The question of who will continue the legacy of the 4Ks and particularly their successes on the international movie scene is one of the most dominant in the discussions among critics and scholars of Japanese cinema. Following the 2016 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize for “Harmonium”, one of the names that provides an answer to the aforementioned question is that of Koji Fukada. In the following text, we will take a closer and more thorough look at all the elements that make the 1980 born filmmaker a worthy successor of the aforementioned masters, starting from the very beginning of his life.
Born in Tokyo in Tokyo on January 5, 1980, Koji Fukada had a father who was a film buff, which resulted in him growing up in an environment surrounded with hundreds of VHS tapes, and subsequently, to become a cineaste, just like his old man. He watched the movies that inspired him to...
Born in Tokyo in Tokyo on January 5, 1980, Koji Fukada had a father who was a film buff, which resulted in him growing up in an environment surrounded with hundreds of VHS tapes, and subsequently, to become a cineaste, just like his old man. He watched the movies that inspired him to...
- 3/30/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The Suzuokas are a seemingly regular family of three, living in the suburbs. The husband, Toshio, runs a small metalworking industry in the basement of the house they live in. His wife, Fumie is a homemaker and their little daughter, Hotaru goes to the elementary school and takes harmonium lessons.
“Harmonium” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
However, when Kusataro Yasaka, an old acquaintance of Kanji arrives unexpectedly to their house, after he is released from prison, everything changes. Kanji seems to have a past life that Mariko did not know of, and a secret he shares with Kusataro that makes him invite him to stay at their house. Mariko is infuriated in the beginning, but as time passes and Kusataro reveals the reasons he went to prison, he takes a liking to him. The same applies to Hotaru, as Kusataro also knows how to play...
“Harmonium” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
However, when Kusataro Yasaka, an old acquaintance of Kanji arrives unexpectedly to their house, after he is released from prison, everything changes. Kanji seems to have a past life that Mariko did not know of, and a secret he shares with Kusataro that makes him invite him to stay at their house. Mariko is infuriated in the beginning, but as time passes and Kusataro reveals the reasons he went to prison, he takes a liking to him. The same applies to Hotaru, as Kusataro also knows how to play...
- 2/8/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Koji Fukada was born in Tokyo in 1980. In love with European cinema, he is very influenced by Marcel Carné and Victor Erice. While studiyng Litterature at the Taisho University, he took lessons of cinema direction at the Tokyo Film School, where one of his teacher was Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Fukada directed his first feature film in 2001, “The Chair”. In 2020, he is back with “The Real Thing”, based on the comic by Mochiru Hoshisato, and presented as a premiere in Vesoul, in two parts.
On the occasion of his presence in Fica Vesoul, we speak with him about rewatching his older films, his preference between Japanese and French cinema, the effect theater had on his filmmaking, Kanji Furutachi and Bryerly Long, and many other topics.
Translation by Lea Le Dimna
This morning, you watched “Human Comedy in Tokyo”, a film you shot in 2008. How does that make you feel?
It does not...
On the occasion of his presence in Fica Vesoul, we speak with him about rewatching his older films, his preference between Japanese and French cinema, the effect theater had on his filmmaking, Kanji Furutachi and Bryerly Long, and many other topics.
Translation by Lea Le Dimna
This morning, you watched “Human Comedy in Tokyo”, a film you shot in 2008. How does that make you feel?
It does not...
- 2/5/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
“Au Revoir l’Été” by Kôji Fukada is a little gem of a movie, simple and yet multilayered and visually enchanting. It is a story of transition to adulthood, the Japanese title “Hotori no Sakuko” can be translated “Sakuko on the edge” and this is exactly it.
“Au Revoir l’Été” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Sakuko (Fumi Nakaido) is a 18 year old student who has just failed the University entrance exam and is going for a short holiday to a small seaside resort with her aunt Mikie (Mayu Tsuruta). They are both looking to get some quiet and constructive time out of this holiday; Sakuko needs to study and prepare for her next session of exams and Mikie is working on a translation. At the resort, we get to know Ukichi, Mikie’s ex lover, who runs a hotel in town, his student daughter...
“Au Revoir l’Été” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Sakuko (Fumi Nakaido) is a 18 year old student who has just failed the University entrance exam and is going for a short holiday to a small seaside resort with her aunt Mikie (Mayu Tsuruta). They are both looking to get some quiet and constructive time out of this holiday; Sakuko needs to study and prepare for her next session of exams and Mikie is working on a translation. At the resort, we get to know Ukichi, Mikie’s ex lover, who runs a hotel in town, his student daughter...
- 2/4/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
2010 was a rather important year for Koji Fukada, since “Hospitalité” netted the Best Film in the Japanese Eyes section of Tokyo International Film Festival and was extensively screened abroad, signaling the beginning of wider recognition for the filmmaker. The French title of the movie, according to Kiki Sugino, actress and producer of the film, was inspired by French philosopher Jacques Deridda’s idea of the term “hospitalité”.
“Hospitalité” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place in a neighborhood in Tokyo, where Mikio Kobayashi lives with his younger wife Natsuki, his daughter from a previous marriage who his current spouse teaches English, and his sister, who has recently divorced and has returned back to the house. On the ground floor of the two storey building, Mikio also operates the small Kobayashi Printing Co, which has somewhat declined since the days when his father was the boss.
“Hospitalité” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place in a neighborhood in Tokyo, where Mikio Kobayashi lives with his younger wife Natsuki, his daughter from a previous marriage who his current spouse teaches English, and his sister, who has recently divorced and has returned back to the house. On the ground floor of the two storey building, Mikio also operates the small Kobayashi Printing Co, which has somewhat declined since the days when his father was the boss.
- 2/1/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
A seemingly regular family gets an unexpected visitor
The Suzuokas are a seemingly regular family of three, living in the suburbs. The husband, Toshio, runs a small metalworking industry in the basement of the house they live in. His wife, Fumie is a homemaker and their little daughter, Hotaru goes to the elementary school and takes harmonium lessons.
However, when Kusataro Yasaka, an old acquaintance of Kanji arrives unexpectedly to their house, after he is released from prison, everything changes. Kanji seems to have a past life that Mariko did not know of, and a secret he shares with Kusataro that makes him invite him to stay at their house. Mariko is infuriated in the beginning, but as time passes and Kusataro reveals the reasons he went to prison, he takes a liking to him. The same applies to Hotaru, as Kusataro also knows how to play the harmonium and begins teaching her.
The Suzuokas are a seemingly regular family of three, living in the suburbs. The husband, Toshio, runs a small metalworking industry in the basement of the house they live in. His wife, Fumie is a homemaker and their little daughter, Hotaru goes to the elementary school and takes harmonium lessons.
However, when Kusataro Yasaka, an old acquaintance of Kanji arrives unexpectedly to their house, after he is released from prison, everything changes. Kanji seems to have a past life that Mariko did not know of, and a secret he shares with Kusataro that makes him invite him to stay at their house. Mariko is infuriated in the beginning, but as time passes and Kusataro reveals the reasons he went to prison, he takes a liking to him. The same applies to Hotaru, as Kusataro also knows how to play the harmonium and begins teaching her.
- 2/20/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
TV and film production in Japan shut down in early April in reaction to the coronavirus crisis. Since then the Japanese industry has been struggling to adapt to the new normal.
One of the first to pick up his camera — or rather his smartphone — was Shinichiro Ueda, the director of the smash zombie comedy “One Cut of the Dead.” Released on two Tokyo screens in June of 2018, the film went on to earn $29 million – or more than 1,000 times its $25,000 budget.
This April, Ueda reassembled the original cast members to reprise their characters for “Don’t Stop the Camera! Remote Operation!,” a comedy short now on YouTube. They remotely gather to help a beleaguered director (Takayuki Hamatsu), who battled zombies in “One Cut of the Dead,” put together a documentary.
Also quick to adapt was Shinji Higuchi, the co-director of the 2014 megahit “Shin Godzilla.” A longtime fan of kaiju (monsters), Higuchi launched “Kaiju Defeat Covid,...
One of the first to pick up his camera — or rather his smartphone — was Shinichiro Ueda, the director of the smash zombie comedy “One Cut of the Dead.” Released on two Tokyo screens in June of 2018, the film went on to earn $29 million – or more than 1,000 times its $25,000 budget.
This April, Ueda reassembled the original cast members to reprise their characters for “Don’t Stop the Camera! Remote Operation!,” a comedy short now on YouTube. They remotely gather to help a beleaguered director (Takayuki Hamatsu), who battled zombies in “One Cut of the Dead,” put together a documentary.
Also quick to adapt was Shinji Higuchi, the co-director of the 2014 megahit “Shin Godzilla.” A longtime fan of kaiju (monsters), Higuchi launched “Kaiju Defeat Covid,...
- 6/18/2020
- by Mark Schilling
- Variety Film + TV
The last film of the late Ren Osugi as an actor (and his first as producer) is a significant production not just for the aforementioned reason but also because it signals a rare occasion where Japanese cinema deals with sincerity with the concept of the death penalty.
“The Chaplain” is screening at Japan Cuts 2019
Osugi plays the titular character, Tamotsu Saeki, a chaplain who visits death row inmates with a bible and a portable music player, in an effort to offer any kind of relief he can. He is still inexperienced, being in this particular line of work for only six months, but his patience and restrained enthusiasm make up for the lack of it. His interactions include a former Yakuza, Yoshida, the illiterate elderly Shindo, the rather intelligent and eloquent sociopath Takamiya, a woman in her fifties, Noguchi, the repentant Ogawa and Suzuki. Through these interactions, Saeki also comes...
“The Chaplain” is screening at Japan Cuts 2019
Osugi plays the titular character, Tamotsu Saeki, a chaplain who visits death row inmates with a bible and a portable music player, in an effort to offer any kind of relief he can. He is still inexperienced, being in this particular line of work for only six months, but his patience and restrained enthusiasm make up for the lack of it. His interactions include a former Yakuza, Yoshida, the illiterate elderly Shindo, the rather intelligent and eloquent sociopath Takamiya, a woman in her fifties, Noguchi, the repentant Ogawa and Suzuki. Through these interactions, Saeki also comes...
- 7/22/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Yutaro Nakamura’s feature debut is another splendid sample of Japanese indie, that uses the familiar theme of the “love triangle,” to present a number of social issues among Japanese youths.
The people compiling the triangle are three individuals who have been friends since high school. Yat was a child actor who has turned away from his past and is now trying to become a rock star, as he is the lead singer in a band. Takuma is a photographer who shoots Yat frequently. Yumika is Takuma’s ex-girlfriend, a timid girl who still lives with her parents. The three of them seem to get along as friends, despite their past.
“Grab the Sun” screened at Japan Filmfest Hamburg
However, things are not as smooth as they initial seem. Takuma also deals drugs on the side, and has a couple of friends they all smoke drugs together, one of which...
The people compiling the triangle are three individuals who have been friends since high school. Yat was a child actor who has turned away from his past and is now trying to become a rock star, as he is the lead singer in a band. Takuma is a photographer who shoots Yat frequently. Yumika is Takuma’s ex-girlfriend, a timid girl who still lives with her parents. The three of them seem to get along as friends, despite their past.
“Grab the Sun” screened at Japan Filmfest Hamburg
However, things are not as smooth as they initial seem. Takuma also deals drugs on the side, and has a couple of friends they all smoke drugs together, one of which...
- 5/13/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Kanji Furutachi is best known for playing Toshio, one of the leading roles in “Harmonium”, directed by Koji Fukada, which won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
He has also appeared in numerous plays in Japan, including the title role for the play “The Treasured Son”, which won Japan’s most prestigious drama award: The Kishida Drama Award.
His many film appearances include “Hospitalité” and “My Back Page” (for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award from the Takasaki Film Festival and the Best New Comer Award at the Tama Cinema Forum). He studied acting with Uta Hagen, Carol Rosenfeld, and many others at Hb Studio in New York City.
Here are his ten favorite Japanese films, in no particular order
1. Tokyo Story
2. High and Low
3. Rashomon
4. Seven Samurai
5. The Yellow Handkerchief (Yoji Yamada,...
He has also appeared in numerous plays in Japan, including the title role for the play “The Treasured Son”, which won Japan’s most prestigious drama award: The Kishida Drama Award.
His many film appearances include “Hospitalité” and “My Back Page” (for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award from the Takasaki Film Festival and the Best New Comer Award at the Tama Cinema Forum). He studied acting with Uta Hagen, Carol Rosenfeld, and many others at Hb Studio in New York City.
Here are his ten favorite Japanese films, in no particular order
1. Tokyo Story
2. High and Low
3. Rashomon
4. Seven Samurai
5. The Yellow Handkerchief (Yoji Yamada,...
- 1/22/2019
- 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
Kanji Furutachi is best known for playing Toshio, one of the leading roles in “Harmonium”, directed by Koji Fukada, which won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
He has also appeared in numerous plays in Japan, including the title role for the play “The Treasured Son”, which won Japan’s most prestigious drama award: The Kishida Drama Award.
His many film appearances include “Hospitalité” and “My Back Page” (for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award from the Takasaki Film Festival and the Best New Comer Award at the Tama Cinema Forum). He studied acting with Uta Hagen, Carol Rosenfeld, and many others at Hb Studio in New York City.
You also act on theater. What are the differences between acting in theater and acting in movies? Which one do you prefer doing? Why do you feel the need to act...
He has also appeared in numerous plays in Japan, including the title role for the play “The Treasured Son”, which won Japan’s most prestigious drama award: The Kishida Drama Award.
His many film appearances include “Hospitalité” and “My Back Page” (for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award from the Takasaki Film Festival and the Best New Comer Award at the Tama Cinema Forum). He studied acting with Uta Hagen, Carol Rosenfeld, and many others at Hb Studio in New York City.
You also act on theater. What are the differences between acting in theater and acting in movies? Which one do you prefer doing? Why do you feel the need to act...
- 7/19/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
“Au Revoir l’Été” by Kôji Fukada is a little gem of a movie, simple and yet multilayered and visually enchanting. It is a story of transition to adulthood, the Japanese title “Hotori no Sakuko” can be translated “Sakuko on the edge” and this is exactly it.
Sakuko (Fumi Nakaido) is a 18 year old student who has just failed the University entrance exam and is going for a short holiday to a small seaside resort with her aunt Mikie (Mayu Tsuruta). They are both looking to get some quiet and constructive time out of this holiday; Sakuko needs to study and prepare for her next session of exams and Mikie is working on a translation. At the resort, we get to know Ukichi, Mikie’s ex lover, who runs a hotel in town, his student daughter Tetsuko (Kiki Sugino) and his nephew Takashi (Taiga), a runaway survivor...
Sakuko (Fumi Nakaido) is a 18 year old student who has just failed the University entrance exam and is going for a short holiday to a small seaside resort with her aunt Mikie (Mayu Tsuruta). They are both looking to get some quiet and constructive time out of this holiday; Sakuko needs to study and prepare for her next session of exams and Mikie is working on a translation. At the resort, we get to know Ukichi, Mikie’s ex lover, who runs a hotel in town, his student daughter Tetsuko (Kiki Sugino) and his nephew Takashi (Taiga), a runaway survivor...
- 6/5/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Much of what tantalizes about the seemingly straightforward drama Harmonium is what makes it so difficult to describe. It is nominally a domestic drama, centering on a family whose normal middle-class existence as owners of a metal workshop is slowly, heartbreakingly upended by the arrival of Toshio’s old friend Yasaka (Tadanobu Asano). However, it holds more than a tinge of the thriller to it as well, and while the film never truly leaves its dramatic vein, writer-director Kôji Fukada’s skill is such that it moves around within this zone, assuming the quotidian and the suspenseful with shocking ease.
There are many components that make Harmonium unexpectedly engrossing, but chief among them is its sense of space. With some exceptions, most of the film takes place within the family home, a setting that becomes familiar as the narrative unfolds. It feels fully lived in, something borne out by Fukada...
There are many components that make Harmonium unexpectedly engrossing, but chief among them is its sense of space. With some exceptions, most of the film takes place within the family home, a setting that becomes familiar as the narrative unfolds. It feels fully lived in, something borne out by Fukada...
- 6/16/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
He appears like a ghost, standing ramrod-straight in his white dress shirt, lurking silently in the daylight. “You’ve lost weight,” says Toshio (Kanji Furutachi), the family man who greets him at the entrance to the garage. “Everyone loses weight in there,” goes the reply, and we understand instantly, before we’ve even gotten to know either of these men, what has kept them apart for years. The face from the past belongs to Yasaka (Tadanobu Asano, from Ichi The Killer and the Thor movies), here to make up for lost time after a small eternity rotting behind bars. Within minutes, Toshio has offered his estranged friend a job within the workshop he runs from the garage. And within hours, he’s invited Yasaka to move into his small, dimly lit home—a decision that perplexes and agitates Toshio’s wife, Akié (Mariko Tsutsui), who hasn’t heard one story...
- 6/15/2017
- by A.A. Dowd
- avclub.com
Koji Fukada’s tale of a dull domestic routine disturbed builds to a bleak, stunning conclusion
In this dark Japanese drama, Akie (Mariko Tsutsui) and her husband, Toshio (Kanji Furutachi), lead a dull suburban existence that revolves around their precocious young daughter, Hotaru (Momone Shinokawa). When Toshio’s old friend Yasaka (Tadanobu Asano) turns up one day hoping for work and board, all slick white shirt and self-possessed flirtatious energy, their drudgery is disrupted. Toshio obliges, unable to refuse for reasons revealed later, setting a life-altering chain of events in motion, the tension ratcheted up with the help of harmonium-playing Hotaru’s clacking metronome.
At the centre of the film is a trio of characters whose contrasting personalities rub up against each other in interesting ways; tensions arise between the carnal Yasaka, repressed housewife Akie and Toshio’s weak, withholding masculinity. Tsutsui’s tightly coiled performance is particularly compelling, a fury burning beneath her wearied,...
In this dark Japanese drama, Akie (Mariko Tsutsui) and her husband, Toshio (Kanji Furutachi), lead a dull suburban existence that revolves around their precocious young daughter, Hotaru (Momone Shinokawa). When Toshio’s old friend Yasaka (Tadanobu Asano) turns up one day hoping for work and board, all slick white shirt and self-possessed flirtatious energy, their drudgery is disrupted. Toshio obliges, unable to refuse for reasons revealed later, setting a life-altering chain of events in motion, the tension ratcheted up with the help of harmonium-playing Hotaru’s clacking metronome.
At the centre of the film is a trio of characters whose contrasting personalities rub up against each other in interesting ways; tensions arise between the carnal Yasaka, repressed housewife Akie and Toshio’s weak, withholding masculinity. Tsutsui’s tightly coiled performance is particularly compelling, a fury burning beneath her wearied,...
- 5/7/2017
- by Simran Hans
- The Guardian - Film News
In Koji Fukada’s slow, elegant film, the appearance of an old acquaintance throws a family out of balance
This highly accomplished Japanese drama, which won the prize in the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes, is well worth watching for those with the stomach for a cold, bitter, intoxicating deep drink of bleak. Director Koji Fukada’s latest is constructed according to a certain ruthless logic even if the method of its reckoning remains opaque. In a nondescript suburban house, metalworker Toshio (Kanji Furutachi) lives with his mousy Christian wife Akie (Mariko Tsutsui) and daughter Hotaru (Momone Shinokawa), a kid of about eight or nine who is learning to play the titular instrument, a sort of cross between a mini piano and an organ. The arrival of Yasaka (the always bewitchingly watchable Tadanobu Asano), an old acquaintance from Toshio’s past, throws the little triad out of balance.
This highly accomplished Japanese drama, which won the prize in the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes, is well worth watching for those with the stomach for a cold, bitter, intoxicating deep drink of bleak. Director Koji Fukada’s latest is constructed according to a certain ruthless logic even if the method of its reckoning remains opaque. In a nondescript suburban house, metalworker Toshio (Kanji Furutachi) lives with his mousy Christian wife Akie (Mariko Tsutsui) and daughter Hotaru (Momone Shinokawa), a kid of about eight or nine who is learning to play the titular instrument, a sort of cross between a mini piano and an organ. The arrival of Yasaka (the always bewitchingly watchable Tadanobu Asano), an old acquaintance from Toshio’s past, throws the little triad out of balance.
- 5/4/2017
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
A seemingly regular family gets an unexpected visitor
The Suzuokas are a seemingly regular family of three, living in the suburbs. The husband, Toshio, runs a small metalworking industry in the basement of the house they live in. His wife, Fumie is a homemaker and their little daughter, Hotaru goes to the elementary school and takes harmonium lessons.
However, when Kusataro Yasaka, an old acquaintance of Kanji arrives unexpectedly to their house, after he is released from prison, everything changes. Kanji seems to have a past life that Mariko did not know of, and a secret he shares with Kusataro that makes him invite him to stay at their house. Mariko is infuriated in the beginning, but as time passes and Kusataro reveals the reasons he went to prison, he takes a liking to him. The same applies to Hotaru, as Kusataro also knows how to play the harmonium and begins teaching her.
The Suzuokas are a seemingly regular family of three, living in the suburbs. The husband, Toshio, runs a small metalworking industry in the basement of the house they live in. His wife, Fumie is a homemaker and their little daughter, Hotaru goes to the elementary school and takes harmonium lessons.
However, when Kusataro Yasaka, an old acquaintance of Kanji arrives unexpectedly to their house, after he is released from prison, everything changes. Kanji seems to have a past life that Mariko did not know of, and a secret he shares with Kusataro that makes him invite him to stay at their house. Mariko is infuriated in the beginning, but as time passes and Kusataro reveals the reasons he went to prison, he takes a liking to him. The same applies to Hotaru, as Kusataro also knows how to play the harmonium and begins teaching her.
- 10/27/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
"What? I wouldn't let myself be eaten!" Eureka has released an official UK trailer for Japanese director Kôji Fukada's latest film Harmonium, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year and won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category. Harmonium is a slow burn drama about a Japanese family. One review stated "the film's insights into the isolation evident in the relationships most take for granted – marriages, parent-child connections and long-term friendships – don't merely hit their targets; they smash them with a sledgehammer." The cast includes Mariko Tsutsui, Tadanobu Asano, Kanji Furutachi, Kana Mahiro, Takahiro Miura, Taiga, and Momone Shinokawa. This also reminds me of Hirokazu Koreeda's Like Father, Like Son a bit, but I'm sure it has plenty of insight to offer on its own. Have a look. Here's the official UK trailer (+ quad poster) for Kôji Fukada's Harmonium, direct from YouTube: In...
- 10/13/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Eureka Entertainment has announced plans to release Kôji Fukada’s Harmonium in UK cinemas on 5 May 2017, following a string of festival engagements beginning with its UK premiere at the first London East Asia Film Festival (Leaff) on 24 October 2016. Other bookings include the Cambridge Film Festival (27 Oct 2016), Bath Film Festival (7 Nov 2016) and the Leeds International Film Festival (5,8 & 10 Nov 2016). Winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Harmonium is an off-kilter take on the venerable Japanese family drama, from the director of Au Revoir L'Ete and Hospitalité, starring Tadanobu Asano, Mariko Tsutsui, Kanji Furutachi and Taiga. Following its theatrical run, Harmonium will be released on Blu-ray as part...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/13/2016
- Screen Anarchy
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Sony Pictures Classics have announced they have acquired the rest of Pedro Almodóvar’s full library of films, including “Pepi, Luci, Bom”; “Labyrinth of Passion”; “Dark Habits”; “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”; “High Heels” and “Kika.” Spc will release his latest, “Julieta,” in theaters on December 21.
Based on short stories by Nobel laureate Alice Munro, “Julieta” is “about a mother’s struggle to survive uncertainty. It is also about fate, guilt complexes and that unfathomable mystery that leads us to abandon the people we love, erasing them from our lives as if they had never meant anything, as if they had never existed. The cast includes Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez and Rossy de Palma. It...
– Sony Pictures Classics have announced they have acquired the rest of Pedro Almodóvar’s full library of films, including “Pepi, Luci, Bom”; “Labyrinth of Passion”; “Dark Habits”; “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”; “High Heels” and “Kika.” Spc will release his latest, “Julieta,” in theaters on December 21.
Based on short stories by Nobel laureate Alice Munro, “Julieta” is “about a mother’s struggle to survive uncertainty. It is also about fate, guilt complexes and that unfathomable mystery that leads us to abandon the people we love, erasing them from our lives as if they had never meant anything, as if they had never existed. The cast includes Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez and Rossy de Palma. It...
- 8/12/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The New York-based film distributor has picked up Koji Fukada’s family drama and upcoming North American premiere Special Presentation selection at Toronto.
Harmonium premiered in Cannes where it won the Un Certain Regard jury prize and will open theatrically in 2017 followed by digital and home video release.
The film is intended as a companion piece to Fukada’s black comedy Hospitalité and chronicles the collapse of a seemingly ordinary Japanese family.
Kanji Furutachi, Mariko Tsutsui, Momone Shinokawa and Tadanobu Asano star.
Film Movement brokered the North American deal with MK2.
Harmonium premiered in Cannes where it won the Un Certain Regard jury prize and will open theatrically in 2017 followed by digital and home video release.
The film is intended as a companion piece to Fukada’s black comedy Hospitalité and chronicles the collapse of a seemingly ordinary Japanese family.
Kanji Furutachi, Mariko Tsutsui, Momone Shinokawa and Tadanobu Asano star.
Film Movement brokered the North American deal with MK2.
- 8/8/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Nine films from Se Asia will feature this year in the biggest European film festival, while Naomi Kawase (Still the Water, An) will be President of The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury.
The Handmaiden. Park Chan-wook returns to Cannes after 2009 and “Thirst.” For more information about the film, take a look here.
Ma’Rosa. Directed from festival’s regular, Philippino Brillante Mendoza. Not much is known regarding the film.
Gokseong. Na Hong-jin’s third time in the festival, after “The Chaser” and “The Yellow Sea.” Set in a remote village set into turmoil by a series of deaths, his ultra-stylish new film is told from the perspective of a police detective who comes to suspect that the crimes have something to do with his own daughter.
After the Storm. Hirokazu Koreeda has been a regular of the festival for many years. This year he presents a drama with Hiroshi Abe...
The Handmaiden. Park Chan-wook returns to Cannes after 2009 and “Thirst.” For more information about the film, take a look here.
Ma’Rosa. Directed from festival’s regular, Philippino Brillante Mendoza. Not much is known regarding the film.
Gokseong. Na Hong-jin’s third time in the festival, after “The Chaser” and “The Yellow Sea.” Set in a remote village set into turmoil by a series of deaths, his ultra-stylish new film is told from the perspective of a police detective who comes to suspect that the crimes have something to do with his own daughter.
After the Storm. Hirokazu Koreeda has been a regular of the festival for many years. This year he presents a drama with Hiroshi Abe...
- 4/16/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Iffr: Au revoir l'été (2014) review Plot76% Acting78% Directing77%Light and warm atmosphereInteresting charactersSlow pace might not be for everyone77%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (1 Vote)61%
I know what you are probably thinking: what does a French movie do here on Asian Movie Pulse? Well, it is actually a Japanese movie from which the international title is French. Inspired by French cinema, director Koji Fukada’s newest film takes place during a hot summer vacation with the plot focusing on characters that have to decide about the next step in their lives. Literally translated, Au revoir l’été means “goodbye summer”, which can be explained as the film deals with having to say goodbye to your life as it is at a certain time because of new changes that are waiting.
The story follows quite a few characters, but the main character is a high school girl named Sakuko (Nikaido Fumi) who is...
I know what you are probably thinking: what does a French movie do here on Asian Movie Pulse? Well, it is actually a Japanese movie from which the international title is French. Inspired by French cinema, director Koji Fukada’s newest film takes place during a hot summer vacation with the plot focusing on characters that have to decide about the next step in their lives. Literally translated, Au revoir l’été means “goodbye summer”, which can be explained as the film deals with having to say goodbye to your life as it is at a certain time because of new changes that are waiting.
The story follows quite a few characters, but the main character is a high school girl named Sakuko (Nikaido Fumi) who is...
- 4/12/2014
- by Thor
- AsianMoviePulse
Today more cast members were announced for Miwa Nishikawa’s next film Yume Uru Futari. The new additions are Yusuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa, and Tsurube Shofukutei.
Kagawa has previously worked with Nishikawa in both Sway and Dear Doctor, the latter of which starred Shofukutei.
Although Iseya hasn’t appeared in any of her films, they did work together on the set of Distance in 2001 when she was Hirokazu Kore-eda’s assistant director.
Today also saw the release of a new poster for the film. It features the two main stars—Sadao Abe and Takako Matsu—looking particularly shell-shocked with a small tagline under them which translates to something like “Humanity’s greatest enigma, man and woman”.
In the film, their characters are a married couple who conspire to commit marriage fraud. The targets of their scam are played by Lena Tanaka, Sawa Suzuki, Tae Kimura, Tamae Ando, and Yuka Ebara,...
Kagawa has previously worked with Nishikawa in both Sway and Dear Doctor, the latter of which starred Shofukutei.
Although Iseya hasn’t appeared in any of her films, they did work together on the set of Distance in 2001 when she was Hirokazu Kore-eda’s assistant director.
Today also saw the release of a new poster for the film. It features the two main stars—Sadao Abe and Takako Matsu—looking particularly shell-shocked with a small tagline under them which translates to something like “Humanity’s greatest enigma, man and woman”.
In the film, their characters are a married couple who conspire to commit marriage fraud. The targets of their scam are played by Lena Tanaka, Sawa Suzuki, Tae Kimura, Tamae Ando, and Yuka Ebara,...
- 4/27/2012
- Nippon Cinema
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