A sixteen year old boy, Ryo, experiences the painful ordeal of his mother being hospitalized and then dying. The boy turns to crime, but doesn’t find success.He then seeks out his remarried father, but the pain still exists…

	
Where.Are.You.2009.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-ASO.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 44 min
Size: 	7.41 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1792x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	5:3
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	10 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.216
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch E-AC-3 @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/13D39FA47F3B600/Where.Are.You.2009.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-ASO.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Masahiro Kobayashi – Wakaranai: Where Are You? AKA Where Are You? (2009) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Fujio Murai learns that he has lung cancer. A doctor tells him to have surgery on the day that is the anniversary of his wife’s death. Murai ignores the doctor and leaves the hospital with his son. After he comes back home, he refuses to eat or drink. His daughter-in-law and granddaughter haven’t been seen since the 2011 earthquake.

Japan's Tragedy 2012 720p HDTV x264 AAC-DoA.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 41 min
Size: 	1.55 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1280x536 
Aspect ratio:  	2.40:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	2 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.122
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch AAC LC @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/BB98C05B82DB1AB/Japan’s_Tragedy_2012_720p_HDTV_x264_AAC-DoA.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/7E35A9EE5422053/Japan’s_Tragedy_2013_720p_HDTV_x264_AAC-DoA.srt

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Masahiro Kobayashi – Nihon no higeki AKA Japan’s Tragedy (2012) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Chokichi Kuwahata was once a leading actor, but he is ravaged by dementia and old age now. His daughter and the men in her life go against his wishes and place him in a retirement home. He slips away one day and meets another offspring from a different union. Will this lead to his improvement or deterioration? What does it all have to do with Shakespeare?

Lear.on.the.Shore.2017.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+5.1.H.264-ARiN.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 46 min
Size: 	2.69 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1920x800 
Aspect ratio:  	2.40:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	2 992 kb/s
BPP: 	0.081
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 5.1ch E-AC-3 @ 640 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/083F375091538A3/Lear.on.the.Shore.2017.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+5.1.H.264-ARiN.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Masahiro Kobayashi – Umibe no Ria AKA Lear on the Shore (2017) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
The Locarno Film Festival is renowned for showing interesting, unconventional films, favoring fresh, undiscovered talent over established names. The two do occasionally mix: one example is Anthony Hopkins’ directorial debut Slipstream, a stream-of-consciousness satire that competed at the 2007 edition. It didn’t win anything, though: the prestigious Golden Leopard was picked up by Masahiro Kobayashi, who stunned critics and audiences with The Rebirth, a minimalistic character study of rare poignancy.

As well as writing and directing, Kobayashi plays the male lead, while Makiko Watanabe portrays his female co-star. Both characters are nameless, and at the beginning of the movie they are shown as they get interviewed on the same subject: a young girl murdered by one of her schoolmates. The man is the victim’s father, the woman is the perpetrator’s mother; she would like to apologize for what happened, he doesn’t want to hear from her at all. From that point on, those two sorrowful adults go on with their lives, occasionally running into each other while they follow the same boring routine, day after day.

Most filmmakers would show said boredom through a montage, but Kobayashi is not like most directors: his vision of repetitive life consists of showing the same events all the time, making the film a 100-minute succession of a handful of scenes, all alike. Man goes to work, woman goes to work, man has lunch, woman has lunch, man goes home, woman goes home – for the entire duration of the movie, bar the opening and closing interviews, which are also the only spoken parts in the picture. The director’s idea of cinema is one of simplicity, but at the same time it provides unexpected complexity: the absence of dialogue (and music) in the identical sequences that keep appearing in a prearranged order makes the action very straightforward, but in the meantime it leaves a lot of unanswered questions regarding the characters’ thoughts and feelings. If the man refuses to speak to the woman, why does he walk by places where he knows she will appear at a certain time? In fact, why do they keep working in nearby facilities, given that would only worsen the situation?

Kobayashi’s narrative technique is fascinating, but after a while it becomes the film’s primary weakness: on one hand, bringing the audience to the brink of insanity by repeatedly playing the same scenes reflects the effect everyday life has on the protagonists, and therefore his point is proved admirably; on the other, it is a choice that can work only for a limited amount of time – there is a very thin line between “inspired” and “pretentious”, and after 50 minutes Kobayashi gets dangerously close to crossing it, giving the impression that his storytelling device is less of an organic part of the film, and more of a trickery used for its own sake.

In the end, The Rebirth is interesting but also frustrating, a movie that will move and irritate in equal measure. Still, pictures this brave are a rarity nowadays, which is why Kobayashi’s challenging art-house film should be seen: it may feel like it’s going on forever, but hey, isn’t life exactly the same?

701MB | 1h 42m | 624×336 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/3CA6C2482E115FF/rebirth-vh-prod.avi
https://nitro.download/view/4D6028B49B05FFC/rebirth-vh-prod.idx
https://nitro.download/view/C4C8ADFA339BA7D/rebirth-vh-prod.sub

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Masahiro Kobayashi – Ai no yokan aka The Rebirth (2007) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Kobayashi’s directorial debut tells the story of a writer who leads a life of blissful self-annihilation, drinking away his sorrow. As the protagonist wanders the streets of Tokyo at night grieving his wife and child, he encounters all kinds of lost souls. An attractive homeless woman who shares his lust for cinema, sleeps with him and disappears without a word. A young man who is gay and dying of AIDS. These encounters are sad, painful or tender but they all have one thing in common – they are searching for love, just like him.

1.11GB | 1h 21m | 796×448 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/FDCB22E116F1FEE/Closing.Time.1996.DVDRip.x264.mkv

Language:Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Masahiro Kobayashi – Closing Time (1996) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

quote:
Haru’s Journey provides an insider’s look at Japanese culture through its themes of acceptance, endurance and familial commitment. It tells the story of elderly fisherman Tadao and his granddaughter Haru, who live in a small fishing village in Hokkaido. When Haru’s job disappears, she wants to take her stubborn grandfather to live in Tokyo where she will find more opportunities. But Tadao refuses to go to the capital, sparking a search for another family member who will share his life. Thus begins a road movie driven by family dynamics, as the two set out for Japan’s main island, Honshu, to see if one of Tadao’s siblings will look after him. First stop is his even more cantankerous older brother, Shiego, and their testy exchange reveals there’s more to Tadao’s selfishness than just old age. By contrast, selfless Haru takes on responsibility for the pair’s dwindling finances so their pilgrimage can continue…

2.45GB | 2h 13m | 1024×554 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/950747C22FA5B04/Haru_tono_tabi_(Masahiro_Kobayashi,_2010).576p.mkv

Language:Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Masahiro Kobayashi – Haru tono tabi AKA Haru’s Journey (2010) first appeared on Cinema of the World.