Japan Cuts Capsule Reviews: SPECIAL ACTORS, ROAR and SACRIFICE

Here is brief word on three Japan Cuts titles


SPECIAL ACTORS
Shinichiro Ueda’s follow up to ONE CUT OF THE DEAD is about an acting wannabe who gets hired by the Special Actors, a group specializing in helping people in various situations where they need to look strong or get out of trouble. He gets sucked into the group helping a woman save her family inn from a cult.

It is a sweetly charming little film that will delight pretty much everyone willing to go on its quirky ride.

ROAR
Two parallel tales of violence has a young man following a mysterious man who is hired to beat people up and the tale of a young woman who is put under more and more pressure to have an affair with a co-worker. A visceral gut punch of a film that is trip on the dark side.

SACRIFICE
Dark brooding film that moves at a break neck speed concerns a young woman who had predicted the 3/11 disaster while she was in a cult. She now is still having visions. Meanwhile a classmate begins to suspect begins to realize that another classmate maybe a killer. Full of conspiracy theories and characters with an off kilter way of viewing the world director Taku Tsuboi goes against the urge to go big and keeps it small and realistic. This forces us to engage and lean into all that is happening. It’s a bold move that engages us on a deeper level since everything plays out more like real life getting under our skin instead of being something easily dismissed.

For information on these or any other Japan Cuts film go here.

A brief piece on VOICES IN THE WIND (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

Devastating road trip  film has a 17 year old girl trying to come to terms with the deaths of her family in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. When the aunt who was taking care of her is feld by a stroke, she heads off on a journey. Along the way she hears about a phone that maybe able to put her in contact with her lost loved ones

Beautifully acted and hauntingly told this is a film that will stay with you long after the film has ended.

(Please forgive the brevity of this review, events in my personal life have made this a film very hard for me to talk about. Just know it's a stunner)

For more information on this and other Japan Cuts films go here

PRISON CIRCLE (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

Intriguing look at a prison program that aims to help prisoners come to terms with what they did and to help make them ready for life outside of prison.

One of the of the better prison documentary I've seen recently makes you wonder how the program would work in the United States. Actually the treatment of prisoners in the Japanese prison makes you wonder why we are so set on abusing our prisoners instead of trying to actual help the prisoners.

The one thing that is going to make this is a tough slog fo some is that in accordance with Japanese law all the faces of the prisoners and prison guards are blurred. It makes for an odd viewing experience since you are forced to go along with it to be able to follow all the prisoners.

Recommended

For information on this or other Japan Cuts Films go here.

The Day of Destruction (2020) Japan Cuts 2020

A last minute addition to Japan Cuts Toshiaki Toyoda's THE DAY OF DESTRUCTION just suddenly appeared on the film website just as it was announced on social media.It was only going to be available for 24 hours to coincide with the release of th film in Japan. I only found out about it because Mondocurry emailed me to let me know it had dropped- and since no screener was available that I know of I plunked down my 7 dollars and gave it a go.

Beginning seven years ago a giant living blob appeared in the bottom of a mine. After that a plague  seemed to sweep through a small village. A young holy man tries to combat the forces of evil he believes are invading the world.

Made to coincide with the opening of the 2020 Olympics the film is Toyoda's “exorcise a society obsessed with the monstrosity of self-interest and greed.” Its a film that is clearly close to Toyoda with his passion and need to change the world for the better bleeding off the screen.

Unfortunately I'm not sure it adds up to much. Or rather I am not sure it really adds up to much in its current form

While I have no problems with the film on any technical or acting level I have problems with the film's pacing and script.

The film instantly gets into trouble in the opening sequence set seven years ago.  A reporter goes to a mine to see the blob at the bottom and he then proceeds to walk down the tunnel for the better part of ten minutes. Yes there is some changes in the sound track but it is simply someone walking for ten minutes. He then sees the creature turns around and leaves. This wouldn't really be a problem if it lead to something but it just kind of hangs there.  Granted it's a mood builder, but at the same time it devours one fifth of the films running time. It is echoed by the long cryptic crosswalk sequence that ends the film.

From there the film spins out in a series of sequences that talk about epidemics and mysticism as people try to sort out what is going on and why people are behaving strangely. While I can and do admire the pieces I'm not sure they all hang together.  I think this is a film that is very much trying to make a point and it is using the conventions of horror films and thrillers to do so, except that the need to be about something is subverting the creation of any scares and chills. It's almost as if Toyoda was obligated to turn in 50 minute plus end credit run time and found it was too long for  what he had in mind (say a chilling 25 minute short) and as a result he filled the extra time by explaining a little too much. I kind of wish this was a more tightly cut, more cryptic short or a full on feature where Toyoda explored things more fully.

An interesting miss that is neither fish no fowl, THE DAY OF DESTRUCTION is more a doodle from a talented director rather than a full on work of art.

Japan Cuts Capsule reviews MY IDENTITY and MY SWEET GRAPPA REMEDIES

MY IDENTITY
Half Chinese half Japanese teenage Rei is bullied both at home and at school. Running away she meets Aoi who is being harassed at work. The pair then run off to the country and hide out in an abandoned inn where they make safe place for each other.

Running just over an hour MY IDENTITY moves like the wind. It is a lovely coming of age tale that connects to you heart strings, though I suspect that it will become a big favorite for the women who see it. Recommended.


MY SWEET GRAPPA REMEDIES
Forty something Yoshiko records her thoughts in her diary which we hear as a constant voice over, She ponders her life and the things she has done and missed out. Is there more to life for her?

Well made and well told tale didn't connect to me.This is not because the film is bad rather this is a film that seems to be unconnected to my life. While I could appreciate the film on many levels it didn't speak to me emotionally.

That said there is enough here that I did like it on its own terms, which makes it a film I can recommend to anyone who is interested in seeing it.

To see either of this films or any of the other films playing Japan Cuts go here.

MRS NOISY (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

Maki is a freelance writer hoping to turn her new motherhood into gold, but instead finds that she still has writers block. Moving into an new apartment with her family things begin to slide as her daughter begins wandering off out of boredom and she begins to gt into a feud with a neighbor. Things begin to slide further when Maki turns to social media blowing everything out of proportion and creating a number of false narratives.

Good dark comedy  is lifted up by it's refusing to take the typical surface road and instead dig a bit deeper concerning modern life and and how what we think is real is not always the case. It is small addition that was undoubtedly the reason that the film has been a festival favorite. I know going in I was pretty certain I knew what I was going to get, and at first I thought I was right but slowly the film began to change and shift and it started to bring in issues that most filmmakers are no considering these days.  I was hooked and had to see how this all played out.

While I didn't end up absolutely loving the film I most certainly liked it. I liked it enough that I am recommending it to anyone who wants to see a film that doesn't track as expected and instead raises of interesting questions to make you think.

To see the film or any other at Japan Cuts go here.

It Feels Good (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

Kenji returns home for the wedding of his old girlfriend Naoko. She tracks him down and they begin to talk. She proposes and one night stand since her fiance is away. However it's not as simple as sex and old feelings arise as the pair discuss themselves and the world.

This was not high on my must see list and I backed into seeing it accidentally  and I'm glad I did. This is a super little drama that is more than an "erotic" coupling . In fact it is a super examination of the state of the world and the human heart.

That the film works as well as it does is entirely the result of Tasuku Emoto and Kumi Takiuchi who lift the characters up from being characters an make them into people we actually know. Watching them you feel more like we are watching real people rather actors reciting scripted lines.

Recommended.

For access to this or any other film at Japan Cuts go here.

Brief thoughts on Shell and Joint (2019) Japan Cuts

Isamu Hirabayashi’s first feature film is not so much a straight narrative so much as a bunch of  loosely connect vignettes or conversations, the film criss crosses back and forth between several different characters, hotel clerks, people in a sauna, animated insect puppets, stuffed animals and elsewhere. Talk bounces between the mundane to to truly bizarre and almost all of the action is of a verbal sort.

I'm not going to guess how you are going to react to this film. While the conversations can be intriguing, are sometimes funny or uncomfortable, the mix can be a bit jarring as the film shifts focus just as a piece seems to be going somewhere.

My reaction is decidely mixed. While I liked bits of this film a great deal other pieces kind of fell flat. It doesn't help that the film runs just over two and a half hours. There was a point somewhere about a quarter of the way in when I began to wonder how much more there was left...two hours I groaned.

WHile not my cup of tea it is a very well done one of a kind film that might be yours.

For information on how to see this film or any of the other Japan Cuts films go here.

Brief thoughts on the Tora-san Films at Japan Cuts 2020

There are 50 films in the Tora-san series and it holds the record as the longest running film series where one actor. Kiyoshi Atsumi,  played the same character (49 films - well really all 50). It is a sweet and lovely series about a nice guy who keeps trying despite not always succeeding.

The series is so much part of Japanese culture, in many ways just as much as gangsters, samurais and ghosts with long black hair  that the Japan Society ran a retrospective of the series a year or so ago which reintroduced the films to a whole generation of New Yorkers who really had no idea who the Tora-san was. It is a character that has bled out into other media as well and is in it way a cultural phenomenon.

Now with the release of the 50th and final film in the series Japan Cuts is running three films with the series along with the final film. (I should note that TORA-SAN, MY UNCLE #42 was not made available to critics at the time of this writing)

I have a mixed relationship with the series. I've seen a number of the films over the years and while I liked them I was never in love with them (which as the reason I didn't' cover the earlier series at the Japan Society). All of the stories follow a similar pattern see below) I honestly couldn't tell you which films I saw before taking a look for the Japan Cuts screenings.

That said if you have never seen any of the series you really should watch a couple of the earlier films and close it out with the final film since, knowing it's the end of the road for the little guy, it is certain to bring a tear or two to your eyes.


TORA-SAN OUR LOVEABLE TRAMP #1
Sets the mold for the series as traveling salesman Torajiro “Tora-san” Kuruma coming home after 20 years gone and instantly causing all sorts of laughter and tears as he gets involved in his family's business, wrecking romances, including his own, setting up others before heading off again, alone. It is a pattern that would be followed over and over again over the next 5 decades and 49 films.

It is a sweet little film.


TORA-SAN MEETS THE SONGSTRESS AGAIN #15
This time out Tora-san is reacquainted with the love of his life who has gotten a divorce since last appearing several films earlier. However Tora-san's behavior complicates things. Will they find happiness? Probably not and that is not giving anything away since the pair were destined to cross paths several more times in the series.

This is a solid entry that kept me entertained (and made me want to see the other meeting of these characters)


TORA-SAN WISH YOU WERE HERE #50
Final film in the series focuses on Tora-san's nephew runs into an old sweetheart and friends and family who remember his uncle (seen in copious flashbacks). Its a final farewell to the character and the series that tugs at the heart strings as many of the themes and ideas from the long running series are brought to a close.

For information on the Tora-san films and all of the titles play Japan Cuts go here.

i -Documentary of the Journalist (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

Isoko Mochizuki was the subject of the fictional film THE JOURNALIST which played Japan Cuts last year. This year the festival gives us the woman herself doing what she does best, rattling cages and not taking the official bullshit at face value.

The film opens with  Mochizuki on assignment. She clearly just flew in from somewhere and she is schlepping through a city with her luggage in tow looking to make a connection. It doesn't happen and soon she continues running around via cab trying to connect the dots about a landfill project that isn't what officials say it is.

Glorious rough edged portrait of a hero for our time. Mochizuki is a woman who goes for whatever story she is on like a heat seeking missile. Appearing seemingly everywhere she makes officials crazy by not taking their answers as truth (more often than not she knows what is going on) and refusing to give them a moment's rest- she simply keeps hammering way. In a country where there are levels of respect and inner and outer circles of access Mochizuki is an outsider who is more damaging to lies than a swam of mosquitoes.

Fast moving and possessing a real sense of urgency, i-DOCUMENTARY OF THE JOURNALIST is a film that grabs you from the first frame and drags you to the last. It is also a film that will make you feel good know that there is at least one person out there who is willing to do what is right. It also makes you wonder what President Trump would do if Mochizuki ever go into his press conference.

Highly recommended.

For information on how to see this or any other film at Japan Cuts go here

A pointer towards LIFE UNTITLED (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

Director Kana Yamada adapts her stage play about the women who work at an escort service in Tokyo. Humor mixes with horror as we see the girls' lives play out before us.

While possessing some of the staginess of a play (much of the film takes place in one location and several scenes play out as only plays do) this is bleak raw portrait of what many women are forced to endure to make a living and just get by in life.  It is in your face at times possessing a lived in quality that makes you wonder how much of this is a direct result of writer director Yamada's life.

I was rocked by what I was seeing. While there isn't anything I hadn't know happened to women, the sheer volume of the abuse was crushing. I can only imagine what sort of an experience this must be for a woman. And you'll forgive me if I don't speak to anything other than the visceral punch I felt watching this as a man.

A visceral stunner LIFE UNTITLED is recommended.

To stream this film or any other playing at Japan Cuts go here

EXTRO (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

A loving mockumentary sending up the Japanese film industry and the extras that populate the films. The film focuses o several extras as they prepare for their roles and one in particular who wants to step into the spotlight.

Much of EXTRO doesn't feel like a fake film, rather it feels like a genuine film thanks to the perfect use of many well known actors and directors who give their insight into the world of extras, or populate the fake films we see being filmed.

I don't know what to say other than I smiled and was carried along from stat to finish. Everything here clicked. Full praise to director Naoki Murahashi who doesn't allow things to get out of hand. Everything is carefully modulated so as to remain as real as possible.

I had a ball and recommend EXTRO.

For details on how to stream the film or any others at Japan Cuts go here.

Japan Cuts Shorts: WHEEL MUSIC, WOLF'S CALLING and LOST THREE MAKE ONE FOUND

WHEEL MUSIC
Nao Yoshigai took a bicycle ride through his home town in order to record it's rhythms and sites before the Olympic games descended upon the town and potentially changed it forever.  Wonderful travelog has a glorious sense of place. Rarely have I ever watched a film and felt as though I was in a articular place at a particular time as I was with this film. while they film can have an odd moment that seems random or unconnected, it still manages to fit in perfectly because as we all know our home towns can be like that.

Recommended.


WOLF'S CALLING
I have to say at the start that if you see this you must stay through the end credits since there is a two minute sequences after they roll,

My number one must see short disappointed.Director Toshiaki Toyoda's response to being arrested for having a gun that was an old family heirloom  is a visual and sonic delight. However the sound and image don't seem to add to anything. Rarely have I ever wanted to ring up a filmmaker and simply say- what ever it was you were trying to say isn't on the screen as much as I did after seeing this film. Don't get me wrong I loved how it looked and sounded so much that I watched it twice - but I never really got a sense of what I was supposed to think or feel beyond this looked and sounded cool.

LOST THREE MAKE ONE FOUND
A road trip with director Atsushi Kuwayama in a camper van as he looks for the Sacred Fountain of Fornalha in Southern Portugal. Said to heal heartache the fountain always seems just out of reach.

Glorious time with good people this is a film that surprised the hell out of me.  I didn't know what to expect and simply put it on because I was watching shorts. I ended up falling in love with the film and the marvelous people that Kuwayama ran into.  I loved this film so much I kept hoping that the run time of twenty six minutes was wrong and that it was going to be an hour or two hours and twenty six minutes.

Magical.

Highly recommended.

To see  these or any of the other Japan Cuts films go here.

See You On The Other Side (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

The polyamorous relationship between Hiroki, Natsuki, and Kanako takes an odd turn in SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE aneat little short that will leave you staring at the screen.

Focusing primarily on the two women who kind of knew each other in high school and then became close years later the film zeroes in on their feelings about relationships, sex and each other. We are slowly brought along until... well that would be telling and I don't dare do that, especially since past a certain moment this film flips and flips and flips.

All I will leave you with is this is worth a look see at Japan Cuts.

For details on how to stream this or any other film playing Japan Cuts go here.

Brief thoughts Reiwa Uprising (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

Kazuo Hara's epic four hour and ten minute film is highly recommended for political junkies and those who want to disappear into and true life epic tale. Contacted by transgender Tokyo University professor Ayumi Yasutomi who is going to run for public office, if Hara will make a film about it, Hara turns his camera onto the whole slate of the Reiwa Shinsengumi (“new squad”) party which was formed mere months before the election was to be held. The politicians are not your typical Japanese candidates and what they proposing runs counter to the ruling party which has been in power for over  6 decades.

If you've seen Hara's earlier films such as Sennan Asbestos Disaster or the Emperor's Naked Army Marches On you'll have an idea what to expect. Hara is going to drop you into the thick of things and make you see what he is showing you. For some it's too much for other's just right.  My personal opinion toward the film, like some of his earlier films, is that there are moments where I pondered if we needed to see certain things, until we get to the end and I realize, yea we did.

When I saw that this film was playing at Japan Cuts I got excited because I knew I was not going to be seeing anything like a typical documentary, instead I was going to see something that really made me engage with a subject.  I was not disappointed.

I know this film is not going to play well with everyone, but for those who want a full bodied, thoughtful film that has great emotion and humor in it I highly recommend Reiwa Uprising.

For information on how to screen Reiwa Uprising (or any other film) at Japan Cuts go here. (Warning it is only available if you are in the US)

Book-Paper-Scissors (2019) Japan Cuts 2020

If you love books as physical objects then you must see BOOK-PAPER-SCISSORS about book designer Nobuyoshi Kikuchi who has designed the look of 15,000 books over his long career. It is a wonderful exploration of the care and craft that some people put into putting a book together.

I'm not going to guess how much you like or dislike this film, I'm only going to say that if you ever wanted to know about the thought that goes into making a really good looking book this is for you. I was hooked early on when Kikuchi received a shipment of number of copies of a book he designed and then he proceeded to go over the book explaining why he chose the color schemes and the shadings and the paper... and my jaw kind of dropped because I never really thought about everything he was showing us. I love books and I sold books but I never thought that much abot what went into making them.

Of course I never had Nobuyoshi Kikuchi to explain it all to me. A very particular man, he is very aware of everything and he can explain it all down to the smallest detail and it makes learning about the making of books that much cooler. I will never look at a book the same way again.

Highly recommended for book lovers (if you loved THE BOOKSELLERS earlier this year this is for you)

For information on how to stream this film or any of the others at Japan Cuts go here.

Japan Cuts 2020 Shorts: BLIND BOMBING FILMED BY A BAT, BLEACHED BONES AVENUE and TOKYO GIRL

This year's Japan Cuts is running a good number of shorts (they cost a $1.50 or $3 each depending)  and as part of Unseen Films' coverage of the festival we are going to try and review as many as we can- first up three documentary shorts.

BLIND BOMBING FILMED BY A BAT
A kind of experimental exploration of the Japanese efforts to bomb the west coast of America with large balloons. Mixing drone footage, period pictures and documents as well as the testimony of people whose family sent or found the balloons, the film creates neat portrait of an event many people don't know about, especially in the US where coverage of the bombing attempts were censored.
Recommended.


BLEACHED BONES AVENUE
The people of Myanmar are tasked with reclaiming the bodies of fallen Japanese soldiers decades after the terrible battles that ravaged the countryside. The film quietly examines the question of why are they doing it and what purpose does it serve. This is a small gem of increasing power.


TOKYO GIRL
Stream of consciousness film has a young woman's rapid fire thoughts mixed with truly rapid fire images as she tries to explain her life and world view. It is an exhausting 8 minutes that will thrill you with its very real sense of life. Recommended.

For more information on the festival and its screenings go here.

Kinta and Ginji (2020) Japan Cuts 2020

A robot and a racoon walk around the countryside and talk about life and are cranky with each other despite being friends.

Playing as part of the Avant-Garde section of Japan Cuts you're entirely on your own for this one.  A no tech approach will either strike you as something great or make you want to run for the hills. Basically it's a series of static shots as a guy in a robot costume and a guy with a racoon mask have a post dubbed conversion.

My patience was tried early and honestly I bowed out at the halfway point.

Do yourself a favor and look at the trailer and if that intrigues you then give it shot otherwise skip it.

Cenote (2020) Japan Cuts 2020

I am slowly working my way through the Japan Cuts films but I don't think any film other than CENOTE will be more impactful as this one. A stunning visual essay concerning the giant cenotes, sink holes, that are in Mexico the film is full of sounds and images that are completely trippy.

I don't know what to say except sitting in the dark this film truly floored me. This is a film that took me out of myself and put me somewhere else. I kept watching it wondering what this would have been like in a theater where the images were larger than life.

To be honest I don't know what to say about the film. A very primal, extremely viceral film it is something that everyone is going to react to differently.I fell head over heels for it.

Do yourself a favor and take a look at the trailer and see what you think.. If you like head trip films then this will probably connect with you. It really did for me.

Very recommended for those who want something different CENOTE plays July 17 to 30 as part of  the virtual Japan Cuts (though access is only good in the US) Tickets can be had here.

Fukushima 50 (2020) Japan Cuts 2020

Setsurô Wakamatsu's FUKUSHIMA 50's  first ten minutes is as nerve jangling as anything you will see all year. Depicting the massive earthquake and following tsunami that took out the Fukushima nuclear reactor it will make you want crawl under your chair and hide. It's not that it's graphic, rather it makes real one of the very worst nuclear disasters in history.

After the killer opening the film settle down to tell the story of the men and women who fought to keep the reactors from gong completely out of control. It's a tense tale of people facing oblivion and the choices they are forced to make. Indeed one of major plot point is whether to follow orders and stop cooling the reactors or to keep going because it's the only way to even remotely save the world. It's a ride that will force you to do a lot of thinking.

Wakamatsu's film is interesting in that it is kind of more straight reporting of events rather than a film filled with who is to blame. This is the story of what happened and while the distance of time would make you think that some blame throwing would be in order, Wakamatsu takes the stance that these are people just trying to survive so that what they are doing is not black and white of hindsight but the grey of living in the moment. That may not sit well with those looking for heroes and villains, but life isn't always clearcut.

I should point out that in telling the tale Wakamatsu has changed the name of everyone other that Ken Wantanbe's Masao Yoshida. That is not a flaw in the film, rather an acknowledgement that there were too many people responsible for stopping the nightmare to name them all. Yoshida on the other hand was the guy everyone new and he was the one who made many of the fateful decisions carried out by his teams.

I absolutely loved this film a great deal.

Highly recommended, FUKUSHIMA 50 plays at the virtual Japan Cuts starting Friday and playing until July 30. (Tickets here)  One piece of advice the film can only be accessed if you are in the US.
Additionally there will be a video introduction by the stars. And on July 27th there will be an award presentation. (The introduction and awards ceremony are free)