Favorite Japanese Films
These are just favorites. If you'd like to visit a list of all the Japanese films I've seen and rated:
[link]http://sitenoise.com/film/japanese/[/link]
[link]http://sitenoise.com/film/japanese/[/link]
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- DirectorHitoshi YazakiStarsChizuru IkewakiNoriko NakagoshiYûko NakamuraStrawberry Shortcakes (2006) is a Japanese film by director Hitoshi Yazaki. The film, based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Kiriko Nananan, concerns the life of four girls, as they deal with their own insecurities while living in the metropolis of Tokyo. This movie ranked 7th Best Film at the 2006 Yokohama Film Festival and got Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography prizes from the same festival.One of my all time favorite films. Great work from everyone involved.
- DirectorShinji AoyamaStarsKoji YakushoAoi MiyazakiMasaru MiyazakiThe traumatized survivors of a murderous bus hijacking come together and take a road trip to attempt to overcome their damaged selves. Meanwhile a serial killer is on the loose.Aoi Miyazaki, at twelve years old--and without saying a word for nearly the entire runtime--is mesmerizing. This film is a masterpiece, exploring the myriad layers of trauma, and what three people endure on a path to renewal. It'll take your breath away if you go for this kind of thing.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsMakiko EsumiTakashi NaitôTadanobu AsanoA young woman's husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant.This is the film where people come here and see the movie poster and say "So that's what she looks like". Kore'eda casts a model in his (and her) feature film debut and almost never photographs her face. This is a gorgeous film, one of the most painterly films you're likely to see. It's dark (in numerous ways), sad, slow, and ... did I say beautiful?
- DirectorNobuhiro SuwaStarsEri YuMiyuki YamamotoHidetoshi NishijimaYu, an employee at a clothing boutique, lives with Kei, an out-of-work actor who lives off of her. When one day he asks her to get married, the balance of their relationship seems to be irremediably disturbed.This is a small, quiet film with characters that seem overflowing with histories right when we meet them. It's a little sad and painful but it's executed so well there's an uplifting quality to it. This is mostly due to the performance of Eri Yu, who went on to make a few more films but then seems to have disappeared from the industry. Nishijima's performance isn't quite the caliber of Yu's, or perhaps his character isn't as interesting.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsKazue FukiishiTsugumiYuriko YoshitakaA teenager called Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Tokoyama, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's "family circle", which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.This is probably the closest I'll get to calling a film poetry. Sono has a delicate nonchalance to the soundtrack and yet it is so vital to the presentation.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsTakako MatsuYoshino KimuraMasaki OkadaA psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.Amazing how Nakashima married gobs of slow motion with a fast pace.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.Sono's masterpiece
- DirectorSion SonoStarsReina TriendlMariko ShinodaErina ManoA girl's life cascades into chaos as everyone around her suffers a gruesome fate while she becomes less certain of who she is and her once-once normal life.I love the music. I love all the running. I love love the scene where the girls ditch class and run down to the lake. Pure. Innocent. Joy. I love this film.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHaruka AyaseMasami NagasawaKahoThree sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.I applaud Koreeda for exploring "nice". It's got to be one of the greater challenges a filmmaker faces.
- DirectorDaihachi YoshidaStarsEriko SatôAimi SatsukawaHiromi NagasakuTraumatic incidents, conflicts, and bloody quarrels awaits the Wago family members who return home to bury their parents.This is what Japanese cinema is all about: A good title, twisted family drama, black humor that hurts more than it tickles, a little sexual deviance, beautiful women. Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! has it all.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsHitomi SatôYasue SatôYukiko OkamotoThe film follows three modern Japanese schoolgirls in Tokyo as they flirt with lecherous old men and dodge the yakuza in the lucrative and sometimes dangerous practice of "enjo kosai" or "date clubs".Bounce Ko Gals is a hip, fun, frank, and furious look at the, some would say uniquely Japanese, phenomenon of teenage girls who have discovered their sexual power and find very little reason not to use it even though the endgame of designer handbags and other assorted accessories might seem superficial—not to mention mind-boggling to those of a more mature bent. A straightforward approach to this subject matter results from the director's documentary style of filming, and it's got a great soundtrack. Highly recommended.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsArata IuraErika OdaSusumu TerajimaAfter death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity.
- DirectorIzuru KumasakaStarsChiharuYûji IshikawaSachi JinnoTsuyako turns the rooftop of her shabby love hotel into a park and opens it up to the lonely women of various ages who rent rooms.One of the strongest film debuts I've seen.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHitoshi TakagiNoriko HidakaChika SakamotoWhen two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.My favorite Miyazaki. I don't think I'll ever see an end to repeated viewings/
- DirectorNobuhiro SuwaStarsTomokazu MiuraMakiko WatanabeRyudai TakahashiTetsuro is living with his young girlfriend Aki in a pleasant house in Tokyo. They both spend a lot of time at their jobs. However their routine is upset when Tetsuro brings his 8 year old son Shun to live with them, while his ex-wife recovers from a car accident. Aki is annoyed because she was not asked, and she knows that she will have to do the bulk of the work in caring for him. This forces Aki to reevaluate her relationship, and decide whether she is to remain a modern working woman, or become a mother.Suwa's follow up to the marvelous 2/Duo. Another mostly improvised, watching-paint-dry indie flick. This one is a little more mature in content and character. Makiko Watanabe is amazing as a young woman shacked up with an older guy who brings his eight year old son to live with them while his wife recuperates from a car accident. At first she resents the idea, mostly because she wasn't consulted about it, but comes to sort of like the role and is conflicted when it's coming to an end. Competing, confused emotions and transformation of character observed, and executed, at a very high level.
- DirectorYuki TanadaStarsTokio EmotoYûya EndôIni Kusano17 year-old Hiruma is desperate to get laid and takes out his sexual urges on Anpai, a fat boy who has "boobs." His classmate Tomono, a sickly loner, is in a serious relationship with their married teacher.A small masterpiece. The polar opposite of Bounce KO Gals when it comes to teen sexuality. Sakura Ando fans should not miss this one. Yuki Tanada is a writer/director to keep an eye on (though she didn't script this one).
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsBae DoonaArata IuraItsuji ItaoA life-size blow-up doll develops a soul and falls in love with a video store clerk.A masterstroke of casting Bae Du-na as the Air Doll. It's hard to think of another actress who could have made such a success of the role.
Air Doll has a slow pace and a number of characters seem to just float by without explanation but when it's all over they will have made sense. The central conceit of the film doesn't hold up to scrutiny if you think about it too much so that kind of thing bothers you, take a pass. - DirectorSatoshi MikiStarsJoe OdagiriTomokazu MiuraKyôko KoizumiTakemura has no friends and no family. He's a law student but he doesn't have any particular ambitions. A thug offers to pay Takemura's considerable gambling debt if the student accompanies him on a trip across Tokyo."In my 8th college year, buying 3-color toothpaste I thought could spare me from my rock bottom situation."
Writer/Director Satoshi Miki has a stable of comedic actors who work with him often and who fill out this film playing the side characters. They remind me of the North American group that came out of Second City Television we now associate with Christopher Guest movies. They share that sense of humor too, where each of the characters seem to exist in their own orbit but since they all do, they get along fine. Dialog is somewhere between non sequiturs and honest answers when you don't anticipate them. And it's all about timing and delivery. Funny people. - DirectorToshiaki ToyodaStarsKyôko KoizumiAnne SuzukiItsuji ItaoA family struggling to live together even with the outrageous behaviors from each family members.Only from Japan. This has a sensibility and sense of humor similar to ADRIFT IN TOKYO and FUNUKE, SHOW SOME LOVE, YOU LOSERS! Bizarro-land family dynamics. Things are said where the delivery and body language don't play at the same level of intensity as the words. Kyôko Koizumi plays this kind of role perfectly, similar to her character in ADRIFT. Hiromi Nagasaku also has a wonderful small role. The soundtrack is a little trite and annoying in parts as are the 360 degree camera swings but it's funny and intense with a spectacular ending.
- DirectorTakehiko ShinjôStarsAoi MiyazakiHiroshi TamakiMunetaka AokiA photographer named Makoto travels to New York during Christmas to look for his best friend, Shizuru. The two first met when Makoto attended his university entrance ceremony. Due to his inferiority complex, Makoto tends to shy away other people but Shizuru managed to make him open up to her. Because of their friendship, Shizuru also ended up taking an interest in photography and the two often went to the forest to take pictures. Shizuru wants nothing else but to be by Makoto's side, so when he started liking another girl called Miyuki , Shizuru decided that she too will like Miyuki and becomes her friend. One day , Makoto asked Shizuru what present she'd like to receive for her Birthday. Shizuru , who wants to enter a photography competition, had an idea to take a picture of the two of them kissing in a forest. Makoto agreed to do this and the two kissed for the very first time. After that day, however, Shizuru disappears from Makoto's life.I was a bit surprised by the sometimes frank and honest dialog coming from Aoi Miyazaki's character in what for the most part is a very family friendly bit of Japanese young love/first love cinema.
The film is beautifully photographed. The 'heavenly' forest is fairy-tale gorgeous, as are the three young actors we spend time with. The story is engaging too, clearly a novel-adapted one. - DirectorSion SonoStarsJun KunimuraFumi NikaidôShin'ichi TsutsumiA renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.
- DirectorNaoko OgigamiStarsSatomi KobayashiMikako IchikawaRyô KaseTaeko is a stressed career woman who leaves her life in the city for an island vacation. The vacation does not become what she expected as everyone on the island is strange.A woman visits a faraway inn where everyone seems happy about living and doing not much of anything else beyond eating some magical shaved ice. She learns how to slow down, enjoy life, and "Twilight". The performances are great, the script is witty, the scenery and photography are gorgeous. Wonderful film.
- DirectorPen-Ek RatanaruangStarsTadanobu AsanoSinitta BoonyasakTakashi MiikeA suicidal, obsessively compulsive Japanese librarian is forced to lie low in Thailand with a pot-smoking woman coping with the recent loss of her sister.Since I don't have a "Favorite Thai Films" list, and this turned out to be such a wonderful film starring one of Japan's best actors, I'm cheating and including it here.
- DirectorIsshin InudôStarsSatoshi TsumabukiChizuru IkewakiJuri UenoTsuneo is a university student working part-time in a mah-jong parlour. Lately the customers have been talking about an old lady who pushes a baby carriage through the streets. They say she is carrying something for a crime syndicate, and they wonder what it is she has in the carriage. Money? Drugs? One day, the owner of the mah-jong parlour sends Tsuneo out to walk his dog. A baby carriage comes rolling down a hill and crashes into a guard rail. The old lady asks him to look into the carriage, where he finds a young woman clutching a knife. This is how Tsuneo first meets the girl who calls herself Josée.Chizuru Ikewaki brings a poet's depth to her role and Satoshi Tsumabuki is puppy dog cute as the boy who falls, surprisingly and so naturally, in love with her. This film could have been manipulative but it isn't, not in the least, and that's what is so refreshing about it. This is a bittersweet gem.
- DirectorAkihiko ShiotaStarsKenji MizuhashiTsugumiKôta KusanoTwo seemingly innocent school kids are obsessed in fetishistic s&m games.One of those "only from Japan" psycho-sexual dramas which explores adult themes of desire, domination, and twisted mind-*beep* games and perversion ... acted out by teenagers. No comment on this peculiar film tradition.
This is Akihiko Shiota's directorial debut and probably his strongest film. The focus is clear and concise. The powerful but flawed Harmful Insect would have benefited from such focus.