Mitsuo Yanagimachi

  • Mitsuo Yanagimachi – Saraba itoshiki daichi AKA Farewell to the Land (1982)

    Mitsuo Yanagimachi1981-1990DramaJapan
    Saraba itoshiki daichi (1982)
    Saraba itoshiki daichi (1982)

    Saraba Itoshiki Daichi (Farewell to the Land) takes up the question of what happens when the balance of an extended family in rural Japan is upset. The main character blames himself for the deaths of his two sons in a boating accident and leaves his wife and parents behind. He takes on a mistress, to the shame of his family, and he pops stimulants to keep up with his work schedule as a truck driver. Growing increasingly irritable and irrational, he goes through various conflicts with his brother, his colleagues, his boss, and his wife. The film ends in an act of violence for which no explanation is given.Read More »

  • Mitsuo Yanagimachi – Tabisuru pao-jiang-hu AKA Wandering Peddlers [+Extra] (1995)

    1991-2000DocumentaryJapanMitsuo Yanagimachi

    A wonderful, captivating, and far-too-seldom-seen film by the brilliant Mitsuo Yanagimachi. As photographed by the equally brilliant Masaki Tamura (Ogawa Productions, Lady Snowblood, Tampopo, P.P. Rider).Read More »

  • Mitsuo Yanagimachi – Himatsuri AKA Fire Festival (1985)

    1981-1990AsianDramaJapanMitsuo Yanagimachi

    The villagers in a beautiful remote area of Japan are divided into the woodsmen, who worship the mountain goddess, and the fishermen, who worship the goddess of the sea. These traditions are threatened by a planned marine park. Tatsuo is a macho lumberjack who hunts boars and monkeys with the young Ryota. Tatsuo is married with two children, has four elder sisters, and is under pressure to sell the family land to the developers. When the fish pens are deliberately contaminated by oil, the fishermen suspect Tatsuo. Kimiko, an old girlfriend of Tatsuo, returns to the village to find money to pay off her debts. During the annual fire festival, Tatsuo becomes angry when the old traditions are not preserved.Read More »

  • Mitsuo Yanagimachi – Kamyu nante shiranai AKA Who’s Camus Anyway? (2005)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaJapanMitsuo Yanagimachi

    Quote:
    Throws down the gauntlet with the very first shot, in which the camera glides sinuously all over the sprawling exterior of a university campus, caroming from one group to characters to another, for minute after self-consciously virtuosic minute, and just as you’re idly wondering whether Fred Ward is going to show up and start ranting about the opening of Touch of Evil, we suddenly pick up two film students engaged in discussion of that very topic, who then proceed to address The Player itself. Except that Altman’s achievement really is little more than a clever, hollow joke, whereas Yanagimachi has taken that sort of suffocating pomo referentiality as his subject.Read More »

  • Mitsuo Yanagimachi – Jukyusai no chizu AKA The Nineteen Year-Old’s Map (1979)

    1971-1980AsianJapanMitsuo Yanagimachi

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    Quote:
    Yanagimachi’s first feature film is about a young man who makes a map of a neighborhood in which he delivers newspapers. He keeps a dossier on each family, recording their habits and rating how much he dislikes them. One family, for example, gets an X because their dog barks all the time. Another man gets an X because he refuses to pay his bill. What turns all this scary is that the young man declares “I’m a right-winger!” and starts ruthlessly calling in bomb threats on these families. He psychologically abuses the crippled mistress of his roommate until she is driven to the brink of suicide. Rather than coming up with pat explanations for such anti-social behavior, Yanagimachi only describes the actions and lets the viewer decide why these things are happening. Questions of personal responsibility versus societal influences are completely left to the viewer to sort out.Read More »

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