outfit behind masterpieces like “Leviathan” (2012) and “Sweetgrass” (2009). Paravel and Castaing-Taylor documented the creation of Sato’s film, and are currently working on a documentary about its production.

Maya, the protagonist of the film is quite a character. She was abducted and raped when she was a child by a man who removed one of her eyes, forcing her to replace it with a fake one, and at the same time, making her obsessed with eyes. Currently, Maya is a photographer who uses a very aggressive technique: she actually hunts people in the streets, shoving her camera in their faces, in order to photograph their eyes from as close as possible.

HBO Asia’s “Folklore” is a six-episode, hour-long series that takes place across six Asian countries – Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Each episode is based on a country’s deeply-rooted myths and folklore, featuring supernatural beings and occult beliefs. The respective episodes are helmed by a director from that country and filmed locally in the country’s primary language. In the particular segment, Takumi Saitoh deals with the myth of the tatami ghost, one of the most famous Japanese “legends”.

Folklore is available to Us subscribers on HBO Now®, HBO Go®, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms

Makoto Kishi, a mute murder scene writer whose mentality is unstable to say the least, return to his home for his father’s funeral, and the past hits him quite hard with a number of shocking memories emerging in his head. At the same time, he discovers a secret door...

I have to admit here, I consider Shunji Iwai one of the most originals voices of Japanese cinema, an artist whose every work deserves more than a look, to say the least. “A Bride for Rip Van Winkle” is definitely among his best works, and this says a lot for the director of films like “Picnic”, “All About Lily Chou Chou” and “Hana and Alice”.

The three-hour script is split in three parts and revolves around Nanami, a timid, extremely low profile woman, who, at the beginning of the movie, works as a part-time teacher, despite having issues with her students who mock her for her very low voice, and in a convenience store, to make ends meet. She spends most of her free time on “Planet” a social network, and seems to have no actual friends or a boyfriend. However, eventually she takes part in a blind date with Tetsuya,...

Loosely based on the Saitama serial murders of dog lovers, a case of a married couple who owned a pet shop and murdered at least four people, “Cold Fish” gave Sono the opportunity to present his version of how a serial killer film ought to be like.

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Syamoto is a humble and guileless exotic fish shop owner who is taken advantage of by both his spoiled daughter, Mitsuko and his second wife, Taeko. His daughter is an underage delinquent who spends her time flirting and sometimes beating her stepmother. One night, a grocery shop attendant catches her stealing; however, a peculiarly friendly man, Murata, manages to convince the clerk not to call the police. Furthermore, he is also an exotic fish shop owner and offers to hire Mitsuko in his establishment, which is far larger than Syamoto’s. Moreover, when Murata, who has become a friend of Syamoto,...

Movie trilogies have emerged in world cinema during the last decade or so, as one of the most favorite medium of films, and probably, as a countermeasure to the growing popularity of TV series. Evidently, this does not mean that there have not been trilogies in the past, but it seems like, at the moment, this is where the movie industry is heading.

In Asian cinema, though, trilogies have been a favorite medium since the 50’s, with their impact continuing to these days, although not in the same extend as in Hollywood. Filmmakers of the magnitutde of Satyajit Ray and Yasuhiro Ozu felt that a single movie could not contain their vision, and proceeded on shooting trilogies that include some of the all time, international masterpieces.

The tendency continues to later decades, with a number of the most acclaimed Asian directors presenting their own, either loose (Park Chan-wook and Wong...

Editor note: Each month I keep a list of my favorite films released. However, I just couldn’t find the time to post a list in July so I decided to combine it with my picks from August. These lists do not include movies I have seen at film festivals but instead are based on what has been theatrically released here in Canada or at least on demand.

****

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Directed by Benh Zeitlin

Screenplay by Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin

2012, USA

Despite relying a little too heavily on an overpowering soundtrack, Beasts of the Southern Wild is nevertheless an emotionally powerful journey anchored by a powerhouse performance from newbie Quvenzhané Wallis. Beasts also marks one of the most promising American directorial debuts in recent times. Benh Zeitlin’s imagination is almost as pure as the ignorance from the perspective of the film’s central character. This strange...