The 66th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 24, 2024. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2023. The trifecta wins for “Godzilla Minus One” come as no surprise, sweeping the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. Yuya Ishii picks up the Best Director award for both his movies “The Moon” and “Masked Hearts”.
Best Film
Masked Hearts
Ichiko
Egoist
Monster
The Dry Spell
Godzilla Minus One
Mom, Is That You?!
(Ab)normal Desire
The Moon
One Last Bloom
Perfect Days
Bad Lands
September 1923
Do Unto Others
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Best Director
Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts
Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster
Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist
Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One
Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!
Best Actor
Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire
Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!
Best Film
Masked Hearts
Ichiko
Egoist
Monster
The Dry Spell
Godzilla Minus One
Mom, Is That You?!
(Ab)normal Desire
The Moon
One Last Bloom
Perfect Days
Bad Lands
September 1923
Do Unto Others
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Best Director
Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts
Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster
Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist
Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One
Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!
Best Actor
Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire
Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!
- 1/25/2024
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
Presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, and Japan Society
February 15-24, 2024 at Japan Society
and partner venues in NYC
New York, NY – Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan and Japan Society are proud to announce the eighth installment of the Aca Cinema Project film series – Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux – an ongoing initiative fostered by the Government of Japan to increase awareness and appreciation of Japanese films and filmmakers in the United States. The Aca Cinema Project has presented events in both New York and LA since 2021, and its upcoming edition will showcase over nine contemporary and classic films from February 15-24, 2024 all with the central theme of the modern family. The bonds of the Japanese family are often revered in the West, and this series will both celebrate these traditions as well as call into question their reality and relevance in our quickly changing modern world.
February 15-24, 2024 at Japan Society
and partner venues in NYC
New York, NY – Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan and Japan Society are proud to announce the eighth installment of the Aca Cinema Project film series – Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux – an ongoing initiative fostered by the Government of Japan to increase awareness and appreciation of Japanese films and filmmakers in the United States. The Aca Cinema Project has presented events in both New York and LA since 2021, and its upcoming edition will showcase over nine contemporary and classic films from February 15-24, 2024 all with the central theme of the modern family. The bonds of the Japanese family are often revered in the West, and this series will both celebrate these traditions as well as call into question their reality and relevance in our quickly changing modern world.
- 1/24/2024
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
As part of the Aca Cinema Project––”an ongoing initiative fostered by the Government of Japan to increase awareness and appreciation of Japanese films and filmmakers in the United States”––Japan Society will run “Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux” from February 15-24. A mix of American premieres and repertory showings, this series puts “bonds of the Japanese family” front and center to “both celebrate these traditions as well as call into question their reality and relevance in our quickly changing modern world.”
U.S. premieres include Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko, starring Rinko Kikuchi, and Keiko Tsuruoka’s Tsugaru Lacquer Girl. A special spotlight is given to Ryota Nakano, whose A Long Goodbye and exquisitely titled Her Love Boils Bathwater will be making New York debuts; his 2020 feature The Asadas also plays.
Repertory screenings will be held for Kohei Oguri’s Muddy River, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, Kore-eda’s Still Walking,...
U.S. premieres include Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko, starring Rinko Kikuchi, and Keiko Tsuruoka’s Tsugaru Lacquer Girl. A special spotlight is given to Ryota Nakano, whose A Long Goodbye and exquisitely titled Her Love Boils Bathwater will be making New York debuts; his 2020 feature The Asadas also plays.
Repertory screenings will be held for Kohei Oguri’s Muddy River, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, Kore-eda’s Still Walking,...
- 1/17/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Key Asian territories have picked up the drama.
Japan’s Free Stone Productions has secured a brace of deals on Yuya Ishii’s The Moon, following its world premiere in competition at Busan International Film Festival this week.
The film has been acquired for distribution in Taiwan (SkyDigi) and Korea (Media Castle) during the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm), which runs parallel to the festival. It is set to be released in Japan by Star Sands on October 13.
The story follows a writer named Yoko who takes a job at a nursing home, where she witnesses elderly and disabled residents...
Japan’s Free Stone Productions has secured a brace of deals on Yuya Ishii’s The Moon, following its world premiere in competition at Busan International Film Festival this week.
The film has been acquired for distribution in Taiwan (SkyDigi) and Korea (Media Castle) during the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm), which runs parallel to the festival. It is set to be released in Japan by Star Sands on October 13.
The story follows a writer named Yoko who takes a job at a nursing home, where she witnesses elderly and disabled residents...
- 10/8/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Yuya Ishii has been the mastermind behind a number of films we cherish particularly here in Asian Movie Pulse, with “The Great Passage” especially featuring frequently in some of our ‘best of’ lists. Recently, however, and particularly since “The Asian Angel”, Ishii seems to have lost some of his edge, which he apparently tries to find once more with “The Moon”, a rather ambitious project.
The Moon is screening at Busan International Film Festival
Yoko Dojima once wrote a novel about the 2011 Earthquake, which brought her fame and even a much younger and rather handsome husband, Shohei, who calls her maestra and is an animator. Currently, though, she has not been able to produce anything new, which is why, along with the financial issues the couple faces, she agrees on taking on a job as caretaker at a facility for the severely disabled, which is located deep in the forest.
The Moon is screening at Busan International Film Festival
Yoko Dojima once wrote a novel about the 2011 Earthquake, which brought her fame and even a much younger and rather handsome husband, Shohei, who calls her maestra and is an animator. Currently, though, she has not been able to produce anything new, which is why, along with the financial issues the couple faces, she agrees on taking on a job as caretaker at a facility for the severely disabled, which is located deep in the forest.
- 10/7/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
A grief-stricken author attempts to reconnect with society by taking a job at a nursing home for the severely disabled in Yuya Ishii’s compelling drama The Moon, inspired by a real-life Japanese tragedy and adapted from the novel by Yo Hemmi. Rie Miyazawa (Pale Moon) is sensational in the lead role, but is surrounded by an equally impressive ensemble that includes Joe Odagiri (Adrift in Tokyo), Fumi Nikaido (Why Don't You Play in Hell?), and Hayato Isomura (Tokyo Revengers). Yoko (Miyazawa) and her husband Shohei (Odagiri) are battling to keep their marriage on course following the death of their infant son due to a congenital heart disease. Yoko previously found success as a writer, publishing a celebrated novel about the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Since...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/6/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Having won a number of awards in Deauville, Golden Horse and Taipei Film Festival, “The Cabbie” is Chen Yi-wen’s most successful movie to date, and was also Taiwan’s submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, although it was not accepted as a nominee.
“The Cabbie” is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh
The film is split in two parts essentially, which intermingle on a number of occasions. The main arc revolves around Su Daquan, a taxi driver, and his family, starting with the way his parents, a coroner and a taxi driver met and married, and continuing with his personal history. In adolescence, when his peers were driving scooters, he was driving a car without license, and his performance in school was of no importance, since the only thing that mattered was for him getting his license, something he eventually achieved,...
“The Cabbie” is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh
The film is split in two parts essentially, which intermingle on a number of occasions. The main arc revolves around Su Daquan, a taxi driver, and his family, starting with the way his parents, a coroner and a taxi driver met and married, and continuing with his personal history. In adolescence, when his peers were driving scooters, he was driving a car without license, and his performance in school was of no importance, since the only thing that mattered was for him getting his license, something he eventually achieved,...
- 10/5/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Having won a number of awards in Deauville, Golden Horse and Taipei Film Festival, “The Cabbie” is Chen Yi-wen’s most successful movie to date, and was also Taiwan’s submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, although it was not accepted as a nominee.
The film is split in two parts essentially, which intermingle on a number of occasions. The main arc revolves around Su Daquan, a taxi driver, and his family, starting with the way his parents, a coroner and a taxi driver met and married, and continuing with his personal history. In adolescence, when his peers were driving scooters, he was driving a car without license, and his performance in school was of no importance, since the only thing that mattered was for him getting his license, something he eventually achieved, immediately starting working for his father’s company.
The film is split in two parts essentially, which intermingle on a number of occasions. The main arc revolves around Su Daquan, a taxi driver, and his family, starting with the way his parents, a coroner and a taxi driver met and married, and continuing with his personal history. In adolescence, when his peers were driving scooters, he was driving a car without license, and his performance in school was of no importance, since the only thing that mattered was for him getting his license, something he eventually achieved, immediately starting working for his father’s company.
- 5/13/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
From a futuristic existential animation about androids to a culturally rich documentary delving into the art of ramen-making, the Japanese Film Festival: Online returns from 14-27 February 2022 with a free streamed Festival featuring the best in Japanese cinema.
The 2022 Festival presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney will screen 17 films nation-wide for free, including feature films and documentaries. Jff Online 2022 marks the second time The Japan Foundation, Sydney will screen the festival across Australia to enjoy online.
Japanese Film Festival Director, Yurika Sugie said:
“Jff Online invites Australian audiences to celebrate the richness of Japanese cinema from the comfort of their own homes, with an eclectic virtual program traversing the hottest new international film festival award-winners, past Jff favourites and cult hits.”
Japanese Film Festival Programmer, Susan Bui said:
“Enjoy cutting-edge titles from Japan’s finest auteurs in tandem with Japanophiles from 25 countries world-wide as part of this exciting global initiative.
The 2022 Festival presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney will screen 17 films nation-wide for free, including feature films and documentaries. Jff Online 2022 marks the second time The Japan Foundation, Sydney will screen the festival across Australia to enjoy online.
Japanese Film Festival Director, Yurika Sugie said:
“Jff Online invites Australian audiences to celebrate the richness of Japanese cinema from the comfort of their own homes, with an eclectic virtual program traversing the hottest new international film festival award-winners, past Jff favourites and cult hits.”
Japanese Film Festival Programmer, Susan Bui said:
“Enjoy cutting-edge titles from Japan’s finest auteurs in tandem with Japanophiles from 25 countries world-wide as part of this exciting global initiative.
- 2/9/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Tsutomu Tanimura (Masataka Kubota) is a 30-year-old man, living in a provincial city. He works as a private secretary for Shohei Kawashima, who is a member of the House of Representatives and he has strong support from his constituents. One day, Shohei Kawashima collapses. Around this time, the House of Representatives is dissolved. For the next House of Representatives election, Shohei Kawashima’s 45-year-old daughter, Yumi Kawashima (Rie Miyazawa), decides to run for office.
- 7/24/2021
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Throughout the history of the genre, from literature to film, the samurai has always been a representative of a strict hierarchical social order but also a code, the bushido, which defines him, and he has to obey. While also repeatedly seen as a victim of both of these concepts, it has often been the case the samurai was regarded a hero-like figure, at times precisely because he obeyed the bushido or would not let his master down. In many ways the samurai is a reflection of Japanese society and its virtues, and also how these have changed in each decade. One of the most interesting entries because of its portrayal of this particular warrior and fighter has to be Yoji Yamada’s 2002 feature “The Twilight Samurai”, a movie which has been repeatedly praised by critics and received a plethora of awards, such as 12 Japanese Academy Awards. With its story taking...
- 2/6/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Despite now being typecast as a director of family dramas, Hirokazu Koreeda isn’t a director afraid to step out of his comfort zone, experimenting with fantasy (“Air Doll”) and courtroom drama (“The Third Murder”). It’s no surprise then that his sole jidaigeki (period drama) to date, 2006’s “Hana”, tells the story of a samurai well out of his comfort zone in his role. The English language release came with the tagline “The tale of a reluctant samurai”, but the hero, Soza (Junichi Okada) is more than just reluctant and is actively running away from the role typically associated with such honourable duties.
In 18th century Japan, Soza hides out in a small community on the outskirts of Edo to seek out the murderer of his father, head of his clan, killed over a petty squabble. His duty is to get revenge. But despite the constant...
In 18th century Japan, Soza hides out in a small community on the outskirts of Edo to seek out the murderer of his father, head of his clan, killed over a petty squabble. His duty is to get revenge. But despite the constant...
- 4/4/2020
- by Andrew Thayne
- AsianMoviePulse
Adapting Haruki Murakami’s works in cinema is definitely an arduous task, chiefly due to the surrealism and minimalism that characterize his novels. However, this particular movie managed to capture the homonymous short story’s full essence.
The story behind the film is a very interesting. One day, Murakami entered a small shop with second hand clothes in Maui, where he bought, for $1, a T-shirt with the name “Tony Takitani” written on it. Actual Tony had produced these T-shirts as part of his failed campaign for a state Senate Seat. Murakami, though, was truly inspired by the name. According to an interview he gave at The Daily Yumiuri, “Every time I put on the T-shirt, I felt like this Tony Takitani was begging me to write a story about him.” And that he did, writing a short story that was included in the 2006 collection, “Blind Willow, Sleeping...
The story behind the film is a very interesting. One day, Murakami entered a small shop with second hand clothes in Maui, where he bought, for $1, a T-shirt with the name “Tony Takitani” written on it. Actual Tony had produced these T-shirts as part of his failed campaign for a state Senate Seat. Murakami, though, was truly inspired by the name. According to an interview he gave at The Daily Yumiuri, “Every time I put on the T-shirt, I felt like this Tony Takitani was begging me to write a story about him.” And that he did, writing a short story that was included in the 2006 collection, “Blind Willow, Sleeping...
- 12/29/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
For his transition from documentaries to fiction, writer-director Daishi Matsunaga chooses a challenging topic; one of those subjects that sit on the narrow edge between tearjerker territory and the land of unrequested philosophy. But, guess what? He manages not to plunge into one nor the other side and, on the contrary, to stay afloat and gift us with a sombre yet tender movie.
Loosely based on the prolific artist and godfather of manga Osamu Tetzuka’s last journals and reflections before dying, aged 60, of an announced death, “Pieta in the Toilet” centres on the young introverted painter Hiroshi (Yojiro Noda), who – for a lack of confidence and “joie de vivre” in general – has given up his art in exchange of a relatively easy and unchallenging job as window cleaner.
Very early in the film, Hiroshi passes out while at work and is taken to hospital, where further...
Loosely based on the prolific artist and godfather of manga Osamu Tetzuka’s last journals and reflections before dying, aged 60, of an announced death, “Pieta in the Toilet” centres on the young introverted painter Hiroshi (Yojiro Noda), who – for a lack of confidence and “joie de vivre” in general – has given up his art in exchange of a relatively easy and unchallenging job as window cleaner.
Very early in the film, Hiroshi passes out while at work and is taken to hospital, where further...
- 1/15/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Japan's entry for the foreign-language category at the Oscars is Ryota Nakano's Her Love Boils Bathwater (Yu o Wakasu Hodo no Atsui Ai).
Written and directed by Nakano, it tells the story of a mother who decides to resolve all her family's problems after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Rie Miyazawa won the Japan Academy Prize for best actress for her performance, while Hana Sugsaki won best supporting actress for her portrayal of Miyazawa's daughter. The film lost out to Godzilla Resurgence for best picture.
Japan first won the foreign-language Oscar in 1951 with Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and last...
Written and directed by Nakano, it tells the story of a mother who decides to resolve all her family's problems after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Rie Miyazawa won the Japan Academy Prize for best actress for her performance, while Hana Sugsaki won best supporting actress for her portrayal of Miyazawa's daughter. The film lost out to Godzilla Resurgence for best picture.
Japan first won the foreign-language Oscar in 1951 with Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and last...
- 9/5/2017
- by Gavin J. Blair
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The ceremony took place in the Grand Prince Hotel, in Tokyo, on the 3d of March and the winners were:
Best Picture: Godzilla Resurgence (Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi)
Best Animated Film: In this corner of the World (Sunao Katabuchi)
Best Director: Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Screenplay: Makoto Shinkai (Your Name)
Best Actor: Koichi Sato (64: Part I)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Water)
Best Supporting Actor: Satoshi Tsumabaki (Rage)
Best Supporting Actress: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Water)
Best Cinematography: Kosuke Yamada (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Lighting Direction: Takayuki Kawabe (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Music: Radwimps (Your Name)
Best Art Direction: Yuji Hayashida & Eri Sakujima (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Sound Recording: Jun Nakamura & Haru Yamada (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Film Editing: Hideaki Anno and Atsuki Sato (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Foreign Language Film: Sully
Newcomer of the Year: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Bathwater), Mitsuki Takahata (Evergreen Love,...
Best Picture: Godzilla Resurgence (Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi)
Best Animated Film: In this corner of the World (Sunao Katabuchi)
Best Director: Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Screenplay: Makoto Shinkai (Your Name)
Best Actor: Koichi Sato (64: Part I)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Water)
Best Supporting Actor: Satoshi Tsumabaki (Rage)
Best Supporting Actress: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Water)
Best Cinematography: Kosuke Yamada (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Lighting Direction: Takayuki Kawabe (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Music: Radwimps (Your Name)
Best Art Direction: Yuji Hayashida & Eri Sakujima (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Sound Recording: Jun Nakamura & Haru Yamada (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Film Editing: Hideaki Anno and Atsuki Sato (Godzilla Resurgence)
Best Foreign Language Film: Sully
Newcomer of the Year: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Bathwater), Mitsuki Takahata (Evergreen Love,...
- 3/29/2017
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
We’re on the record as thinking that Toho’s most recent Godzilla flick, Shin Godzilla, was a pretty good time, blending political satire and smashing buildings into one city-stomping package. But given that we gave the movie a B, we might still be out of step with the Japanese Academy Prize’s assessment of the film. The Prize—often referred to as the Japanese Academy Awards—named Shin Godzilla (also known as Godzilla: Resurgence) its Best Picture of 2016 today, along with six other awards, including Best Director.
Godzilla stomped all over the night’s second place finisher, the critically acclaimed anime film Your Name. Other films up for contention at this year’s awards included Rage, What A Wonderful Family!, and Her Love Boils Bathwater, which earned a Best Actress award for star Rie Miyazawa.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]...
Godzilla stomped all over the night’s second place finisher, the critically acclaimed anime film Your Name. Other films up for contention at this year’s awards included Rage, What A Wonderful Family!, and Her Love Boils Bathwater, which earned a Best Actress award for star Rie Miyazawa.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]...
- 3/4/2017
- by William Hughes
- avclub.com
The award ceremony for the oldest Japanese cinema competition took place on February 5 at the Bunkyo Civic Center, and the list of winners is:
Best Actor: Yuya Yagira (Destruction Babies)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Bath Water)
Best Supporting Actor: Pistol Takehara (The Long Excuse)
Best Supporting Actress: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Bath Water)
Best Director: Sunao Katabuchi (In This Corner of the World)
Best Director (Foreign): Clint Eastwood (Sully)
Best Screenplay: Hideaki Anno (Shin Godzilla)
Best New Actor: Nijiro Murakami (Destruction Babies, Natsumi no Hotaru)
Best New Actress: Nana Komatsu (Oboreru Knife, Destruction Babies)
Best Ten Japanese Feature Films
In This Corner of the World (Sunao Katabuchi)
Shin Godzilla (Shinji Higuchi/Hideaki Anno)
Harmonium (Koji Fukada)
Destruction Babies (Mariko Tetsuya)
Long Excuse (Miwa Nishikawa)
The Bride of Rip Van Winkle (Shunji Iwai)
Her Love Boils Bath Water (Ryota Nakano)
Creepy (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Over the Fence...
Best Actor: Yuya Yagira (Destruction Babies)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Bath Water)
Best Supporting Actor: Pistol Takehara (The Long Excuse)
Best Supporting Actress: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Bath Water)
Best Director: Sunao Katabuchi (In This Corner of the World)
Best Director (Foreign): Clint Eastwood (Sully)
Best Screenplay: Hideaki Anno (Shin Godzilla)
Best New Actor: Nijiro Murakami (Destruction Babies, Natsumi no Hotaru)
Best New Actress: Nana Komatsu (Oboreru Knife, Destruction Babies)
Best Ten Japanese Feature Films
In This Corner of the World (Sunao Katabuchi)
Shin Godzilla (Shinji Higuchi/Hideaki Anno)
Harmonium (Koji Fukada)
Destruction Babies (Mariko Tetsuya)
Long Excuse (Miwa Nishikawa)
The Bride of Rip Van Winkle (Shunji Iwai)
Her Love Boils Bath Water (Ryota Nakano)
Creepy (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Over the Fence...
- 2/6/2017
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The 29th ceremony took place on December, 28 at the New Otani Hotel, in Tokyo and the list of winners is:
Best Film: 64: Part 1 (Takahisa Zeze)
Best Director: Makoto Shinkai (Your Anme)
Best Actor: Koichi Sato (64: Part 1)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Bathwater )
Best Supporting Actor: Satoshi Tsumabuki (Rage, Museum)
Best Supporting Actress: Aoi Miyazaki (Rage, If Cats Disappeared from the World)
Best International Film: Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
New Face Award: Kasumi Arimura (Nanimono, Natsumi’s Firefly)
Yujiro Ishihara Award: Dangerous Cops: Final 5 Days (Toru Murakawa)
Toru Murakawa Kasumi Arimura Rie Miyazawa...
Best Film: 64: Part 1 (Takahisa Zeze)
Best Director: Makoto Shinkai (Your Anme)
Best Actor: Koichi Sato (64: Part 1)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Bathwater )
Best Supporting Actor: Satoshi Tsumabuki (Rage, Museum)
Best Supporting Actress: Aoi Miyazaki (Rage, If Cats Disappeared from the World)
Best International Film: Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
New Face Award: Kasumi Arimura (Nanimono, Natsumi’s Firefly)
Yujiro Ishihara Award: Dangerous Cops: Final 5 Days (Toru Murakawa)
Toru Murakawa Kasumi Arimura Rie Miyazawa...
- 1/8/2017
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The awards were first presented in 1976, from the sports newspaper Hochi Shinbun, currently named Sports Hochi. The voters include readers of the newspaper and a committee of Japanese film critics.
This year’s ceremony was held on December 20th, at Prince Park Hotel, in Tokyo, and the winners were:
Best Picture: Her Love Boils Bathwater (Ryota Nakano)
Best International Picture: Creed (Ryan Coogler)
Best Actor: Tomokazu Miura (Katsuragi Case)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Bathwater)
Best Supporting Actor: Go Ayano (Rage)
Best Supporting Actress: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Bathwater)
Best New Artist: Takanori Iwata (Evergreen Love) Ryota Nakano (Her Love Boils Bathwater)
Special Award: Your Name
Best Director: Lee Sang-il (Rage)...
This year’s ceremony was held on December 20th, at Prince Park Hotel, in Tokyo, and the winners were:
Best Picture: Her Love Boils Bathwater (Ryota Nakano)
Best International Picture: Creed (Ryan Coogler)
Best Actor: Tomokazu Miura (Katsuragi Case)
Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Bathwater)
Best Supporting Actor: Go Ayano (Rage)
Best Supporting Actress: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Bathwater)
Best New Artist: Takanori Iwata (Evergreen Love) Ryota Nakano (Her Love Boils Bathwater)
Special Award: Your Name
Best Director: Lee Sang-il (Rage)...
- 12/20/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Lou Ye’s Blind Massage won best film at the Asian Film Awards in Macau on Tuesday night, while Ann Hui won best director for The Golden Era.
Hui’s biopic of writer Xiao Hong also picked up best supporting actor for Wang Zhiwen’s performance, while Blind Massage also won best cinematography for the work of Zeng Jian.
Liao Fan (pictured at left) was awarded best actor for Diao Yinan’s Black Coal, Thin Ice, which also won best screenwriter for Diao’s script.
Best actress went to Korea’s Bae Doo-na (pictured at right) for A Girl At My Door, while Japan’s Ikewaki Chizuru won best supporting actress for The Light Shines Only There. The best newcomer went to Zhang Huiwen for her role in Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home.
Jiang Wen’s Gone With The Bullets was a multiple winner in the technical categories, picking up best VFX (Rick Sander and Christoph Zollinger...
Hui’s biopic of writer Xiao Hong also picked up best supporting actor for Wang Zhiwen’s performance, while Blind Massage also won best cinematography for the work of Zeng Jian.
Liao Fan (pictured at left) was awarded best actor for Diao Yinan’s Black Coal, Thin Ice, which also won best screenwriter for Diao’s script.
Best actress went to Korea’s Bae Doo-na (pictured at right) for A Girl At My Door, while Japan’s Ikewaki Chizuru won best supporting actress for The Light Shines Only There. The best newcomer went to Zhang Huiwen for her role in Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home.
Jiang Wen’s Gone With The Bullets was a multiple winner in the technical categories, picking up best VFX (Rick Sander and Christoph Zollinger...
- 3/26/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
As the only Japanese film playing in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival, expectations were high and goodwill primed to cheer the root-of-all-evil tale “Pale Moon” as the local find of the week. And it just scooped the Audience Award, having earned at least mild praise from most critics, so really the only kink in that narrative is us, contrarians that we are. "Pale Moon," the fourth feature from director Daihachi Yoshida, is certainly more slickly made than some of the other competition titles here. It boasts a locally well-known lead in stage and screen actress Rie Miyazawa, plus a springy, culturally and temporally relevant-feeling plot about the corrupting lure of money. But it is also a remarkably plodding telling of a familiar story, one that unfolds in so linear a fashion that it feels oddly overexplained, only ever operating on a single level, entirely without subtext or subplot.
- 10/31/2014
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Audience Award won by Pale Moon with the film’s Rie Miyazawa named best actress.
The 27th Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) wrapped tonight with Josh and Benny Safdie’s Us-France co-production Heaven Knows What winning the Tokyo Grand Prix. The top award comes with a cash prize of $50,000.
The co-directors also took Award for Best Director ($5,000) with their film about young junkies struggling to survive in New York. Heaven Knows What was an Asian premiere in Tokyo after Venice, Toronto and New York.
The Special Jury Prize ($20,000) went to Bulgaria-Greece co-production The Lesson directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.
Rie Miyazawa took the Best Actress award ($5,000) for her performance in Pale Moon, a world premiere title which also picked up the Audience Award ($10,000).
Directed by Daihachi Yoshida (The Kirishima Thing), the film was the only Japanese work in competition and drew pleased buzz from hard-pressed festival-goers looking for good Japanese films in the selection.
[link...
The 27th Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) wrapped tonight with Josh and Benny Safdie’s Us-France co-production Heaven Knows What winning the Tokyo Grand Prix. The top award comes with a cash prize of $50,000.
The co-directors also took Award for Best Director ($5,000) with their film about young junkies struggling to survive in New York. Heaven Knows What was an Asian premiere in Tokyo after Venice, Toronto and New York.
The Special Jury Prize ($20,000) went to Bulgaria-Greece co-production The Lesson directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.
Rie Miyazawa took the Best Actress award ($5,000) for her performance in Pale Moon, a world premiere title which also picked up the Audience Award ($10,000).
Directed by Daihachi Yoshida (The Kirishima Thing), the film was the only Japanese work in competition and drew pleased buzz from hard-pressed festival-goers looking for good Japanese films in the selection.
[link...
- 10/31/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Going from strength to strength, director Yoshida Daihachi (The Kirishima Thing) returns to the themes of conformity and rebellion in Japanese society in Pale Moon (Kami no Tsuki), the story of an obedient housewife who becomes an embezzler to live it up with a young lover. Though seemingly played for straight drama, there are mischievous clues throughout the film that other readings are possible, confirmed in the surprise ending. The fun — and anxiety — lies in watching the delightfully proper heroine overturn the conventions of a highly regimented country, and stage and screen actress Rie Miyazawa is fully up
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- 10/25/2014
- by Deborah Young
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In an early announcement, the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) has revealed Japanese film Pale Moon will be the only local film in Competition this year.
Directed by Daihachi Yoshida, award-winning filmmaker of The Kirishima Thing, Pale Moon will receive its world premiere at the festival, which runs Oct 23-31.
The rest of Tiff’s line-up will be announced Sept 30.
Based on prize-winning author Mitsuyo Kakuta’s novel The Eighth Day, suspense film Pale Moon stars Rie Miyazawa as an ordinary housewife who unexpectedly gets involved in a large embezzlement case.
Yoshi Yatabe, programming director of Tiff’s International Competition section, said: “It was fate when the director Daihachi Yoshida, who is always careful to portray a character attractively, encountered the actress Rie Miyazawa.
“In Pale Moon, Miyazawa performed perfectly in the role of a woman who experiences liberation from suppression and downfall. The chemistry between the director and the star created this year’s representative...
Directed by Daihachi Yoshida, award-winning filmmaker of The Kirishima Thing, Pale Moon will receive its world premiere at the festival, which runs Oct 23-31.
The rest of Tiff’s line-up will be announced Sept 30.
Based on prize-winning author Mitsuyo Kakuta’s novel The Eighth Day, suspense film Pale Moon stars Rie Miyazawa as an ordinary housewife who unexpectedly gets involved in a large embezzlement case.
Yoshi Yatabe, programming director of Tiff’s International Competition section, said: “It was fate when the director Daihachi Yoshida, who is always careful to portray a character attractively, encountered the actress Rie Miyazawa.
“In Pale Moon, Miyazawa performed perfectly in the role of a woman who experiences liberation from suppression and downfall. The chemistry between the director and the star created this year’s representative...
- 9/18/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
This is the full trailer for Japan's live-action big screen adaptation of of the anime film Kiki's Delivery Service. I have to admit the trailer put a smile on my face. It looks like it will be an adorable film. The story follows "a young girl named Kiki who must leave her home for a year to begin training in witchcraft. After saying goodbye to her friends and family Kiki leaves on her broom and begins her new life in the town of Koriko seaside with her trusted cat Jiji."
Anime fans, there will be slight changes from the story told in the anime as the live-action Kiki's Delivery Service will be based on Kadono's first two volumes while the 1989 anime from Studio Ghibli only covered the first. There are six collected volumes in total that chronicle the tales of Kiki and her black cat Jiji so it seems likely...
Anime fans, there will be slight changes from the story told in the anime as the live-action Kiki's Delivery Service will be based on Kadono's first two volumes while the 1989 anime from Studio Ghibli only covered the first. There are six collected volumes in total that chronicle the tales of Kiki and her black cat Jiji so it seems likely...
- 12/10/2013
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Anime fans, there will be slight changes from the story told in the anime as the live-action "Kiki's Delivery Service" will be based on Kadono's first two volumes while the 1989 anime from Studio Ghibli only covered the first. There are six collected volumes in total that chronicle the tales of Kiki and her black cat Jiji so it seems likely that if the first film is successful, a trilogy will be created adapting two books at a time. Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge) directs and newcomer Fūka Koshiba plays the titular lead. Ryōhei Hirota, Machiko Ono, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Miho Kanazawa, Rie Miyazawa and Michitaka Tsutsui also star. Satoko Okudera (Wolf Prince) penned the film's script. Filming began on May 23, 2013 and recently wrapped for a Japanese release on March 1, 2014. Related Content: Anime: Second Teaser Trailer For Live-Action Kiki's Delivery Service Anime: First Teaser Trailer...
- 12/10/2013
- ComicBookMovie.com
There will be slight changes from the story told in the anime as the live-action "Kiki's Delivery Service" will be based on Kadono's first two volumes while the 1989 anime from Studio Ghibli only covered the first. There are six collected volumes in total that chronicle the tales of Kiki and her black cat Jiji so it seems likely that if the first film is successful, a trilogy will be created adapting two books at a time. Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge) directs and newcomer Fūka Koshiba plays the titular lead. Ryōhei Hirota, Machiko Ono, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Miho Kanazawa, Rie Miyazawa and Michitaka Tsutsui also star. Satoko Okudera (Wolf Prince) penned the film's script. Filming began on May 23, 2013 and recently wrapped for a Japanese release on March 1, 2014. Related Content: Anime: First Teaser Trailer For Live-Action Kiki's Delivery Service First Image From Live-Action Kiki's Delivery...
- 11/5/2013
- ComicBookMovie.com
On Monday it was announced that Sho Sakurai and Keiko Kitagawa will be starring in a movie version of Fuji TV’s Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de, a 10-episode TV drama which aired from October-December last year.
Based on a best-selling novel by Tokuya Higashigawa, the drama starred Kitagawa as an ultra rich heiress named Reiko Hosho who hid her status to work as a rookie police officer by day. Sakurai played her perfectionist butler Kageyama who offered helpful advice delivered with his own unique brand of brutal honesty.
The movie version will be largely the same, just on a larger scale. Shooting will take place mostly aboard the “SuperStar Virgo”, the largest luxury liner in Asia.
In the movie, Reiko boards her family’s luxury cruise ship, the “Princess Reiko”, along with Kageyama and embarks on a vacation to Singapore. While on-board, a murder occurs and the two...
Based on a best-selling novel by Tokuya Higashigawa, the drama starred Kitagawa as an ultra rich heiress named Reiko Hosho who hid her status to work as a rookie police officer by day. Sakurai played her perfectionist butler Kageyama who offered helpful advice delivered with his own unique brand of brutal honesty.
The movie version will be largely the same, just on a larger scale. Shooting will take place mostly aboard the “SuperStar Virgo”, the largest luxury liner in Asia.
In the movie, Reiko boards her family’s luxury cruise ship, the “Princess Reiko”, along with Kageyama and embarks on a vacation to Singapore. While on-board, a murder occurs and the two...
- 6/4/2012
- Nippon Cinema
Directed by: Yoji Yamada
Written by: Yoji Yamada
Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa
Genre: Drama
Year: 2002
In mid-19th century Japan, petty samurai Seibei Iguchi slaves in a lowly profession as an accountant, peaceably performing his menial duties to provide for his two precious daughters and his senile mother. Condescendingly dubbed the “twilight samurai” by his coworkers for his pension for calling it a night after a hard day’s work, Seibei’s unkempt appearance and deplorable hygiene is his most external sacrifice in the name of family. Having lost his wife to consumption a few years before, Seibei has fashioned a domestic life more copacetic with his placid personality than with the false glory of the waning samurai way. That is until a former childhood friend (and unrequited love), Tomoe, incurs the wrath of her alcoholic lout of an ex-husband. Sensing that she needs protection, Seibei dispatches the abuser...
Written by: Yoji Yamada
Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa
Genre: Drama
Year: 2002
In mid-19th century Japan, petty samurai Seibei Iguchi slaves in a lowly profession as an accountant, peaceably performing his menial duties to provide for his two precious daughters and his senile mother. Condescendingly dubbed the “twilight samurai” by his coworkers for his pension for calling it a night after a hard day’s work, Seibei’s unkempt appearance and deplorable hygiene is his most external sacrifice in the name of family. Having lost his wife to consumption a few years before, Seibei has fashioned a domestic life more copacetic with his placid personality than with the false glory of the waning samurai way. That is until a former childhood friend (and unrequited love), Tomoe, incurs the wrath of her alcoholic lout of an ex-husband. Sensing that she needs protection, Seibei dispatches the abuser...
- 7/29/2011
- by Shane Ramirez
- SoundOnSight
Disneynature's "Oceans" documentary now has 2 new clips. Pierce Brosnan narrates the English-language version. Directing are Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud. See it on April 22nd (Earth Day). Narrating the French version is Jacques Perrin and Rie Miyazawa provides Japanese narration.The film is produced by Jacques Perrin, Nicolas Mauvernay and Romain Le Grand. The directors dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind—exploring the playful splendor and the harsh reality of the weird and wonderful creatures that live within. Featuring spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies, "Oceans" offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea in a powerful yet enchanting motion picture.
- 4/16/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Disneynature's "Oceans" documentary opens Earth Day 2010 (April 22nd). Pierce Brosnan narrates the English version of the film. Director Jacques Perrin narrates the French version and the Japanese version is narrated by Rie Miyazawa. The studio that presented the record-breaking film “Earth” brings "Oceans" to the big screen on Earth Day, 2010. Nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and Oceans boldly chronicles the mysteries that lie beneath. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind—exploring the playful splendor and the harsh reality of the weird and wonderful creatures that live within. Featuring spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies...
- 4/8/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
If the gripping title isn't reason enough to make you watch this film, then the appearance of Masatoshi Nagase should surely suffice to spark some interest. Still doubting ... then hopefully the following review will make you change your mind, because notwithstanding its faults Gelatin Silver, Love is a film that deserves to be seen.
Kurigami is one of those photographers turned director. After seeing Corbijn's Control not too long ago I became a bit weary of those, but Kurigami is clearly playing in a different league. For his first feature film he explores familiar territory as photography plays a big rather part (Gelatin Silver appears to be a reference to black & white photography), but he applies this familiarity to bring something new to the world of film.
Gelatin Silver, Love is cyberpunk cinema without the cyber and without the punk. What it did inherit is the extreme fascination for tiny details.
Kurigami is one of those photographers turned director. After seeing Corbijn's Control not too long ago I became a bit weary of those, but Kurigami is clearly playing in a different league. For his first feature film he explores familiar territory as photography plays a big rather part (Gelatin Silver appears to be a reference to black & white photography), but he applies this familiarity to bring something new to the world of film.
Gelatin Silver, Love is cyberpunk cinema without the cyber and without the punk. What it did inherit is the extreme fascination for tiny details.
- 2/1/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Japanese actress Rie Miyazawa is pregnant with her first child, according to local reports.
The Twilight Samurai star, 35, is expecting the baby in June and is planning to wed the father of the child before she gives birth.
Miyazawa, a former child model, was previously engaged to sumo wrestler Takanohana. The pair split in 1992.
The Twilight Samurai star, 35, is expecting the baby in June and is planning to wed the father of the child before she gives birth.
Miyazawa, a former child model, was previously engaged to sumo wrestler Takanohana. The pair split in 1992.
- 2/14/2009
- WENN
Masatoshi Nagase is one of the great unsung heroes of Japanese film, a hugely reliable character actor with seemingly unerring taste in projects who - despite a huge body of work - remains largely unknown by name. Tell people that you’ve got a new movie starring Masatoshi Nagase and you’ll probably get mostly blank looks. Tell them you’ve got a new movie with the guy from Funuke Show Some Love You Losers, Sakuran, The Hidden Blade, and the Mike Hama films - in which he plays the titular detective - and then you’re on to something.
And now Nagase stars with Koji Yakusho in Gelatin Silver, Love, the much awaited debut feature from acclaimed still photographer Kazumi Kurigami. Nagase plays a photographer hired by Yakusho to follow a hired killer played by the beautiful Rie Miyazawa. I’ve been checking the website for this one a...
And now Nagase stars with Koji Yakusho in Gelatin Silver, Love, the much awaited debut feature from acclaimed still photographer Kazumi Kurigami. Nagase plays a photographer hired by Yakusho to follow a hired killer played by the beautiful Rie Miyazawa. I’ve been checking the website for this one a...
- 12/29/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
SYDNEY -- Acclaimed Japanese director Koreeda Hirokazu, best known for his 2004 hit Nobody Knows, will direct his first historical samurai film for entertainment major Shochiku, the company announced Wednesday. Slated for a spring release, Hana Yori mo Naho is a major departure for Koreeda, who is better known for contemporary documentary-style features. Based on an original story by Koreeda and set in the 17th century, the film stars Junichi Okada, (Tokyo Tower, Fly, Daddy Fly), Rie Miyazawa (The Twilight Samurai), and Tadanobu Asano (Zatoichi, Cafe Lumiere). Producers are Sato Shiho and Enoki Nozomu.
- 10/27/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
SYDNEY -- Acclaimed Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, best known for his 2004 hit Nobody Knows, will direct his first historical samurai film for entertainment major Shochiku, the company announced Wednesday. Slated for release next spring, Hana Yori mo Naho is a major departure for Kore-eda, who is better known for contemporary documentary-style features. Based on an original story by Kore-eda and set in the 17th century, the film stars Junichi Okada, (Tokyo Tower, Fly, Daddy Fly), Rie Miyazawa (The Twilight Samurai), and Tadanobu Asano (Zatoichi, Cafe Lumiere). Producers are Sato Shiho and Enoki Nozomu. It's Kore-eda's fifth film. Twentieth Century Fox snapped up remake rights to his second offering, After Life, while his third film, Distance, was In Competition at the Festival de Cannes in 2001.
- 10/27/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- The title of "The Twilight Samurai" (Tasogare Seibei) has a dual meaning. It is the disparaging nickname of the film's hero but also signifies the passing of the samurai era in 19th century Japan.
Eschewing action for a dramatic examination of character, veteran director Yoji Yamada has made a very contemporary samurai movie. This particular low-level samurai, a widower with two young girls and an aging mother to support, can't make ends meet on his monthly stipend. He even has to sell his beloved sword to pay for his wife's funeral.
Although the pace is slow, "Twilight" is a moving account of a family in crisis and the love that provides a short window of happiness for the father. The film has spent nearly three months in the Japanese boxoffice top 10 since it opened in November. Starring Hiroyuki Sanada from the original "Ring" series, the film could make its way into U.S. and other Western markets as well as Asian territories.
With 77 films to his credit -- 48 alone in his famous "Tora-san" series -- Yamada was moved to make his first samurai movie by a revisionist impulse. Simply put, he doesn't buy into the film fantasies about samurai that are perpetuated by fellow directors.
Based on three novellas by samurai author Shuhei Fujisawa, Yamada and Yoshitaka Asama's script centers on Seibei Iguchi (Sanada), a wage slave who rushes home each evening after work to tend to a motherless household, thus earning the nickname "Twilight". Forced to defend Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), the sister of a good friend, from her brutal ex-husband, he beats the swordsman with only a wooden sword. Tomoe's brother later proposes that Seibei marry his sister, whom he has secretly loved since childhood. Seibei refuses, believing his poor stipend will eventually cause grief between him and his beloved.
Yamada's contemporary angle drains all glamour from the world of the samurai, which, of course, is exactly Yamada's point. Epic samurai movies have never reflected the reality of that period. And when the samurai went into decline, the job truly moved closer to the drudgery of a small-town bureaucrat than one of excitement and adventure.
Nevertheless, the notions of duty, honor and domestic happiness are very real. So Yamada's nostalgia for the samurai lies not in swordplay but in Seibei's striving for these values as he works to lift his family from poverty. Seibei is a true hero to Yamada, which has nothing to do with flashy stunts or CGI effects.
Rokuo Naganuma's elegant cinematography in rural locations and Isao Tomita's minimalist, traditional score lend beguiling dignity to this savvy, mature film.
THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI
Shochiku
Credits:
Director: Yoji Yamada
Screenwriters: Yoji Yamada, Yoshitaka Asama
Based on a story by: Shuhei Fujisawa
Producers: Shigehiro Nakagawa, Hiroshi Fukazawa, Ichiro Yamamoto
Director of photography: Rokuo Naganuma
Production designer: Mitsuo Degawa
Music: Isao Tomita
Editor: Iwao Ishii
Cast:
Seibei Iguchi: Hiroyuki Sanada
Tomoe: Rie Miyazawa
Zenemon Yogo: Min Tanaka
Running time -- 129 minutes
No MPAA rating...
BERLIN -- The title of "The Twilight Samurai" (Tasogare Seibei) has a dual meaning. It is the disparaging nickname of the film's hero but also signifies the passing of the samurai era in 19th century Japan.
Eschewing action for a dramatic examination of character, veteran director Yoji Yamada has made a very contemporary samurai movie. This particular low-level samurai, a widower with two young girls and an aging mother to support, can't make ends meet on his monthly stipend. He even has to sell his beloved sword to pay for his wife's funeral.
Although the pace is slow, "Twilight" is a moving account of a family in crisis and the love that provides a short window of happiness for the father. The film has spent nearly three months in the Japanese boxoffice top 10 since it opened in November. Starring Hiroyuki Sanada from the original "Ring" series, the film could make its way into U.S. and other Western markets as well as Asian territories.
With 77 films to his credit -- 48 alone in his famous "Tora-san" series -- Yamada was moved to make his first samurai movie by a revisionist impulse. Simply put, he doesn't buy into the film fantasies about samurai that are perpetuated by fellow directors.
Based on three novellas by samurai author Shuhei Fujisawa, Yamada and Yoshitaka Asama's script centers on Seibei Iguchi (Sanada), a wage slave who rushes home each evening after work to tend to a motherless household, thus earning the nickname "Twilight". Forced to defend Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), the sister of a good friend, from her brutal ex-husband, he beats the swordsman with only a wooden sword. Tomoe's brother later proposes that Seibei marry his sister, whom he has secretly loved since childhood. Seibei refuses, believing his poor stipend will eventually cause grief between him and his beloved.
Yamada's contemporary angle drains all glamour from the world of the samurai, which, of course, is exactly Yamada's point. Epic samurai movies have never reflected the reality of that period. And when the samurai went into decline, the job truly moved closer to the drudgery of a small-town bureaucrat than one of excitement and adventure.
Nevertheless, the notions of duty, honor and domestic happiness are very real. So Yamada's nostalgia for the samurai lies not in swordplay but in Seibei's striving for these values as he works to lift his family from poverty. Seibei is a true hero to Yamada, which has nothing to do with flashy stunts or CGI effects.
Rokuo Naganuma's elegant cinematography in rural locations and Isao Tomita's minimalist, traditional score lend beguiling dignity to this savvy, mature film.
THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI
Shochiku
Credits:
Director: Yoji Yamada
Screenwriters: Yoji Yamada, Yoshitaka Asama
Based on a story by: Shuhei Fujisawa
Producers: Shigehiro Nakagawa, Hiroshi Fukazawa, Ichiro Yamamoto
Director of photography: Rokuo Naganuma
Production designer: Mitsuo Degawa
Music: Isao Tomita
Editor: Iwao Ishii
Cast:
Seibei Iguchi: Hiroyuki Sanada
Tomoe: Rie Miyazawa
Zenemon Yogo: Min Tanaka
Running time -- 129 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/18/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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