Machiko Ono and Yuki Katayama breathe extra-ordinary life and realism into the pain, the hopes, the white lies, the tears, the smiles, and the anger of contemporary female subjects subjected to a phallically-structured societal system. Highly recommended.
Category: Nippon Connection
22nd Nippon Connection: Recommendations
This list does not only reveal the variety of unique perspectives that mark Japanese Cinema, but also echoes that what directors, from a cinematic perspective, put into question within Japanese society.
Hit Me Anyone One More Time (2019) review [Nippon connection Online]
“A pleasant lighthearted narrative that expresses a (vain?) hope for a more thoughtful form of Japanese politics.”
Beyond the two infinite minutes (2021) review [Nippon connection 2021]
“A highly entertaining and cleverly constructed sci-fi film that not only underlines the power of romantic desire, but also reveals how tricky knowing the future can be.”
Sasaki In My Mind (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“Uchiyama delivers a great and finely composed narrative that explores the ephemeral character of relationships that find their sole strength in the imaginary, in the thirst for gaining pleasure.”
Stormy Family (2019) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“A great narrative that succeeds in exploring the very way that imaginary injuries and resentments erode family bonds, by causing a subjective blindness for the suffering of the other.”
The Town of Headcounts (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“His dystopian ‘thriller’ does not only masterly highlight, in a chilling way, the various ills that marks contemporary society, but also shows, that within such dystopian world, a subject can always rediscover something to life and fight for.”
Wonderful Paradise (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
A great experiment of the absurd, but its full potential to satisfy the spectator is hindered by its somewhat lackluster composition.
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.
My Blood and Bones in a Flowing Galaxy (2021) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“A great narrative, due to its emotionally gripping finale and the crystal-clear manner by which Sabu explores and uncovers the impact of a vicious environment on the way the subject inscribes itself into the social fabric.”
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.”
Nippon Connection 2021: our recommendations
“While we of course encourage the audience to explore the many films this rich festival has to offer, we do want to introduce our recommendations, films that we think are worth seeing and offer certain experience, whether pleasing or confronting.”
Under Your Bed (2019) review [Nippon connection Online]
“A brilliant narrative exploring, in a very confronting but enlightening way, the importance of inter-subjectivity to attain happiness.”
Forgiven Children (2020) review [Nippon Connection online]
“A splendid and sensible exploration of the interpersonal and social persecutory face of bullying.”
psycho-cinematography 