[ NIHON BUNKA KENKYUU ] BUNKEN 101: Reviews, comments, and insights on Japanese pop culture.
The Japan Foundation, Manila, in cooperation with the Shangri-La Plaza Mall, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the UP Film Institute, proudly presents slices of Japanese life as seen through the eyes of contemporary Japanese directors of “Eiga Sai 2007”: a showcase of modern film genre at the Shang Cineplex, UP Film Institute and CCP Dream Theater.
Among the films to be featured are Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari, 2004, directed by Tetsuya Nakashima), Harmful Insect (Gaichu, 2002, directed by Akihiko Shiota), Hotel Hibiscus (Hotel Hibiscus, 2002, directed by Yuji Nakae), No One’s Ark (Baka no Hakobune, 2002, directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita), Inochi (Inochi, 2002, directed by Tetsuo Shinohara), Out of this World (Kono Yo no Sotoe-Club Shinchu Gun, 2003, directed by Junji Sakamoto), The Stars Converge (Chirusoku no Natsu, 2003, directed by Kiyoshi Sasabe), Blue (Blue, 2001, directed by Hiroshi Ando), Blue Spring (Aoi Haru, 2001, directed by Toshiaki Toyoda) and Shangri-la (Togenkyo No Hitobito, 2002, directed by Takashi Miike).
The Eiga Sai (literally, ‘film festival’ in Japanese) opens at the Shangri-la Plaza Mall on June 20 with light comedy, “Kamikaze Girls” (2004, 103 minutes, Color), written by Novala Takemoto and directed by Nakashima Tetsuya. It tells the story of two very different teenagers who become best friends, even though neither will admit it. J-Pop star Kyoko Fukada stars as Momoko, a 17-year-old girl so obsessed with everything rococo that she wears old-fashioned frilly white clothing and carries a parasol. After Momoko’s mother leaves her small time crook husband, her young daughter grows up on the farm, 60 miles from Tokyo, with her ex Yakuza father who sells fake Versace merchandize and grandmother, a woman with an extraordinary ability to catch flies in mid air. Desperate for money, Momoko starts selling the remainder of her father's counterfeit clothing, but her only customer is a tough-talking young biker chick, Ichigo (Anna Tsuchiya), who belongs to an all-girl gang. Their lives exemplify some of the fascinating intricacies of Japanese youth culture in a feel good film with art direction creatively designed to blow your socks off. The movie garnered critical acclaim and won numerous awards in Japan and abroad.
All films will be shown with English subtitles. Screening venues are at the Cinema 3, Shangri-La Plaza Mall (June 20-26), UP Film Institute (July 2-5), and CCP Dream Theater (July 4-8). Admission is free. For detailed screening schedules and inquiries, please check the Japan Foundation, Manila website: http://www.jfmo.org.ph or call the JFM telephone numbers 811-6155 to 58.
A Sneak Peek of the Festival Films
“Kamikaze Girls” (2004, 103 minutes, Color), written by Novala Takemoto and directed by Tetsuya Nakashima. Screenings will be held on June 20, 7pm, June 23, 5pm & June 24, 2pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 3, 7pm – UP Film Institute; July 6, 7pm - CCP Dream Theater.
Blue Spring” (2001, 83 minutes, color), the first film adaptation of a book by popular manga-artist Taiyo Matsumoto and directed by Toshiaki Toyoda. The film opens with the quiet yet brutal Kujo (played by Gohatto's Ryuhei Matsuda) winning a particularly hair-raising version of chicken -- clapping as many times as you can while hanging on the outside of the school's rooftop railing. The winner of the game traditionally gets to rule the school. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. (June 21, 5pm & June 24, 8 pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 2, 7pm – UP Film Institute; July 4, 7pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“Harmful Insect” (2002, 92 minutes, color), this film is about a junior high school girl who is determined to choose her own way of life amidst the cruel tricks of fate. The film won the Special Jury Award and the Best Actress Award at the 2001 Festival des 3 Continents, Loire-Atlantique, France. It tells the story of Sachiko, a 12-year-old girl in junior high school who has a very complicated life. When she was still an infant, her father disappeared. Her mother, who works in a bar, is secretive and distant. Longing for an escape from her dreary existence and lacking any kind of parental guidance, Sachiko has a short-lived affair with her sixth-grade teacher, Ogata. But fearing that his indiscretion might be discovered, Ogata moves to a town far away.
Although he and Sachiko continue a written correspondence, soon the absence of her only real friend and confidant leads Sachiko into a deep melancholy. When her mother attempts to commit suicide, the turbulence of Sachiko's life becomes too much to bear. After dropping out of school, she finds temporary solace in the company of others who have fallen through the cracks of middle-class society. But when she is forced back into the confines of her classroom, her long-dormant rage begins to surface and her life quickly spins out of control. (June 26, 8 pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 5, 2pm – UP Film Institute; July 7, 4pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“Hotel Hibiscus” (2002 / 35mm / 92min / Color) is a story of one very young energetic girl named Mieko and her extraordinarily international family who live in Okinawa. They live in a run down old hotel called Hotel Hibiscus with only one room for rent. It is an extraordinarily serene film that shares similarities in style to some of Takeshi Kitano's stone cold calm film moments as well as owing a bit to Hayao Miyazaki in its celebration of childlike irreverence. The film focuses on a dilapidated hotel which is run by an interesting melting pot of a family that never ceases to remind themselves of their international roots.
The story begins when Mieko and her two friends saves a teenage boy named Notojima (Toshihiro Wada) and he becomes the hotel's sole guest. Along with her classmates, Mieko spends her days trying to find Kijimuna the Forest Fairy. One day, her mother and half sister depart for the States to meet her sister's real father, leaving Mieko very busy with all the cooking and cleaning chores at the hotel. She delivers a letter to her father, who's working at a pineapple orchard, and meets a strange old man who calls himself Old Man Kijimuna. She also runs into a girl that's a dead ringer for herself. Mieko's summer holiday is filled with all sorts of experiences. (June 22, 2pm & June 24, 5pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 4, 7pm – UP Film Institute; July 8, 7pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“No One’s Ark” (2002 / 35mm / 111min / Color), the second feature film from director Nobuhiro Yamashita, well-known on the international festival circuit and whose first feature Hazy Life won the Grand Prix for independent films at the Yubari Fantastic Film Festival in the year 2000.The young Daisuke Sakai (Hiroshi Yamamoto)and his girlfriend Hisako Shimada (Tomoko Kotera) are in debt five million yen. They leave Tokyo in a small motorboat and go off to Daisuke's hometown, a small island in an attempt to persuade the locals to buy a health drink named "Akajiru" which, due to its awful taste, they haven't been able to sell in Tokyo.
However, not even his family and childhood friends are willing to support their enterprise. Besides, Daisuke's ex-girlfriend and her younger sister complicate matters in his relationship. Set in the early 90's, this picture shows how it's hard for the young generation to find a place in the economy of its country. (June 22, 8pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 5, 5pm – UP Film Institute; July 8, 4pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“Inochi” (2002 / 111min / Color), the film is based on a bestselling novel, in which the Japanese-Korean author Yu Miri candidly wrote down her own experiences. Yu Miri (Makiko Esumi) is a writer who's just become pregnant by her married lover. When she decides to keep the baby without his help, her ex-boyfriend Yutaka (Etsushi Toyokawa), now struggling with terminal cancer, decides to help raise him, pledging to "live long enough to hear the child call his own name." (June 22 & June 25, 5pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 3, 5pm – UP Film Institute; July 6, 4pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“Out of this World” (2003 / 35mm / 123 min / Color), Featuring a multinational cast directed by Junji Sakamoto (KT, Bokunchi), Out Of This World is an ensemble drama set in the aftermath of World War II. Kentaro (Masato Hagiwara) returns to U.S.-occupied Japan after being stationed in the Philippines, and is shocked to see what has become of his country. The sound of jazz drifts through the streets, as do thousands of American GIs, and the drink of choice is now Coca Cola. Sensing an opportunity, Kentaro hooks up with Shozo (Jo Odagiri) and some other likeminded musicians to form a jazz band called "The Lucky Strikers."
They land a gig at a servicemen's club on an American air force base but their audience doesn't have much patience for their substandard performances, especially the antagonistic jazz aficionado Russell (Shea Whigham). Kentaro's insensitivity towards the friendly club manager Jim (Peter Mullan) gets them barred from the base. Drug addiction, poverty and ideology draw them away from their music, and eventually the band members go their separate ways. Upon the death of one of their number, The Lucky Strikers reform and are given another chance to play at the American base. They perform one of Russell's songs, "Out Of This World," in tribute to their friend. (June 21 & June 25, 8pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 2, 5pm – UP Film Institute; July 4, 4pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“The Stars Converge” (2003 / 35mm / 114 min / Color), in 1977 in the port city of Shimonoseki, Ikuko (Yuri Mizutani) is an entrant in a track and field meet being held as a goodwill event with South Korean sister city Pusan. There she meets and falls in love with South Korean boy An Tei Hou (Junpei), a fellow high jump competitor. A year later on the day of the Tanabata festival (known as "Chirusoku" in Korean), the young lovers are reunited and vow to meet again in four years time. Some twenty-six years later, Ikuko has become a high school P.E. teacher and fondly remembers her youthful love affair. The track and field event she competed in has not been held since the onset of Japan's economic recession, but is to be revived this year. Ikuko participates as a coach, and she comes to know that a Korean man is the sponsor to make this event happen again. (June 23, 8pm & June 26, 5pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 5, 7pm – UP Film Institute; July 7, 7pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“Blue” (2001 / 35mm / 116 mins. / Color) based on a manga created by very popular artist Kiriko Nananan. Mikako Ichikawa received the best actress award at the Moscow International Film Festival for her performance. Set in a small seaside town in Japan, Kayako Kirishima (Mikako Ichikawa) has become a third-year student. She’s concerned about her classmate Masami Endo (Manami Konishi), who for some reason has failed and stayed behind in the same year. Everyone in the class ignores Masami even though they all have an interest in her. One day Kayako asks her to join lunch with the others and they quickly become close friends. Though Kayako never believed herself to be a lesbian, she ends up sharing a kiss with Masami. Their feelings for one another are put to the test when Masami sets off to visit the man who had impregnated her sometime earlier, and Kayako is left on her own. (June 23 & June 25, 2pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 3, 2pm – UP Film Institute; July 5, 4pm - CCP Dream Theater)
“Shangri-la” (2002 / 35mm / 109 mins. / Color), this film is a story of a typical small business printing company heading straight into bankruptcy after another burst over the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Umemoto Printers, already creaky thanks to antique equipment, is only the smallest domino to fall as owner Seisuke Umemoto fails to collect on debts from the larger companies he supplies; in turn, he can't pay his loyal employees. This mousy man-of-honor goes on a near-suicidal bender, eventually ending up in a ramshackle shantytown on the edge of Tokyo. Far from being a creepy slum, the ad-hoc village is well run by a quiet powerhouse and possible former yakuza everyone calls the Mayor.
With the help of super-organized squatters, like an unemployed postal worker, a blocked novelist, and a would-be private snoop, Umemoto is able to navigate tricky bureaucratic waters in order to get the goods on Nagashima, a corporate CEO who has declared high-profile bankruptcy while secretly funneling his assets through various mistresses and side-companies. After several smaller schemes, the Mayor and company finally get back to Umemoto's beloved Heidelberg presses where they literally give him a license to print money -- or something as good as money. (June 21 & June 26, 2pm – Shangri-la Plaza Mall; July 2, 2pm – UP Film Institute; July 5, 7pm - CCP Dream Theater)
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
“Blue” is a one-of-a-kind movie. It’s like watching J-drama with more emotions and the slice of life.
Posted by yu_otaku at 10:35 PM