A great experiment of the absurd, but its full potential to satisfy the spectator is hindered by its somewhat lackluster composition.
Category: drama
The Promised Land (2019) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
A beautifully composed and highly relevant narrative about destructive kinds of social violence, a social violence against the Otherness present in the community and an ostracizing violence to turn the once-trusted other into an unwanted Otherness.
Bolt (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“A great narrative by Kaizo Hayashi that explores, via the structure fiction, the truth of three different affects – responsibility, guilt, and sadness through loss – during and in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster.”
Under The Open Sky (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“A (damning) look at the vicious and unforgiven nature of the judgmental Other as well as heartwarming emotionally rich exploration of the importance of supportive inter-subjective social bonds for the subject.”
One Night (2019) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
A great narrative, offering a nuanced and rich exploration of interpersonal dynamics, that ultimately fails in giving this rich tapestry of interpersonal conflict a fitting finale.
Tora-san, Wish you were here (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]
“Yamada’s latest offers not only a powerful homage to the late great Kiyoshi Atsumi but also a moving nostalgic ride along many of the iconic scenes of the series.”
Call For Dreams (2018) review
A visual experience that is not only about style and artfulness.
Wife of A Spy (2020) review
A tremendous achievement [that succeeds in calling] forth orth certain (indigestible) truths concerning the Japanese imperialistic Other.
Story of a Nymphomaniac (1975) review
“While it does nothing to take the genre further, Ekimoto still delivers an enjoyable narrative.”
A Girl Missing (2020) Review
A nuanced but moving exploration of the destructive power of the media, the danger of leaving things unsaid, and the fact that mundane or empty speech is, by its reliance on the imaginary dimension, structured by misrecognition.
Mio On the Shore (2019) review
A great and visually pleasing narrative about the socially embedded nature of the process of coming-into-being-as-subject.
Yes, Yes, Yes (2021) review [OAFF 2021]
“A raw and powerful drama narrative that confronts the spectator with the inherent difficulty of accepting the loss of a loved one.”
Short Movie Time: Among Four of Us (2020) review [OAFF 2021]
“A great short narrative that beautifully highlights the impact of the state of emergency on the subjective and social state of speaking beings.”
Ozu (2021) review [OAFF 2021]
“A finely composed narrative that succeeds in revealing that various themes of Ozu’s narrative have not yet lost their relevance for the contemporary spectator.”
True Mothers (2020) [TIFF 2020]
“A beautiful and emotionally rich meditation on the complex notion of motherhood, underlining, in a touching way, that the first essential step in becoming mother is the subjective assumption of the signifier mother.”
