Tadanobu Asano

  • Shinji Aoyama – Eri Eri rema sabakutani AKA Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani? [+Extra] (2005)

    2001-2010AsianJapanSci-FiShinji Aoyama

    My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
    On the same day of this word created from the depth of despair, the Christ passed away on the cross, A.D.2015, Virus has been spreading in many cities worldwide. It is a suicidal disease. The virus is infected by pictures. People, once infected, certainly come down with the disease, which leads to death. They have no way of fighting against the disease filled with fear and despair. The media calls the disease the Lemming Syndrome.Read More »

  • Shinji Sômai – Kaza-hana (2000)

    1991-2000AsianDramaJapanShinji Sômai

    A haunting tale of destiny and life’s unpredictability: an elite bureaucrat, humbled by an incident which ruined his promising career, has a chance encounter with a glamorous hostess, heartbroken by her husband’s death.Read More »

  • Nobuhiko Ôbayashi – Labyrinth of Cinema (2019)

    2011-2020DramaJapanNobuhiko ObayashiWar

    Quote:
    The story centers on a group of young people who travel back in time when they are in a movie theater just before closing time. They witness deaths during the closing days of Japan’s feudal times and on the battlefront in China before they are sent to Hiroshima just before the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city.Read More »

  • Yuri Nomura – Eatrip (2009)

    2001-2010DocumentaryJapanYuri Nomura

    An exploration of the act of eating, both as an interaction among people and between people and nature.

    Eatrip is a Japanese documentary about food. An exploration of the act of eating, both as an interaction among people and between people and nature.Read More »

  • Macoto Tezuka – Hakuchi AKA The Innocent (1999)

    1991-2000DramaFantasyJapanMacoto Tezuka

    Harrowing drama is set in an alternate version of the 1990s in which World War II never ended and the citizens of Japan are subjected to nightly bombing raids.

    Hakuchi (1999) is based off of Ango Sakaguchi’s novel of the same name and directed by Makoto Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka’s son. “Hakuchi” means “Idiot” (and is in reference to a mentally handicapped woman in the storyline). It stars my favorite Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano (Kakihara in “Ichi the Killer”, Mamoru in “Bright Future”, etc.) as a directing assistant named Izawa who works at a television station in a war-ravaged Japan. He gets harassed and abused by a pop star/actress named Ginga who he works for. One day Izawa returns home to find that the mentally-challenged wife of the crazy man next door is hiding in his closet.Read More »

  • Gakuryû Ishii – Yume no ginga AKA Labyrinth of Dreams (1997)

    1991-2000ArthouseGakuryû IshiiJapanMystery

    Symopsis:
    ‘Tomiko is a conductor in a rural bus driven by the handsome Niitaka. Tomiko had received a letter from her best friend Tsuyako, a conductor in another bus company, just after Tsuyako was killed in a bus accident. Tsuyako wrote that she felt that her fiance and driver, Niitaka, planned to kill her. Tomiko therefore plans to take revenge on Niitaka. However Tomiko falls in love with Niitaka, even though she also suspects him of being the Tokyo bus driver serial killer, who killed his female conductors after tiring of them.’
    – Will GilbertRead More »

  • Pen-Ek Ratanaruang – Invisible Waves (2006)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaPen-Ek RatanaruangThailand

    Synopsis:
    After inadvertently killing his girlfriend, a man (Asano) flees Macau for Thailand in an attempt to cope with his guilt, and avoid possible arrest. But the relocation doesn’t prevent his problems from following him, as his new friends could be potential enemies.Read More »

  • Katsuhito Ishii – Cha no aji AKA The Taste of Tea (2004)

    2001-2010ComedyDramaJapanKatsuhito Ishii

    A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has recently arrived, looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko’s daughter Sachiko is mainly concerned with why she seems to be followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself.Read More »

  • Hideaki Anno – Love & Pop (1998)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaHideaki AnnoJapan

    Quote:
    It is the ’90s and the tradition of ‘compensated dating’ is well underway in Japan. Four high school girls are engaged in enjo kosai in order to satisfy their desire for different things. You can usually find them in Shibuya district of Tokyo where they will give you their time, and sometimes more, in exchange for money that buys pretty things.Read More »

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