“Yamanaka does not only reaffirm that she has talent but also that she improved her compositional style and her storytelling.”
Category: Japan Cuts
Short Movie Time: Honeymoon (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“A pleasing narrative about the arbitrariness of language and culture.”
Short Movie Time: Bath House of Whales (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]
Introduction Mizuki Kiyama’s graduation short film Bath House of Whales is a creative reworking of her memories of accompanying her mother, a person of Korean descent living in Japan, to the public baths. Bath House of Whales (2019) was also screened at the Pia Film Festival, where it won the special jury prize.
Spaghetti Code Love (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Maruyama’s narrative speaks powerfully to the spectator’s subjectivity – his fears and hopes – and enables his evocation of a glimmer of hope that remains present in this dark depressive modern relational mess to positively impact his audience.”
Short Movie Time: Go Seppukku Yourselves (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“An enthralling audiovisual experience and a powerful critique of the Japanese political system.”
Town Without Sea (2020) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“A visually engaging narrative about the nature of happiness and the importance of desire that is highly relevant for Japanese youth.”
The Goldfish Dreaming Of The Sea (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Ogawa’s thoughtful lyricism that gives the emotionality of the performances their power to touch the spectator and enables her exploration of the difficulty to separate from one’s mother and the need for such separation to happen for subjective growth to resonate so vividly with the audience.”
Talking The Pictures (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Masayuki’s celebration of cinematic history deeply satisfies the spectator’s desire to see cinema as an experience that can touch our being and the art of the benshi triumph.”
Hiroku The Goblin (1991) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
‘A classic that offers an unforgettable experience that is as touchingly lighthearted as is it disturbingly horrifying.’
Kiba: Fangs of Fiction (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Daihachi Yoshida succeeds in turning Shiota’s interesting story and fascinating world of publishing and bookstores into an engaging and pleasant filmic narrative.”
The Great Yokai War – Guardians (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“A pleasant and truly satisfying ride for the whole family.”
Blind Bombing, Filmed by a Bat (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]
Introduction Kota Takeuchi is man of many creative talents, but whatever he does – be it painting, filming, or sculpting – it is related to historical or contemporary topics. He is most renowned as being the representative of the man of the iconic webcam performance Finger Pointing Worker (2011). In his latest short, he explores…
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.”
Cenote/ Ts’onot (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]
A beautiful experimental documentary exploring the position of life and death within the Mayan society of the past and the current society.
Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again (1975) review [Japan Cuts 2020]
Yamada still delivers that what makes Tora-san so enjoyable for audiences: his problematic truth; that the little freedom he has in relation to the Other condemns him to an existence of being, over and over again, duped by that very Other
psycho-cinematography 