2009 |
2008
11 articles from 2009
400 Screens, 400 Blows - Asian Melodramas
20 September 2009 7:03 AM, PDT
| Cinematical
| See recent Cinematical news
»
When the average American film fan thinks of Japanese movies, they'll probably picture one of three things: either a samurai or a gangster -- Toshiro Mifune and his sword, or Takeshi Kitano and his gun -- or a stringy-haired ghost girl. Die-hard fans will know that Yasujiro Ozu, Nagisa Oshima and Mikio Naruse also made contemporary dramas about modern-day citizens, often trying to figure out their lives in the post-wwii turmoil. But those dramas were hindered by the times, or by the censors; the characters were polite and functional and hid their own true emotions in an attempt to do what they were supposed to be doing. But there's something in the air over in Japan right now; they're making melodramas, big, roiling, red-blooded ones filled with anguish and torment and heartbreak.
Earlier this year, Kiyoshi Kurosawa -- who is thus far best known for his truly terrifying films like
»
- Jeffrey M. Anderson
Permalink | Report a problem
Still Talking (to Hirokazu Kore-eda)
22 August 2009 1:37 PM, PDT
| GreenCine Daily
| See recent GreenCine Daily news
»
by Steven Erickson
Hirokazu Kore-eda is the only major Japanese director of his generation who is a direct descendant of his cinematic forefathers' humanism. Many of the best Japanese films of the past 15 years—Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure and Pulse, Takashi Miike's Audition, Koji Wakamatsu's United Red Army—are almost defiantly post-humanist. They depict a country rife with violent impulses, gender conflict and distorted sexuality. This isn't just a product of "Asia extreme" branding and pandering; a family film like Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is every bit as scathing in its depiction of middle-aged Japanese adults as Audition's torture-fest.
By contrast, Kore-eda's Still Walking (soon to be getting a theatrical release from IFC Films) shows contemporary Japanese family life as imperfect but not outright dysfunctional. It's one of the few recent films in which one can recognize the same society Ozu depicted in Tokyo Story. Kore-eda himself
»
Permalink | Report a problem
Koji Yakusho leads the ‘13 Assassins’ cast!
20 July 2009 7:16 PM, PDT
| Twitch
| See recent Twitch news
»
Sweet Samurai Jesus.
It was only yesterday that we put up five pics from the upcoming redo of 13 Assassins by Takashi Miike and like that we now know who all 13 actors will be. Led by Koji Yakusho, who most around these parts would know from Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Retribution, Cure, Pulse, Tokyo Sonata, to name a few, in the lead assassin role of Shimada Shinzaemon, the other dozen actors are Hiroki Matsukata [Izo], Yusuke Iseya [Blindness, Sukiyaki Western Django and Casshern], Takayuki Yamada [Crows Zero films and Mw], Tsuyoshi Ihara [Letter from Iwo Jima], Arata Furuta [Tokyo Zombie and Zebraman], Ikki Sawamura [Gokusen: The Movie and Steamboy], Sousuke Takaoka [Crows Zero films, Blue Spring and Battle Royale], Yuma Ishigaki [Gokusen: The Movie, Azumi 2 and Battle Royale 2], Masataka Kubota, Seiji Rokkaku [My Boss, My hero], Kazuki Namioka [Crows Zero films, L Change the World and Midnight Eagle], and Koen Kondo [Linda Linda Linda, Zebraman and Nodome Cantabile].
That is a fine mix of veteran and young talent. Filming has only just begun and is expected to go into September which means we still have a ways to go before we get to see this.
»
- Andrew Mack
Permalink | Report a problem
Tokyo Sonata - Trailer
20 April 2009 11:38 PM, PDT
| Latemag.com/film
| See recent LateFilmFull news
»
Kiyoshi Kurosawa – the hugely acclaimed Japanese director famous for his groundbreaking, existential horror films such as Cure and Kairo [Pulse] – set Cannes alight last year with a surprising change of pace to, that staple of Japanese cinema, the family drama.
When Ryuhei Sasaki (played by Teruyuki Kagawa) is unceremoniously dumped from his ‘safe’ company job, his family's happy, humdrum life is put at risk. Unwilling to accept the shame of unemployment, the loyal salaryman decides not to tell anyone, instead leaving home each morning in suit and tie with briefcase, spending his days searching for work and lining up for soup with the homeless. Outstanding performances; serene, elegant direction; and Kurosawa's trademark chills are evident as he ratchets up the unsettling atmosphere and the grim hopelessness of Sasaki's unemployment.
Tokyo Sonata is showing theatrically in selected cinemas nationwide (UK) until June 2009 and is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 22 June 2009.
www.
»
- Leigh
Permalink | Report a problem
Kiyoshi Kurosawa exhumes the heart of a Japanese family in Tokyo Sonata
12 April 2009 5:35 PM, PDT
| The Hollywood Interview
| See recent The Hollywood Interview news
»
(Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and actor Teruyuki Kagawa, during the shooting of Tokyo Sonata, above.)
By Terry Keefe
This article is currently appearing in this month's Venice Magazine.
For filmmaker Kiyoski Kurosawa, it wasn’t that big a leap from the horror genre to the domestic-style terrors of a family melodrama. Kurosawa made his bones on horror-based stories such as 1997’s Cure, but his newest, Tokyo Sonata, follows the dissolution, and partial rebirth, of a Japanese traditional family, with no supernatural elements in play. Kurosawa’s trademark evocation of creeping dread and anxiety remain, however, and you still are never sure about what is around the next corner in his new work. Says Kurosawa about stepping outside his more familiar realm of murders and the supernatural, “Obviously, since this wasn’t a horror film, one change was that I didn’t have to make it deliberately frightening. But the part of
»
- The Hollywood Interview.com
Permalink | Report a problem
New Last House director has the Cure
12 March 2009 10:35 PM, PDT
| Fangoria
| See recent Fangoria news
»
Variety reports that on the eve of the release of his new Last House On The Left by Rogue Pictures, director Dennis Iliadis (pictured) has signed to take the helm of a chiller called Cure. Although Asian-remake house Vertigo Entertainment is one of the production companies involved, the film is not related to the Kiyoshi Kurosawa movie of the same title.
This Cure, scripted by Max Payne’s Beau Michael Thorne, is about a woman who undergoes an experimental procedure that’s intended to save her from a terminal illness—but she comes home to her husband with a far more frightening condition. The producing team includes Vertigo’s Roy Lee and Doug Davison, Michael London of Groundswell Productions, the new Friday The 13th’s Brian Witten of Witten Pictures and Mad Hatt Entertainment’s Michael Connolly. The film is set to roll this summer.
»
Permalink | Report a problem
Downsized & Out
12 March 2009 9:42 PM, PDT
| NYPost.com
| See recent New York Post news
»
Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to Akira) has made a name for himself with horror flicks such as "Pulse" (2000) - which was redone in Hollywood - and "Cure" (1997).
Now he effortlessly switches gears with the stark social drama "Tokyo Sonata" (not to be confused with "Tokyo!" which opened here last Friday).
Although envisioned before the world economy went to hell, "Tokyo Sonata" is relevant to the mess we're in now.
Ryuhei, a middle-age salaryman, loses his job
»
- By V.A. MUSETTO
Permalink | Report a problem
Film: Review: Tokyo Sonata
12 March 2009 1:00 PM, PDT
| avclub.com
| See recent The AV Club news
»
Kiyoshi Kurosawa made his reputation with offbeat horror films like Cure and Pulse, which emphasized creeping dread over overt shock. Now, with Tokyo Sonata, Kurosawa has moved from not-quite-horror to not-quite-satire. In telling the story of a salaryman who loses his job, Kurosawa riffs on crippling conformity, dysfunctional family dynamics, and economic desperation—but all so subtly that at times it’s hard to tell if he’s joking. When Kurosawa shows students and workers merging into a single pedestrian stream, or a boss asking a prospective employee to prove his worth by singing karaoke, or a Japanese college dropout
»
Permalink | Report a problem
Tokyo Sonata review
12 March 2009 6:30 AM, PDT
| Spout.com
| See recent Spout news
»
Tokyo Sonata is a horror film of sorts, but one without the ghosts and serial killers that have populated Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s earlier work. There aren’t even any killer trees, as in Charisma, or poisonous jellyfish, as in Bright Future. Kurosawa’s films have always offered social commentary, but on their own eccentric terms. Cure responded obliquely to the Aum Shrinyiko subway gas attacks, while Pulse confronted a generation of lonely, Internet-obsessed otaku. Even Kurosawa films with no genre elements, like Bright Future and <a href="http://www.spout
»
- Steve Erickson
Permalink | Report a problem
Sfiaaff 2009: Kiyoshi Kurosawa—Serpent’s Path & Eyes of the Spider
19 February 2009 12:03 AM, PST
| Twitch
| See recent Twitch news
»
Brian Darr’s and Michael Hawley’s recent previews of the 27th edition of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (“Sfiaaff”) posted, respectively, at Hell on Frisco Bay and film-415, enumerate many reasons to be pleased with this year’s line-up; not the least of which is the seven-film tribute to Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It will be no surprise to readers of The Evening Class to know how excited I am by this tribute, recalling the Kiyoshi Kurosawa Blogathon of last Summer, wherein I included my write-ups on Cure and Bright Future along with hosting essays from welcome contributors. Likewise—anticipating the opportunity to interview Kurosawa at Tokyo Sonata‘s TIFF08 North American premiere—I provided an overview of interviews conducted with Kurosawa. My dream to conduct my own interview with Kurosawa came true at the Toronto International and it now appears I will have a chance to follow-up
»
- Michael Guillen
Permalink | Report a problem
Sfiaaff 2009—Michael Hawley Previews the Line-up
18 February 2009 1:24 PM, PST
| Twitch
| See recent Twitch news
»
With a multiracial, Hawaii/Indonesia-raised president in the White House, it’s fortuitous that the issue of mixed race is also at the core of many films in the 27th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (“Sfiaaff”). That’s the observation with which Festival Director Chi-hui Yang and Assistant Director Vicci Ho kicked off last week’s press conference announcing this year’s line-up. Additionally, they noted a marked emphasis on films from South Asia, South Korea and Japan this year. I think the program is an even stronger one than usual, at least in terms of containing many of the films I’ve been hoping to see. Here’s a look at some highlights.
The big event is undoubtedly the seven-film spotlight on Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the Japanese auteur best known for his metaphysical thrillers Cure and Pulse. Kurosawa was last here in 2004 for the Sf International Film Festival’s screenings of Doppelganger,
»
- Michael Guillen
Permalink | Report a problem
2009 |
2008
11 articles from 2009
See all NewsDesk partners
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the
above news articles. News articles are published for the entertainment of our
users only. The news items do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we
guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the
site responsible for the article in question to report any concerns you may
have.
