Quote:Looking at the title and poster art, Love Hotel may seem like just another late roman porno film by the Nikkatsu Studios. That, however, could hardly be further from the truth. The talent involved in this production alone should be a enough to make Love Hotel one of the most interesting films from Nikkatsu’s roman porno era. And, one of the best, too.Read More »
The film that put ISHII on the map, thanks to a Grand Prize at Japan’s bastion of indie cinema, the PIA Film Festival. Those who know the director mainly for his punk style films will be surprised, not to mention delighted, by this ode to 1970s yakuza movies à la Kinji FUKASAKU. A movie like a good rock band: it stars a charismatic young cast, has energy to spare, and thumps with a pace and rhythm that sweep you breathlessly along. (Tom Mes)Read More »
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The lyrical, profoundly moving Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo) is contemporary Japanese master Hirokazu Kore – eda’s most personal work to date. Created as a tribute to his late mother, the film depicts one day in the life of the Yokoyamas, gathered together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear. Rather than focus on big dramatic moments, Kore – eda relies on simple gestures and domestic routines (especially cooking) to evoke a family’s entire life, its deep regrets and its daily joys. Featuring vivid, heartrending performances and a gentle naturalism that harks back to the director’s earlier, documentary work, Still Walking is an extraordinary portrayal of the ties that bind us.Read More »
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 »
Perhaps inspired by the success of the detective novel adaptations of the 70’s, roman porno director Chûsei Sone decided to tackle his own version of the subject. This is exquisitely filmed (lots of wide shots, characters are almost always cramped together, etc.) and it’s certainly a worthy addition to the genre, with a great cast and featuring a young Yuya Uchida (RIP!).Read More »
Synopsis:
An unemployed young man is on the packed Tokyo subway en route to a job interview when a schoolgirl grabs him by the wrist and fingers him as a molester. A man was feeling her up on the train. The young man is arrested and no one, not the station master, the public defender or the police, seems the least interested in his protestations of innocence. It would be much more efficient if he would accept a plea bargain.Read More »
Taj Mahal Travellers On Tour is part travelogue, part performance, 100% head-spinning. It follows their worldwide (literally) expedition throughout 1971 – 1972, making music in universities, concert halls, beach fronts, Afghan steppes, wherever. As Julian Cope writes in Japrocksampler:
Taj Mahal Travellers On Tour explains more about the mindset of this wild ensemble than any book could hope to, revealing six inordinately hairy cosmic explorers hungry to make sounds in any possible situation.Read More »
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Religious con-men have probably been around as long as religion itself, though we have no way of knowing what scams fake shamans were running in the caves. For every Jesus, who had a low opinion of the rich and left little more than a strangely stained burial shroud (if that) on his demise, there have been dozens of priests, ministers and gurus raking it in, living it up and believing in nothing but the endless gullibility of the human race.Read More »
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A massacre initiated by the followers of an apocalyptic religious sect, the Ark of Truth, leaves more than a hundred people dead – including the self-appointed executioners, slain by fellow cult members.
Three years pass. On the anniversary of the slaughter, four friends who lost loved ones in the tragedy seek solace by journeying to the secluded lake where it all began. They encounter a man who was with the executioners until the very moment the killing began, and their pilgrimage takes a strange, unexpected turn.Read More »