Japanese

  • Kôji Wakamatsu – Sei no horo AKA Vagabond of Sex (1967)

    1961-1970AsianEroticaJapanKoji Wakamatsu

    Quote:
    Vagabond of Sex (性の放浪 Sei no Hōrō?, 1967) was a parody of Imamura’s A Man Vanishes (1967). In Wakamatsu’s film, a man leaves his family in Tokyo to travel and engage in various sexual escapades. When he returns home he finds out that his wife is starring in Imamura’s documentary about her search for her missing husband.Read More »

  • Kenji Mizoguchi – Naniwa erejî AKA Osaka Elegy (1936)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaJapanKenji Mizoguchi

    PLOT:
    Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss so she can pay her father’s debt and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement.Read More »

  • Kenji Mizoguchi & Tatsunosuke Takashima – Ojo Okichi AKA Miss Okichi (1935)

    Tatsunosuke Takashima1931-1940ClassicsDramaJapanKenji Mizoguchi

    Quote:
    A bit like The Downfall of Osen (Orizuru Osen, 1935), this film centers on a woman who’s a cat’s paw for a gang involved in shady dealings. Okichi, played by Yamada Isuzu, is pulling scams for the sake of her lover. But she falls out with the gang and takes pity on one of the young men whom she victimizes.

    I can’t comment on the film after only one viewing, and the fact that Mizoguchi is credited after Takashima suggests that he may have had little input. Still, it’s another tale of a woman who sacrifices herself for more or less unworthy men. Miss Okichi also has some typically Mizoguchian scenes that dwell on chiaroscuro melancholy. Much of the film takes place at night, and this strategy reinforces the somber atmosphere. There are some remarkably opaque long shots and one moment that includes Okichi turning toward the camera in a sort of plaintive challenge.Read More »

  • Makoto Shinozaki – Jam Session (1999)

    1991-2000DocumentaryJapanMakoto Shinozaki

    Tony Rayns in Time Out Film Guide wrote:
    When Office Kitano commissioned Shinozaki to record Kitano’s work on Kikujiro from the start of shooting to the screening of the ‘A’ copy, they knew he wouldn’t do a standard ‘Making of’. Since Kitano shot the film more or less in sequence and improvised a lot, Shinozaki is able to turn his documentary into an authentic ‘bootleg’: an anthology of out-takes, mistakes and deleted scenes which adds up to a ‘parallel’ version of the film itself. It’s also a very candid portrait of Kitano in his self-deprecatory prime – especially when nearly lost for words during a social chat with Hou Xiaoxian. One caveat: Kitano himself sings the song under the end credits.Read More »

  • Tadanari Okamoto – Tadanari Okamoto Film Works Vol. 1 (1961-1995)

    AnimationAsianJapanTadanari Okamoto

    Quote:
    Beginnings: 1932-1963
    To tell Okamoto’s story from the beginning, we have to make a short detour
    to talk about Tadahito Mochinaga, the legendary father of Japanese stop-motion
    animated filmmaking. Mochinaga had started out working under Mitsuyo Seo,
    and had left Japan for Manchuria just before the end of the war, where he found
    himself in demand for his animation knowhow. (To learn more about his fruitful
    China period, I refer you to an outstanding article on Mochinaga by Kosei Ono on AWN.)Read More »

  • Tadanari Okamoto – Tadanari Okamoto Film Works Vol. 3 (1961 – 1995)

    AnimationAsianJapanTadanari Okamoto

    Beginnings: 1932-1963

    To tell Okamoto’s story from the beginning, we have to make a short detour
    to talk about Tadahito Mochinaga, the legendary father of Japanese stop-motion
    animated filmmaking. Mochinaga had started out working under Mitsuyo Seo,
    and had left Japan for Manchuria just before the end of the war, where he found
    himself in demand for his animation knowhow. (To learn more about his fruitful
    China period, I refer you to an outstanding article on Mochinaga by Kosei Ono on AWN.)Read More »

  • Tadanari Okamoto – Tadanari Okamoto Film Works Vol. 2 (1961-1995)

    AnimationJapanTadanari Okamoto

    Quote:
    Beginnings: 1932-1963

    To tell Okamoto’s story from the beginning, we have to make a short detour
    to talk about Tadahito Mochinaga, the legendary father of Japanese stop-motion
    animated filmmaking. Mochinaga had started out working under Mitsuyo Seo,
    and had left Japan for Manchuria just before the end of the war, where he found
    himself in demand for his animation knowhow. (To learn more about his fruitful
    China period, I refer you to an outstanding article on Mochinaga by Kosei Ono on AWN.)Read More »

  • Takaharu Saeki – Doro inu AKA The Desperate (1964)

    1961-1970DramaFilm NoirJapanTakaharu Saeki

    Quote:
    A noir drama depicting the downfall of a veteran detective who hates evil and falls into its depths. Sugai (Oki Minoru), who is said to be a demon detective, indulges in lust with Chiyo (Hara Chisako), the mistress of a man who was arrested for extortion, and takes advantage of her weakness. However, as his colleague Tokumochi (Hisashi Igawa) and others look at him with suspicion, he is tormented by remorse.
    (Google translate)Read More »

  • Tetsuya Nakashima – Kuru (2018) (HD)

    2011-2020AsianHorrorJapanTetsuya Nakashima

    To protect his family from a mysterious being, a man joins forces with a journalist and an exorcist —but they come to learn what they are dealing with is beyond their imagination.Read More »

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