Road movies have been becoming more and more common in the Japanese movie industry, particularly since the “opening” of the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, ten years after the initial events. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri also directs a film of the canon, although the aforementioned theme is just part of the narrative here, in a title that won Best Film, Best Actress and Best Screenplay in Shanghai and is headed by an impressive performance by Rinko Kikuchi.
Yoko is screening at Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
The Oscar-nominee plays the titular, 42-year-old woman, who is single and lives in her apartment in Tokyo, having a part time job as online customer support, and seemingly never going out, exhibiting an intense sense of agoraphobia and depression. When her cousin, Shigeru, comes knocking at her door in order to inform her that her estranged for 20 years father has died, Yoko is forced to leave...
Yoko is screening at Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
The Oscar-nominee plays the titular, 42-year-old woman, who is single and lives in her apartment in Tokyo, having a part time job as online customer support, and seemingly never going out, exhibiting an intense sense of agoraphobia and depression. When her cousin, Shigeru, comes knocking at her door in order to inform her that her estranged for 20 years father has died, Yoko is forced to leave...
- 2/10/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The 66th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 24, 2024. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2023. The trifecta wins for “Godzilla Minus One” come as no surprise, sweeping the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. Yuya Ishii picks up the Best Director award for both his movies “The Moon” and “Masked Hearts”.
Best Film
Masked Hearts
Ichiko
Egoist
Monster
The Dry Spell
Godzilla Minus One
Mom, Is That You?!
(Ab)normal Desire
The Moon
One Last Bloom
Perfect Days
Bad Lands
September 1923
Do Unto Others
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Best Director
Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts
Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster
Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist
Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One
Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!
Best Actor
Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire
Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!
Best Film
Masked Hearts
Ichiko
Egoist
Monster
The Dry Spell
Godzilla Minus One
Mom, Is That You?!
(Ab)normal Desire
The Moon
One Last Bloom
Perfect Days
Bad Lands
September 1923
Do Unto Others
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Best Director
Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts
Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster
Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist
Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One
Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!
Best Actor
Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire
Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!
- 1/25/2024
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
As part of the Aca Cinema Project––”an ongoing initiative fostered by the Government of Japan to increase awareness and appreciation of Japanese films and filmmakers in the United States”––Japan Society will run “Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux” from February 15-24. A mix of American premieres and repertory showings, this series puts “bonds of the Japanese family” front and center to “both celebrate these traditions as well as call into question their reality and relevance in our quickly changing modern world.”
U.S. premieres include Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko, starring Rinko Kikuchi, and Keiko Tsuruoka’s Tsugaru Lacquer Girl. A special spotlight is given to Ryota Nakano, whose A Long Goodbye and exquisitely titled Her Love Boils Bathwater will be making New York debuts; his 2020 feature The Asadas also plays.
Repertory screenings will be held for Kohei Oguri’s Muddy River, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, Kore-eda’s Still Walking,...
U.S. premieres include Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko, starring Rinko Kikuchi, and Keiko Tsuruoka’s Tsugaru Lacquer Girl. A special spotlight is given to Ryota Nakano, whose A Long Goodbye and exquisitely titled Her Love Boils Bathwater will be making New York debuts; his 2020 feature The Asadas also plays.
Repertory screenings will be held for Kohei Oguri’s Muddy River, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, Kore-eda’s Still Walking,...
- 1/17/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Key Asian territories have picked up the drama.
Japan’s Free Stone Productions has secured a brace of deals on Yuya Ishii’s The Moon, following its world premiere in competition at Busan International Film Festival this week.
The film has been acquired for distribution in Taiwan (SkyDigi) and Korea (Media Castle) during the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm), which runs parallel to the festival. It is set to be released in Japan by Star Sands on October 13.
The story follows a writer named Yoko who takes a job at a nursing home, where she witnesses elderly and disabled residents...
Japan’s Free Stone Productions has secured a brace of deals on Yuya Ishii’s The Moon, following its world premiere in competition at Busan International Film Festival this week.
The film has been acquired for distribution in Taiwan (SkyDigi) and Korea (Media Castle) during the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm), which runs parallel to the festival. It is set to be released in Japan by Star Sands on October 13.
The story follows a writer named Yoko who takes a job at a nursing home, where she witnesses elderly and disabled residents...
- 10/8/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
A grief-stricken author attempts to reconnect with society by taking a job at a nursing home for the severely disabled in Yuya Ishii’s compelling drama The Moon, inspired by a real-life Japanese tragedy and adapted from the novel by Yo Hemmi. Rie Miyazawa (Pale Moon) is sensational in the lead role, but is surrounded by an equally impressive ensemble that includes Joe Odagiri (Adrift in Tokyo), Fumi Nikaido (Why Don't You Play in Hell?), and Hayato Isomura (Tokyo Revengers). Yoko (Miyazawa) and her husband Shohei (Odagiri) are battling to keep their marriage on course following the death of their infant son due to a congenital heart disease. Yoko previously found success as a writer, publishing a celebrated novel about the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Since...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/6/2023
- Screen Anarchy
“Yoko No Tabi” directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (“Manhole”) was crowned winner of Best Feature Film of the the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, one of the leading festivals in East Asia, during the awards ceremony on Saturday.The film also bagged an award for Best Actress and one for Best Screenplay.
A human drama directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Mukoku) and headlined by Rinko Kikuchi. Other cast members include Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa, Jun Fubuki and Joe Odagiri. Kikuchi was recently nominated for best supporting actress in “Babel” at the 2007 Academy Awards.
Synopsis:
Given up her dream and life long ago, Yoko has been socially isolated for years and barely leaves her tiny apartment. When she receives the news of her estranged father's death, she is forced to leave the room and ride with her cousin to return home for the first time in 20 years. However, Yoko ends up left alone in the highway rest stop…...
A human drama directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Mukoku) and headlined by Rinko Kikuchi. Other cast members include Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa, Jun Fubuki and Joe Odagiri. Kikuchi was recently nominated for best supporting actress in “Babel” at the 2007 Academy Awards.
Synopsis:
Given up her dream and life long ago, Yoko has been socially isolated for years and barely leaves her tiny apartment. When she receives the news of her estranged father's death, she is forced to leave the room and ride with her cousin to return home for the first time in 20 years. However, Yoko ends up left alone in the highway rest stop…...
- 6/19/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Yoko is a 42-year-old single “freeter” (freelancing part-time worker) who has suffered setbacks and opposition from her father in pursuing her dreams. One day when she receives news of her estranged father's death, she decides to return to her hometown of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture for his funeral. Along the way, she encounters car troubles and being cash-strapped, embarks on a hitchhiking journey where she meets various people such as a desperate working single mum and a kind-hearted couple.
A human drama directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Mukoku) and headlined by Academy Award® nominee Rinko Kikuchi. Other cast members include Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa, Jun Fubuki and Joe Odagiri. This movie will premiere in Japan with a roadshow on July 28, 2023.
A human drama directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Mukoku) and headlined by Academy Award® nominee Rinko Kikuchi. Other cast members include Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa, Jun Fubuki and Joe Odagiri. This movie will premiere in Japan with a roadshow on July 28, 2023.
- 5/25/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
US-based distribution hub Sakka is set to distribute a Japanese film “Noise” directed by Yusaku Matsumoto later this month. The film was initially released in Japan in 2019 after being highly praised by the film critics around the world. It was screened at numerous film festivals including the 25th Raindance Film Festival in UK where the film was nominated for Best Film in the competition as well as the 41st Festival des Films du Monde in Canada. Sakka release will accompany exclusive bonus contents such as a newly edited behind-the-scenes featurette and the director's scene commentary.
Eight years after the indiscriminate mass killing in Akihabara, the people who were affected still struggle to come to terms behind the neon lights of the “epicenter of otaku culture”. A young group of protagonists who live in the aftermath of this random act of violence, dealing with trauma, failed family and alienation, desperately try...
Eight years after the indiscriminate mass killing in Akihabara, the people who were affected still struggle to come to terms behind the neon lights of the “epicenter of otaku culture”. A young group of protagonists who live in the aftermath of this random act of violence, dealing with trauma, failed family and alienation, desperately try...
- 3/9/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Apparently, there was some discord between the programmers of Camera Japan this year about Joe Odagiri's drama They Say Nothing Stays the Same. All liked the film but some thought it was too old, having seen its International première way back in 2019 already. Thing is, before the film got the chance to travel far and wide, the Covid pandemic hit the world and it did the distribution of this title no favors. Having said that, I'm glad the festival decided to show it anyway, as it is one of the most beautiful films I've seen in a cinema in the past few years. It blew me away, and given my previous experience with "Odagiri-art", I couldn't have been more surprised... In They Say Nothing...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/24/2022
- Screen Anarchy
Debuting in 2017 with “Noise”, a disturbing drama about the Akihabara massacre, Yusaku Matsumoto directs three new movies this year. One of them is “It’s All My Fault”, which tells the story of a young boy named Yuta, who runs away from the orphanage to find his mother. But she is not willing to take responsibility and the reunion is ended by her, calling the orphanage’s supervisor. Betrayed and pursued, Yuta runs away once again and finds shelter with middle-aged Sakamoto, who lives in a broken-down truck near the sea. Together with schoolgirl Shiori, the trio forms their own little family with some straits of criminal exploitation.
It’s All My Fault is screening at Camera Japan
The three main characters played by Haruta Shiratori (Yuta), Jo Odagiri (Sakamoto), and Ririka Kawashima (Shiori) harmonise very well and each actor conveys their own personality. While Yuta represents a rather reduced character,...
It’s All My Fault is screening at Camera Japan
The three main characters played by Haruta Shiratori (Yuta), Jo Odagiri (Sakamoto), and Ririka Kawashima (Shiori) harmonise very well and each actor conveys their own personality. While Yuta represents a rather reduced character,...
- 9/24/2022
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
The easiest way to describe the tone of Satoshi Miki’s realization of an objectively ingenious concept (What happens to the rotting carcass of a defeated kaiju?), is to mention the question to which every journalist demands an answer after a blister filled with the gaseous byproduct of the monster’s decomposition bursts: Does it smell like poo or puke? If that sounds like your idea of a good time for two hours, Daikaijū no Atoshimatsu [What to do with the Dead Kaiju?] is for you. If it doesn’t, however, the film will feel more like a different scene occurring much later, one where a character electronically leaks a classified photo and text file. Rather than an instantaneous transfer, we must literally watch the progress bar slowly fill to completion.
That’s how most films in this vein feel to me, though: the whole lowest common denominator comedic send-up of a usually earnestly dramatic genre piece a la Scary Movie.
That’s how most films in this vein feel to me, though: the whole lowest common denominator comedic send-up of a usually earnestly dramatic genre piece a la Scary Movie.
- 8/3/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
This past March, the cinematographer Christopher Doyle was under Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai, waiting to return to Hong Kong. “They take us floor by floor, apartment by apartment, name by name to the school around the corner for testing… then they march us back,” he wrote in an email. While waiting to return to Hong Kong, he was finalizing a book of poetry and collages. He had recently finished a feature in the south of China; before that he shot “Love After Love” for director Ann Hui.
Based on an Eileen Cheng short story, “Love After Love” (currently streaming on Mubi) charts the decline of wealthy playboy George Chiao (Eddie Peng), coupled with the corruption of Ge Weilong (Sandra Ma), who will ultimately become his wife. Set in Shanghai largely before World War II, it is a hypnotic, feverish look at a privileged world disappearing faster than anyone realizes.
With over 120 films to his credit,...
Based on an Eileen Cheng short story, “Love After Love” (currently streaming on Mubi) charts the decline of wealthy playboy George Chiao (Eddie Peng), coupled with the corruption of Ge Weilong (Sandra Ma), who will ultimately become his wife. Set in Shanghai largely before World War II, it is a hypnotic, feverish look at a privileged world disappearing faster than anyone realizes.
With over 120 films to his credit,...
- 6/3/2022
- by Daniel Eagan
- Indiewire
Director of some of the best Japanese movies we have seen after 2010, with titles like “The Great Passage” and “The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue” under his belt, Yuya Ishii seems, however, to be experiencing an out of form recently, with his last works being interesting, but not on the same level with the aforementioned, for example. Let us see how he fared with his latest work, “A Madder Red”.
“A Madder Red” is screening at Nippon Connection
The film begins with a car crash that sends Yoichi, lead singer of a band, husband of Ryoko and father of a young boy named Junpei, to death. 7 years later, the boy is now a middle school student who is facing bullying for his mother’s work, since the fact that she is a sexual worker seems to have been revealed. Ryoko, however, also covers the expenses of her father-in-law,...
“A Madder Red” is screening at Nippon Connection
The film begins with a car crash that sends Yoichi, lead singer of a band, husband of Ryoko and father of a young boy named Junpei, to death. 7 years later, the boy is now a middle school student who is facing bullying for his mother’s work, since the fact that she is a sexual worker seems to have been revealed. Ryoko, however, also covers the expenses of her father-in-law,...
- 5/31/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Japan in Frankfurt! After two online editions, the 22nd Nippon Connection Film Festival, which will be held May 24 to 29, 2022, will bring the most exciting current Japanese films and culture programs to the city again. Around 100 short and feature-length films showcase the complete range of Japanese cinema – from newcomers to established directors, from anime to documentaries. The film program includes one world premiere, 24 international, eleven European and 30 German premieres. This year’s thematic focus “Stories Of Youth – Coming Of Age In Japan”, supported by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, deals with the lives and challenges of young people in Japan.
The supporting program, which will include more than 60 workshops, concerts, lectures and performances, is more extensive than ever, promising a fascinating festival week outside the cinema as well. For snacks in between, there will be a wide range of Japanese foods and drinks available on the festival grounds.
The events take place...
The supporting program, which will include more than 60 workshops, concerts, lectures and performances, is more extensive than ever, promising a fascinating festival week outside the cinema as well. For snacks in between, there will be a wide range of Japanese foods and drinks available on the festival grounds.
The events take place...
- 4/29/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
‘Saturday Fiction’ Film Review: Gong Li Period Piece Falls Short as Spy Thriller and Backstage Drama
History struggles to come alive in the mainland Chinese WWII spy thriller “Saturday Fiction,” a poorly lit memory play about a doomed espionage mission involving a famous Chinese actress (Gong Li) and a prominent Japanese military official (Joe Odagiri).
Set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this sleepy and visually murky black-and-white drama belabors the same banal truisms about memory and role-playing during wartime –basically, it’s impossible to maintain your autonomy when you’re only a pawn in a complicated game — and tends to be more interesting to think about than to watch.
Filmed with stifling hand-held photography, many scenes plod along in real time without a momentous or compelling pace. The sound design’s focus on background noises, instead of a musical score, also soon becomes more irritating than intriguing. Gong and Odagiri do what they can with a generally thin scenario, inspired by...
Set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this sleepy and visually murky black-and-white drama belabors the same banal truisms about memory and role-playing during wartime –basically, it’s impossible to maintain your autonomy when you’re only a pawn in a complicated game — and tends to be more interesting to think about than to watch.
Filmed with stifling hand-held photography, many scenes plod along in real time without a momentous or compelling pace. The sound design’s focus on background noises, instead of a musical score, also soon becomes more irritating than intriguing. Gong and Odagiri do what they can with a generally thin scenario, inspired by...
- 4/20/2022
- by Simon Abrams
- The Wrap
New Release Wall
“House of Gucci” (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) The legendary and legendarily vicious Gucci fashion empire gets the old-fashioned big movie treatment with Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, and Lady Gaga. Is it kind of ridiculous? Yes, but it’s also the reboot of “Dynasty” you never knew you wanted, one that’s best watched with a living room full of your rowdiest and most opinionated friends. Everyone in the movie is doing a variation on Italian-accented English, the settings are opulent, and Gaga is giving look after look after hat after hat and you will respect the wild, criminal duh-raaamaaa of it all.
Also Available:
“American Underdog” (Lionsgate) Zachary Levi stars as NFL champ Kurt Warner, who overcame multiple challenges and setbacks on the road to football glory.
“Apex” (Rlje Films) Bruce Willis must kill or be killed in order to escape prison.
“Clifford the Big Red Dog...
“House of Gucci” (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) The legendary and legendarily vicious Gucci fashion empire gets the old-fashioned big movie treatment with Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, and Lady Gaga. Is it kind of ridiculous? Yes, but it’s also the reboot of “Dynasty” you never knew you wanted, one that’s best watched with a living room full of your rowdiest and most opinionated friends. Everyone in the movie is doing a variation on Italian-accented English, the settings are opulent, and Gaga is giving look after look after hat after hat and you will respect the wild, criminal duh-raaamaaa of it all.
Also Available:
“American Underdog” (Lionsgate) Zachary Levi stars as NFL champ Kurt Warner, who overcame multiple challenges and setbacks on the road to football glory.
“Apex” (Rlje Films) Bruce Willis must kill or be killed in order to escape prison.
“Clifford the Big Red Dog...
- 2/7/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
‘Air Doll’ Film Review: Hirokazu Kore-eda and Bae Doona Take on the Inner Life of a Sentient Sex Toy
Middle-aged service worker Hideo (Itsuji Itao) shares his tiny apartment with an inflatable sex doll in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Air Doll,” a contemplative, melancholy — if minor — study of loneliness. (This 2009 film from the director who would go on to make “Shoplifters” and “The Truth” is getting its first U.S. release.)
And though the label on the box reads “Lovely Girl Candy,” and Hideo finds real human interaction “annoying,” he gives the doll the name “Nozomi,” after a former girlfriend. She’s as close to being real as he wants, and she silently absorbs his minor monologues and grievances about his work day before he has sex with her.
There are other inanimate, less functional dolls in Hideo’s home: small figures on shelves, a bedside “Paddington”-style teddy bear, and linens decorated with nesting dolls. But it’s Nozomi who, one day while Hideo is at work, gains consciousness and living,...
And though the label on the box reads “Lovely Girl Candy,” and Hideo finds real human interaction “annoying,” he gives the doll the name “Nozomi,” after a former girlfriend. She’s as close to being real as he wants, and she silently absorbs his minor monologues and grievances about his work day before he has sex with her.
There are other inanimate, less functional dolls in Hideo’s home: small figures on shelves, a bedside “Paddington”-style teddy bear, and linens decorated with nesting dolls. But it’s Nozomi who, one day while Hideo is at work, gains consciousness and living,...
- 2/3/2022
- by Dave White
- The Wrap
"It makes me happy to help folks out a little." Film Movement has debuted the US trailer for an acclaimed Japanese indie drama titled They Say Nothing Stays the Same, which initially premiered back in 2019. The film is the latest directed by Japanese actor / filmmaker Joe Odagiri, and features cinematography by the award-winning Dp Christopher Doyle. "Why does one need a ferryman? One needs a ferryman where there is a body of water and a bridge does not exist. The village high in the hills has a ferryman, but a bridge is in the works. The poor peasant is about to become even more poor. The people, livestock, and goods won't need his services much longer... He meets a young girl on a day when everything was supposed to go like any other day." The film stars Akira Emoto, Ririka Kawashima, Nijiro Murakami, Tsuyoshi Ihara, ...
- 10/20/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Japanese actor Joe Odagiri has made his directorial debut with They Say Nothing Stays the Same, a drama that premiered at the Venice Film Festival back in 2019 followed by a subsequent release in its native country. Now finally receiving a U.S. release courtesy of Film Movement on November 12, we’re pleased to debut the exclusive new trailer for the film shot by the great Christopher Doyle, longtime collaborator of Wong Kar-wai.
The drama follows an old ferryman in a remote Meiji-era community. His life is a peaceful, cyclical existence, given meaning by the essential role he plays in transporting people, livestock, and goods across the water, connecting villages and lives. When news arrives that a bridge is being built, it’s clear that his services will no longer be needed. Meanwhile, his life will be equally transformed by the appearance of a mysterious young woman whom he saves from drowning.
The drama follows an old ferryman in a remote Meiji-era community. His life is a peaceful, cyclical existence, given meaning by the essential role he plays in transporting people, livestock, and goods across the water, connecting villages and lives. When news arrives that a bridge is being built, it’s clear that his services will no longer be needed. Meanwhile, his life will be equally transformed by the appearance of a mysterious young woman whom he saves from drowning.
- 10/18/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Sosuke Ikematsu is a Japanese actor, born on July 9, 1990 in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and graduated from Noma Junior High School in Minami-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka in March 2006. At the age of only 13, Ikematsu landed his first film role as Higen, the young nephew of samurai leader Katsumoto, in the 2003 blockbuster hit The Last Samurai. He has since gone on to star in many feature-length films in Japan, including the recent “The Long Excuse”, ”“Killing”, “Shoplifters”, “A Girl Missing”.
“The Asian Angel” premiered as the closing film of the 2021 Osaka Asian Film Festival. The film was selected to be screened at the 20th New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff). Ikematsu, who plays the starring role, was also selected for one of the festival’s three Rising Star Asia Awards.
On the occasion of “The Asian Angel” screening at Nyaff and Ikematsu running for the Rising Star Asia Awards, we speak with...
“The Asian Angel” premiered as the closing film of the 2021 Osaka Asian Film Festival. The film was selected to be screened at the 20th New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff). Ikematsu, who plays the starring role, was also selected for one of the festival’s three Rising Star Asia Awards.
On the occasion of “The Asian Angel” screening at Nyaff and Ikematsu running for the Rising Star Asia Awards, we speak with...
- 9/17/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Tatsuya Ono (Masatoshi Nagase) is the free spirited oldest of three brothers. After spending 25 years in New York pursuing his dreams as a photographer he is suddenly told his brother Akihito (Joe Odagiri) has died. Although Tatsuya’s younger brother (Nobuaki Kaneko) has yet to accept the reality of the situation, Tatsuya attempts to make sense of the situation by piecing together the feelings and thoughts of his family and those around them.
- 5/19/2021
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Film Movement has acquired North American rights to “Wildland,” Jeanette Nordahl’s debut feature starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Borgen”) as a mafia ringleader.
The gripping crime drama, which was part of the Berlinale 2020 selection, will next premiere at New York City’s Film Forum, followed by a wide theatrical release and roll out on all digital and home entertainment platforms.
The announcement was made by Michael Rosenberg, president of Film Movement, and Andrea dos Santos for Bac Films Distribution.
Set in the Danish countryside around an old industrialized farming town, “Wildland” follows a 17-year old girl, Ida, who moves in with her aunt and cousins after the tragic death of her mother in a car accident. The home is filled with love, but outside of the home, the family leads a violent and criminal life.
Produced by Snowglobe, the film was written by Ingeborg Topsoe, whose recent credits include Milad Alami’s “The Charmer.
The gripping crime drama, which was part of the Berlinale 2020 selection, will next premiere at New York City’s Film Forum, followed by a wide theatrical release and roll out on all digital and home entertainment platforms.
The announcement was made by Michael Rosenberg, president of Film Movement, and Andrea dos Santos for Bac Films Distribution.
Set in the Danish countryside around an old industrialized farming town, “Wildland” follows a 17-year old girl, Ida, who moves in with her aunt and cousins after the tragic death of her mother in a car accident. The home is filled with love, but outside of the home, the family leads a violent and criminal life.
Produced by Snowglobe, the film was written by Ingeborg Topsoe, whose recent credits include Milad Alami’s “The Charmer.
- 5/11/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Film Movement has acquired North American rights to “They Say Nothing Stays The Same,” the feature film debut of Joe Odagiri, a popular Japanese actor and musician.
The lushly lensed Japanese drama premiered at Venice and went on to play at Busan. Among its many accolades, the pic won best feature film at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in Turkey and was nominated for the Golden Star at El Gouana. It also played at the New York Asian Film Festival.
“They Say Nothing Stays The Same” will have a theatrical release in 2021, followed by a roll-out on digital and home entertainment platforms. The announcement was made by Michael Rosenberg, the president of Film Movement and Maki Shimizu of the Kinoshita Group.
Headlined by Akira Emoto, the film boasts a strong crew including Christopher Doyle, the cinematographer of “Paranoid Park”; Emi Wada, the costume designer of “Ran”; as well as Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan.
The lushly lensed Japanese drama premiered at Venice and went on to play at Busan. Among its many accolades, the pic won best feature film at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in Turkey and was nominated for the Golden Star at El Gouana. It also played at the New York Asian Film Festival.
“They Say Nothing Stays The Same” will have a theatrical release in 2021, followed by a roll-out on digital and home entertainment platforms. The announcement was made by Michael Rosenberg, the president of Film Movement and Maki Shimizu of the Kinoshita Group.
Headlined by Akira Emoto, the film boasts a strong crew including Christopher Doyle, the cinematographer of “Paranoid Park”; Emi Wada, the costume designer of “Ran”; as well as Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan.
- 4/15/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
7 years ago, Yoichi (Joe Odagiri) died in a traffic accident. His wife Ryoko (Machiko Ono) did not receive compensation from her husband’s death. She has since raised her son Junpei (Iori Wada) by herself. Junpei is now a middle school student. Ryoko also cares for her father-in-law, who lives in a nursing home and she also runs a cafe. Her care is in a difficult situation due to Covid-19, while Junpei experiences bullying at school.
- 4/5/2021
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Quite an interesting production for Yuya Ishii, since the film was shot exclusively in S. Korea, with a mixture of Japanese and Korean actors, with him actually building his narrative around this particular multicultural element.
The Asian Angel is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
Takeshi, a Japanese novelist whose wife has recently died, takes his 8-year-old son Manabu to Seoul, to work with Toru, Takeshi’s brother, who supposedly is doing rather well in Korea. However, the situation is not exactly as Toru has described, with Aoki realizing the fact from the beginning, since his first experience with his brother’s work is being violently shoved out by his partner (who is actually played by Korean actor/director Park Jung-bum). Things get better eventually, although Toru reveals that the work he does is illegally exporting Korean cosmetics to Japan. However, business is actually blooming, and the quartet find themselves...
The Asian Angel is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
Takeshi, a Japanese novelist whose wife has recently died, takes his 8-year-old son Manabu to Seoul, to work with Toru, Takeshi’s brother, who supposedly is doing rather well in Korea. However, the situation is not exactly as Toru has described, with Aoki realizing the fact from the beginning, since his first experience with his brother’s work is being violently shoved out by his partner (who is actually played by Korean actor/director Park Jung-bum). Things get better eventually, although Toru reveals that the work he does is illegally exporting Korean cosmetics to Japan. However, business is actually blooming, and the quartet find themselves...
- 3/15/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
With upcoming films directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, George Miller, Wes Anderson, and Joanna Hogg on her slate, Tilda Swinton is only beaten out by Léa Seydoux when it comes to the highest number of entries in our most-anticipated films of 2021 list. The British actress is continuing to stay busy, reteaming with one of the aforementioned directors, along with another newly announced project.
After beginning her career with Joanna Hogg, Swinton reteamed with the director for The Souvenir and will be seen in her follow-up The Souvenir: Part II alongside her daughter, Honor Swinton Byrne, who leads the film as an aspiring filmmaker. Now, Swinton has revealed in UK Vogue’s February 2021 issue that she’s reteamed once again with Hogg for another new project, which was already shot on location in Wales.
While she gives no additional details in the interview, we did some more digging and it looks like...
After beginning her career with Joanna Hogg, Swinton reteamed with the director for The Souvenir and will be seen in her follow-up The Souvenir: Part II alongside her daughter, Honor Swinton Byrne, who leads the film as an aspiring filmmaker. Now, Swinton has revealed in UK Vogue’s February 2021 issue that she’s reteamed once again with Hogg for another new project, which was already shot on location in Wales.
While she gives no additional details in the interview, we did some more digging and it looks like...
- 1/18/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In the spotlight since his starring role in Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s Bright Future in 2003, Joe Odagiri has amassed an extraordinary filmography, working primarily with indie auteurs rather than big-studio directors, and creating a range of unforgettable characters, each one distinct from the last. Active overseas since 2006, he has also gamely performed in English, French, Korean and Spanish. Among many other awards, he has received Best Supporting Actor at the Japanese Academy prizes for Blood and Bones in 2004, and Best Actor for Sway in 2006.
On the occasion of his feature debut, “They Say Nothing Stays the Same”, screened at New York Asian Film Festival, we speak with him about his experience as director, working with an international crew and particularly Christopher Doyle, shooting in Niigata, and many other topics
What was the motivation your first feature film as a director?
Meeting cinematographer Christopher Doyle started this project. I was invited to...
On the occasion of his feature debut, “They Say Nothing Stays the Same”, screened at New York Asian Film Festival, we speak with him about his experience as director, working with an international crew and particularly Christopher Doyle, shooting in Niigata, and many other topics
What was the motivation your first feature film as a director?
Meeting cinematographer Christopher Doyle started this project. I was invited to...
- 9/27/2020
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
The final part of “The Hakodate Trilogy” based on the writings of Yasushi Sato, Nobuhiro Yamashita’s “Over the Fence” is a film about a number of troubled characters that has its moments but too often falls into some of the trappings of melodrama, resulting in a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion in a piece that is as troubled as its main characters.
“Over the Fence” screened at Camera Japan
Shiraiwa (Joe Odagiri) studies carpentry at a vocational college in Hakodate for the simple reason that he gets unemployment pay as a result. With no real direction, the Tokyoite has seemingly escaped a troubled past on the northern island, appearing to want a quiet place to hide from his family and the world in general. The rest of his course are a bunch of misfits, all seemingly escaping troubled pasts. Invited to a hostess bar by course-mate Daishima (Shota Matsuda), they meet Daishima’s ex,...
“Over the Fence” screened at Camera Japan
Shiraiwa (Joe Odagiri) studies carpentry at a vocational college in Hakodate for the simple reason that he gets unemployment pay as a result. With no real direction, the Tokyoite has seemingly escaped a troubled past on the northern island, appearing to want a quiet place to hide from his family and the world in general. The rest of his course are a bunch of misfits, all seemingly escaping troubled pasts. Invited to a hostess bar by course-mate Daishima (Shota Matsuda), they meet Daishima’s ex,...
- 9/15/2020
- by Andrew Thayne
- AsianMoviePulse
By Shikhar Verma
An eerie, almost dreamlike score follows us through the life of Shiraiwa (Joe Odagiri) as his monotonous routine of paddling across the town from his vocational training school shows us his solitary lifestyle. So, when his brother-in-law offers to buy a car for himself, we are almost sure that his answer wouldn’t be affirmative. Nobuhiro Yamashita’s ‘Over The Fence’ makes us hang out with Shiraiwa and everyone connected to him until we are no longer just passing time with him. We want his clueless life to have a virtuous end. Life, that is often cruel doesn’t offer all of us a fateful future. But we wish for him to hit a home run and run towards the next base with a joyous look on his face.
Over the Fence screened at Japan Cuts
The film is about people living their life with regrets. These...
An eerie, almost dreamlike score follows us through the life of Shiraiwa (Joe Odagiri) as his monotonous routine of paddling across the town from his vocational training school shows us his solitary lifestyle. So, when his brother-in-law offers to buy a car for himself, we are almost sure that his answer wouldn’t be affirmative. Nobuhiro Yamashita’s ‘Over The Fence’ makes us hang out with Shiraiwa and everyone connected to him until we are no longer just passing time with him. We want his clueless life to have a virtuous end. Life, that is often cruel doesn’t offer all of us a fateful future. But we wish for him to hit a home run and run towards the next base with a joyous look on his face.
Over the Fence screened at Japan Cuts
The film is about people living their life with regrets. These...
- 7/8/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
It is fair to say that Hirokazu Koreeda is a master of the sentimental family drama, with earlier films such as “Nobody Knows” (2004) and his recent string of lauded dramas “I Wish” (2011), “Like Father, Like Son” (2013) and “Our Little Sister” (2015), all of which deal with the relationships between parents and siblings. Writing and directing almost all of his films himself, has allowed Koreeda to develop a recognisable style of his own that is beautiful and plaintive.
“I Wish” (2011) tells the story of two young boys, separated by their parents as they plot to be re-united. The older brother Koichi (Koki Maeda) lives with his mother Nozomi (Nene Otsuka), while the younger brother Ryunosuke (Oshiro Maeda) lives with his musician father Kenji (Joe Odagiri). Koichi hears a rumour that once the new Shinkansen bullet train is running, if you can stand at the point of the track where...
“I Wish” (2011) tells the story of two young boys, separated by their parents as they plot to be re-united. The older brother Koichi (Koki Maeda) lives with his mother Nozomi (Nene Otsuka), while the younger brother Ryunosuke (Oshiro Maeda) lives with his musician father Kenji (Joe Odagiri). Koichi hears a rumour that once the new Shinkansen bullet train is running, if you can stand at the point of the track where...
- 4/10/2020
- by Matthew Cooper
- AsianMoviePulse
A list of the best cinematographers is bound to include high profile names like Robert Richardson and Roger Deakins, but it’s also likely to include Christopher Doyle. The Australian-born Hong Kong cinematographer made a name for himself through his collaborations with Wong Kar-Wai, which famously include “Chungking Express,” “Happy Together,” “In the Mood for Love,” and “2046.” Doyle’s work on “In the Mood for Love” is often cited as some of the most notable cinematography of the 21st century. Doyle recently spoke with The Film Stage about the past and future of his career, and he did not mince words when it came to referencing filmmakers James Cameron and Michael Mann.
At one point in the interview Doyle talks about the various directors he has been fortunate enough to work with throughout his career, from Wong Kar-Wai to Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch, and Edward Yang. The Dp...
At one point in the interview Doyle talks about the various directors he has been fortunate enough to work with throughout his career, from Wong Kar-Wai to Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch, and Edward Yang. The Dp...
- 12/11/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Hollywood films and local arthouse led the Chinese box office this weekend, with “Jumanji: The Next Level” taking the lead with a $24.7 million debut, while Lou Ye’s Venice title “Saturday Fiction” was abruptly yanked from the lineup of releases.
Remarkably, Diao Yinan’s stylish and bloody neo-noir “Wild Goose Lake” did almost as well as “Jumanji” in its opening weekend, taking $19.4 million to come in second. Starring Hu Ge, Gwei Lun Mei, and Liao Fan, the crime thriller debuted in competition at Cannes in May, but appears to have undergone four minutes of cuts, given the listed 113-minute runtime of the version screening in China.
Disney’s “Frozen 2” came in third with $9.6 million, bringing its cumulative box office in China up to $105 million.
Local crime thriller “The Whistleblower” made $4.3 million in its debut. The film features Tang Wei, the starlet who was once banned from mainland filmmaking for her...
Remarkably, Diao Yinan’s stylish and bloody neo-noir “Wild Goose Lake” did almost as well as “Jumanji” in its opening weekend, taking $19.4 million to come in second. Starring Hu Ge, Gwei Lun Mei, and Liao Fan, the crime thriller debuted in competition at Cannes in May, but appears to have undergone four minutes of cuts, given the listed 113-minute runtime of the version screening in China.
Disney’s “Frozen 2” came in third with $9.6 million, bringing its cumulative box office in China up to $105 million.
Local crime thriller “The Whistleblower” made $4.3 million in its debut. The film features Tang Wei, the starlet who was once banned from mainland filmmaking for her...
- 12/9/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Just a day before its scheduled China debut, director Lou Ye’s latest film, “Saturday Fiction,” has been pulled from its slot as the opener of the mainland’s Golden Rooster Film Festival because of unspecified “internal production problems,” according to Chinese film website Mtime. Speculation has been spreading online that it will also be yanked from its currently scheduled Dec. 7 nationwide theatrical release.
The film by Chinese “Sixth Generation” director Lou competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in September. It has been replaced on opening night of the Golden Rooster festival by an innocuous music documentary about shakuhachi – long, traditional bamboo flutes that originated from China and spread to Japan – called “One Sound, One Life.” Directed by Helen Yu, the film grossed just $500,000 in mainland theaters in May.
“Saturday Fiction” is now at least the fifth Chinese film to run into trouble this year at...
The film by Chinese “Sixth Generation” director Lou competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in September. It has been replaced on opening night of the Golden Rooster festival by an innocuous music documentary about shakuhachi – long, traditional bamboo flutes that originated from China and spread to Japan – called “One Sound, One Life.” Directed by Helen Yu, the film grossed just $500,000 in mainland theaters in May.
“Saturday Fiction” is now at least the fifth Chinese film to run into trouble this year at...
- 11/18/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Joe Odagiri’s They Say Nothing Stays the Same won the Best Film Award in the Turkish gathering's International Feature Film Competition. Turkish first-time director Ali Özel’s feature Steppe has emerged as the winner of the 56th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, snagging 11 awards in the National Feature Film Competition, including the 250,000 Tl Best Film Award. At the leading Turkish gathering, which unspooled from 26 October-1 November, Japanese director Joe Odagiri was also crowned with the Best Film Award in the International Feature Film Competition for They Say Nothing Stays the Same. The National Feature Film Competition jury, headed up by director Zeki Demirkubuz, and comprising Emre Erkmen, Latife Tekin, Mert Fırat and Şebnem Bozoklu, handed the Best Film Award to Ali Özel, who also received the Best Director Award. Demirkubuz mentioned that the decision had been unanimous, stating, “There was one film we applauded, one film that...
Joe Odagiri’s drama They Say Nothing Stays the Same wins best film in international competition.
Ali Ozel’s drama Steppe, about an elderly man who refuses to leave his home village after it is condemned to make way for a dam, broke records to sweep the awards of the national feature competition of the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival over the weekend.
The debut feature won in nine categories clinching best film, director, first film, screenplay, cinematography, music, editing, actor and best supporting actor.
The decision to award the production both the best film and best first film prizes...
Ali Ozel’s drama Steppe, about an elderly man who refuses to leave his home village after it is condemned to make way for a dam, broke records to sweep the awards of the national feature competition of the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival over the weekend.
The debut feature won in nine categories clinching best film, director, first film, screenplay, cinematography, music, editing, actor and best supporting actor.
The decision to award the production both the best film and best first film prizes...
- 11/4/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
“The Great Passage” was the film that most of the Japanese film competitions selected as the best for 2013, and the official selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Based on the bestseller by Shion Miura, the film focuses on the creation of a dictionary, a truly difficult profession.
In 1995, Mitsuya Majime, a salesman with a degree in languages and very few social skills, is working in the sales department of Genbu books. When Kouhei Araki, the man in charge of the vocabularies department in the company, decides to quit to take care of his sick wife, he chooses Majime as his successor. The department is tasked with creating a new vocabulary, with the titular name, with the purpose of being “live”, including all contemporary words and slang.
Although the task is humongous and the time very much needed, Majime throws himself completely into his work, under the supervision of Tomosuke Matsumoto,...
In 1995, Mitsuya Majime, a salesman with a degree in languages and very few social skills, is working in the sales department of Genbu books. When Kouhei Araki, the man in charge of the vocabularies department in the company, decides to quit to take care of his sick wife, he chooses Majime as his successor. The department is tasked with creating a new vocabulary, with the titular name, with the purpose of being “live”, including all contemporary words and slang.
Although the task is humongous and the time very much needed, Majime throws himself completely into his work, under the supervision of Tomosuke Matsumoto,...
- 10/10/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Japanese actor and musician Joe Odagiri, known at home as a gothic rebel with a reliably huge female fan base, makes the leap to the other side of the camera in his mind-teasing feature film bow, They Say Nothing Stays the Same (Aru sendo no hanashi). It’s a dreamy, unexpectedly rigorous debut that starts frustratingly slowly but ends with an emotional bang, implying more festival appreciation after its premiere in Venice's Giornate degli Autori. Its path is lit by some dazzling modern credits from cult Dp Christopher Doyle and Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan.
Odagiri came to Venice ...
Odagiri came to Venice ...
- 9/20/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Japanese actor and musician Joe Odagiri, known at home as a gothic rebel with a reliably huge female fan base, makes the leap to the other side of the camera in his mind-teasing feature film bow, They Say Nothing Stays the Same (Aru sendo no hanashi). It’s a dreamy, unexpectedly rigorous debut that starts frustratingly slowly but ends with an emotional bang, implying more festival appreciation after its premiere in Venice's Giornate degli Autori. Its path is lit by some dazzling modern credits from cult Dp Christopher Doyle and Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan.
Odagiri came to Venice ...
Odagiri came to Venice ...
- 9/20/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Ahn Sung-ki made his film debut at the age of 5 in 1957 and has been one of the most popular actors in Korea ever since. Graduated from Korea University of Foreign Studies majoring in Vietnamese. He won the Best Actor award in Asia-Pacific Film Festival in 1993 for his role in the film ‘White Badge’ (based on the novel of the same title about the Vietnamese war viewed from eyes of a Korean soldier) and he went on winning a plethora of awards, with his role in “Unbowed” being the latest one, in 2012. He’s one of few Korean actors who made a successful transition from a child prodigy to a mature adult actor. On 23 June 2012, Ahn, along with Lee Byung-hun, became some of the first Korean actors to leave their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
On the occasion of him...
On the occasion of him...
- 9/18/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Crouching Tigers includes titles such as Cesar Diaz’ Our Mothers and Anthony Chen’s Wet Season.
Pingyao International Film Festival (Pyiff) has unveiled the bulk of its programme for this year’s edition, including the world premiere of Indian filmmaker Tushar Hiranandani’s sports drama Bull’s Eye, which will screen as a special presentation on Pingyao Night.
Hong Kong filmmaker Jacob Cheung’s The Opera House, starring Mason Lee and Ouyang Nana, will also receive its world premiere at Pyiff as the closing film.
So far the festival, founded by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke with Marco Mueller as artistic director,...
Pingyao International Film Festival (Pyiff) has unveiled the bulk of its programme for this year’s edition, including the world premiere of Indian filmmaker Tushar Hiranandani’s sports drama Bull’s Eye, which will screen as a special presentation on Pingyao Night.
Hong Kong filmmaker Jacob Cheung’s The Opera House, starring Mason Lee and Ouyang Nana, will also receive its world premiere at Pyiff as the closing film.
So far the festival, founded by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke with Marco Mueller as artistic director,...
- 9/17/2019
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
A filmmaker perhaps too prolific for his own good, Lou Ye takes his latest spin ‘round the festival circuit with Saturday Fiction, a movie stuffed to bursting with sumptuous movie-movie atmosphere, the swoony charge of ideas about art, love, and espionage, and good-enough storytelling solutions.
Set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai over the first seven days of December, 1941, Saturday Fiction begins with the heralded return of Jean Yu (Gong Li) after several years in Hong Kong. She’s back to star in a new play about love and underground intrigue opposite its director, her one-time lover; their intimate dialogue scenes, both at the Lyceum Theater’s barroom set and Shanghai’s shipyard bar, are tantalizing autobiographical, and delivered in whispers that definitely won’t make it for the cheap seats. The line between acting and reality blurs further as Lou enters (and moves beyond) the play’s barroom set with his snaking handheld camera.
Set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai over the first seven days of December, 1941, Saturday Fiction begins with the heralded return of Jean Yu (Gong Li) after several years in Hong Kong. She’s back to star in a new play about love and underground intrigue opposite its director, her one-time lover; their intimate dialogue scenes, both at the Lyceum Theater’s barroom set and Shanghai’s shipyard bar, are tantalizing autobiographical, and delivered in whispers that definitely won’t make it for the cheap seats. The line between acting and reality blurs further as Lou enters (and moves beyond) the play’s barroom set with his snaking handheld camera.
- 9/14/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
From 1937 to 1941, Shanghai was dubbed a “solitary island” in that, alone in China after the Japanese invasion, there were areas within it that were under international control, namely the French and British Concessions. They were, undoubtedly, teeming with spies and collaborators and double agents, but it strains credibility that they could have been anything like as fraught and riven as the French-administered enclave in the 1941 of Sixth Generation Chinese director Lou Ye’s grandiloquently incoherent misfire “Saturday Fiction.” Starring/wasting the luminous Gong Li, the black and white film strays further away from the observational art-house calm of Lou’s 2014 “Blind Massage,” and plows deeper into the tangled thickets of dubious motivation and incomprehensible behavior that marred his last film, police procedural “The Shadow Play.”
It takes some time to work out what on earth is going on, largely because of Lou’s most confusing and counterproductive decision, which is...
It takes some time to work out what on earth is going on, largely because of Lou’s most confusing and counterproductive decision, which is...
- 9/4/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival has announced the selections for its 76th edition, which is set to take place from August 29 to September 7. The announcement marks the week’s second major film festival lineup to confirm titles following the Toronto International Film Festival. With both official selections for Venice and Tiff now revealed, the upcoming 2019-20 awards season is quickly taking shape.
As previously announced, Venice 2019 will open with the world premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film “The Truth.” The family drama stars Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and Ethan Hawke. “The Truth” is Kore-eda’s first directorial effort since winning the Palme d’Or in 2018 with “Shoplifters.” This year’s festival will close with “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” the latest feature from Giuseppe Capotondi. The movie stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, and Mick Jagger.
Venice has already announced that Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel will serve as the president of this year’s competition jury.
As previously announced, Venice 2019 will open with the world premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film “The Truth.” The family drama stars Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and Ethan Hawke. “The Truth” is Kore-eda’s first directorial effort since winning the Palme d’Or in 2018 with “Shoplifters.” This year’s festival will close with “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” the latest feature from Giuseppe Capotondi. The movie stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, and Mick Jagger.
Venice has already announced that Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel will serve as the president of this year’s competition jury.
- 7/25/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days sidebar has unveiled its 2019 lineup with 11 movies in competition.
The section, which is modeled after Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar, comprises six first features and four films directed by women.
Competition highlights include Dominik Moll’s Seules Les Bêtes, which will open the strand on Wednesday, August 28; Jayro Bustamante’s La llorona; Japanese actor Joe Odagiri’s feature directorial debut They Say Nothing Stays the Same; and Fabienne Berthaud’s Un Monde Plus Grand, starring Cécile de France.
Also in competition, Corpus Christi comes from Polish director Jan Komasa; family saga Beware Of Children is by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud; Un Divan à Tunis, starring Golshifteh Farahani, is by Manele Labidi; Laos’ Venice debut comes with The Long Walk by Mattie Do; and U.S.-Philippines co-production Lingua Franca comes from Isabel Sandoval.
Comics artist Igort’s 5 è Il Numero Perfetto stars Toni Servillo,...
The section, which is modeled after Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar, comprises six first features and four films directed by women.
Competition highlights include Dominik Moll’s Seules Les Bêtes, which will open the strand on Wednesday, August 28; Jayro Bustamante’s La llorona; Japanese actor Joe Odagiri’s feature directorial debut They Say Nothing Stays the Same; and Fabienne Berthaud’s Un Monde Plus Grand, starring Cécile de France.
Also in competition, Corpus Christi comes from Polish director Jan Komasa; family saga Beware Of Children is by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud; Un Divan à Tunis, starring Golshifteh Farahani, is by Manele Labidi; Laos’ Venice debut comes with The Long Walk by Mattie Do; and U.S.-Philippines co-production Lingua Franca comes from Isabel Sandoval.
Comics artist Igort’s 5 è Il Numero Perfetto stars Toni Servillo,...
- 7/23/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Saturday Fiction
Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye’s eleventh feature Saturday Fiction promises to be among his more extravagant offerings of late, featuring a handsome international cast led by Gong Li, also including Zhang Songwen, Huang Xiangli, and Wang Chaunjun. Produced through Lou’s YingFilms, Helge Albers through Berlin’s Achtung Panda! and Japan’s Uplink, the period drama is lensed by Dp Zeng Jian. Lou Ye’s 2003 Purple Butterfly brought him to the Cannes competition. Three years later, he was famously banned from filmmaking in China for five years following 2006’s Summer Palace and his representation of Tiananmen Square (which was yanked from the official Cannes comp).…...
Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye’s eleventh feature Saturday Fiction promises to be among his more extravagant offerings of late, featuring a handsome international cast led by Gong Li, also including Zhang Songwen, Huang Xiangli, and Wang Chaunjun. Produced through Lou’s YingFilms, Helge Albers through Berlin’s Achtung Panda! and Japan’s Uplink, the period drama is lensed by Dp Zeng Jian. Lou Ye’s 2003 Purple Butterfly brought him to the Cannes competition. Three years later, he was famously banned from filmmaking in China for five years following 2006’s Summer Palace and his representation of Tiananmen Square (which was yanked from the official Cannes comp).…...
- 1/4/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
As a landlord, there are many rules and regulations that need to be adhered to. As indicated by a suitably seedy Tomorowo Taguchi in “Room Laundering’s” carnivalesque opening scene, Japanese law requires that landlords reveal that if a previous tenant died in a property, any prospective renters must be informed as such. But, with the help of a troubled young woman, uncaring landlords can find a way round this.
Room Laundering is screening at Camera Japan
Miko (Elaiza Ikeda) saw her father die at a young age and then her mother disappear soon after. Raised by her grandmother, it wasn’t long before her only living relative was her uncle Goro (Joe Odagiri), a low-level dealer in all things of the illegal variety. With no home, Goro sends Miko to live in any apartment of the recently deceased, making the current tenant alive and well, so Goro’s clients...
Room Laundering is screening at Camera Japan
Miko (Elaiza Ikeda) saw her father die at a young age and then her mother disappear soon after. Raised by her grandmother, it wasn’t long before her only living relative was her uncle Goro (Joe Odagiri), a low-level dealer in all things of the illegal variety. With no home, Goro sends Miko to live in any apartment of the recently deceased, making the current tenant alive and well, so Goro’s clients...
- 10/1/2018
- by Andrew Thayne
- AsianMoviePulse
“In my 8th college year, buying 3-colour toothpaste I thought could save me from my rock-bottom situation.”
“Adrift in Tokyo” is the sixth feature by Japanese writer and director Satoshi Miki, whose reputation in his home country is based on his work in television, which is much infused with his particular brand of humor. While his films, unlike the work of colleagues like Takashi Miike or Takeshi Kitano, have largely remained unknown to many Western audiences, thanks to the attentiveness of companies such as the UK-based Third Window Films at least some of them can now be enjoyed in decent DVD releases. One of them is “Adrift in Tokyo”, a feature praised by critics and audiences as it was screened in various international festivals.
Looking at the director, one might be excused to mistake him for one of his protagonists. With his goatee, slacker-like clothes and a floppy heat,...
“Adrift in Tokyo” is the sixth feature by Japanese writer and director Satoshi Miki, whose reputation in his home country is based on his work in television, which is much infused with his particular brand of humor. While his films, unlike the work of colleagues like Takashi Miike or Takeshi Kitano, have largely remained unknown to many Western audiences, thanks to the attentiveness of companies such as the UK-based Third Window Films at least some of them can now be enjoyed in decent DVD releases. One of them is “Adrift in Tokyo”, a feature praised by critics and audiences as it was screened in various international festivals.
Looking at the director, one might be excused to mistake him for one of his protagonists. With his goatee, slacker-like clothes and a floppy heat,...
- 9/3/2018
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
According to Kenji Katagiri’s debut feature Room Laundering — and I have no reason to disbelieve him — Japan has a law stating that landlords must divulge whether a previous tenant died or suffered a violent crime within any newly vacated property to all prospective replacements. But while this rule makes sense considering people are sensitive to the notion of supernatural hauntings and evil spirits, lawmakers never stipulated how long before that history can be “cleaned” off the books. No one setting the duration at “x-amount of years” is an obvious oversight, but that lack of concrete interpretation allows owners to simply agree to a loose understanding hinged upon the basis of the tenants themselves. If someone moves in and leaves afterwards, whomever follows won’t technically have to know.
It’s a wild loophole that makes for a captivating premise to set a sweetly funny and surreal coming-of-age tale centered upon a twenty-year old,...
It’s a wild loophole that makes for a captivating premise to set a sweetly funny and surreal coming-of-age tale centered upon a twenty-year old,...
- 7/18/2018
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
With the final wave of programming, the 2018 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival has now released its full lineup of over 125 features and 220 shorts, featuring the premieres of more than 100 cutting-edge visions from across the world. Fantasia’s brand new website, which has just gone online, details all films and events at this year’s festival.
The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal July 12 – August 2 2018, once again returning to the mammoth Concordia Hall Cinema as its main base, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and the McCord Museum.
Many juicy Asian titles (including several Premieres) can be found within the rich programme of this Canadian Festival. Let’s have a look at them:
Donnie Yen will School you in “Big Brother” (World Premiere)
Mixed martial arts meet high-school intrigue, with Hong Kong superhero Donnie Yen at the blackboard! The closing night festivities of Fantasia 2018 will begin...
The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal July 12 – August 2 2018, once again returning to the mammoth Concordia Hall Cinema as its main base, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and the McCord Museum.
Many juicy Asian titles (including several Premieres) can be found within the rich programme of this Canadian Festival. Let’s have a look at them:
Donnie Yen will School you in “Big Brother” (World Premiere)
Mixed martial arts meet high-school intrigue, with Hong Kong superhero Donnie Yen at the blackboard! The closing night festivities of Fantasia 2018 will begin...
- 6/29/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Told from the perspective of the main female protagonist as she deals with work and relationships, “Pumpkin and Mayonnaise” is a fantastic drama about what happens when couples find their lives pulled in different directions. Director Masanori Tominaga crafts a simple yet believable story that deals with a number of social issues affecting modern people, with the pressures of money, time, and even love, being a constant theme.
Pumpkin and Mayonnaise is screening at Nippon Connection
Tsuchida (Asami Usuda) is living with her long-term boyfriend Seiichi (Taiga) who is struggling to make ends meet as a singer-songwriter. In order to help him, Tsuchida begins work as a hostess, a job where she can earn good money by drinking with men in a somewhat sexualized environment. When one of the men tells her she can make even more money by coming with him to his hotel, she decides to take the risk.
Pumpkin and Mayonnaise is screening at Nippon Connection
Tsuchida (Asami Usuda) is living with her long-term boyfriend Seiichi (Taiga) who is struggling to make ends meet as a singer-songwriter. In order to help him, Tsuchida begins work as a hostess, a job where she can earn good money by drinking with men in a somewhat sexualized environment. When one of the men tells her she can make even more money by coming with him to his hotel, she decides to take the risk.
- 6/2/2018
- by Matthew Cooper
- AsianMoviePulse
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