Tag Archives: Japanese cinema

identity games (film: Aru otoko /A Man – Kei Ishikawa, 2022)

Posted on February 25, 2023 by admin

‘A Man‘ (original title is ‘Aru otoko‘), the 2022 film directed by Kei Ishikawa, is a Japanese film with an European flavor. It is a detective mystery with many twists and turns, which demands the permanent attention of the viewers … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged Aru otoko, film based on a novel, Japanese cinema, Japanese movies, Kei Ishikawa, Keiichiro Hirano | Leave a comment

Apocalypse, then! (film: Kuroi ame / Black Rain – Shôhei Imamura, 1989)

Posted on December 12, 2022 by admin

I happen to have seen and written about a number of end-of-the-world and post-apocalyptic movies lately. Most of them were dystopias and/or special effects films that depicted the possible ends of the world as we know it and what would … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged Black Rain, Japanese cinema, Kazuo Kitamura, Kuroi ame, Shôhei Imamura, Yoshiko Tanaka | Leave a comment

love, pain and Chekhov (film: Drive My Car – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2021)

Posted on March 24, 2022 by admin

‘Drive my Car’ by Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a complex and elegiac film about love and mourning, about art as a means of relieving personal trauma, about responsibility and about the persistence of pain. Well-written and fine acted, it … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged Drive My Car, family drama, Haruki Murakami, Japanese cinema, movies about love, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | Leave a comment

two mothers on an island (film: After the Sunset – Michio Koshikawa, 2019)

Posted on February 25, 2021 by admin

‘After the Sunset‘ (in Japanese ‘Yuhi No Ato‘) directed in 2019 by Michio Koshikawa offers a sincere and direct cinematic experience, which managed to capture my attention and make me feel the emotions and sympathise with the problems of the … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged After the Sunset, family drama, Japanese cinema, Japanese movies, Maho Yamada, Michio Koshikawa, Shihori Kanjiya, Towa Matsubara, Yuhi No Ato | Leave a comment

in the footsteps of Ozu (film: Still Walking – Hirokazu Koreeda, 2008)

Posted on November 9, 2020 by admin

Coincidentally, I viewed ‘Still Walking‘, Hirokazu Koreeda‘s 2008 film the day after viewing ‘Tokyo Story‘, Yasujirô Ozu‘s masterpiece. The two films are made 55 years apart, but they are very close in terms of dealing with the relationships between generations, … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged Hirokazu Koreeda, Hiroshi Abe, Japanese cinema, Japanese movies, Still Walking, Yoshio Harada | Leave a comment

parents and children (film: Tokyo Story – Yasujirô Ozu, 1953)

Posted on November 7, 2020 by admin

Yasujirô Ozu‘s ‘Tokyo Story‘ was made in 1953, the year of my birth. 67 years have passed since then, the film is the same age as me. It addresses a recurring theme of Ozu‘s creation – the disintegration of the … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged Chishû Ryû, Japanese cinema, Japanese movies, Setsuko Hara, Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu | Leave a comment

a not so traditional family (Film: Shoplifters – Hirokazu Koreeda, 2018)

Posted on February 25, 2019 by admin

‘Shoplifters‘ by Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda confuses its audiences for much of the length of the film. For about three quarters of the duration of the screening, it looks like we are dealing with a family drama that takes place … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged Hirokazu Koreeda, Japanese cinema, Shoplifters | Leave a comment

fatherhood pains (Film: Like Father, Like Son / Soshite chichi ni naru – Hirokazu Koreeda, 2013)

Posted on January 23, 2019 by admin

What happens to the two families in director Hirokazu Koreeda‘s film ‘Like Father, Like Son‘ (the original Japanese title is ‘Soshite chichi ni naru’) is one of the nightmares of any couple of parents. Six years after the birth of … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged Hirokazu Koreeda, Japanese cinema, Like Father Like Son, Masaharu Fukuyama, Soshite chichi ni naru | Leave a comment