Japan Archive
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“The Kirishima Thing” (桐島、部活やめるってよ) – 2013 HKIFF Review
Yuan-Kwan ChanPosted on May 5, 2013 | No CommentsYoshida Daihachi’s “The Kirishima Thing,” which won the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year, is a teen drama that excels in its honesty. -
Yoji Yamada’s “Tokyo Family” – 2013 HKIFF Review
Yuan-Kwan ChanPosted on April 21, 2013 | No CommentsYoji Yamada's "Tokyo Family," a tribute to Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story,” is a far too subtle exploration of family dynamics in present-day Japan. -
“Potechi (Chips)” – 2012 NYAFF & Japan Cuts Review
Yuan-Kwan ChanPosted on July 15, 2012 | No CommentsWith topics as diverse as house burglary, suicide, mother-son relationships, baseball fandom and, of course, potato chips peppered across a brisk 68-minute work, director Yoshihiro Nakamura somehow connects the dots to deliver a knockout revelation. -
“Scabbard Samurai” – 2012 NYAFF & Japan Cuts Review
Yuan-Kwan ChanPosted on July 14, 2012 | No CommentsA disgraced samurai can avoid seppuku if he can make his captor’s little prince smile, something that he has not done since the death of his mother. The catch? He has 30 days to do it. -
Masayuki Suo’s “Shall We Dance?” – 2012 Japan Cuts Review
Yuan-Kwan ChanPosted on July 9, 2012 | No Comments“Shall We Dance?” (Shall we ダンス?), the 1996 film that won 14 Japan Academy Prizes, was famously remade into a flick eight years later starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. -
Review: Nobuhiro Yamashita’s “Matsugane Potshot Affair”
Christopher BournePosted on June 29, 2012 | No CommentsNobuhiro Yamashita’s film is a dark comedy following the decidedly odd events and inhabitants of the town of Matsugane (“town of the wild boar legend”) and the happenings of a... -
Review: Kazuo Kuroki’s “The Blossoming of Etsuko Kamiya”
Christopher BournePosted on June 23, 2012 | No CommentsThe Blossoming of Etsuko Kamiya, Kazuo Kuroki’s final film before his death in 2006, is a quiet, gently humorous, and poignant World War II-set story that evokes the home... -
Review: Takashi Miike’s “Dead or Alive”
Christopher BournePosted on June 15, 2012 | No CommentsThis yakuza thriller by Japanese cult director Takashi Miike, above all else, is a letter-perfect illustration of the saying, “Nothing succeeds like excess,” which could also serve as Miike’s credo.... -
Review: Naomi Kawase’s “The Mourning Forest”
Christopher BournePosted on June 8, 2012 | No CommentsNaomi Kawase’s latest film, The Mourning Forest, winner of the Grand Prix at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, is such an ineffable, all-encompassing experience that mere words seem inadequate to... -
Yoshihiro Nishimura’s “Tokyo Gore Police”
Christopher BournePosted on May 25, 2012 | No CommentsPatton Oswalt, one of my favorite comedians, and one of the best currently working, has a great routine about movie titles. According to Oswalt, the greatest movie title ever created...
