Even before the success of “Shoplifters” the family drama has been one of the most popular genre within Japanese cinema. As a mirror of social, political and economic issues the family portrait can be quite powerful as many artists, also from other media, have found out which is perhaps why these images have become so frequent. However, it takes a certain kind of director, among other things, to make a family stand out, but in the case of Nobuhiko Obayashi's “Seven Weeks” we luckily have one of those features. Described by the director as “Guernica in moving images”, the story Obayashi tells in one of his last movies touches upon a death in a family, and the kind of conflicts and memories it brings for the relatives left behind, while at the same time presenting a uniquely maverick portrayal of post-war Japan.
on Terracotta by clicking...
on Terracotta by clicking...
- 8/5/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Shingo Matsamura's gripping drama “The Lump In My Heart” about a student who is challenged by a life-changing diagnosis is based on a script adapted from Yokoyama Takuya's eponymous stage play, and penned by Takahashi Izumi, producer/ director/ writer who has proved his writing versatility with contributions to genre and dramas alike.
The Lump In My Heart is screening at Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
When Chinatsu (Yoshida Mizuki) runs into her chidlhood friend and teenage crush Kohki (Okudaira Daiken) at the university campus, she becomes obsessed with something he had said to her a long time ago that made her aware of the male gaze. That particular remark made such an impact on her in the past, that she has developed a permanently complicated relationship to her body. When her breasts come to focus again many years later, due to a medical check-up she is required to do,...
The Lump In My Heart is screening at Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
When Chinatsu (Yoshida Mizuki) runs into her chidlhood friend and teenage crush Kohki (Okudaira Daiken) at the university campus, she becomes obsessed with something he had said to her a long time ago that made her aware of the male gaze. That particular remark made such an impact on her in the past, that she has developed a permanently complicated relationship to her body. When her breasts come to focus again many years later, due to a medical check-up she is required to do,...
- 2/12/2024
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Back in 1999, producers from Hong Kong and Japan had an idea of bringing together Leslie Cheung, then at the apogee of his career, and Takako Tokiwa, widely known as ‘Queen of Serial Drama' for her roles and awards on TV, in order to present a movie that moves between the romantic drama and the crime film, probably in an effort to capitalize in terms of commercial success. The result was not exactly masterful, but there are definitely enough elements here to make the movie worth watching. Let us take things from the beginning though.
Hitomi is a Japanese girl who is about to get married to her fiance Tetsuya and move to Hong Kong with him. However, a tragic car accident ends up with him dead and her in Hong Kong trying to find some sort of solace from her ongoing grief. Kar-bo is an undercover policeman, who has put...
Hitomi is a Japanese girl who is about to get married to her fiance Tetsuya and move to Hong Kong with him. However, a tragic car accident ends up with him dead and her in Hong Kong trying to find some sort of solace from her ongoing grief. Kar-bo is an undercover policeman, who has put...
- 1/10/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
It's not the first time that internationally acclaimed maestro Hirokazu Koreeda put his effort on a serial drama. In 2019 he directed the first episode and coordinated the collective show “A Day-Off of Kasumi Arimura” and before that, in 2012, he directed the lovely (a personal favourite) “Going My Home”, starring Hiroshi Abe as a clumsy father struggling with his roles as son and as father too. However, his recent “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House” has been propelled to global audience by the intervention of giant platform Netflix. The show is co-written, co-produced and co-directed by Koreeda, alongside a handful of Japanese filmmakers and is based on a famous manga of the same title that has sold more than 1.8 million copies in Japan.
Click the image below to follow our Tribute to Netflix
After seeing maiko (apprentice geishas) walking the street of Kyoto on a school trip, 16-year-old inseparable best...
Click the image below to follow our Tribute to Netflix
After seeing maiko (apprentice geishas) walking the street of Kyoto on a school trip, 16-year-old inseparable best...
- 12/31/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Korean Romantic Remake Is 28 Years Better Late Than Never
Leading Korean star Jung Woo-sung (“A Moment to Remember”) will star opposite Shin Hyun-been (“Hospital Playlist”) in “Tell Me That You Love Me,” an original series for Genie TV. The show is a remake of the hit Japanese series of the same name that first aired at Tokyo Broadcasting Systems linear channel in Japan some 28 years ago in 1995.
The new show will upload to Genie’s own streaming service on Nov. 27 and the same day in Japan on Disney+. It will also play on Korean cable channel Ena.
The original series featuring Etsushi Toyokawa and Takako Tokiwa, was written by Kitagawa Eriko and told a slow-burning tale of romance developing between an aspiring young actress and an up-and-coming painter who lost his sense of hearing. Each episode topped the ratings of the previous one, making the show a smash it and a (pre-social media) social phenomenon.
Leading Korean star Jung Woo-sung (“A Moment to Remember”) will star opposite Shin Hyun-been (“Hospital Playlist”) in “Tell Me That You Love Me,” an original series for Genie TV. The show is a remake of the hit Japanese series of the same name that first aired at Tokyo Broadcasting Systems linear channel in Japan some 28 years ago in 1995.
The new show will upload to Genie’s own streaming service on Nov. 27 and the same day in Japan on Disney+. It will also play on Korean cable channel Ena.
The original series featuring Etsushi Toyokawa and Takako Tokiwa, was written by Kitagawa Eriko and told a slow-burning tale of romance developing between an aspiring young actress and an up-and-coming painter who lost his sense of hearing. Each episode topped the ratings of the previous one, making the show a smash it and a (pre-social media) social phenomenon.
- 11/20/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (Maiko-san Chino makanai-san) is a Japanese series created by Hirokazu Koreeda starring Mayu Matsuoka, Ai Hashimoto, Nana Mori and Keiko Matsuzaka. Based on the manga by Aiko Koyama.
The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, is a tender Japanese story about art, friendship, youth, time… and, what can merge all these concepts in a single one? Food as an art form and an expression of ephemerality and at the same time, eternity, serves this series to achieve a portrayal of youth that is charming, consoling and above all, very, very tender.
About the Series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House
A small delicacy for those that love the most traditional aspects of Japanese culture. The lives of these two kitchen apprentices will lead us, almost apologetically, to view a kind of Kyoto in which time goes by almost unnoticed, like those first...
The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, is a tender Japanese story about art, friendship, youth, time… and, what can merge all these concepts in a single one? Food as an art form and an expression of ephemerality and at the same time, eternity, serves this series to achieve a portrayal of youth that is charming, consoling and above all, very, very tender.
About the Series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House
A small delicacy for those that love the most traditional aspects of Japanese culture. The lives of these two kitchen apprentices will lead us, almost apologetically, to view a kind of Kyoto in which time goes by almost unnoticed, like those first...
- 1/12/2023
- by Veronica Loop
- Martin Cid - TV
At the close of its opening credits sequence, Netflix’s The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House splashes its title over a close-up shot of a meal. What meal specifically varies from episode to episode, depending on what the characters eat in any given one. Invariably, however, it’s some form of home-cooked comfort food: oyakodon or tomato curry or stewed eggplant, often still bubbling in the pot.
The dishes aren’t necessarily pretty, by the standards of your typical foodie show, nor do they look particularly fancy or original. But that’s precisely their appeal. They’re simple, straightforward, deceptively humble and irresistibly cozy — much like the series itself.
Adapted from the manga by Aiko Koyama, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House centers on a rare adventure. At the start of the series, 16-year-old best friends Kiyo (an irrepressibly sunny Nana Mori) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi) strike out...
The dishes aren’t necessarily pretty, by the standards of your typical foodie show, nor do they look particularly fancy or original. But that’s precisely their appeal. They’re simple, straightforward, deceptively humble and irresistibly cozy — much like the series itself.
Adapted from the manga by Aiko Koyama, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House centers on a rare adventure. At the start of the series, 16-year-old best friends Kiyo (an irrepressibly sunny Nana Mori) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi) strike out...
- 1/11/2023
- by Angie Han
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Shoplifters director Hirokazu Kore-eda is to adapt popular comic Maiko in Kyoto: From the Maiko House into an eight-part Netflix TV series, his first for the streamer. The prolific Kore-eda teased a TV and film project for Netflix late last year and these are the first details to emerge.
Airing later this year, The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House from Story Inc and Bun-Buku Inc is set in the geisha district of Kyoto, as protagonist Kiyo becomes a Makanai (person who cooks meals) at a house where Maiko (apprentice geishas) live together. The story depicts the everyday life of Kiyo maiko Sumire, her childhood friend who came with her from Aomori to Kyoto, amid a vibrant world of geisha and maiko courtesans.
Kore-eda, who won the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters, his story about a family that relies on shoplifting to cope with poverty, is also in the...
Airing later this year, The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House from Story Inc and Bun-Buku Inc is set in the geisha district of Kyoto, as protagonist Kiyo becomes a Makanai (person who cooks meals) at a house where Maiko (apprentice geishas) live together. The story depicts the everyday life of Kiyo maiko Sumire, her childhood friend who came with her from Aomori to Kyoto, amid a vibrant world of geisha and maiko courtesans.
Kore-eda, who won the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters, his story about a family that relies on shoplifting to cope with poverty, is also in the...
- 1/7/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
When Nobuhiko Obayashi sadly passed away in April 2020, most social media was filled with many posts showing pictures of the director and perhaps the feature most people remember, his 1977 film “Hausu”. While there is no denying about the quality of said film, given the vast career of Obayashi which spans over five decades, these pictures also indicate that so many viewers still need to discover for themselves the multitude of themes and the experimental visual style of the majority of his body of work, in which his debut feature makes up only a small portion. One way to start this journey into Obayashi’s work may be the upcoming release of his penultimate work, “Hanagatami” by Third Window, a touching and very poetic film about growing up during war times.
“Hanagatami” is screening at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, as part of the Obayashi Nobuhiko Film Show Case
In 1941, Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka), a sixteen-year-old teenager,...
“Hanagatami” is screening at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, as part of the Obayashi Nobuhiko Film Show Case
In 1941, Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka), a sixteen-year-old teenager,...
- 11/10/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Labyrinth Of Cinema, the final film by maverick filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi ; a love letter to the power of cinema will be playing on the big screen as it was intended.
The film will be released in New York at The Metrograph on October 20th, with a Los Angeles and regional release to follow in key theaters.
Labyrinth Of Cinema
Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi (House)
Cast: Takuro Atsuki, Takahito Hosoyamada, Yoshihiko Hosoda, Rei Yoshida, Riko Narumi, Hirona Yamazaki, Takako Tokiwa
The final film by Nobuhiko Obayashi finds the late director returning to the subject of Japan’s history of warfare following the completion of his “War Trilogy,” which ended with Hanagatami. On the last night of its existence, a small movie theater in Onomichi—the seaside town of Obayashi’s youth where he shot nearly a dozen films—screens an all-night marathon of Japanese war films. When lightning strikes the theater, three...
The film will be released in New York at The Metrograph on October 20th, with a Los Angeles and regional release to follow in key theaters.
Labyrinth Of Cinema
Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi (House)
Cast: Takuro Atsuki, Takahito Hosoyamada, Yoshihiko Hosoda, Rei Yoshida, Riko Narumi, Hirona Yamazaki, Takako Tokiwa
The final film by Nobuhiko Obayashi finds the late director returning to the subject of Japan’s history of warfare following the completion of his “War Trilogy,” which ended with Hanagatami. On the last night of its existence, a small movie theater in Onomichi—the seaside town of Obayashi’s youth where he shot nearly a dozen films—screens an all-night marathon of Japanese war films. When lightning strikes the theater, three...
- 9/12/2021
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
In the last decade of his long and prolific career, Nobuhiko Obayashi (1938-2020) — best-known in the U.S. as the filmmaker behind the cult hit House (1977) — wrote and directed a trio of deeply personal and formally audacious films that confronted Japan’s wartime past.
Made in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 2011 and informed by Obayashi’s firsthand experience as a child born on the eve of World War II in Hiroshima Prefecture, the staggering films in this trilogy—consisting of Casting Blossoms to the Sky (2012), Seven Weeks (2014) and, Hanagatami (2017)—collectively consider the loss of innocence for an entire generation of Japanese youth raised in the shadow of war and national disaster.
Kimstin is proud to present Nobuhiko Obayashi’s War Trilogy, which opens at Japan Society, NY and nationwide virtual cinemas and theatres on July 9th
Hanagatami
Drama • 2h 51m • 2014
After being diagnosed...
Made in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 2011 and informed by Obayashi’s firsthand experience as a child born on the eve of World War II in Hiroshima Prefecture, the staggering films in this trilogy—consisting of Casting Blossoms to the Sky (2012), Seven Weeks (2014) and, Hanagatami (2017)—collectively consider the loss of innocence for an entire generation of Japanese youth raised in the shadow of war and national disaster.
Kimstin is proud to present Nobuhiko Obayashi’s War Trilogy, which opens at Japan Society, NY and nationwide virtual cinemas and theatres on July 9th
Hanagatami
Drama • 2h 51m • 2014
After being diagnosed...
- 7/6/2021
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Even before the success of “Shoplifters” the family drama has been one of the most popular genre within Japanese cinema. As a mirror of social, political and economic issues the family portrait can be quite powerful as many artists, also from other media, have found out which is perhaps why these images have become so frequent. However, it takes a certain kind of director, among other things, to make a family stand out, but in the case of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s “Seven Weeks” we luckily have one of those features. Described by the director as “Guernica in moving images”, the story Obayashi tells in one of his last movies touches upon a death in a family, and the kind of conflicts and memories it brings for the relatives left behind, while at the same time presenting a uniquely maverick portrayal of post-war Japan.
“Seven Weeks” Opens Japan Society, NY and Nationwide Virtual Cinemas and Theaters,...
“Seven Weeks” Opens Japan Society, NY and Nationwide Virtual Cinemas and Theaters,...
- 7/5/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Summer Sale
1-21 July
It’s that time of the year for the Third Window Films/Arrow Video Summer Sale!
DVDs from £4 and blurays from £7! Worldwide Shipping!
From July 1-21st
Shop now at: https://bit.ly/2BVEd9l
Upcoming Releases
3 great Japanese films available to pre-order Hanagatami
Out July 6th
In 2016, Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of the cult Japanese film House (Hausu) was diagnosed with lung cancer and given only a few months to live. Despite not much time left, for what was supposed to be his final film he adapted Kazuo Dan’s 1937 novella Hanagatami, his passion project 40 years in the making.
In 1941, as Japan prepares its attack on Pearl Harbor, 16 year-old Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka) leaves his parents in Amsterdam and moves to the seaside town of Karatsu where his aunt Keiko (Takako Tokiwa) cares for his ailing cousin Mina (Honoka Yahagi). Immersed in the exquisite nature and phenomenal culture of Karatsu,...
1-21 July
It’s that time of the year for the Third Window Films/Arrow Video Summer Sale!
DVDs from £4 and blurays from £7! Worldwide Shipping!
From July 1-21st
Shop now at: https://bit.ly/2BVEd9l
Upcoming Releases
3 great Japanese films available to pre-order Hanagatami
Out July 6th
In 2016, Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of the cult Japanese film House (Hausu) was diagnosed with lung cancer and given only a few months to live. Despite not much time left, for what was supposed to be his final film he adapted Kazuo Dan’s 1937 novella Hanagatami, his passion project 40 years in the making.
In 1941, as Japan prepares its attack on Pearl Harbor, 16 year-old Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka) leaves his parents in Amsterdam and moves to the seaside town of Karatsu where his aunt Keiko (Takako Tokiwa) cares for his ailing cousin Mina (Honoka Yahagi). Immersed in the exquisite nature and phenomenal culture of Karatsu,...
- 7/3/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Three upcoming Japanese films from Third Window Films are now available for preorder.
Hanagatami
Out July 6th
In 2016, Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of the cult Japanese film House (Hausu) was diagnosed with lung cancer and given only a few months to live. Despite not much time left, for what was supposed to be his final film he adapted Kazuo Dan’s 1937 novella Hanagatami, his passion project 40 years in the making.
In 1941, as Japan prepares its attack on Pearl Harbor, 16 year-old Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka) leaves his parents in Amsterdam and moves to the seaside town of Karatsu where his aunt Keiko (Takako Tokiwa) cares for his ailing cousin Mina (Honoka Yahagi). Immersed in the exquisite nature and phenomenal culture of Karatsu, Toshihiko befriends the beautiful, Apollo-like Ukai (Shinnosuke Mitsushima), the contemplative Kira (Keishi Nagatsuka), the ingenuous Akine (Hirona Yamazaki) and the brooding Chitose (Mugi Kadowaki) as they all contend with the war’s inescapable gravitational pull.
Hanagatami
Out July 6th
In 2016, Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of the cult Japanese film House (Hausu) was diagnosed with lung cancer and given only a few months to live. Despite not much time left, for what was supposed to be his final film he adapted Kazuo Dan’s 1937 novella Hanagatami, his passion project 40 years in the making.
In 1941, as Japan prepares its attack on Pearl Harbor, 16 year-old Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka) leaves his parents in Amsterdam and moves to the seaside town of Karatsu where his aunt Keiko (Takako Tokiwa) cares for his ailing cousin Mina (Honoka Yahagi). Immersed in the exquisite nature and phenomenal culture of Karatsu, Toshihiko befriends the beautiful, Apollo-like Ukai (Shinnosuke Mitsushima), the contemplative Kira (Keishi Nagatsuka), the ingenuous Akine (Hirona Yamazaki) and the brooding Chitose (Mugi Kadowaki) as they all contend with the war’s inescapable gravitational pull.
- 6/16/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
When Nobuhiko Obayashi sadly passed away in April 2020, most social media was filled with many posts showing pictures of the director and perhaps the feature most people remember, his 1977 film “Hausu”. While there is no denying about the quality of said film, given the vast career of Obayashi which spans over five decades, these pictures also indicate that so many viewers still need to discover for themselves the multitude of themes and the experimental visual style of the majority of his body of work, in which his debut feature makes up only a small portion. One way to start this journey into Obayashi’s work may be the upcoming release of his penultimate work, “Hanagatami” by Third Window, a touching and very poetic film about growing up during war times.
In 1941, Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka), a sixteen-year-old teenager, returns from Europe to his Japanese home to attend school.
In 1941, Toshihiko (Shunsuke Kubozuka), a sixteen-year-old teenager, returns from Europe to his Japanese home to attend school.
- 5/16/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
If there is a theme that often reappears in Nobuhiko Obayashi’s oeuvre, it is the impact of war. While this theme was already present in his very first full-length feature “House” (1977), which has to read as a symbolic expression of the destruction of the A-bomb, it seems to have become a more urgent matter for him in the last couple of years. “Kono Sora no Hana”, a narrative he directed in 2012, concerned the bombing of Nagaoka, and “No No Nanananoka”, which he made two years later, handled Japan’s wartime responsibility.
With “Hanagatami”, a project Obayashi abandoned 40 years ago to make “House” instead and his third anti-war movie in a row, he once again underlines his personal motivation to carry out the dream and philosophy of the late Akira Kurosawa: to achieve world peace with the power of the cinematographical narrative. This time, by adapting Kazuo Dan’s...
With “Hanagatami”, a project Obayashi abandoned 40 years ago to make “House” instead and his third anti-war movie in a row, he once again underlines his personal motivation to carry out the dream and philosophy of the late Akira Kurosawa: to achieve world peace with the power of the cinematographical narrative. This time, by adapting Kazuo Dan’s...
- 6/2/2018
- by Pieter-Jan Van Haecke
- AsianMoviePulse
#7. Cut Director: Amir Naderi Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Takako Tokiwa,Takashi Sasano, Shun Sugata, Denden Distributor: Rights Available Buzz: Opening Venice's Orizzonti section before shipping out to Toronto, this marks a noteworthy new direction for one of the most important figures in New Iranian cinema of the 70's and 80's. After working as an American filmmaker for a pair of decade, Amir Naderi has gone all "The Five Obstructions" on his career by ordering his latest work to be all things Japanese. With collaborations from Shinji Aoyama (2000's Eureka) who helped co-write the film and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (2003's Bright Future) who served as special consultant, this should be a standout item in Naderi's filmography. The Gist: Described by the festival "as a visual love poem for the cinema set in the world of the yakuza," I'm a huge fan of filmmakers making films about the filmmaking process - in this case...
- 9/2/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Film Review: After School
CANNES -- A taut and ironic hustler movie that keeps turning the tables on the audience, "After School" requires mental concentration to disentangle the web of deceit surrounding three middle school alumni and the private eye who comes between them under the watchful eyes and iron fists of the yakuza.
Although not many Japanese critics warmed to this sophomore feature of Kenji Uchida, who won four awards at during Cannes Critics Week 2005 for his debut "A Stranger of Mine", this sophomore effort is still worth a look for the director's adult wit, artistic coherence and the subject's remake potential.
Approaching his screenplay just like he's planning the perfect heist, Uchida has constructed a plot so dense that every scene or casual cutaway holds the key to a dramatic reversal, and every character is a pawn that could turn into a Queen. In this micro-managed, cerebral world, there is little room for character development or authentic emotions. Or so the audience is led to assume, until the denouement reveals that life's biggest jinx may be to make assumptions about people and let experience and cynicism erode the simple values taught at school.
Moving beyond the mathematical structure, two-set production design and theatrical triptych of actors in his lauded debut, Uchida taxes the audience with more scattered locations, a cluster of characters and a final revelation sequence that reaches far and near in time to explain everything without room for conjecture. However, he handles multiple scenes shifts and demanding fast edits like a pro. The ensemble cast also eases stretched credibility with convincing portraits of an unworldly school teacher, a square salaryman with a double life and the comically down-at-heel gumshoe.
Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc/Groundbreaker
Cast: Yo Oizumi, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Masato Sakai, Takako Tokiwa, Tomoko Tabata.
Screenwriter-director: Kenji Uchida.
Executive producer: Makato Fujimoto.
Producers: Satoshi Akagi, Hiroshi Onishi, Daisuke Ooka.
Director of photography: Kozo Shibazaki.
Production designer: Koiichi Kanekatsu.
Music: Kei Haneoka.
Editor: Shinichi Fushima.
Sales: Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc.
103 minutes.
Although not many Japanese critics warmed to this sophomore feature of Kenji Uchida, who won four awards at during Cannes Critics Week 2005 for his debut "A Stranger of Mine", this sophomore effort is still worth a look for the director's adult wit, artistic coherence and the subject's remake potential.
Approaching his screenplay just like he's planning the perfect heist, Uchida has constructed a plot so dense that every scene or casual cutaway holds the key to a dramatic reversal, and every character is a pawn that could turn into a Queen. In this micro-managed, cerebral world, there is little room for character development or authentic emotions. Or so the audience is led to assume, until the denouement reveals that life's biggest jinx may be to make assumptions about people and let experience and cynicism erode the simple values taught at school.
Moving beyond the mathematical structure, two-set production design and theatrical triptych of actors in his lauded debut, Uchida taxes the audience with more scattered locations, a cluster of characters and a final revelation sequence that reaches far and near in time to explain everything without room for conjecture. However, he handles multiple scenes shifts and demanding fast edits like a pro. The ensemble cast also eases stretched credibility with convincing portraits of an unworldly school teacher, a square salaryman with a double life and the comically down-at-heel gumshoe.
Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc/Groundbreaker
Cast: Yo Oizumi, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Masato Sakai, Takako Tokiwa, Tomoko Tabata.
Screenwriter-director: Kenji Uchida.
Executive producer: Makato Fujimoto.
Producers: Satoshi Akagi, Hiroshi Onishi, Daisuke Ooka.
Director of photography: Kozo Shibazaki.
Production designer: Koiichi Kanekatsu.
Music: Kei Haneoka.
Editor: Shinichi Fushima.
Sales: Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc.
103 minutes.
- 6/11/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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