It’s going to be a super-short Trailer Weekly today, with only two clips, because I’m really, really busy at the moment (more about that below). I wasn’t even sure if this Trailer Weekly was going to happen at all, but then I thought I should really squeeze these two trailers in because they just can’t wait…

Trailers

• 맞춤희곡 (Majchumhuigog/The Customised Play, South Korea, 2013)

Dir. by Jin Sung-choi (Brian Jin)

I stumbled across Majchumhuigog earlier this week (someone tweeted about it). What to say? It’s gorgeous. I’m utterly in love. I don’t know the details, I hadn’t heard of the director before, but it really doesn’t matter at all: this is a gem that I can’t wait to see. I haven’t got time to do my super-googling (my normal way of proceeding in such situations), but I do know that Jin has two other films (both shorts, I believe) and you can expect a detailed post on anything I can find about Jin/Majchumhuigog/his other works in June. Meanwhile, watch this trailer and be awed by a magical world unfolding before your eyes.

And enjoy some more images below – I just love how creative each and every one is. There is a whole world in every single picture, don’t you think?

• 「攻殻機動隊　ARISE – GHOST IN THE SHELL」(Kōkaku Kidōtai Araizu – Gōsuto In Za Sheru/Ghost in the Shell – Arise, Japan, 2013)

Dir. by Kise Kazuchika.

This is another exciting trailer, although I must admit that I’m not all that excited about it myself. What we have is another instalment of「攻殻機動隊」(Gōsuto In Za Sheru – Kōkaku Kidōtai/Ghost in the Shell), a prequel apparently. I have watched only the first film and loved it to bits, but I’m wary of sequels (or prequels). Well, I have heard that the other parts (all the other existing movies and the anime series) are good, but the 1995 film set the bar very high. I just don’t expect Arise to measure up to that, plus, we have got a different director here. Still, I will eventually work myself through all Ghost in the Shell instalments, including this one.

Note: Kōkaku Kidōtai Araizu – Gōsuto In Za Sheru will be out in Japanese cinemas in June.

Busy busy busy…

I’ve been rather busy writing a chapter for my PhD these days, something that I’m still behind on. But I’m about to get even busier because it’s May. If you were reading Otherwhere last year, you might remember what this means. Exams…. I need to mark exams against a non-negotiable deadline. Starting from tomorrow. Which means not doing anything else, including no film watching, no reviewing, no blogging, no social life, nothing until the end of the month (well, somehow, I’m going to squeeze in some PhD writing time. And a few hours of tutoring at uni).

So bear with me (or without me), I’ll be back in early June I promise.

Shinkai Makoto’s 「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa/Garden of Words, Japan, 2013) recently premiered at the Gold Coast Film Festival (Australia) and is now gearing up for its home release on May 31st. As part of the run-up to the Japanese premiere TV Tokyo aired the first five minutes of the film. While the clip is available on YouTube, it does not currently appear on the film’s official website, so the video may be removed in the near future. I am linking it below, but don’t be surprised if it does become unavailable.

Note: The clip is not subtitled, but you can lose yourself in the beauty of the images (don’t forget to watch it full screen!).

Bonus Bit:

If you want to read a first review of the film, here is the only one I have come across so far.

Related posts:

• World Premiere, Character Descriptions and Image Gallery for Shinkai’s「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa) (9 April 2013)
• More Musings on the Trailer of Shinkai’s「言の葉の庭」(17 March 2013)
• 「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa): First Trailer and Impressions (21 Feb 2013)
•  Shinkai Makoto Announces「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa) (23 Dec 2012)

Here it is… the much awaited line-up for this year’s Terracotta Film Festival, bigger and better than ever. It’s divided into four sections (Current Films, Terror Cotta,  Spotlight on Indonesia and In Memoriam of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui), all screening at the Prince Charles Cinema (June 6–9), except for the Indonesia section, which will be held at the ICA (June 11-15). Further festival highlights include masterclasses and a short film competition (with a trip to Hong Kong as top prize).

Because it’s such a lengthy list of films, I’ve limited myself to one-sentence synopses. If it grabs your interest, watch the trailer and/or hop over to the official festival website, where longer summaries are featured.

The official website has just gone live, although links for booking (which is meant to open today) don’t yet work. I would expect booking to be available some time later this afternoon.

Current Films

• Opening Film:《寒戰》 (Hán Zhàn/Cold War, Hong Kong, 2012) – Dir. by Luk Sunny and Leung Longman. 

After five Hong Kong police officers are kidnapped, two rival police commissioners take charge of the rescue operation, code-named COLD WAR.

• 《消失的子彈》 (Xiāo Xhī De Zǐ Dan/The Bullet Vanishes, Hong Kong, 2012) – Dir. by Law Chi Leung. 

A team of detectives is investigating the case of phantom bullets at a work factory – the victims have gun wounds, but no bullets or casings are to be found anywhere.

• 《不能爱》 (Bùnéng ài/Love Me Not, Hong Kong, 2012) – Dir. by Leung Gilitte.  

Childhood friends Aggie and Dennis, both gay, move in together and masquerade as a couple in this debut indie on “blurred sexuality and love complications” (quote from Terracotta Press Release).

• 《毒戰》 (Du zhan/Drug War, Hong Kong, 2012) – Dir. by To Johnnie. 

In the seedy underworld of crime where no one can be trusted, Inspector Zhang makes a deal with a drug manufacturer to catch the big fish: the drug lord Li.

• สาวคาราโอเกะ (Sao Karaoke/Karaoke Girl, Thailand, 2012) – Dir. by Visra Vichit Vadakan. 

In a story that is part fiction, part reality, Sa, a poor country girl, comes to Bangkok to work as an escort girl to support the family she left behind.

• 《銅雀臺》 (Tóng Què Tái/The Assassins, China, 2012) – Dir. by Zhao Yiyang. 

In 220 AD China, chancellor Cao Cao is after the throne of his emperor, who is equally plotting to kill his servant.

• 《南方小羊牧場》 (Nánfāng xiǎo yáng mùchǎng/When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep, Taiwan, 2012) – Dir. by Hou Chi-jan. 

A copy shop employee notices sheep drawings on the papers of a teaching assistant he is copying, and responds by drawing a big wolf – the beginning of a romance.

Note: I previously featured this film in Trailer Weekly #76.

• 「希望の国」 (Kibou no Kuni/The Land of Hope, Japan/UK/Taiwan, 2012) – Dir. by Sono Sion.   

A fictional story inspired by the real events of 2011 Tohoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown, which tells of a family’s experience in the aftermath of the disaster.

Note: I featured this film in Trailer Weekly #45.

• 「みなさん、さようなら」(Minasang, Sayonara/See You Tomorrow, Everyone, Japan, 2013) – Dir. by Nakamura Yoshihiro. 

Satoru lives in a government estate so perfect he is told that he never needs to leave, yet things are changing…

• 「横道世之介」 (Yokomichi Yonosuke/A Story of Yonosuke, Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Okita Shuichi. 

The affable eighteen-year old Yonosuke moves from Nagasaki to Tokyo in 1987 and makes friends by wild samba dancing, but sixteen years later has disappeared from everyone’s horizons.

Note: I featured this in Trailer Weekly #57.

• 늑대소년 (Neugdaesonyeon/A Werewolf Boy, South Korea, 2012) – Dir. by Jo Sung-hee. 

A family takes in a disheveled and extremely shy boy, found in their garden, who can neither speak nor read and acts more like an animal, especially when threatened.

Note: I featured this in Trailer Weekly #46.

• 베를린 (Bereurlin/The Berlin File, South Korea, 2012) – Dir. by Ryoo Seung-wang. 

Pyo, a North Korean secret agent stationed in Berlin, finds his loyalties between his country and his wife tested when an arms deals is exposed.

•  영건 인더 타임 (Young Gun Indeo Taim/Young Gun in the Time, South Korea, 2012) – Dir. by Oh Young-doo. 

After a potential client dies in a car accident, a detective finds himself in the midst of a criminal plot involving a time machine in this “quirky, low budget time travel romp” (quote from Terracotta Press Release).

Terror Cotta Allnighter

• เคาท์ดาวน์ (Kheā th̒ dāwn̒/Countdown, Thailand, 2012) - Dir. by. Nattawut Poonpiriya 

On New Year’s Eve, three flatmates are paid a visit by their drug dealer, who turns psycho on them.

• 「東海道四谷怪談」 (Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan/Ghost Story of Yotsuya, Japan, 1959) – Dir. by Nakagawa Nobuo. 

Less horror than psychological terror, this classic, based on a 1825 kabuki play, is an often retold tale of murder, betrayal and ghostly revenge.

• Belenggu (Indonesia, 2012) – Dir. by Upi. 

Every night Elang suffers from ghastly nightmares involving a beautiful woman, a neighbouring family, blood-covered knives and axes as well as a giant rabbit, slowly leading him to believe that there may be a connection to a murder that has taken place in town.

• 「へんげ」 (Henge/Henge aka Metamorphosis, Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Hajime Ohata. 

A wife is faced is the ultimate nightmare: the person she loves the most, her husband, is slowly metamorphosing into a monster before her eyes.

• 「ゾンビデオ」 (Zonbideo/Zomvideo, Japan, 2011) – Dir. by Murakami Kenji. 

A zombie invasion is taking over Japan, but fortunately Aiko and Hashimoto have discovered some “A Guide to Survive from Zombies” VHS tapes to save themselves.

Spotlight on Indonesia

• Sang Penari (The Dancer, Indonesia, 2011) – Dir. by Ifa Isfansyah. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo9B_xPyc6k

In the Indonesia of the 1960s, Srintil’s dream is to become her village’s principal dancer, a position that however requires selling her virginity – leaving her childhood love Rasus heartbroken.

Note: The film was Indonesia’s official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 85th Academy Awards.

• Yang tidak dibicarakan ketika membicarakan cinta (What They Don’t Talk about When They Talk about Love, Indonesia, 2013) – Dir. by Mouly Surya.  

Fitri, Diana and Maya are all visually impaired students at a special school who have their minds full of love and dreams.

• Opera Jawa (Requiem from Java, Indonesia/Austria, 2006) – Dir. by Garin Nugroho, Arturo Gp and Arswendi.  

Retelling one episode of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, Opera Jawa uses both traditional and modern music and dance to tell the tale of a happily married husband and wife that become suspicious of each other’s fidelity.

• Lovely Man (Indonesia, 2011) – Dir. by Teddy Soeriaatmadja. 

A 19-year old girl seeks her long lost father and discovers that he is now a transvestite sex worker in Jakarta.

• Mata Tertutup (The Blindfold, Indonesia, 2012) – Dir. by Garin Nugroho. 

Mata Tertutup offers glimpse into religious radicalisation from the point of view of a recruiter of an illegal group, a recruitee radicalised by his family’s lack of prospects and a desperate mother seeking her daughter taken by the organisation.

• Kebun binatang (Postcards from the Zoo, Indonesia/Germany/Hong Kong/China, 2012) – Dir. by Edwin.    

In a story full of “myths, magic and memories” (quote from press release), Lana is a foundling that is raised in a zoo by a giraffe keeper.

In Memoriam of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui

• 《阿飛正傳》 (Āh Fēi Zhèng Zhuàn/Days of Being Wild, Hong Kong, 1990) – Dir. by Wong Kar Wai. 

Hong Kong, 1960s: After he learns from the prostitute who raised him that she is not his real mother, Yuddy, a youth, is caught in conflicting emotions and volatile acts them out with several women who fall for him.

Note: This film screens on May 29, as part of the monthly Terracotta Film Club.

• 《胭脂扣》 (Yānzhī kòu/Rouge, Hong Kong, 1988) – Dir. by Kwan Stanley. 

The ghost of a former bordello hostess seeks her long lost love with the help of a real-life journalist – but note that it’s a tragic, not a comic tale.

Note: I had this on the Double Trailer Weekly #79+#80.

• 《春光乍洩》 (Chūn guāng zhà xiè/Happy Together, Hong Kong, 1997) – Dir. by Wong Kar Wai. 

In this much lauded and critically acclaimed film, we watch a gay couple fall in and out of love as they struggle to keep their relationship alive by travel all the way to Argentina.

Note: I had this on Trailer Weekly #29.

Bonus Bits:

• Official Website of the Terracotta Film Festival
• Prince Charles Cinema
• ICA

Trailer time. (Sorry, being brief here – busy busy!)

• 「シャニダールの花」 (Shanidaru no Hana/The Flower of Shanidar, Japan, 2013)

Dir. by Ishii Gakuryu.

I’ve been waiting for this trailer for a while already. It’s a strange little story, as you can already sense from the clip: a beautiful flower known as “Shanidar” blooms on the body of some young women. As the flower is precious – it contains a substance used for developing new drugs – the women on whose bodies it grows are kept and cared for in a laboratory. Strange though it may be, I have got enough reasons to watch: the film is directed by Ishii – him of the bizarre 「生きてるものはいないのか」(Ikiteru Mono Wa Inai No Ka/Isn’t Anyone Alive?, Japan, 2012) – and also stars Ayano Gou (who really nails pained looks). Shanidaru no Hana is set for a July release in Japan.

• 「おしん」 (Oshin/Oshin, Japan, 2013)

Dir. by Togashi Shin.

Only a teaser for this one and the briefest of synopses: Oshin is a young girl who is forced to leave her own, poor relatives to work for another, higher-class family. The film is based on a drama of the same title that was screened on NHK some thirty (!) years ago and stars Hamada Kokone as Oshin. Both the fact that they dug up a story from so long ago and that the child actress was selected from a pool of almost 2500 applicants give me the impression that someone is putting a lot of care into this film – meaning it could well be good. We will have to wait (at least) until October 2013 to find out though.

• 「イキガミ」 (Ikigami/Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, Japan, 2008)

Dir. by Takimoto Tomoyuki.

Dramabeans regularly features “Name That Drama” posts, the most recent round including a request for a Japanese film. While I always miserably fail at providing any answers, it can be fun to read the request just to discover things to watch, such as Ikigami (which turned out to be the film in question).

We are some place, some time, in a country that operates under a special law to maintain national prosperity: as per this law individuals are given notice of their impending death exactly one day before it takes place – apparently to remind them that they must make the most of their time on earth and live life to the fullest. During the 24-hour period preceding death the ‘lucky’ individuals are allowed to do anything they wish. Fujimoto Kengo (Matsuda Shota) is one of the people that delivers the death announcements (so-called ikigami letters). What we have here is a futuristic tale that’s bound to raise some ethical questions and, as I gather from comments, contains some touching tales about some of the selectees. Note: the film is adapted from a manga, which is supposed to be equally good. As for the poster: I like the idea – and it’s better than the formulaic, alternative poster (below) for sure – but somehow it doesn’t quite work visually. Just noticed: Narumi Riko stars in this too!

Ikigami: alternative poster.

• Pearblossom Hwy (USA, 2013)

Dir. by Mike Ott.

A USAmerican indie that recently screened at the Bradford International Film Festival. It’s part of a trilogy of films by Ott – loosely connected, featuring the same characters, but apparently not really a sequel. Anna, who hails from Japan, is saving up money by prostituting herself so that she can return to her native country and see her sick mother. Cory, an equally lost soul that spends his time singing in a death metal band with no future, is looking for his biological father. Together with Cory’s brother, the two set out on a road trip to San Francisco in a film offering a “penetrating portrait of wandering youths in a disconsolate city” (quote). Big yay for the simplicity of the film poster – certainly marking Pearblossom Hwy as an indie, but it’s just nice to see something fresh for once.

• 남자 사용설명서 (Namja Sayongseolmyungseo/How to Use Guys with Secret Tips, South Korea, 2013)

Dir. by Lee Won-Suk.

I came across this film already a long time ago, but its more than unfortunate title put me off. The synopsis didn’t help either: Choi Bo-na, a TV commercial assistant, hasn’t dated in years. She’s too busy with work and always looks a mess. After a shoot on a beach one day she buys some tapes at a strange stall that contain instructions on how to use (manipulate?) men with womanly persuasion. I still think this sounds mostly like a clichéd ugly-duckling-gets-a-makeover (albeit in a somewhat unusual way) rom com, but the film recently won the Audience Prize at the Far East Film Festival in Udine and garnered some positive reviews. It still is pretty low priority on my list-of-things-to-watch, but I’m registering some mild interest here. Note: The film poster… need I say anything? Can a film poster get any worse?

• 「ゲルマニウムの夜」 (Gerumaniumu no yoru/The Whispering of the Gods, Japan, 2005)

Dir. by  Tatsushi Omori.

This is another maybe-I’ll-watch-this-maybe-I-won’t – albeit for very different reasons. Tired Paul (a regular Otherwhere reader) mentioned it when I featured Omori’s「さよなら渓谷」(Sayonara Keikoku/The Ravine of Goodbye, Japan, 2013) on last week’s Trailer Weekly, as a very dark movie he would “likely never watch again”. That, plus the knowledge that Omori was the director behind 「まほろ駅前多田便利軒」(Mahoro ekimae Tada benriken/Tada’s Do-It-All House, Japan, 2011 – see Trailer Weekly #36) and 「ケンタとジュンとカヨちゃんの国」 (Kenta to Jun to Kayo-chan no Kuni/A Crowd of Three,  Japan, 2009 – Trailer Weekly #72), instantly made me intrigued of course. Gerumaniumu no yoru, Omori’s directorial debut, is apparently a “grim film” (quote from Midnight Eye review) in which a man, Rou (Hirofumi Arai), returns to the monastery where he was raised, “a community of scarred souls, abuse is found much easier than salvation”. Featuring sexual abuse and animal cruelty, the film was controversial and, to liberate itself from any censorship, originally only screened outside the cinema circuit. Well, I do think I will watch this, but only after I work up the courage. I’m also very keen on finding out more about Hirofumi Arai, who is supposed to be excellent in this. Note on the poster: If looks could kill…

Bonus Bits

• 「魔女の宅急便」(Majo no Takkyubin/Kiki’s Delivery Service, 1989, Japan) is to be made into a live-action movie next year. It’s the not the first Ghibli film getting the ‘real film’ treatment as「火垂るの墓」(Hotaru no haka/Grave of the Fireflies, Japan, 1988) has a live-movie adaptation as well. I can’t say I’m too excited though, animated Ghibli is good enough for me. (News from here.)

Kiki.

May brings Cannes with many exciting film premieres. With the English Channel in our way, we’ll however have to make do with events on this island instead. Luckily, a whole lot is on offer this month, in all corners of the UK – Derby, London, Leicester and even Inverness. You can get a taste of Hong Kong cinema as well as watch quite a number of Japanese olden goldies (directed by Ozu Yasushiro and Kurosawa Akira, among others) at various cinemas and festivals across the country. There is also the Chinese Visual Festival, but nothing Taiwanese this month. Korean films fare a bit better – though only because our beloved Korean Cultural Centre (KCCUK) is, as always, screening two films as part of its Year of 4 Actors Korean Film Nights for year. The good news, however, is that the KCCUK has just launched another film season, Women on Screen, which commences in May and will run until August, doubling the monthly offering of screenings.

For trailers, click on film titles (where available).

Note: As always, I’ll update this post if I hear about any other events.

Last updated: 6/5/2013

FILM SCREENINGS, FILM EVENTS & CINEMA RELEASES

《武俠》 (Wǔ xiá/Wuxia aka Dragon, Hong Kong, 2011), UK-wide (May 3, 2013 onwards) 

Peter Chan’s Wǔ xiá is being released in select UK cinemas.

Cityscapes Season, Inverness, Scotland, UK (May 2, 9 and 15, 2013) 

Wen que: Apparently, something is up with umbrellas in this film.

The Eden Court Cinema in Inverness is screening three films from Hong Kong this month:

• PTU aka Police Tactical Unit (Hong Kong, 2003) – Dir. by Johnnie To.
• 《文雀》 (Wen que/Sparrow, Hong Kong, 2008) – Dir. by Johnnie To.
• 《無間道》 (Wú Jiān Dào/Infernal Affairs, Hong Kong, 2002) – Dir. Andrew Lau and Alan Mak.

More information here.

Sci-Fi London, London, UK (30 April – 6 May, 2013)  

The Sci-Fi London Film Festival brings not-so-realistic stuff from all over the world to London town and includes some Chinese and Japanese offerings:

May 4: Anime All-Nighter

• 「009 Re: Cyborg  Preview」(Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Kamiyama Kenji. Showing in 3D.
• 「黄金時代篇Ⅰ 覇王の卵」 (Ōgon Jidai-Hen I: Haō no Tamago/The Golden Age Arc: The Egg of the King) – Dir. by Kubooka Toshiyuki.
• War of the Worlds: Goliath ((Malaysia, 2012) Dir. by Jose Pearson. Showing in 3D.
• 「ストリートファイター II MOVIE」 (Sutorīto Faitā Tsū Mūbī/Street Fighter II Movie, Japan, 1994) – Dir. by Sugii Gisaburo.
• 「狼男オオカミ」 (Ōkami otoko ōkami/Loups=Garous, Japan, 2010) – Dir. by Fujisaku Junichi.

May 4: 《太極之零開始》(Taikyoku no rei kaishi/Tai Chi 0, China, 2012) and 《太極２ 英雄崛起》 (Taikyoku 2 eiyū kutsuki/Tai Chi Hero, China, 2013) – Details.
May 4: Nyanco (Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Tsukuda Hikaru. 3 min short that screens as part of Shorts I.
May 6: 「佐渡テンペスト」  (Sado Tempest/Arashi, Japan/UK/Hong Kong) – Dir. by John Williams. Details.

You can also refer to my post on the festival.

「きつつきと雨」(Kitsutsuki to Ame/The Woodsman and the Rain, Japan, 2011), Japanorama, National Space Centre, Leicester, UK (May 4 and 5, 2013) 

Bonding of the non-sweets eating buddies.

Japanorama is bringing all things Japanese to Leicester for one weekend for “a fun-packed festival of Japanese popular culture, including manga artists, workshops, demonstrations, food and music”. Kitsutsuki to Ame will screen as part of that event. Highly recommended!

Read my REVIEW (9.5/10) and/or get more details on the event here.

Japanese Double Bills, Prince Charles Cinema, London, UK (May 5, 12 and 25, 2013) 

Three times double treats (twice Studio Ghibli, once old Japanese classics) at the Prince Charles Cinema:

• May 5: 「紅の豚 」(Kurenai no Buta/Porco Rosso, Japan, 1992) and 「平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ」(Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko/Pom Poko, Japan, 2004)
• May 12: 「蜘蛛巣城」 (Kumonosu-jō/Throne of Blood, Japan, 1957) and 「羅生門」 (Rashōmon/Rashomon, Japan, 1950) – Dir. by Kurosawa Akira.
• May 25:「耳をすませば」(Mimi o Sumaseba/Whisper of the Heart, Japan, 1995) and 「もののけ姫」(Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke, Japan, 1997)

You can book here (Studio Ghibli double bills) and here (Kurosawa double bill).

Year of 4 Actors, Korean Film Night, KCCUK, London, UK (May 16 and 30, 2013) 

This month actress Jeon Do-yeon continues to be in the spotlight of the KCCUK’s Year of Four Actors:

• May 16: 멋진 하루 (Meotjin Haroo/My Dear Enemy, 2008) – Dir. by Lee Yoon-ki.
• May 30: TBA.

You can book your free seat here.

Chinese Visual Arts Festival, London, UK (May 8-June 12, 2013) 

The Chinese Visual Arts Festival runs again from early May until June. Most events will be taking place from May 24th onwards and the programme includes a good number of films (primarily documentaries, but also other productions). There is simply too much to list here, so hop over to the official festival website.

Women on Screen Season, KCCUK, London, UK (May 9 and 23, 2013) 

• May 9: 미몽 aka 죽음의 자장가 (Mimong/Sweet Dream aka Lullaby of Death, South Korea, 1936)
• May 23: 자유부인 (Jayu buin/Madam Freedom, South Korea, 1956) – Note: If you are not in London, you can watch Jayu buin via the official YouTube channel of the Korean Film Archive.

More information here.

iD Fest, Derby, UK (May 10 and 11, 2013) 

The iD Fest will be screening several Japanese films:

• May 10:「秋日和」 (Akibiyori/Late Autumn, Japan, 1960) – Dir. by Ozu Yasushiro. More here.
• May 10:「愛と誠」(Ai to Makoto/For Love’s Sake, Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Miike Takashi. Much recommended!. See also my REVIEW (9/10). More here.
• May 10 Blood Will Out Double Bill, featuring「子連れ狼」 (Kozure Ōkami/Shogun Assassin, Japan, 1980) – Dir. by Robert Houston. The second film Carrie. More here.
• May 11:「東京物語」 (Tōkyō Monogatari/Tokyo Story, Japan, 1953) – Dir. by Ozu Yasushiro. More here.

「東京の宿」 (Tokyo no yado/An Inn in Tokyo, Japan, 1935), BFI, London, UK (May 13 and 16, 2013) 

Dir. by Ozu Yasujiro. Screens as part of the BFI’s Roots of Neorealism season. It’s the director’s last surviving silent picture and the BFI describes it as “[o]ne of Ozu’s most moving 1930 works”. The story: a father and his two sons are searching for work “in the unforgiving climate of Depression-era Japan”.

More details here.

《阿飛正傳》 (Āh Fēi Zhèng Zhuàn/Days of Being Wild, Hong Kong, 1990),  Terracotta Film Club, Prince Charles Cinema, London, UK (May 29, 2013) 

Screens as part of the Terracotta Festival’s In Memory of Leslie Cheung & Anita Mui section. Dir. by Wong Kar-wai. More here.

「南極料理人」(Omoshiro Nankyoku Ryurinin/The Chef of South Polar aka Antarctic Chef, Japan, 2009) Films at the Embassy of Japan, London, UK (May 30, 2013)  

An earlier film from Okita Shuichi, who directed the delightful「キツツキと雨」(Kitsutsuki to Ame/The Woodsman and the Rain, 2012).

Free, but must reserve a seat by email. Details here.

Korean Screen Culture Conference, SOAS, London, UK (May 31 – June 1, 2013) 

A 3-day academic conference on Korean Screen Cultures will be held at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) in London. Details for registration are not yet available, but you can find the website (with contact details) here.

Update 6/5/2013 Asian Movies Meet Up, Roxy Bar & Screen, SE1 1LB London, UK 

There will be no Meet Up in May. June Meet Up details to be announced at the Asian Meet Up page here.

UK HOME MEDIA RELEASES in MAY

• 13 May: 돼지의 왕 (Daegieui Wang/King of Pigs, South Korea, 2011) – Animated Film. Dir. by Yeung Sang-ho. Released on DVD by Terracotta. REVIEW – 7.5/10.
• 27 May: 「奇跡」 (Kiseki/I Wish, Japan, 2011) – Dir. by Koreeda Hirokazu. Released on DVD by Arrow Films. You can pre-order, e.g. via amazon.co.uk. REVIEW – 8.5/10.

OTHER

Comica MangAsia, Asia House, London, UK (May 18, 2013)

Asia House is organising various manga related events on May 18 as part of its Festival of Asian Literature. Details here.

The KCCUK has announced a new, special film season entitled “Women on Screen: Understanding Korean Society and Women through Films”, which will run from May 9 to August 22, 2013. This season comes on top of their Year of 4 Actors Korean Film Nights.

Spanning eight films from as early as 1936 and as recent as 1999, “Women on Screen” provides a cinematic tour through Korean history and society, while showcasing the work of a range of directors, including big names such as Im Kwon-taek.

In the press release, the KCCUK writes:

We chose ‘Korean Society and Women’ as the theme of this project not only because of the importance of gender issues, but also because we considered that the lives of women well illustrate the comprehensive changes in Korea contemporary history, through colonisation, the division of the peninsula, the Korean War, political upheavals, and rapid modernisation.

The films and screening dates are provided below. For those of you not in London or nearby, note that two of the films featured as part of this season are available to watch online, for free, via the official YouTube channel of the Korean Film Archive (I have included the links to those films).

• May 9: 미몽 aka 죽음의 자장가 (Mimong/Sweet Dream aka Lullaby of Death, South Korea, 1936)

Dir. by Lee Man-hee.

Ae-sun is a married woman, but has little interest in her family and keeps a lover on the side. When she is thrown out by her husband, she goes to live with her second man, only to discover that he is nothing like he thought he was: he is poor and involved in criminal activities. After reporting him to the police, she runs off yet again, this time to live with a dancer.

• May 23: 자유부인 (Jayu buin/Madam Freedom, South Korea, 1956)

Dir. by Han Hyung-mo.

A professor and his wife each find themselves attracted to other people and have to decide whether to pursue their love or keep their family and relationship intact.

• June 6: 열녀문 (Yollyomun/Bound by Chastity Rule, South Korea, 1962)

Dir. by Sin Sang-ok.

A window has a love child with her servant. Because she is from an aristocratic family, her in-laws throw out both the father and the baby – as demanded by society and its rule for chastity for widows. Years later the child, now a grown man, comes to find his mother, but is rejected by her.

• June 20: 귀로 (Gwiro/Homebound, South Korea, 1967)

Dir. by Lee Man-Hee

A married woman is tempted by a young man, who asks her to being a new life with him in a faraway place. The woman, however, has a disabled husband at home, a man that she once adored and took care of with much love when he was injured during the Korean War. She must decide between her husband and the lover.

• July 4: 영자의 전성시대 (Yeongja-ui jeonseongsidae/Yeong-ja’s Heydays, South Korea, 1975)

Yeong-ja has a difficult life: when a housemaid for a rich family, she is raped by her employer’s son. She later works as seamstress, a barmaid and bus conductress. One day she loses her arm in an accident and falls into despair. She decides to kill herself, but fails. Chang-su, a man who loved her several years ago, makes her an artificial arm, wanting her to live a life full of happiness.

Dir. by Kim Ho-sun.

• July 18: 깊은밤 갑자기 (Kipunpam kapchagi/Suddenly in the Dark of Night, 1981)

Dir. by Go Yeong-nam.

Kang Yu-jin is a biologist. One day he finds a rare butterfly and brings it home. The next morning his wife, Sun-hi, finds a strange doll among her husband things. A visiting shaman’s daughter has the exact same doll, leading Sun-hi to become suspicious and eventually paranoid. After the girl’s accidental death, the wife is tormented by dark visions.

• August 1: 길소뜸 (Gilsotteum, South Korea, 1985)

Dir. by Im Kwon-taek.

Hwa-young seeks her son, whom she was separated from during the Korean War. She meets a friend from the past, who, like her, is now married but has been waiting for her all this time nonetheless. Hwa-young’s son – now grown up – is with the man.

• August 22: 해피엔드 (Haepi endeu/Happy End, South Korea, 1999)

Dir. by Jung Ji-woo.

When Min-ki loses his job as a banker, he suddenly finds himself at home, taking care of his baby daughter, doing the housework or reading in the park – a life in stark contrast to the stressful days at the bank before. His wife Bo-ra, a successful career woman, meanwhile, is having an having an affair with her sweetheart from college time. Her lover evokes happy memories of the past in her, but Bo-ra also still cherishes her husband and daughter. When the truth comes out, husband, wife and lover each are faced with emotional turmoil, all wishing for a happy end that seems impossible.

As always, screenings are free although seats must be reserved in advance. Note that the films come with an age rating of 18.

Bonus Bits:

• Official announcement from the KCCUK
• Korean Film Archive on YouTube (for more historic Korean films)

It’s been a while since we have had news about the indie film project 나를 잊지 말아요 (Naleul Ijji Malayo/Remember O Goddess, South Korea), but Lee Yoon Jung recently posted an update with some big news: there has been a change of cast! Not just any cast member either, but the lead.

In the 25-minute version of Remember O Goddess it was Kim Jung-tae who played the main character and he was slated reprise his role in the feature-length extension. However, after postponing filming already once due to scheduling conflicts, and further time-related challenges after a decision to remake the film from scratch (i.e. not adding an extension to the existing short but reshooting everything), Lee decided to him go and start the difficult search to find a replacement just as good. Fortunately, find one she did. In the director’s own words, ”To make a long story short, please welcome the legendary actor Woo-sung Jung from Beat (1997) and The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008) as our lead actor/executive producer”.

I’m terrible with Korean names and haven’t seen either Beat or The Good, the Bad, the Weird, but it only took me one look at the pictures posted alongside the announcement to recognise a familiar face: Mr. Padam Padam! As in Yang Kang-chil from the 2011 K-drama 빠담빠담… 그와 그녀의 심장박동소리 (Bba-dam-bba-dam… Geu-wa Geu-nyeo- eui Sim-jang-bak-dong-so-ri/ Padam Padam… The Sound of His and Her Heartbeats)!

Padam Padam: Jung Woo-sung (with his angel, Kim Bum).

While the casting of Jung Woon-sung is something we have could have only hoped for in our dreams, the actor has in fact been interested in the project since long ago. He supported the original Kickstarter campaign, even making a promotional video for it:

When hearing about the director’s casting woes, he requested the script and soon after offered to be involved more actively, both as the lead actor as well as an executive producer. More details on this turn of events are on Kickstarter page for Remember O Goddess, but let’s hear more about Jung and his acting career here meanwhile:

About the Actor

Jung Woo-sung was born in Seoul in 1973 and grew up in Sadang-dong, one of the poorest parts of the city. He dropped out of high school to pursue his dream of acting and originally debuted as a model in 1994, openly stating that he was glad to have taken this decision – a somewhat controversial admission at the time. Jung Woo-sung made his way into film acting the same year, playing a man pursued by a fierce gumiho wishing to become human in 구미호 (Gumiho/The Fox with Nine Tails). His first drama, 아스팔트 사나이 (Aseupalteu Sanai/Dream Racers), followed the year after. Since then, Jung  has remained active primarily on the big rather than the small screen – he has starred in over twenty films, but only five dramas, with an extended absence from TV between 1996 and 2011.

Initial roles saw Jung play macho characters – a youthful troublemaker caught up in fights, a lonesome boxer, a warrior – but more recently he has transitioned to mostly melodramas. His filmography interestingly features several projects produced in other Asian countries (Japan, Hong Kong, China), something which also raised Jung Woo-sung’s profile outside of South Korea. He co-starred with Zhang Ziyi in 무사 (Musa/Musa the Warrior, 1999) and Michelle Yeoh in 剑雨 (Jianyu/Reign of Assassins, China, 2010). In 호우시절 (Howoosijeol/A Season of Good Rain aka A Good Rain Knows, 2009) he played opposite the Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan, meaning that part of his lines had to be delivered in English, something he found challenging at first. Further international fame as well as acclaim came with 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (Joheunnom Nabbeunnom Isanghannom/The Good, the Bad, the Weird, 2008), which premiered, out of competition, at Cannes and went on to screen at other major film festivals around the world.

In interviews, Jung has indicated his interest in not just being an actor, but also working behind the camera. While he has not directed any project yet, he did have a hand in producing a music video (for the group g.o.d. in 2000) and, as lead actor plus producer, now has another opportunity with Remember O Goddess.

Howoosijeol: Bittersweet love in China.

Awards

• 29th Blue Dragon Film Awards: Most Popular Actor for 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (Joheunnom Nabbeunnom Isanghannom/The Good, the Bad, the Weird, 2008)

Films

• 감시 (Gamshi/Lookout aka Cold Eyes, 2013)
• 더 킬러 (Deo Kilreo/The Killer, 2011)
• 剑雨 (Jianyu/Reign of Assassins, China, 2010)
• 호우시절 (Howoosijeol/A Season of Good Rain aka A Good Rain Knows, 2009)
• 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (Joheunnom Nabbeunnom Isanghannom/The Good, the Bad, the Weird, 2008)
• 중천 (Joong-Cheon/The Restless, 2006)
• 데이지 (Deosi/Daisy, 2006)
• 새드무비 (Saedu Mubi/Sad Movie, 2005)
• 내 머리 속의 지우개 (Nae Meorisokui Jiwoogae/A Moment to Remember, 2004)
• 똥개 (Ddong Gae/Mutt Boy, 2003)
• 무사 (Musa/Musa the Warrior, 2001)
• 유령 (Yoo-ryeong/Phantom of the Submarine, 1999)
• 러브 (Reobeu/Love, 1999)
• 태양은 없다 (Taeyangeun Eobda/City of the Rising Sun, 1998)
• 비트 (Biteu/Bea, 1997)
•  모텔 선인장 (Motel Seoninjang/Motel Cactus, 1997)
• 본투킬 (Bon to Kil/Born to Kill, 1996)
• 新上海滩 (San Seung Hoi taan/Shanghai Grand, Hong Kong, 1996)
• 구미호 (Gumiho/The Fox with Nine Tails, 1994)

Mutt Boy. Gotta love a poster with such a big smile!

Dramas

• 빠담빠담… 그와 그녀의 심장박동소리 (Bba-dam-bba-dam… Geu-wa Geu-nyeo- eui Sim-jang-bak-dong-so-ri/Padam Padam… The Sound of His and Her Heartbeats, 2011)
• 아테나 : 전쟁의 여신 (Atena: Jeonjaengui Yeosin/Athena, Goddess of War, 2010)
• 「グッドライフ～ありがとう、パパ。さよなら～」 (Good Life ~Arigatou, Papa. Sayonara~, Japan, 2011)
• 1.5 (1996)
• 아스팔트 사나이 (Aseupalteu Sanai/Dream Racers, 1995)

Interviews

• Korea JoonGang Daily (January 2011)
• E News World (November 2012)

Video interview (11 min clip, June 2009)

Bonus Bits

• The official website of Remember O Goddess
• The film’s official Facebook page
• The film’s official Twitter feed

Related Posts

• 나를 잊지 말아요 (Remember O Goddess) Update: Voting Time!
• Kickstarting 나를 잊지 말아요 (Remember O Goddess)

I’m kinda starving (it’s almost 4 p.m. and I haven’t had lunch yet), so I’ll give you this week’s trailers without any further ado and shall head to the kitchen to make myself some gyoza and bibimbap.

• 「百万円と苦虫女」 (Hyakuman-en to Nigamushi Onna/One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman aka One Million Yen Girl, Japan, 2008)

Dir. by Tanada Yuki.

There are various reasons I’m interested in this film, which Tired Paul mentioned to me, starting with its director. The plot: Alienated by her life and people, Suzuko (Yu Aoi) decides that she longer wants to build relationships with anyone. She moves from town to town, staying in each place only so long until she has saved up one million yen. Alongside Yu, who is of course a wonderful actress to watch, we also have Moriyama Mirai, whom I’ve only seen in the dorama 「ウォーターボーイズ」 (Wōtābōizu/Waterboys, Fuji TV, 2003) but whose films I previously featured in a number of Trailer Weeklies (#12, #36, #57).

• 《萬箭穿心》 (Wàn jiàn chuān xīn/Feng Shui, China, 2012)

Dir. by Wang Jing.

Seino, one of the Japan-based contributor’s over at Eastern Kicks (and @SeinoMovie7 on Twitter), alerted me to this film, which recently screened at the Far East Film Festival in Udine. Wàn jiàn chuān xīn is the story about a family, whose life slowly begins to fall apart when they move into a modern apartment. The husband Xuewu, tired of his constantly complaining wife Baoli, falls for another woman and asks for a divorce. The wife responds by reporting him to the police and also uses their 8-year-old son Wenzhao in a power play. After being demoted at work, Xuewu then commits suicide, forcing Baoli to take on a job as a yoke bearer so as to be able to support the child and the mother-in-law left behind. Ten years on, Wenzhao is soon to graduate and enter university, but bears a deep grudge against his mother, whom he blames for his father’s death. Judging from the trailer Wàn jiàn chuān xīn is complex drama that explores the psychology of a failed family.

• 「陽だまりの彼女」 (Hidamari no Kanojo/The Girl in the Sun, Japan, 2013)

Dir. by Miki Takahiro. Based on a novel.

Domyouji meets Nodame – not literally of course, but it’s a film starring both Matsumoto Jun and Ueno Juri. I have to admit Hidamari no Kanojo came completely out of the left field for me, because I always keep my eye on Matsujun’s forthcoming projects [he's the only Arashi member that, in my opinion, can act and some of his doramas –「きみはペット」(Kimi wa Petto),「スマイル」(Sumairu/Smile) – are among my absolute favourites]. I also loved Ueno-Nodame, enough to want to check out anything else she’s involved in and, finally, Miki Takahiro’s 「管制塔」(Kanseito/Control Tower, 2011) also makes me keep tabs on anything that he is directing. Despite all that, I never realised that this movie was in the making until this teaser was released yesterday.

Neither that teaser nor the film’s synopsis  – ‘A young salesman, Kosuke, meets a once-bullied friend, Mao, from middle school again and they fall in love. Mao however has a secret.’ – reveal particularly much at this point. Indeed, it sounds all rather generic and we’ve-sorta-seen-this-before. I’m still going to watch and make my verdict then.

Alternative poster? That’s definitely Matsujun, but the girl doesn’t look like Ueno!

Note: In some alternate universe, I would love to see Domyouji meet Nodame – that’d be hilarious!

• 「世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ」 (Sekai no chushin de, ai o sakebu/Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World, Japan, 2004)

Dir. by Yukisada Isao. Based on a novel.

Okay, I’m not really a fan of super-tragic love stories, which seem quite popular in Japan – you know the ones that tell the tale of the perfect couple torn apart by oh-so-cruel destiny (meaning usually death by illness of one of them), leaving them pining over that lost love forever. That is sort of the plot here too, as Saku reminisces about the girl he loved when he was seventeen, who succumbed to leukemia. There is a bit more though, for Saku is now 34 and has a fiancé, Ritsuko. Ritsuko one day goes away, leaving him only a note. Saku follows her – to Shikoku, both their hometown as well as that of the dead girl. I still think it’s going to be a melodramatic tearjerker, and it may be a too sappy one, but, well, Moriyama Mirai is in this one also (as the 17-year old Saku), so I’m just going to have the tissues ready.

Note: there is a dorama with the same title too and story, which came after the film and starred a different cast.

• 「中学生円山」 (Chuugakusei Maruyama/Maruyama, the Middle-Schooler, Japan, 2013)

Dir. by Kudo Kankuro.

The synopsis for Chuugakusei Maruyama is as follows: Maruyama, a middle-schooler, wants “to touch his own weeny with his tongue” (quote). It’s not the sort of plot line that would make me even vaguely consider watching it, but the film recently premiered at Udine’s Far East Film Festival to compelling reviews. Although it sounds like it’s not completely perfect, it also seems that Chuugakusei Maruyama is significantly better than what you would expect from the bizarre main premise and is definitely worth seeing.

• 「さよなら渓谷」 (Sayonara Keikoku/The Ravine of Goodbye, Japan, 2013)

Dir. by Omori Tatsushi.

This one I’ve been keeping my eye on for a while – thanks to some of the actors involved –, waiting for the trailer become available. I’m not sure I completely have the plotline down: A baby is killed. Its mother (Suzuki Anne) is the suspected killer. She is in a relationship with her neighbour, Osaki Shunsuke (Onishi Shima), who also has a lover, Kanako (Maki Yoko). Watanabe (Omori Nao), a newspaper reporter is following the case and learns that Osaki is connected a rape case from 15 years ago, in which, it turns out, Kanako was the victim. It’s a tangled web of connections, and could go very dark if you ask me.

Bonus Bits:

All anime related today.

• Sentai Filmworks has obtained the North American distribution rights for Shinkai Makoto’s forthcoming film「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa, Japan, 2013), with a bilingual DVD and Blu-ray release apparently due this year. The film hasn’t even premiered yet! No word on UK rights (or screenings). (News via Anime News Network)
• Speaking of Shinkai Makoto, his previous film,「星を追う子ども」 (Hoshi o Ou Kodomo/Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, Japan, 2011), won the Gold Prize at Tehran International Animation Fest this week.
• We finally have a UK cinema release date for 「コクリコ坂から」 (Kokuriko-zaka Kara/From up on Poppy Hill, 2011): it’s August 2 you have to put on your calendars. It’s been a long time coming, given that it was first shown at the Terracotta Film Festival last April and had several other UK festival screenings as well. Plus, it’s been in US cinemas for a while now too.
  

Since this is mostly a film blog, let’s start with something on topic: a classic Bollywood poster. I have no idea what the film is about (although we easily can make a somewhat educated guess), but whenever I’m in India I take snaps of movie posters. Just because.

#1 Bollywood.

India means lots of yum food, although here is something I bet you haven’t seen before: poha, a dish made from rice flakes, a few veg of choice, spices and raisins (optional). It’s eaten for breakfast in some areas and not the sort of thing you would find on any restaurant menu, but rather what you would eat at home. My Dad had never actually heard of it and he’s been in India for years. Instead, a Romanian friend who is married to an Indian introduced me to poha and since I’m a big fan of cooked breakfast (I have miso soup most mornings), I eat this every now and then, when in India or elsewhere.

#2 Poha.

Another thing I ate (and eat) regularly is what’s-in-the-fridge veg soup – basically you raid your fridge and throw into the pot whatever you have got. No rules whatsoever. It’s a quick recipe but often you end up with delicious concoctions, in this case involving green string beans, dried shiitake, potatoes, peas, carrots, scallions, bitter gourd and some Indian veg I don’t know the name for (my Dad and I call them “Bällchen” because of their round shape). For broth, I usually go Chinese-style with soup, using goji berries (as below), ginger root, Chinese yam, red dates and other things of the sort. (Your local Chinese store will have pre-packed mixes.) I think with this particular batch of soup we also threw in some momos (Nepali dumplings, sold on many street corners in Delhi) at the end. Yum!

#3 What’s-in-the-fridge veg soup.

Because I’m this gluttonous, food-worshipping creature, one thing I love is markets. Whether in Costa Rica, Austria, the UK or wherever else I have lived, market day is always one of the highlights of my week. In India, I went to my Dad’s local Wednesday food market, which unlike in many other places in the world takes place in the evening, starting around 5 p.m. The first time we went, my Dad was late from work so night had already set in. I thought the pictures would end up a failure (I was not using flash), but in fact some turned out quite alright:

#4 Market at night.

Here’s another one, which I quite like:

#5 Market at night II.

My personal favourite however it this one – it has the best composition and keeps you looking because there so much going on, exactly like it is at a busy market:

#6 Market at night III.

We went back to the market during daylight hours as well. Here’s one shot of a young kid, who was a total cutie. He was so aware of me taking the photograph, but was really happy about it (we were grinning broadly at each other). Really wish I could give him a copy of the shot!

#7 Market in daylight.

Travelling means at least a bit of sightseeing, so my Dad took me to the Indian parliament and India Gate one weekend, which I hadn’t visited on my previous trips. It was a rainy, grey day, not great for taking pictures. The president’s house was shut away behind gates and I couldn’t find a good angle to photograph it, so in the end I went for the muddy puddles in front of the entrance portal where the raindrops were making lovely abstract designs:

#8 Parliamentary puddles.

Equally, I wasn’t too interested in taking yet another shot of India Gate and found myself more intrigued by the curving white line on the road that leads from the president’s house to the gate (hadn’t seen anything like that before!). N.B. That’s India Gate in the far distance.

#9 Curving towards India Gate.

India Gate itself was crowded with tourists of course, all taking their obligatory posing shots right in front of the structure. Not my thing really, so I turned my lens in the opposite direction – the meadows and waters nearby, where I spotted some local boys having lots of fun:

#10 Boyish fun.

And a shot of a crosswalk leading to India Gate – a flawed picture because of the crop, but I still like the idea. If I go back to India, I’ll try to retake this one.

#11 Crosswalk.

Now for a couple of random shots, such as the obligatory cow photo that you have to take whenever you travel to India:

#12 Obligatory cow photo.

And some hand-made brooms that I spied just around the corner from the above cow. They were simple, but beautiful.

#13 Brooms.

Finally, another food-related shot, this one being  from my last night in India when my Dad took me out to a fancy meal at the Hyatt Hotel. We ate at The China Kitchen and let’s just say I was very food-happy. You get to watch the cooks there:

#14 Last supper.

Jumping in time and place now, from tropical Indian summer to European winter, specifically Vienna on the day I was leaving for London. We had a green Christmas, but then it finally snowed on my departure day! You can just see a bit of the snow as it is starting up in this photograph (I was catching the train to the airport).

#15 Snowy departures.

On to London. Let’s start with a cup of wonderful coffee, from the people who know how to make it – Climpsons and Sons on Broadway Market (London Fields). I live very happily in East London because there are plenty of independent coffee shops like Climpsons that really know what they are doing – I struggle whenever I have to work in Notting Hill or South Kensington, because it’s all chains with burnt coffee there. Boohoo to that and yay for Climpsons & co.

#16 An ode to coffee.

Broadway Market, by the way, is a pretty awesome street, with lots of independent, fun shops and little restaurants. There’s this sewing store, which has a fabulously colourful button display in the window:

#19 Turkish lamp reflections.

Remember that photo competition from Terracotta for winning a 서양골동양과자점 앤티크 (Seoyang-gol Dongyang-gwaja-jeom Antique/Antique Bakery, South Korea, 2008) DVD? I was going to submit several photos of sweet treats from the farmers’ market, but somehow never got round to it. This was one of them:

#20 Sweet treats (Poppy’s Kitchen, Notting Hill Farmers’ Market).

It has been getting noticeable warmer over the past few days and I’ve declared the sandal/flip-flop season open. Can’t wait for proper summer (and am sort of wishing for tropical, melt-if-you-move temperatures), so here’s a reminder from last July:

#21 Sky-high summer fun (Strawberry Hill Summer Fair).

Another random photograph in this hodgepodge, this time of the Korean Cultural Centre and the daily life of London reflecting itself in its window pane:

#22 KCCUK reflections.

There was also that one short trip to Dublin last November, where I attended an academic conference. I took few pictures and most I didn’t care for too much. I did like this shot of the river Liffey and the lit-up city at night:

#23 Dublin Nocturne.

Post-conference I went to Howth, just outside of Dublin, with a few people I had met (incidentally, two were Japanese ), for a walk along the coastline. I took some photographs in the harbour:

#24 Harbour of Howth.

And another one – probably the only photograph from that trip that I really like – it shows exactly what I was trying to capture.

#25 Yachts of Howth.

You are probably feeling a little overwhelmed by now, so I’ll finish here. In case you are wondering, the camera used for these photographs is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 – yeah, that’s a mere point-and-shoot, although it’s more towards the high end of the spectrum (and I use manual settings). I’m still saving my pennies for the digital SLR, fingers crossed I’ll have one before travelling to Greece this August (I’m attending a friend’s wedding there).

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the hodgepodge.

Bonus Bits (Related Posts):

• Place Promised in Our Early Days: Dublin
• Photologia: Around Vasant Vihar, New Delhi
• Back from Kashmir: A Bit of Travelogue with Photographs
• Travels, Offline
• An Ode to Film Photography

And one more, this one being country-themed: it’s all films from South Korea.

• 환상속의 그대 (Hwansangsog-ui Geudae/Dear Dolphin, South Korea, 2013)

Dir. by Kang Ji-na.

Hwansangsog-ui Geudae is the most surreal offering on the recently announced programme for Jeonju International Film Festival, but that’s precisely what makes it so intriguing. It’s about three characters, Cha-kyung, Hyuk-geun and Ki-ok. Cha-kyung and Hyuk-geun are a couple, while Ki-ok, Cha-kyung’s best friend, is secretly in love with Hyuk-geun. Then Cha-kyung dies. Ki-ok continues to hide his feelings until a year has passed when, suddenly Cha-kyung appears in front of them again. It’s surreal, remember?

• 은밀하게 위대하게 (Eunmilhage Widaehage/Secretly Greatly aka Covertly Grandly, South Korea, 2013)

Dir. by Jang Cheol-soo.

Note: That’s not the official film poster, but the cover of the webtoon that the film is based on.

Only a teaser, but it has earned its place in this Trailer Weekly nonetheless: it’s the next film of Kim Soo-hyun. The young, up-and-coming actor plays one of three North Korean spies (some synopses describe them as “handsome”, why that matters I’m not too sure), who infiltrate South Korea by pretending to be a village fool (Kim), a wanna-be idol (Park Ki-woong) and a high school student (Lee Hyun-woo) respectively. One day they receive an order from their government… I don’t expect Eunmilhage Widaehage to be particularly engaging on an intellectual level (and I do wonder if it can come to any sort of meaningful conclusion), but it looks like the kind of fun-filled ride that often makes a summer blockbuster – perfect for its June 2013 release date. Even better, with a role split into two personas – a hardcore spy and a bumbling idiot (wonderfully reminiscent Kim’s country bumpkin Song Sam-dong in the K-drama 드림하이/Deurim Hai/Dream High, 2011) – Kim Hyun-soon should be well able to show off his acting chops and get himself even meatier roles in the future.

Update 22/4/2013: A first film poster is now available. I see it’s closely modelled on the webcomic cover, except that we get Kim Soo-hyun’s endearing village fool face grinning at us (yeah, I can see why they would make that change!). That makes it slightly less mysterious though, and emphasises the comedy element of the film (I do wonder how much comedy there is in the source material).

• 힘내세요, 병헌씨（Himnaeseyo, Byeongheonssi/Cheer Up Mr. Lee, South Korea, 2013)

Dir. by Lee Byeong-hun.

I have no a trailer, but a video clip only (and no poster either) for Himnaeseyo, Byeongheonssi,  a film which I read about in one of Hanguk Yeonghwa’s various reports on the Jeonju International Film Festival. Information on Himnaeseyo, Byeongheonssi seems rather scarce still but we do have a basic synopsis available: it’s a sort of docu-/mockumentary about Beyong-heon, a young man who aspires to become a filmmaker but keeps encountering setbacks. That’s not much plot to go on, but, who knows, it could be worth watching.

• 마이 라띠마 (Mai Ratima, South Korea, 2012)

Dir. by Yoo Ji-Tae.

Mai Ratima received quite a bit of press when it first premiered at a film festival in South Korea last autumn (cinematic release still has to follow). I can’t remember the details (I think the critical reception of the film was mixed), but what was interesting about it was that it tackles sensitive and probably still rather taboo topics. The titular character, Mai Ratima, is a Thai woman who enters into an arranged marriage with a Korean man because she needs money to support her family. Life in Korea however is nothing like she imagined, as she suffers abuse (verbal, physical, sexual) and discrimination from the people who are now meant to be her family. Further troubles are ahead when Mai Ratima enters a relationship with another man who initially saves her from deportation but is too much an outcast of his own to provide her with anything even vaguely resembling a normal life. Another interesting fact is of course that Yoo Ji-Tae is directing – he is, of course, much better known as an actor in Korea.

• 의형제 (Uihyeongjae/Secret Reunion, South Korea, 2010)

Dir. by Jang Hun.

This one is not an upcoming release, but a film from a few years back. However, it stars Kang Dong-won, who is pretty much my favourite Korean actor, despite the fact that I have only seen two of his films and one of his dramas. What can I say? Somehow, Kang Dong-won has got ‘it’: he is as beautiful as it gets – not just generally (shallowly) speaking, but also in an artistic sense (I’m not sure how to explain this really). He always has a fabulous screen presence too, regardless of whether he plays a crackpot wizard with too big an ego, a spoiled super-rich kid or a mysterious swordsman. Plus, I really like that he does what he wants  – slipping off into the army quietly and exiting with just as little fanfare, being selective with his film choices and, most of all, refusing to return to the world of Korean television dramas despite repeated requests from fans and surely producers and directors as well (Kang Dong-won has not made a TV drama in nearly ten years, stating that the infamous Korean live-shooting system simply doesn’t work for him: “I don’t like the fast tempo on set. I work slowly — I’m the type that needs a lot of time with my acting”).

I have a valid excuse today to thrown in some Kang Dong-won pretty into a post.

In any case, I need to (want to – it’s not a chore! ) work myself through his filmography, which features roles in movies of all sorts – action-packed thrillers, blockbuster summer comedies, heart-wrenching melodramas and totally idiosyncratic fare a la 형사 (Hyeongsa/Duelist, South Korea, 2005).

In Uihyeongjae Kang Dong-won plays a North Korean spy, Ji-won, who is betrayed during a shooting and becomes a target himself. Years after the shooting, he runs into a fellow former spy who asks that he work for him. Ji-won agrees, but the past is still unfinished business for both men.

Bonus Bits

• A non-Korean bonus bit: apparently Miyazaki Goro, son of Studio Ghibli co-founder Miyazaki Hayao, announced this week that he is working on a new animated feature film, which he aims to complete in 2014. No information on the (working) title or plot are available yet. Even with a near-total lack of details, that’s exciting news!

I am a bit behind with Trailer Weeklies, which has in part to do with the fact that I was prioritising the reviews for「ももいろそらを」 (Momoiro Sora wo/About the Pink Sky, Japan, 2011), due to its short re-lease in Japanese cinemas recently, and The Whole Hog Theatre’s「もののけ姫」(Princess Mononoke) Stage Adaptation, because of its upcoming Tokyo run. So today it’s catch-up time, two-fold, for the weeks I missed.

Note 1: Trailers are in no particular order (they never are, but I thought I’d remind you just so you make sure to read till the end and don’t to miss a gem!).

Note 2: A particularly weak offering of film posters – some I couldn’t find, most are rather small in size and too many are just terribly designed! Honestly, the Mushishi poster is the only one I actually like.

• 「おれさま」 (Oresama/Rock Star, Japan, 2003)

Dir. by Kondo Hiroyuki/Marumo.

The video isn’t the official trailer, which seems to be impossible to track down (and that, in turn, doesn’t bode well for finding the film itself). Still, I have had Oresama in my bookmarks for a while, so onto the Trailer Weekly it goes. Miyavi (played by the real Miyavi) is a popular rock star currently on tour. It’s all going well until something unexpected happens after he falls asleep during a car ride: When he awakens people are suddenly wearing out-of-fashion clothes, there is a TV commercial that aired years ago and a yen note that no one is willing to take. Miyavi soon realises he has gone back in time to 1984 where people he knows, including his younger self, still live.

• 「桜並木の満開の下に」 (Sakura Namiki no Mankai no Shita ni/Cold Bloom, Japan)

Dir. by Funahashi Atsushi.

Sakura Namiki no Mankai no Shita is set right after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, at a moment when the economic and psychological repercussions of the disaster are extremely palpable. At that time Kenji, who is married to Shiori, dies in an accident caused by his co-worker Takumi, leaving the wife devastated. Racked by guilt, Takumi begs for forgiveness but Shiori refuses his offers of compensation. Over time however they build a friendship. Reviews seem to be mixed and I also don’t think that the ending will be as straightforward as the friendship twist might suggest.

• 「遠くでずっとそばにいる」 (Toku de Zutto Soba ni Iru/Far Away, So Close, Japan, 2013)

Dir. by Nagasawa Masahiko.

Only a teaser for this film which is set to be released in Japan in June. After a car accident, Sakumi, who is 27, cannot remember anything from the past ten years of her life. Bothered by the loss of her memory, she wants to remember, with Yoshishiko – who says that he is her boyfriend and friend from high school days – trying to help. This synopsis doesn’t reveal all that much, but there is potential for interesting trajectories here.

• 「黒い四角」(Kuroi shikaku/The Black Square, China/Japan, 2012)

Dir. by Okuhara Hiroshi.

When Hosoda Mamoru’s 「おおかめこどもの雨と雪」（Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki, Wolf Children, Japan, 2012) won the top prize at the Dutch Imagine Film Festival, I browsed event’s website for other things and stumbled across this instantly intriguing film: Zhao-ping, a Chinese artist, and Hana, his Japanese girlfriend, live together in an artists’ colony in Bejing. One day Zhao-ping sees a black square floating through the sky. When it lands on solid ground, a young, naked man appears who does not seem to know who he is or where he comes from. Zhao-ping takes him home. There, the rest of the story plays out somewhat less fantastically, a tale of love & friendship as well as disappointments, fears & hopes slowly unfolding. It’s lined by the existentialist angst of youth living in the no man’s land of in-between.

Note: I have also seen this listed as 黒四角, which is nearly the same as 黒い四角. My guess is that the former is the Chinese title (features only Kanji characters), while the latter is the Japanese one （い is a Japanese Hiragana character).

• 「はなればなれに」 (Hanarebanareni/Kuro, Japan, 2012)

I have seen this described as an ‘indie gem’ at the Tokyo International Film Festival, but I’ve also seen lukewarm reviews, so it could really be either. Hanarebanareni is about three people who meet by coincidence after things in their lives go awry: Kuro has her dream of becoming a baker shattered after being fired from the bakery where she worked, Eito’s relationship with the girl he intended to marry has just ended and Gou, a photographer, is being blamed for an actress that has gone missing. Kuro, Eito and Gou have really nothing in common, but as they stay together in a remote hotel by the seaside, bonds of friendship form between them. Then Momo, a schoolgirl, briefly enters the picture, both strengthening and weakening their triangular relationship. I think this looks like a spectacular nothing-much-happens film that I’m going to love to bits.

• 「孤独な惑星」 (Kodokuna Wakusei/In a Lonely Planet, Japan, 2011)

Dir. by Tsutsui Takefumi.

For some unexplainable reason Ayano Gou has mostly been relegated to small or second lead roles in films and doramas thus far – a pity, I think, because he has very much of a screen presence and can certainly also act. Although I didn’t really enjoy his character in 「最高の離婚」 (Saikou no Rikon/Matrimonial Chaos, Fuji TV, 2013), his newest dorama「空飛ぶ広報室」(Soratobu Kouhoushitsu/Public Affairs Office in the Sky, TBS, 2013) is off to a good start despite its sleep-inducing title – in large part thanks to the phenomenonal breakdown of Ayano’s character over three separate scenes that packed quite some emotional punch into the opening episode (I swear, I wanted to reach through the screen and hug that pained soul for at least the final ten minutes).

As for Kodokuna Wakusei, here’s the story: Mari is a single woman who lives by herself in the suburbs of Tokyo. Next door to her is a couple, whom she can sometimes hear conversing happily, other times arguing fiercely. One night she finds her neighbour Tetsuo (Ayano) in front of her door, having locked himself out. He waits at Mari’s for his own girlfriend to return home. A few days later Tetsuo is back, having been thrown out of his place after another quarrel. Mark Schilling writes: “If this were a typical love-triangle story, the standoffish Mari, skeptical of love since a former (and far shorter) boyfriend dumped her for his current bride, would soon succumb to the advances of Tetsuo, he of the sensitive doe eyes and wolfish desire. Instead, she pushes him off her bed and tells him he can stay on one condition: He must sleep on the veranda and never set foot inside.” I like that set-up. A lot.

「月とチェリー」 (Tsuki to Cherii/Moon & Cherry aka Electric Button, Japan, 2004)

Dir. by Tanada Yuki.

A naïve, young man and woman meet in an erotic writing class. The man turns out to be a virgin, so the woman decides to instruct him in the ways of the bedroom by having sex with him. When things get more and more unpredictable, he begins to wonder whether he is not merely a pawn in an erotic game – i.e. a test subject for the woman’s own writing. Mark Schilling writes that although “Tanada’s later films are more humanly insightful and creatively off-kilter” Tsuki to Cherii is ”an excellent place to start” (quote), leaving me both curious both about this work as well as later creations by the director. Note: the film is now getting a DVD release from Tidepoint Pictures (USA).

• 「蟲師」 (Mushishi, Japan, 2007)

Dir. Otomo Katsuhiro.

Genki Jason recently reviewed Mushishi on his blog, piquing my interest enough to make me want to place it onto my to-watch list. Based on a manga and previously adapted into an anime, I’m interested in all forms of this tale about Ginko, a white-haired and one-eyed ‘Mushishi’ – a person who studies the Mushi, strange, iridescent beings that are invisible to most but however cause illnesses in people. Being a healer, Ginko enters the house of Tanyu, a woman who fell ill after hearing a tale from a blind Mushishi woman. It’s a tale that sounds strangely familiar to Ginko. The film stars Odagiri Joe and Miyazaki Aoi by the way.

• 胭脂扣 (Yānzhī kòu/Rouge, Hong Kong, 1988)

Dir. by Stanley Kwan Kam-Pang.

Here’s an older offering – or least older than most of the films I watch. Yānzhī kòu recently popped up in a conversation with my fellow London Asian Film Society bloggers. Then Terracotta announced that their June festival would celebrate Hong Kong cinema legends Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung, which, I think, means a good chance that this “certifiable Hong Kong movie classic” (quote) will be shown on the big screen in London soon. I am keeping my fingers crossed, since I haven’t ever seen Yānzhī kòu before but am transfixed by it already: it’s about “a ghost looking to reunite with her long lost true love” and, furthermore, a ”tragic love story [...] made all the more tragic by the untimely real-life deaths of its two leads, Hong Kong cinema legends Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung” (quotes). Wahhhhh! I’m going to bring a pile of tissue papers for sure.

• Hotboy nổi loạn và câu chuyện về thằng Cười, cô gái điếm và con vịt (Lost in Paradise, Vietnam, 2011)

Dir. by Vũ Ngọc Đãng.

Khoa is an innocent 20-year old country side boy who arrives in Saigon. He meets Dong, who invites him to stay at his place. When Khoa visits the apartment he meets Lam, who turns out to be Dong’s boyfriend – and partner in crime, as the two steal all of Khoa’s cash. After Lam is abandoned by Dong, Khoa runs into him again on the streets, where they try to survive through menial jobs and, in the case of Lam, prostitution. Both lonely, they are drawn to each other and begin a tender relationship which however is threatened when Dong returns. The trailer hints at a film made with a delicate hand, but some critical reviews suggest that it’s all too saccharine. Yet others emphasise that Lost in Paradise is the first Vietnamese film that doesn’t use gay people as side characters for denigrating comedy but places the predicament of individuals on the fringes of society at the heart of the story, making it an “empathetic portrayal” (quote) as well as a film important in the country’s cinematic history.

If you are following the Whole Hog Theatre on Twitter, you will know that the Leamington Spa based theatre group that is putting on the world’s first stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s「もののけ姫」(Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke, 1997) has been making its way to Japan, where the play will have a run in Tokyo during Golden Week (April 29 to May 6, 2013).

As they touched down in Japan today, they were greeted by an article on their project in The Japan Times:

Surprise at touchdown.

The article includes quotes from an interview with the play’s director, Alexandra Rutter, providing interesting details about how the project came about – such as the crucial involvement of Nick Park of the Wallace & Gromit films pitching the idea to Studio Ghibli – and how they feel about staging what was then the highest-grossing film ever in Japan when it first premiered in 1997.

Fortunately, for those of us who can’t get hold of a paper copy of the newspaper, there is an online version available here.

Bonus Bits:

• The stage adaptation of Mononoke Hime (English, with Japanese subtitles) runs April 29-May 6, 2013 at the Aiia Theater in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. More details: Nelke Planning at (03) 3715-5706, www.princess-mononoke.jp or www.wholehogtheatre.com.
• Review: The Whole Hog Theatre’s「もののけ姫」(Princess Mononoke) Stage Adaptation (13 April 2013)

Related Posts:

• Mononoke Hime… in the Theatre (12 July 2012)
• Kickstarter to Take Princess Mononoke’s Stage Adaptation to the World (12 Nov 2012)
• Update: Further Performances for Princess Mononoke Stage Adaptation (13 Feb 2013)  Whole Hog Theatre’s Princess Mononoke, Rescored (28 Feb 2013)
• More Princess Mononoke Performances…in Japan (5 March 2013)

As May approaches, so does the Cannes, which is of course one of the highlights of the European film festival calendar. This morning the line-up was revealed, with a number of films from Asia to look foward to. I have listed them all below, with trailer and synopses as far as they are available.

In Competition

Note: All films in this section of the festival compete for the Palme d’Or.

• 「そして父になる」 (Soshite Chichi ni Naru, Japan, 2013) – Dir. by Koreeda Hirokazu.

No trailer yet available.

A story about two families who learn, six years after the fact, that their sons were switched at birth. It is the sort of nightmare scenario we have read about in papers, the kind we don’t want to think about – except, perhaps, when someone like Koreeda tackles it with his assured and sensitive hand.

Koreeda has been to Cannes before, with「DISTANCE」（ディスタンス/Diisutansu/Distance, 2001）and 「誰も知らない」(Dare mo shiranai/Nobody Knows, 2004). Maybe it will be third time lucky? To be honest, I have still have little idea what the rest of the field is like, but whether Koreeda scores an award or not, I’m sure Soshite Chichi ni Naru will be touch our hearts.

Note: I’m amused to see both Ono Machiko and Maki Yoko are in this film – they just co-starred in the dorama「最高の離婚」 (Saikou no Rikon/Matrimonial Chaos, Fuji TV, 2013).

• گذشته (The Past/Le Passé, France, 2013) Dir. by Asghar Farhadi.

I know it says “France”, but it’s Asghar Farhadi directing, the Iranian filmmaker that won the Palme D’or in 2011 (and pretty much every film award afterwards) for his masterpiece جدایی نادر از سیمین (Jodái-e Náder az Simin/A Separation, Iran, 2011). How you follow up a film like that, I have no idea, but even if The Past/Le Passé is only half as good as Jodái-e Náder az Simin it will be worth watching.

• 「藁の楯」(Wara no Tate/Shield of Straw, Japan, 2013) – Dir. by Miike Takashi.

Miike has been to Cannes more than once as well, including last year with the whacky high-school musical「愛と誠」（Ai to Makoto, Japan, 2012). Wara no Tate is a whole different film altogether (no surprise there, Miike dabbles in turns every genre on its head), a tale of murder and revenge: A young girl is murdered. Her grandfather, a powerful man, is filled with feelings of vengeance and places an ad in a newspaper, promising one billion yen to anyone who kills Kiyomaru Kunihide, the suspected killer. Something reminds me of Dürrenmatt’s tragi-comic play Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit) here, but I have no doubt Miike will make it into something very much of his own.

• 天注定 (Tian Zhu Ding/A Touch of Sin, China) – Dir. by Zhangke Jia.

No trailer available.

Zhangke has been in Cannes before as well, with 海上传奇的海报 (Hai Shang Chuan Qi/Wish I Knew, China/The Netherlands, 2010), and now returns with Tian Zhu Ding. No synopsis, trailer or poster yet, but it’s Zhangke, so definitely something to look forward to.

Cinefondation

Films screening in Cinefondation are short or medium-length pictures from film schools the world over.

• 더 라인 (Deo Lain aka Seon/The Line, South Korea) – Dir by Kim Soo-Jin.
• Duet (Iran) – Dir. by Navid Danesh.

Short Film 

Films in this section compete for Short Film Palme d’Or.

• 세이프 (Seipeu/Safe, South Korea) – Dir. by Moon Byung-gon.

Midnight Screening

• 盲探 (Máng tàn/Blind Detective, Hong Kong) – Dir. by Johnnie To.

The wonderful Andy Lau plays a detective that must retire early because he is going blind. He becomes involved in another case, teaming up with a female detective (Sammi Cheng) to solve it.

• Monsoon Shootout (India) Dir. by Amit Kumar.

No trailer available.

Setting: Mumbai during the monsoon season (oh yeah!). Insert: Torrents of rain. The story: Guru, a rookie cop, comes face to face with Shiva, a man suspected but not certain to be a gangster. The question: to shoot or not to shoot? It’s described as “an existential thriller that explores the impact of our choices on the lives of others and us” (quote), which sounds quite reflective, but I would expect more action & thrill than philosophical pondering nonetheless.

Gala Screening, Tribute to India

Bombay Talkies (India) – Dir. by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar.

In a tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema comes Bombay Talkies, an anthology of four stories by different directors. Wikipedia has synopses for each part.

Bonus Bit:

• Official website of the Cannes Film Festival

Every year Sci-Fi-London comes to town and brings, as its title suggests, “all things science fiction” (quote) with it, meaning apocalypse and robot galore among other things.

The festival will be running from April 30 to May 6, 2013 this year, with a costume parade for “[c]osplayers, zombies, stormtroopers, steampunks, daywalkers, superheroes” or whichever other fantasy character tickles your fancy starting off the fun on April 28.

Films, which will screen at the Stratford Picture House and the BFI Southbank, come from all over the world, with multiple offerings from Asia included:

Note: For trailers click on the film title.

One major Asian event is the Anime All-Nighter on May 4, with the following five films:

• 「009 Re: Cyborg」(Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Kamiyama Kenji. Showing in 3D.
• 「黄金時代篇Ⅰ 覇王の卵」 (Ōgon Jidai-Hen I: Haō no Tamago/The Golden Age Arc: The Egg of the King) – Dir. by Kubooka Toshiyuki.
• War of the Worlds: Goliath ((Malaysia, 2012) Dir. by Jose Pearson. Showing in 3D.
• 「ストリートファイター II MOVIE」 (Sutorīto Faitā Tsū Mūbī/Street Fighter II Movie, Japan, 1994) – Dir. by Sugii Gisaburo.
• 「狼男オオカミ」 (Ōkami otoko ōkami/Loups=Garous, Japan, 2010) – Dir. by Fujisaku Junichi.

「009 Re Cyborg」.

But it’s not just animation that’s on the programme, there is also some ‘real’ martial arts and apocalypse fare:

May 4: 太極之零開始 (Taikyoku no rei kaishi/Tai Chi 0, China, 2012) and 太極２ 英雄崛起 (Taikyoku 2 eiyū kutsuki/Tai Chi Hero, China, 2013) – Details.
May 4: 「Nyanco」 (Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Tsukuda Hikaru. A 3-min short that screens as part of Shorts I.
May 6:「佐渡テンペスト」(Sado Tempest/Arashi, Japan/UK/Hong Kong) – Dir. by John Williams. Sado Tempest previously screened at the Raindance Film Festival and is a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It is set on Sado Island in some futuristic moment and involves everything from J-rock to Noh masks. I’ve got a festival screener for this somewhere, so if I manage to find some time before May 6, I’ll watch and review it (no promises though). Details for the Sci-Fi London screening are available here.

Sado Tempest.

As for non-Asiana, these two are on top of my list to see:

• Aurora (Vanishing Waves, Lithuania, 2012) – Dir. by Kristina Buožytė. – I featured Aurora on Trailer Weekly #65 as a sort of wildcard. I first heard about it via Twitter, then found rave reviews, but also people who described it as an orgy on the screen. The story (quoting myself from the Trailer Weekly here): Lukas, a member of a research team [...] becomes a test subject for a new technology that allows access to another person’s thoughts. In the experiment Lukas enters the mind of a female, comatose patient, where he encounters the woman and soon finds himself drawn to her – also sexually – and into her world. The film is several things at once: “science fiction… mystery… psychosexual drama” and “a love story”. It’s not really “surreal, although it’s certainly a bit of a trip” and often rather “dreamlike” (all quotes from here).” Details for the Sci Fi London screening are here.

• Best Friends Forever (USA, 2013) – This one is new to me, but caught my eye when browsing the Sci Fi London programme. It’s an indie film from USAmerica, described as a “post-apocalyptic THELMA AND LOUISE”, in which “two LA hipsters take a road trip across America, unaware of the mass destruction around them” (quotes from the festival programme). It’s “not hard sci-fi, it fits nicely into the postapocalyptic sub genre, and will especially appeal to audiences tired of seeing ‘tough men with guns’” (that would be me ). Screening details are here.

Bonus Bits

• Official Sci Fi London Festival Website
• Twitter ID: @scifilondon

All images © Polly Clare Boone of Whole Hog Theatre.

Year: 2013
Country: UK
Language: English
Director: Alexandra Rutter
Company: Whole Hog Theatre
Adaptation from:「もののけ姫」(Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke, Japan, 1997)
Screenplay: not specified on programme or website
Concept arts and set design: Polly Clare Boon
Puppet design: Charlie Hoare
Soundscore: Hisaishi Joe, arranged by Kerrin Tatman for the play
Cast: James Blake-Butler, Lilith Brew, Adam Cridland, Oliver Davis, Andy Elkington, Jack Gyll, Jackie Lam, Amelie Leroy, Mei Mac, Miyake Yuriko, Jess Neale, Maximilian Troy Tyler, Victoria Watson, Samuel Wightman, Elizabeth Mary Williams
Runtime: approx. 130 min (including 20 min intermission)
Official website: http://www.wholehogtheatre.com (London performances),
http://www.princess-mononoke.jp (Tokyo performances – 日本語)

Teaser (16 sec, for Tokyo performances):

Seen during the play’s first run at the New Diorama Theatre in London. I attended the Friday evening performance. Further Princess Mononoke performances are scheduled for Tokyo (April 29 – May 6, 2013) and London (June 18-29, 2013). London tickets are sold out. 

Note: I provide no synopsis of the story here – this review presumes you are familiar with Miyazaki Hayao’s film already and hence is also full of spoilers.

How does one even begin to imagine a stage adaptation of an animated film of the calibre of「もののけ姫」(Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke, Japan, 1997), made by the masters of Studio Ghibli and well loved the world round? It is not a challenge that most – even those with plenty of experience and unlimited budgets – would want to take on, but the Whole Hog Theatre, a young performance company from Leamington Spa, England, with only a handful productions (Dangerous Liaisons, Constanzo and Five Kinds of Silence) to their name, was undaunted by the task and simply went ahead anyway. Their decision to take on Mononoke Hime – a world first, by the way – is impressive, because although the group specialises in “re-inventing existing works of art” (quote from the programme) it tells the sort of story that can’t be easy to adapt to the stage. Beyond its global popularity and the fact that it was originally created by a renown animation studio and a famous director, a theatrical Mononoke requires transforming animation into a medium that offers none of the flexibilities that film – animated or not – does: technical options are significantly more limited, there is no CGI nor the possibility to later edit, recombine or even redo scenes. With Mononoke being one of Studio Ghibli’s fantasy rather than realistic creations and featuring imaginary beings such as wolves and boars triple their normal size, spirits of the forests (kodama) and even demons and gods that have no fixed state but metamorphose (e.g. into a nightwalker that reaches the sky in height), the challenge seems rather insurmountable and I can only repeat, where even begin to imagine it all?

Miyazaki’s Mononoke Hime: San and Ashitaka. One of Studio Ghibli’s best (IMO) animations.

The key, however, however is in that question itself: what “staging the unstageable” (quote) requires is imagination, as the people of the Whole Hog Theatre very well know. Their work, they write, “explores the outer limits of [their] and [their] audience’s imagination” (quote), meaning they envision ways to translate seemingly impossible elements onto the stage, sometimes in straightforward physical forms, sometimes by means of more symbolic representations (e.g. a huge sheet of plastic foil becoming a forest lake) challenging viewers to suspend their disbelief and use their imaginative minds instead. Central to this vision are puppets and, oh, how fantastic these puppets are! If you wondered about all those tweets the Whole Hog Theatre sent out, requesting materials of seemingly anything and everything, rest assured that the ingenious minds and skillful hands of Charlie Hoare, the production’s puppet designer, and Polly Clare Boon, the set designer, found a way to use it all: the magnetic tape from old video cassettes, crutches, outworn T-shirts, bits of cardboard and so forth. While the recycling aspect of Princess Mononoke is novel as well as laudable in itself (and further reinforces the environmental-centric message of the original story), what Hoare (and Boon, for the set) do with all the materials is simply wonderful, from Moro and her pups to the monkey tribe to any demon forms. The puppetry also delights in its attention to detail, whether it be the glowing eyes of various creatures or the fact that the humans in boar skins are clearly distinguished from the real boars. Surprisingly, the Whole Hog’s marvellous use of puppetry combined with light and sound even manages to triumph with what I expected to be one of the most difficult scenes to adapt to the stage: when the deer god loses its head while transforming into the nightwalker, the world consequently falling to its terrifying doom.

Ashitaka, Yakul and two men from Lady Eboshi’s iron works (image © Polly Clare Boon).

It helps, of course, that the production stays very close to Miyazaki’s script (having rewatched the animation the night before seeing the theatrical adaptation, it seemed to me that not a single scene was missing) and also uses Hisaishi Joe’s original music from the film, the familiar notes evoking the atmosphere of specific scenes.

Much of this first theatrical Princess Mononoke feels right, very, very right, even if purists like myself will miss the sound and sense of the original language as, except for one Japanese song, this adaptation of course comes in English – though this loss was to be expected.¹ Comparatively more problematic, however, is some of the casting for the play. Prince Ashitaka felt flat, Maximilian Troy Tyler’s portrayal of the character never quite managing to convey the spirit of the admirably humble, young hero with a profound sense of old-age wisdom that so defines Miyazaki’s animation. Furthermore, the tiny change in Ashitaka’s lines towards the end (‘The shishigami is telling us to live’ became ‘telling me to live’)² may have been a mere slip on part of the actor the day I attended the performance, but did rather shift Miyazaki’s final message of the different warring parties coming together, if not in full unity at least to a better mutual understanding, after realising the far-reaching consequences of their actions. Mononoke/San, meanwhile, also didn’t seem quite as proud as the on-screen heroine, but was certainly fierce, actress Mei Mac mesmerising viewers by putting her own, particular stamp onto the character, even if the part somehow seemed smaller than in the animated version. Worth noting are, moreover, some of the actors in more minor roles, in particular Oliver Davis as Yakul and James Blake-Butler as various characters including Kohroku. The former had not a single line to utter, yet managed to imbue life into Ashitaka’s loyal companion with the breathing sounds of an animal that made one see only the elk and not the performer – an even more impressive achievement given the fact that Yakul was one of the few creatures with only a puppet head and the actor’s human body always fully visible. Blake-Butler’s performance as Kohroku was also spot on, eliciting laughs both as the cowardly worker scared witless by the kodama and the useless husband taunted by his wife Toko, just like his animated equivalent.

Running a little over two hours (with a twenty minute intermission), the pacing was quite fast and some breathers between some scenes for a few seconds of reflection would have been welcome. Equally, now that Whole Hog Theatre is moving its performance to a much larger stage than that of the tiny one at the New Diorama Theatre, I would also recommend upping the sound to fill the space and fully – inescapably – immerse the audience in the magical world of Mononoke.

Overall Verdict: Wonderfully imagined, the world’s first stage adaptation of Mononoke Hime combines fantastically creative puppetry, effective use of light & sound, dialogue as well as theatre dance to bring alive the mythical world of wolf princesses, forest spirits and demons better than we could have dared to hope given the complex source material.

Rating: 8/10

Footnotes:

¹ Interestingly, some of the other reviews lamented the use of the original Japanese names (e.g. shishigami), which they thought would be a little difficult for the audience. Amusing how opinions can differ on these things!
² I am basing myself on the English subtitles here. There is a chance of course that the Japanese film actually says “I” rather than “we”. Equally, the actor might have been given the lines with “I” rather than “we”.

Bonus Bits

• Official website: princess-mononoke.jp (both in English and Japanese)
• Whole Hog Theatre website
• Related posts on Otherwhere: Mononoke Hime… in the Theatre (12 July 2012); Kickstarter to Take Princess Mononoke’s Stage Adaptation to the World (12 Nov 2012); Update: Further Performances for Princess Mononoke Stage Adaptation (13 Feb 2013) and Whole Hog Theatre’s Princess Mononoke, Rescored (28 Feb 2013), More Princess Mononoke Performances…in Japan (5 March 2013).
• Other reviews: Anime UK News, The Public Reviews, West End Wilma.
• I would love the Whole Hog Theatre also incorporate things like shadow play into the performances – they’ve certainly have the creative minds for it.

Image Gallery

You can find more images on the Whole Hog Theatre’s Flickr page – though if you are attending either the upcoming Tokyo or London performance, I would recommend letting yourself be surprised!

Year: 2011
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Director: Kobayashi Keiichi
Screenplay: Kobayashi Keiichi
Cinematography: Kobayashi Keiichi
Soundscore: No soundscore.
Cast: Ikeda Ai, Koshino Ena, Fujiwara Reiko, Takayama Tsubasa, Togetsuan Hakuysu
Runtime: 117 min
Distribution: Uzumasa
Official webpage: http://www.momoirosora.jp (日本語/English)
Official FB page: https://www.facebook.com/thePinkSky?fref=ts
Twitter: @momoirosorawo

Trailer (subtitled):

Seen at the Raindance Film Festival in London, where Momoira Sora wo had its UK premiere and screened twice.

The heroine of Momoiro Sora wo is called Kawashima Izumi (Ikeda Ai). Izumi has no superpowers – she is not that kind of heroine, but rather an ordinary seventeen year-old girl. Izumi is gutsy and frank. She reacts impulsively – whipping water with a fishing rod a gazillion times in a sudden and extended explosion of frustration – and gives a wide, sheepish smile when she is fibbing, which happens on a regular basis. Although she doesn’t always know what she actually wants, she stays true to herself even if her sense of fairness is a little warped, at least from the point of view of others.

When she finds a wallet full of cash – 300,000¥ (~2600 GBP/3000 Euros/3800 US$) to be precise – in the street one day, she soon realises that the owner, Kōki Sato (Takayama Tsubasa), is the son of a wealthy, corrupt politician and concludes that must be dirty money, hence best not returned. Instead, she decides to put the cash to good use, but, Izumi being Izumi, doesn’t keep it to indulge herself. She loans most of it to a cash-strapped adult acquaintance from the fishing place she frequents and, still left with another 100,000¥, intends to treat her friends Ono Hasumi (Koshino Ena) and Mayuzumi Kaoru (Fujiwara Reiko) to a bite. The girls however soon get suspicious and, unlike Izumi’s adult friend, are more insistent on finding out where the money came from. To make a long story short, Izumi fesses up and after Hasumi develops an instant teenage-crush on Sato’s ID picture (also in the wallet), the trio marches off to the guy’s house to return what is rightfully his. With cash missing, however, it’s not the end of the story, Sato later confronting our heroine and commissioning payback in the form of ‘positive news’: a home-made newspaper containing only reports of all the good things happening in the neighbourhood and the wider world so as to cheer up hospitalised friend of his.

Oh-so-honest high school girls… or maybe not.

Like in many other not-so-mainstream Japanese films, there is little plot that follows from this point on, but what we get is a glimpse into a few days of teenagedom (though vaguely spread over an unspecified, longer period of time) during which Izumi and her friends assemble all the quasi-happy news they can find. It is a snapshot which reminds us that randomicity and intensity rule adolescence, depicting friendships that are like mood swings and emotions that explode in one moment and deflate like a balloon loosing air in another. The focus is squarely on Izumi, who provides the narrative perspective for the camera and whose character consequently is the only one which is fully developed. She is, we learn, quirky to the point of silly or even immature in her behaviour and habits – she rates news stories according their negativity factor and hollers at speed cameras¹ until they start blinking – but ultimately has her heart in the right place. Even if quarrelling with her two BFFs so frequently that it makes one question whether their childhood friendship² is slowly running its course, she still concocts a plan to mitigate Hasumi’s heartbreak and, even more significantly, demonstrates great kindness towards Sato in the moment he needs it the most, both with the thoughtful gift she brings and the wonderfully awkward (indeed, completely not pc) questions she has for him in the film’s final scene.

Other characters – the other girls, Izumi’s adult acquaintance, Sato – are painted in much broader strokes. Hasumi changes her name like other people socks, always expecting those around her to keep up, heck, even guess her latest moniker before having announced it. She is generally a rather self-centred and bossy individual, demonstrating a complete change of demeanour in the interactions with her boyfriend-to-be and those with Izumi &  Kaoru. Kaoru, meanwhile, is more difficult to figure out. For much of the film she is no more than a monkey-in-the-middle of her friends, seemingly with no opinion of her own at all but a rather pendular loyalty (when asked who is more beautiful, she responds that Izumi is more her type but later declares she prefers Hasumi). Neither the selfish Hasumi nor the wishy washy Kaoru appear very sympathetic, at least not until we discover the true reason for the latter’s semi-sleezy part-time job, hinting at a life more complicated than what is visible at the surface and a personality that is much stronger than the malleable individual previously depicted. While no clues are given as to what might be behind the former’s behaviour, the (somewhat unfortunately) brief, but significant revelation about Hasumi as well as another one about Sato, serve as a reminder that it is perhaps best not to judge too quickly as there may be more to each person’s story.

Cinematography flooded by light.

Momoiro Sora wo comes in black & white, a choice likely to be derided as pretentious. But why not black & white? The cinematography – done by the director himself, who also wrote the script for his debut feature film – is memorably distinct with its hazy images flooded by bright lights. The results are certainly what Kobayashi himself aimed for:

The reason why I shot it in black and white: The present quickly becomes the past. The message I wanted to convey was the idea of being in the present and living life, taking in each moment. I shot the whole movie myself. I’d only ever shot stuff just for fun, so I spent six months training myself. It was a real challenge capturing light. The theme of the cinematography was ‘reflection.’ (quote)

The film notably also doesn’t cave to colour in the one moment when other novice filmmakers likely would have, underlining that the black & white imagery is not there just for the sake of an artsy spectacle, but just because it is.

Worth mentioning is also Momoiro Sora wo‘s soundscore: there is, with the exception of a few notes of classical music in a café scene, none. Kobayashi opts for a natural (though not necessarily completely unedited) sounds: words exchanged between characters, Izumi muttering to herself, the rumblings of the streets or even plain silence. Much like with the colour scheme, this is not the kind of approach that most viewers are used to and may therefore question, but it compliments Koyabashi’s overall style for Momoiro Sora wo well.

Things are not always what they seem.

Overall Verdict: There is, undeniably, very little that happens in Momoiro Sora wo, which depicts a few, somewhat offbeat but not especially exciting days in the lives of several teenagers. There is, most likely, also no message behind the story – it is a snapshot of the mundane, a merciless portrait of moody teenagers who will quickly annoy with their 5-minute baka shouting matches. Added to that come black & white visuals (always easily criticised), filmed with a handheld camera (ditto), and a minimalistic soundscore (ditto once more), making Momoiro Sora wo a film that is unlikely to appeal to the masses – indeed, even the reviews of indie movie critics are rather divided. It did, however, work for me, thanks to the flawed but ultimately very likeable heroine and Kobayashi’s willingness to go his own way, no matter what. Last but not least, I also appreciated the fact that Momoiro Sora wo made no story out of something that it very well could have, providing us with a film that has normalised – as we should – an issue that in 2013 we are still debating off-screen and on.³

Rating: 8/10 (Note: if I rationally think about this score, I feel tempted to lower it to 7 or 7.5, but on a purely instinctive level I enjoyed the film more than that.).

Footnotes

¹ Actually, I’m not entirely sure what she is yelling at – I’m guessing here.
² It is not explicitly stated that the girls are childhood friends, but given that they attend different high schools this is what I would presume.
³ I’m being purposefully vague here, so as not to give anything away!

Bonus Bits:

• Q&A from the Sundance Film Festival, where Momoiro Sora wo first premiered.
• Indiewire’s Meet the 2012 Sundance Filmmaker interview with Kobayashi.
• Official Facebook page
• Momoira Sora wo is the director’s first feature film, but he previously directed music videos, TV programmes and commercials.
• Momoiro Sora wo won the Best Picture Award at the 2011 Tokyo International Film Festival and the top award at the Gijón International Film Festival.
• Reviews: Jfilm Pow-Wow, Seino Yoshito for Eastern Kicks, Libertas Film Magazine, Ioncinema, Twitchfilm, Wildgrounds – generally opinions about this film are very divided.
• There may be a cultural element in the rather different views about the film. Mark Schilling, from the Japan Times, writes that it turns “the saccharine conventions of the seishun eiga (youth drama) genre on their heads with a stubbornly individual teenage heroine (Ai Ikeda) and an ingeniously plotted story that revolves around not the usual love troubles, but rather a lost wallet” (quote). While I’m not sure I agree about the “ingeniously plotted story”, I could see that for non-Japanese viewers the breaking of conventions might be less obvious and insignificant.

Image Gallery:

It’s funny sometimes how things are right before your eyes, but some how you don’t see them. Like the fact that the title of Shinkai’s forthcoming film has Kanji strokes in the form of leaves. How could I only notice it now?

Well, this isn’t what I mean to be writing about today, but the real topics of this post are a) the world premiere of the film, b) further character descriptions and c) a new image gallery for Kotonoha no Niwa.

World Premiere

You’ll never guess. The world (not international, but world!) premiere of Kotonoha no Niwa will be in… Australia. It’s not the first time Japanese animators have premiered their films abroad – Hosoda Mamoru’s「おおかみこどもの雨と雪」(Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki/Wolf Children, 2012) first screened in France –, although I do wonder if Shinkai has a special connection to the country or the specific festival (Australia’s Gold Coast Film Festival) where it will be shown. The screening is scheduled for the final day of the CGFF, April 28, and the director will be present to answer questions and sign posters. Lucky Aussies is all I can say! (You can book here by the way. Snatch up that ticket sooner rather than later!)

Character Descriptions and Image Gallery

New character descriptions and an image gallery were recently added to the film’s official Japanese webpage, offering a further glimpse into the film. Since I like to pick these kind of things apart, let’s take a closer look and see what we find.

In this first, familiar-looking picture (we have seen the scene before, but from a different angle), both our leads are present:

We now also know their full names: Akizuki Takao (秋月 孝雄) and Yukino Yukari (雪野 百香里).

If we zoom in a little closer, we get what seems to be a close-up of this moment, or rather, specifically of Takao’s shoe designs. Note the naturalist theme – his ribbons and straps are plant leaves and vines. I kinda like it as it makes me even more curious about the type of shoes he will design for Yukino.

As for the completely new, here is a light-filled shot of Yukino waiting somewhere. Although plants predominate the foreground and also more subtly other parts of the frame through shadows and reflections, we can tell this scene is not in the garden but in a more urban area, which may mean that it is not Takao he is meeting but someone from her ‘real’ life.

We also get to meet several new characters, such as Takao’s 26-year old brother and his 24-year old girlfriend, who is originally from Kasai. No names are given for either one.

According to the brother’s character description, he still lives at home but wants to move in with his girlfriend, which, I’d guess, is what the picture above with all the boxes is all about (moving day!).

We are also introduced to Takao’s mother, here sitting at a table with an unidentified man (possibly Takao’s brother, possibly not):

She is 47 and free-spirited, apparently more dedicated to pursuing romance than taking care of her family (whom, the character description emphasises, she does love very much). Note the light in the picture. And the beer, which the adults seem to be drinking throughout the film (e.g. Yukino in the garden).

Another new character is Matsumoto (松本), a classmate and long-time friend of Takao (possibly on the school rooftop here?), who is dating a girl called Sato (佐藤).

We have no picture of Sato (though I think she may be that other girl we see in one scene in the trailer) but is said to have many friends and know about everything that is going on at school.

Finally, there is Aizawa (相沢). Her character is said to be “proud” and always in the company of others (probably meaning popular). She looks rather annoyed here. I’m not sure if she is the one we see Takao slapping in the trailer – that girl is pictured only from behind and the hair looks a little fuller, but it may still be the same person.

Now two more general images: First, a view of garden where Takao and Yukino meet (you can spy their silhouettes in the distance). I have to say that is one huge park (more like a forest!) in the middle of a city and very flush with vegetation. I’m also curious about the rounded structure in the background as it reminds me of London’s Gherkin. I’m wondering whether this a recognisable building in Tokyo or a fantasy creation of Shinkai’s (maybe inspired by the Gherkin, since he did reside in London for one year in 2008).

Image #2 is of Takao, deeply immersed in his art. Again, note the light. Most films of Shinkai’s feature natural light, i.e. the sun illuminating land- or cityscapes or creating a shadow play in a room, but here we have the artificial light of a desk lamp fracture into a rainbow, reminding us yet again that Shinkai is indeed the unrivalled master of night and light and the half light.

Shinkai has indicated that the gallery will be expanded in the future, so there will more image galore to look forward to and whet our tastes for the film.

Note: I have to give credit to MyAnimeList for their Kotonoha no Niwa character list, their Kanji is definitely way better than mine (which is still nearly non-existent).

Bonus Bit:

• Official website of Kotonoha no Niwa (in Japanese/日本語)

Related Posts

• More Musings on the Trailer of Shinkai’s「言の葉の庭」(17 March 2013)
• 「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa): First Trailer and Impressions (21 Feb 2013)
•  Shinkai Makoto Announces「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa) (23 Dec 2012)

Year: 2012
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Director: Yoshida Daihachi
Studio: NTV, Showgate
Adaptation from: Asai Ryo’s 2010 novel of the same title
Screenplay: Kiyasu Kohei, Yoshida Daihachi
Cinematography: Kondo Ryoto
Soundscore: Kondo Tatsuro
Cast: Kamiki Ryunosuke, Hashimoto Ai, Higashide Masahiro, Ohgo Suzuka, Shimiza Kurumi, Yamamoto Kizuki, Matsuoka Mayu, Ochiai Motoki, Maeno Tomoya, Kurihara Goro & others
Runtime: 103 min
Distribution: Showgate
Film’s official website: http://www.kirishima-movie.com/index.html
Twitter: @kirishima_movie

Trailer: 

Kirishima, the titular hero of the Japan Academy’s Best Picture of the Year, is rather like Godot: although everyone is waiting for him to appear, he never actually shows up. Different from Godot, however, we can be fairly certain that the character – a teenage boy and star athlete at his school – does exist, it’s just that he seems to have literally vanished off the face of the earth after suddenly quitting the volleyball team he previously captained. His resignation is, for a long time, pretty much the most eventful thing that happens in this tale, but takes place not just off-screen but also before the narrative begins, the film itself concerning itself only with the aftermath of the event.

If you haven’t realised it by now, let me tell you: Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo (literally Kirishima, Quit the Club) isn’t your usual sort of film and it certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, even with a Most Popular Film trophy among the multiple awards it scored. Based on an omnibus novel consisting of various connected stories, the director adapts this particular format for the cinema by presenting overlapping fragments of the same – or nearly the same – scenes from different points of view, quasi-limited to a character or two. It is an observational sort of style, reinforced by the camera itself, which is sometimes hand-held and follows individuals as they move about the school, between class- and clubrooms, the sports hall, toilets and various outdoor spaces. The use of close-up or medium distance shots frame and thus restrict what viewers can see, providing a glimpse of each moment only, filtered through one character’s perspective.

Cheering on the (popular) boys: Sana, Risa, Mika, Kasumi (left to right).

We begin on a Friday, trailing behind a girl in a red P.E. jacket, Miyabe Mika (Shimizu Kurumi) by name. As Mika enters the teachers’ room, the camera shifts to two of her classmates, Maeda Ryoya (Kamiki Ryunosuke) and Takefumi (Maeno Tomoya), conversing with their film club supervisor, while briefly panning back to a now crying Mika slumped over a desk. The scene soon cuts to the sports hall where the still shell-shocked volleyball team has gathered to reshuffle positions, Koizumi Fusuuke (Taiga) being put in Kirishima’s place. Outside, Risa (Yamamoto Mizuki), Kirishima’s girlfriend and sort of queen bee among the girls, is waiting. There are more characters still, including Hagishihara Kasumi (Hashimoto Ai), Sawashima Aya (Ohgo Suzuka), Kikuchi Hiroki (Higashide Masahiro), Sana (Matsuoka Mayu) and Ryouta (Ochiai Motoki).

The incessant meandering of the camera may leave you at a loss initially, particularly if you are looking for a lead character or two to provide a focal point, which, except for the absent Kirishima, the story of course does not have. What does crystallise however is the social anatomy of high school life, where many individuals are connected in a tangled web of relations – friendships (both real and not-so-real), romantic relationships (some very much on public display and others completely under cover), secret crushes and so forth. Depending on the given perspective, these interconnections slowly unravel or further entwine themselves as each student responds to their classmate’s disappearance.

In-girl clique, of the somewhat more dangerous kind.

The reactions hint at that Kirishima had a particularly central role in this network – he seems irreplaceable on the volleyball team, had masses of friends and the most gorgeous girl at school by his side to boot. And yet as we observe all the different individuals reacting to his disappearance, cracks begin to appear. Hardly anyone in fact seems to truly care about what has happened. Some perceive Kirishima’s vanishing act and that they cannot get hold of him even by phone as an individual slight, others appear to feign their reaction, demonstrating shock because everyone is supposed to do so yet stirring the gossip mill beneath the surface. But there is one more group still: those students that are essentially unaffected by Kirishima’s absence, or would be were it not for the larger repercussions of the incident on the school’s social structure. Specifically, it is the film club members, led by the aforementioned Maeda Ryoya, who are more occupied with other things as they are in the midst of making a zombie movie. Unlike the self-concerned friends and pretenders however, Ryoya and his pals do not so much dislike Kirishima but have simply never much interacted directly with him as, despite being classmates, they occupy a different social sphere.

And that is where the real story of Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo lies: not in the Kirishima incident itself but the true nature of individuals that reactions to the event brings to light, revealing a sharp division in the student body (and, by extension, society at large), where some – the top athlete, the über-cool school beauty that everyone has a crush on – are in an elite group and others – the geeks, the plain Janes  – in a lower, more inferior one. The revelations made are subtle as second-class students are not openly bullied, but rather we observe one-off whispered snide remarks (“Did he hear us?”), half-suppressed giggles, occasional, stolen glances, eye darts of jealousy and one demonstratively passionate kiss.

Film geeks and zombies, on clash course with the rest of society.

As the situation begins to fester it erodes not only the outward tolerance of the bullying targets that cope by half-ignorning, half-bouncing poisonous comments off themselves (“When I’m a director, I won’t use them,” Takefumi mutters out of earshot of the girls mocking him and Ryoya) but also of some of those in the elect circle – Kasumi, Hiroki, and Mika – who yearn to be less conformist than they care to admit even to themselves. With the filmmakers in spe being on an increasing clash course with their classmates, the sensitive and usually courteous Ryoya is pushed towards a breaking point, while particularly Kasumi and Hiroki are forced to re-evaluate their loyalties and themselves – all this coming head to head in the film’s climax. The zombie project, much like in「キツツキと雨」(Kitsutsuki to Ame/The Woodsman and the Rain, 2011), hereby serves as a marvellous vehicle of absurdity, constituting a twisted reflection of the students’ school experience and, as such, a social commentary.

Stars of tomorrow: Higashide Masahiro, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Hashimoto Ai.

Although the plot of Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo is minimal, offering no more than snippets of high school life over the course of three or four short days, it shows this reality in its full and, at times, rather hideous glory. Characters are numerous and have limited screen time individually, yet feel rounded and realistic, all recognisable, in one form or another, from our own teenage days. As an ensemble piece Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo also gives a surprising number of its large cast the chance to shine. Indeed, one of the greatest delights of the film is to watch the young performers, most between 15 and 19 years of age when the drama was made, and spot the talents of those that will shape and carry Japanese cinema in the near future:

Hashimoto, in Kanseitou (2011).

There is Hashimoto Ai (b. 1996), whose name may be the most familiar one already, despite the fact that she only made her first film in 2010. That film,「告白」(Kokuhaku/Confessions), however was the small-budget ‘it’-film of its year, winning the Japan Academy’s Best Picture Award as well as a slew of other Japanese and international prizes. I myself first took notice of the seemingly always pitch-perfect Hashimoto in「管制塔」 (Kanseitou/Control Tower, 2011), which is only one of many projects she has done since her debut. Whether in Kirishima, Kanseitou or the several horror films she has to her name, directors seem to be favour her for darker and more mysterious characters. It’s a role that certainly suits her, although I do hope Hashimoto will get a chance to branch out into other genres – comedy, perhaps romance when she is a little older – so that we may enjoy her full range of acting abilities.

Kamiki, going whacko as Ninomae Juichi in「SPEC」. Cheering for the bad boy here.

Kamiki Ryunosuke (b. 1993), meanwhile, has been in the acting business significantly longer, his film credits going as far back as 1998. His start came as a voice actor and if you are a Studio Ghibli fan that watches the subtitled rather than dubbed films (like me), you will have heard him in「千と千尋の神隠し」 (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi/Spirited Away, 2001, as Boh),「ハウルの動く城」 (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro/Howl’s Moving Castle, 2004, as Marukuru),「借りぐらしのアリエッティ」 (Karigurashi no Arietti/Arrietty, 2010, as Sho), as well as in other anime studio productions such as「ピアノの森」 (Piano no Mori/The Perfect World of KAI, 2007, as Shuhei) and Hosoda Mamoru’s「サマーウォーズ」 (Samā Wōzu/Summer Wars, 2009, as Kenji). Small roles in doramas (e.g. as the younger version of a main character) soon followed, with Kamiki making his first film in 2003. His filmography is a somewhat random medley of things – as happens often with child actors – but hopefully his semi-lead status in Kirishima and his appearance in various instalments of「SPEC」(the sort of dorama that attains cult status over time) will provide him with opportunities to really stretch and prove his acting talent. (Note: You can currently watch Kamiki in the NHK dorama「小暮写眞館」/Kogure Shashinkan/Kogure Photo Studio.)

Higashide as Doumeki in「xxxHOLIC」. Need I say anything else? (Actually, I do: see next picture.)

Higashide Masahiro (b. 1988), although slightly older, is the rookie in this trio, his career having only really commenced last year, when he made one TV movie 「リセット～本当のしあわせの見つけ方～」(Risetto-Honto no Shiawase no Mitsuke Kata) and had smaller roles in a few doramas (「恋愛検定」/Renai Kentei; 「結婚しない」/Kekkon Shinai/Wonderful Single Life). It is really with Kirishima that his career began to take off, Higashide receiving both the Japan Academy’s Rookie of the Year and the Mainichi Film Awards’ Newcomer prize for his performance as Hiroki. His current turn as Doumeki in the (excellent!) live-action adaptation of the popular manga/ anime「xxxHOLIC」can only raise his standing.

「xxxHOLIC」: You thought he was just shooting plain old arrows at still targets? Nahh. This is yūrei no kyūdō (spirit archery).

Whether it is Hashimoto, Kamiki, Higashide or any other member of the Kirishima cast, the wonderful performances of these emerging talents can only bode well for the future of Japanese cinema, even more so if both bold and assured directors like Yoshida are there to guide them with their films.

Rating: 9/10

Overall Verdict: Narratively idiosyncratic and minimalistic plot-wise, Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo follows no conventions to please mainstream audiences, but prefers to assuredly forge its own way by utilising a superb young cast to hold up an all-revealing mirror to everyday high school life and beyond to deliver its message – hinted at in the original title – on the social games we play instead of truly living. Time to quit the club it is.

Bonus Bits:

• The film won a number of awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Sponichi Grand Prix Newcomer Award (for Higashide Masahiro) at the Mainichi Film Awards and Picture of the Year, Director of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing and Most Popular Film at the Japan Academy Awards.
• Other reviews: Mark Schilling for the Japan Times, Filmbiz Asia, Isugoi, Capsule Computers, SBS.com.au.
• A novel-to-manga adaptation apparently also exists.
• I love the Kirishima poster with Kamiki’s steely glance and the camera determinedly pointed at the viewer. Super-simple, but very effective. The version with life captured in the lens is equally good.

Image Gallery: 

April, April… this year is flying by… I would rather not think about it though. Instead, let’s just see what April has in store for us, film-wise mostly but also otherwise as there are some exciting events at the London Book Fair and elsewhere too.

Note: As always, I’ll update this post if I hear about any other events.

Last updated: 17/4/2013

Princess Mononoke Theatre Adaptation, New Diorama Theatre, London, UK (April 2-6, 2013) 

It’s finally here: The world’s first stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s 「もののけ姫」(Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke). The Whole Hog Theatre is in charge and everyone’s super-excited. The event long sold out (both the April and the June performances), I’m merely listing it for the sake of completeness here. You can refer to my on-going posts about the performance (see Bonus Bits at the bottom of the post).

Year of 4 Actors, Korean Film Night, KCCUK, London, UK (April 4 and 11, 2013) 

Moon So-ri, one of the KCCUK’s Year of Four Actors stars, is coming to town with her film Hahaha. It’s the final screening spotlighting her, as we will then move on to the next Korean actors, Jeon Do-yeon, as part of the event.

• April 4: 하하하 (Hahaha, 2010) & Moon So-ri Q&A – Dir. by the great Hong Sang-soo.
• April 11: 내 마음의 풍금 (Nae Maeumui Punggeum/The Harmonium in My Memory, 1999) – Dir. by Lee Youngjae (showcasing the actress Jeon Do-yeon).

「009 Re: Cyborg  Preview」and Q&A, BFI, London, UK (April 4, 2013) 

It’s not just Moon So-ri that will be in London on the night of April 4th, but also Kamiyama Kenji, the director of「009 Re: Cyborg」, which will have a preview followed by a Q&A at the BFI. 「サイボーグ 009」 (Saibōgu Zero-Zero-Nain/Cyborg 009) started as a manga in 1964 and has been transferred to the screen a number of times, this latest 2012 instalment coming from the guy who also brought us several「攻殻機動隊」(Kōkakukidōtai/Ghost in the Shell) sequels (「Stand Alone Complex」, 「S.A.C 2nd Gig」 and 「S.A.C. Solid State Society」) as well as 「東のエデン」 /Higashi no Eden/Eden of the East.)

The event has nearly sold out, so if you want to go, better get your ticket quick.

Couleur de peau: miel (Approved for Adoption, Belgium/France/South Korea/Switzerland, 2012), Leeds Young People Film Festival, Leeds, UK (April 4, 2013)

I really hope that this film makes it to London one day, because this autobiographical half-animated tale about a Korean boy adopted by Belgian parents sounds fascinating and look gorgeous. It’s directed by Laurent Boileau and animated by Jung, the adoptee whose real-life story this is.

For details, refer to my separate post on the festival.

UPDATED 7/4/2013 Studio Ghibli Double Bills, Prince Charles Cinema, London, UK (April 6 and 28, 2013) 

Double, or rather, quadruple treat (two events, four films) at the Prince Charles Cinema:

• April 6: 「天空の城ラピュタ」 (Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta/Laputa Castle in the Sky, 1986) + 「火垂るの墓」 (Hotaru no Haka/Grave of the Fireflies, 1988) 「ハウルの動く城」 (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro/Howl’s Moving Castle, 2004)*
• April 28: 「となりのトトロ」 (Tonari no Totoro/My Neighbor Totoro, 1988) 「千と千尋の神隠し」 (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi/Spirited Away, 2001) +「魔女の宅急便」 (Majo no Takkyūbin/Kiki’s Delivery Service, 1989)

The good news (IMO ) is that all screenings are subtitled. You can book here.

*Update: Some changes in the films screening due to a forthcoming home media re-lease of Hotaru no Haka and Tonari no Totoro.

Yeah, we all ♥ those epic Prince Charles Cinema Double Bills. (Side note: once I showed the cinema to friend visiting London and he said, “But they only screen old stuff”. I had to tell him that is precisely why the PCC rocks!)

For Ellen, BFI, London, UK (April 6-15, 2013, multiple screenings) 

USAmerican-made but Korean directed by Kim So-young, whose films are never to be missed. The BFI is well aware of this fact and has scheduled thirteen screenings during the month of April. Paul Dano (always wonderful) stars as a soon-to-be divorced rock musician that has never been a father to his six-year-old daughter.

Details here.

UDATED 7/4/2013 Stoker (USA, 2013), UK cinemas (7 -11 April, 2013, possibly others)

Park Chan-wook’s Stoker is still showing at some UK cinemas, including at the Prince Charles in London from April 7 – 11 (may extend). Check for details here.

Anime Double Bill, Deptford Film Club, London, UK (10 April 2013) 

Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru.

More anime treats: the Deptford Film Club will be screening Shinkai Makoto’s  「秒速5センチメートル」 (Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru/5 cm per Second, Japan, 2007) and Imaishi Hiroyuki’s「デッド リーブス」 (Deddo Rībusu/Dead Leaves, Japan, 2004). I only know Shinkai’s film, which I of course recommend. Details here.

Japanese Film Festival, Dublin, Ireland (April 11-14, 2013) 

This event doesn’t take place in the UK, but in Ireland. However, the programme is too fabulous and the location too close for me not to mention it here. Quite a large selection of  recent Japanese films will be screening, including some that are still awaiting a release in the UK:

• 「コクリコ坂から」 (Kokuriko-zaka Kara/From up on Poppy Hill, Japan, 2011) – REVIEW
• 「おおかみこどもの雨と雪」 (Ōkami No Kodomo Ame To Yuki/Wolf Children, Japan, 2012)
• 「聴こえてる、ふりをしただけ」 (Kikoeteru, Furi wo Sita Dake/Just Pretended to Hear, Japan, 2011)
• 「ベルセルク」 (Beserk/Beserk, Japan, 2012) - Film 1 「黄金時代篇Ⅰ 覇王の卵」 (Ōgon Jidai-Hen I: Haō no Tamago/The Golden Age Arc: The Egg of the King) and Film 2 「黄金時代篇Ⅱ ドルドレイ攻略」 (Ōgon Jidai-Hen II: Doldrey Kōryaku/The Golden Age Arc: The Battle for Doldrey)
• 「マイ バック ページ」 (Mai bakku pēji/My Back Page, Japan, 2011)
• 「００９Re: Cyborg」(Japan, 2012)
• 「逆転裁判 蘇る逆転」 (Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten/Phoenix Wright – Ace Attorney, Japan, 2012)
• 「レンタネコ」 (Rentaneko/Rent-a-Neko, Japan, 2012)
• 「八日目の蝉」 (Youkame no Semi/Rebirth, 2011)
• 「キツツキと雨」 (Kitsutsuki to Ame/The Woodsman and the Rain, Japan, 2011) – REVIEW
• 「テルマエ・ロマエ」 (Thermae Romae, Japan, 2012)
• Nagisa Oshima: The Man Who Left His Soul on Film (UK, 1983)

The films will all screen at the Light House Cinema. Anyone else feeling like hopping over to the Emerald Isle for a few days?

UPDATED 8/4/2013: I’ve just found out that the festival will travel across Ireland. You can find the full listings for other cities (Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford) here.

Bradford International Film Festival, Bradford (April 11-21, 2013)

The Bradford International Film Festival returns, with a few bits of cinematic Asiana on the programme:

• Tokyo Waka (USA/Japan, 2012, dir. by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson)
• Last Night (South Korea, 2012, dir. by Bae Du-ri, 16 min short)
• 《美姐》(Měi jie/The Love Songs of Tiedan, China, 2012, dir. by Hao Jie)

I’ve got more details on these films in this post and you can find the official festival website here.

UPDATED 7/4/2013 Koreeda Double Bill: 「奇跡」 (Kiseki/I Wish, 2011) and 「歩いても 歩いても」 (Aruitemo Aruitemo/Still Walking, 2008), London, UK (April 14, 2013) 

The Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley is hosting a Double Bill for films directed by Koreeda Hirokazu. More here. You also can check out my review for Kiseki here.

《海洋天堂》 (Hǎiyáng Tiāntáng/Ocean Heaven, Hong Kong/China, 2010), Asian Movies Meet Up, Roxy Bar & Screen, SE1 1LB London, UK (April 15, 2013) 

I hope I’m not giving anything too much away here, but Hǎiyáng Tiāntáng will be screening at the Asian Movies Meet Up this month. The organisers don’t explicitly name the film on their event page, but using keywords from the synopsis provided I’m pretty certain that it’s Hǎiyáng Tiāntáng.

The event is free of charge, with a quiz (prizes!) preceding the screening. More information here.

Meet the Authors: an Evening of Korean Literature, KCCUK, London, UK 

The Korean Cultural Centre is hosting a Korean literature evening with Ch’oe Yun and Jung Young Moon. Grace Koh (SOAS) will be chairing. The event is free, but places must be reserved in advance.

Overview of the Korean Publishing Market and Translation Flows in East Asia, London Book Fair, Earls Court, London, UK (April 15 and 16, 2013)  

The London Book Fair has a number of Asia-related events this year, including a talk on the Korean Publishing Market (Korea will be the featured country of next year’s LBF) and a discussion panel on Translation Flows in East Asia. Based on the panelists invited, we will definitely hear about Japan, Singapore and Korea (Deborah Smith, whom you can follow on Twitter via @londonkoreanist, will represent the Korean situation).

UPDATED 10/4/2013 돼지의 왕 (Daegieui wang/The King of Pigs, South Korea, 2011), Portsmouth, UK  

The Portsmouth Film Society is screening the Korean animation Daegieui wang at Omega Centre as part of their Spring Programme. More info here and my REVIEW.

UPDATED 17/4/2013 Ghost in the Shell Double Bill, Prince Charles Cinema, London, UK  (April 20, 2013)

I didn’t notice this was on the programme at the Prince Charles Cinema this month – perhaps it was a late addition? I have only watched the first film, but, boy, don’t miss this double bill!

• 「攻殻機動隊」 (Gōsuto In Za Sheru/Kōkaku Kidōtai/Ghost in the Shell, Japan, 1995) – REVIEW.
• 「イノセンス」 (Inosensu/Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Japan, 2005)

More info here.

UPDATE 8/4/2013「修羅雪姫」 (Shura Yuki Hime/Lady Snowblood, Japan, 1973)  Terracotta Film Club, Prince Charles Cinema, London, UK (April 24, 2013) 

Trailer on YouTube. Dir. by Fujita Toshiya. Based on a manga by Koike Kazuo and Kamimura Kazuo, Shura Yuki Hime is “a blood spattered Samurai masterpiece from the golden age of Japanese cult cinema” (quote) and apparently inspired Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill! Shura Yuki Hime has a sequel too (not screened at this event), and you can read a review of both films here. If, for some reason, you can’t make the screening and/or want to see part 2, Arrow Films UK has a DVD and Blu-ray releases for both films.

You can book on the PCC website here and also read the press release from Terracotta.

China in Britain: Myth and Realities, Westminster University, London, UK (April 27, 2013) 

An on-going project funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Translating China will host a free (RSVP required) day-long event on Archiving: China in Britain at Westminster University. (Note: click on event #5 on the website to find out details).

「ハッピーフライト」(Happī Furaito/Happy Flight, 2008), Films at the Embassy of Japan, London, UK (April 28, 2013)  

The April choice for the monthly Films at the Embassy of Japan event is Happī Furaito (dir. by Yaguchi Shinobu). As always, the screening is free but you must reserve a seat in advance (here). Book early, spaces tend to fill up quickly.

UPDATE 10/4/2013「奇跡」 (Kiseki/I Wish, 2011), Portsmouth, UK  (April 30, 2013)

Another Asian offering from the Portsmouth Film society. More information here and my REVIEW of Koreeda’s film.

What to say? I was going to introduce this post with a few words on all the food thoughts I had today thanks to filling my bag with lots of goodies from the farmers’ market today (tomatoes, for the first time in months!) and my cooking plans (1, 2, 3) for the week (to spoil my ‘little sister’ that will be visiting), but after a long day at work I’m a bit tired and too lazy to write anything much. So, we’ll get right to this week’s trailers instead.

• 《醉後一夜》 (Zuì hòu yīyè/Lacuna, China, 2012) – Dir. by Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung and Jimmy Wan Chi-Man. It’s one of those hangover films – when characters wake up the morning after and haven’t the slightest clue about what happened the night before. It’s not the kind of premise that really interests me, but this Chinese (rather than Hollywood) take on it involves a male/female couple that finds itself half-(or rather, completely) naked not only in the same bed without ever having met before, but in a bed in a furniture store. Other than having a totally blank memory, the guy can’t find his car and the girl is missing US$300,000 – but that’s only the start. Although Lacuna is unlikely to be the most original rom-com of the year, it does sound like a fun watch at the end of a long week and, judging from reviews, it’s actually a better-than-average Friday night film.
• 《明天記得愛上我》 (Míngtiān jìde ài shàng wǒ/Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, Hong Kong, 2013) – Dir. by Chen Arvin. When I recently looked over the programme for the Hong Kong International Film Festival (which is about to finish), most of the entries looked like the same-old. This one however captured my interest, because there is a twist to the couple-hits-a-crisis love story: the male half of the married couple is gay, something he has up to now hidden from the people around him, including his wife.
• 「ペタル　ダンス」 (Petaru Dansu/Petal Dance, Japan, 2013) – Dir. by Ishikawa Hiroshi. It is difficult to say what this film about. There isn’t much of plot other than that two women, Jinko and Motoko, who have been friends since university days, decide to go a road trip to find another one of their former classmates, Miki, about whom strange rumours have been been swirling. Haraki is their driver. I doubt much is going to happen, but rather this sounds like a drama exploring the feeling of its characters. The cast, by the way, is pretty impressive: Miyazaki Aoi, Ando Sakura, Fukiishi Kazue and Kutsuna Shiori are all in it – a rather interesting line-up of actresses.
• 「ゲゲゲの女房」 (Gegege no Nyobo/The Wife of Gegege, Japan, 2009) – Dir. by Suzuki Takuji. An autobiographical film about the manga artist behind Gegege no Kitaro, who, together with his wife, faced many difficulties before finding success in his work. Note: What to say about the film poster? It’s like the filmmakers want to discourage us from seeing their creation – that’s how boring it is. They couldn’t have offered up something more interesting than that, e.g. like the one below, which I believe is from the book cover from the original autobiography.

• 반창꼬 (Banchangggyo/Love 911, South Korea, 2012) – Dir. by Jeong Ki-Hun. Okay, I’ll say it right away: I’m in doubt about this one. I can’t remember how I stumbled across it in the first place and why I thought it might have Trailer Weekly potential. Looking at it again now I’m a bit worried it might be just lame – i.e. a very predictable and none-too-enlightening kind of flick about two people on the opposite end of the personality spectrum falling in love. One is Mi-soo, a doctor who is selfishly out to save herself when she misdiagnoses a patient. The other is Kang-il, a completely self-less firefighter who would give his life for another person and who still suffers from the trauma of having lost his wife a while back. Here’s a screenshot from the film, which also puts me off:

Post-K-army rite of passage (aka fanservice).

Yeah. I’m probably the only female that doesn’t dig those let’s-strip-them-down-and-show-those-abs shots that are pretty much a rite of passage for male A-list Korean actors. I mean, eye-candy is all fine and dandy but there just something rather off-puttingly objectifying when film- and drama makers insert a shower scene (or something similar) just for the sake of it (or rather, to perform fan service and show off those army abs).

• 「ライズアップ」 (Raizu Appu/Rise Up, Japan, 2009) – Dir. by Nakajima Ryo. I had a film by this director on last week’s Trailer Weekly and another one waaaaaay back. Raizu Appu, admittedly, doesn’t sound all that intriguing – a girl that recently lost her eyesight in an accident and a boy paraglider meet and get closer only for a cruel reality to be revealed – but what I have heard about Nakajima’s other projects, particularly 「俺たちの世界」 (Oretachi no Sekai/This World of Ours, Japan, 2007), makes me want to put it on the to-watch list anyhow.

Bonus Bits

• I featured 「リアル　完全なる首長竜の日」 (Riaru Kanzen Naru Kubinagaryu no Hi/Real, Japan, 2013) in a Trailer Weekly fairly recently, although at that time there was only a teaser of 45 sec available. Now a longer trailer (1:31 min) has been released. Still looking good.

Year: 2012
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean
Director: Leesong Hee-il
Screenplay:  Leesong Hee-il
Cinematography: Yoon Ji-Yoon (Baekya)
Cast: Won Tae-hee, Li Yi-kyung (Baekya); Kim Young-jae, Han Joo-wan (Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi); Kim Jae-heung, Chun Shin-hwan (Namjjokeuro Ganda)
Runtime: 75 min, 37 min, 45 min
Distribution: CinemaDal

Trailers: see below

Seen at the 27th London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival at two separate screenings.

Although there was not all that much on offer from South East Asia at this year’s London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the BFI did do a mini-feature on Leesong Hee-il, whom they called “one of the most exciting contemporary gay Asian directors” in their festival programme. Leesong has, by now, quite a number of films to his name, all featuring a gay storyline in one way or another. His cinematic debut came in 2004 with a short featured in 동백꽃 (Dongbaegkkoch/ Camellia Project, 2004), but he is probably better known for his 2006 film 후회하지 않아 (Huhoehaji Anha/No Regret). In 2009 the director contributed to the 황금시대 (Hwang-geumsidae/Short! Short! Short!) omnibus project and also made the feature-length 탈주 (Talju/Break Away, 2009), finally following up in 2012 with the ‘One Night and Two Days’ trilogy of 백야 (Baekya/White Night), 지난여름, 갑자기 (Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi/Suddenly, Last Summer) and 남쪽으로 간다 (Namjjokeuro Ganda/Going South), three unconnected stories which all began as shorts but the first of which was later extended into a 75-minute movie.

What the films of this Leesong trilogy share is a dichotomy in the relationships at the heart of each tale, each with one character either concealing or completely in denial about his homosexuality, and another significantly more at ease with it.

백야 (Baekya/White Night)

Note: Baekya had its European premiere at the 2013 Berlinale where it screened in the Panorama section. It has been working the international film festival circuit, with showings in Vancouver, Hong Kong and Jeonju.

In Baekya, Won-gyu (Won Tae-hee), who works as a pilot for a German airline returns to South Korea after an extended absence of two years, but only intends to stay for a single night. Haunted by a homophobic assault from his past, he grapples with the South Korean society’s judgement of homosexuality and escapes by living constantly in transit. His home are anonymous and ever-changing hotel rooms, his connections to people are temporary and rootless. It is with this intention of a completely non-committal encounter that he meets Tae-jun (Lee Yi-Kyung, a familiar face from K-drama 학교 2013/ Hakkyo 2013/ School 2013) whom he knows from chat websites. While Tae-Jun is a few years younger and has a less esteemed and much lower-paying job as a motor bike courier, he is much more comfortable in his own skin, including with his sexual preferences. He does not want sex just for the sake of it and, even if not per se opposed to a one-night stand, harshly rejects Won-gyu, seeking a more meaningful connection than a romp in a dark public toilet on top of an empty hill. With the night only having just begun, these two nearly-strangers however continue to gravitate towards each other. Tae-jun learns, bit by bit, about Won-gyu’s painful memory, while the latter, perhaps for the first time ever, sees an individual that just accepts himself as he is and refuses to run away: “I will live here,” Tae-jun states emphatically, “and I will live here well”.

Healing encounters.

Won-gyu’s internal conflict is brought to the fore by an external one when he runs into someone from his past. This climax comes surprisingly early, not quite to the benefit of the narrative, reminding viewers that Baekya also started as a short and, perhaps, might have done even better to remain one. Furthermore, some of Tae-jun’s actions, particularly his choice to stick with Won-gyu, whom he barely knows and who exhibits some rather erratic and later also violent behaviour, for the night are not quite understandable. Whatever it is that keeps pushing Tae-jun back to Won-gyu’s side – sexual attraction, sympathy, pity – his presence is what offers the latter a chance to heal and realise that a different reality may be possible: that there may be hope and reason for him to return to South Korea more than once every few years, for more than a single night.

지난여름, 갑자기 (Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi/Suddenly, Last Summer)

Significantly shorter at 37 minutes, Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi raises a number of difficult questions, as it is not just the characters’ sexuality that is the focus here. Kyung-hoon (Kim Young-jae), age 35, is a teacher and hides the fact that he is homosexual from probably most around him, but certainly from the people at his workplace. Unfortunately  for him Sang-woo (Han Joo-wan), a student of his, has discovered the secret, having run into him in a gay bar. Sang-woo is threatening to reveal it all with the help of some clandestinely captured pictures from that encounter unless Kyung-hoo agrees to spend the day with him. Fearing for his job, Kyung-hoo is forced to comply, but the tension between the characters may be due to more than Sang-woo’s blackmailing tactics: there is a suggestion that the teacher has feelings for his student. Sang-woo, who is forthright about his own sexual preferences (he reveals he already told his mother in middle school that he liked boys) as well as his love for the older man, insinuates as much, but Kyung-hoo’s reactions are ambiguous and non-transparent.

Wisdom of adulthood: Hope for happiness all lost.

There is an uneasy polarity within each character. Sang-woo’s youth comes with a certain innocence and the freedom to be, and be happy: to lose himself in the moment and yell at fish in the water with excitement, to act spontaneously and place his headphones over Kyung-hoon’s ears, temporarily transporting him into another world, less controlled by society and by laws. Sang-woo however is also immature, seemingly unaware of the implications of what he is asking from his teacher. Kyung-hoon, meanwhile, is wiser, thanks to his age and experience. Caught between desire and responsibility, he understands only too well that a relationship is not an option, but seems to have lost hope altogether, his face permanently engraved with profound loneliness. In the situation with Sang-woo specifically no good outcome is possible for him, for he cannot and must not even reveal his feelings to the person he likes, but instead must hurt him – a dilemma that causes him great anguish but that Sang-woo has yet to realise in the film’s climax.

The crux of Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi also lies in the fact that Sang-woo might be precisely the kind of person that Kyung-hoon needs, much like Won-gyu needs Tae-jun in Baekya. Although their significant age gap and roles as teacher/student are socially and ethically problematic, the latter issue may soon dissolve as we know that Kyung-hoon is desperately trying to find job at another school. The former, meanwhile, would be irrelevant (at least if the parties involved so deemed it) were it not for the fact that one is an adult, and one a minor. With Sang-woo being 18 and thus less than a year from the legal age of consent in South Korea (19), we are however implicitly pointed to that necessary yet always somewhat arbitrary line between child and grown-up. As much as we would perhaps like it to be, Sang-woo and Kyung-hoon’s situation is not black and white, but rather treads on blurry borderlines: a year or two in the future there might be hope for what they each currently want, but cannot have.

남쪽으로 간다 (Namjjokeuro Ganda/Going South)

The final part in the trilogy, Namjjokeuro Ganda, follows two men on a journey that is, despite the title of the short, without a definite direction and destination. Gi-tae (Kim Jae-heung) and Jun-young (Chun Shin-hwan) met during their mandatory two-year stint in the Korean army. Jun-young, who has returned to civilian life by now, is driving Gi-tae back to the base after his last leave (presumably meaning that the end of Gi-tae’s service is nearing), but is rather harsh towards his friend. Their relationship from army times has clearly broken down, Jun-young telling Gi-tae not to contact him again. The soldier however is not willing to let go and spikes Jun-young’s coffee with sleeping pills, and, as soon as the drugs take effect, takes over the wheel, heading south – or nowhere in particular really.

Soldier-kidnapper, southbound to nowhere.

When Jun-young finally awakens, he is, unsurprisingly, furious, but so is Gi-tae, who confronts his former lover/friend about broken promises. There are two things that crystallise through their emotional as much as physical fight: firstly, Jun-young is completely in denial not only about his one-time feelings for Gi-tae but his homosexuality in general (he dismisses their former relationship as something that happens to many soldiers when they get lonely) and, secondly, Gi-tae’s character is clearly losing it and very much overstepping boundaries. Indeed, the latter’s behaviour is not justifiable and yet we sympathise with him more so than Jun-young, because his pain is so tangible. Initially cool and collected, Gi-tae’s feelings are more and more externalised through physical things: he photographs Jun-young in the midst of one-last-time lovemaking, not to blackmail him but to materially record feelings that his lover will not admit to in words, engages in a savage mud-fight with Jun-young that almost ends bloodily and chucks down one bottle of beer after another, his state of increasing intoxication leading him to dance like a lunatic in a dark tunnel, music blaring over the car’s loudspeakers. Jun-young cannot be blamed for wanting to distance himself from this Gi-tae, who has significant emotional issues that may run deeper than this particular rejection. And yet one must ask, how desperate must one be to go AWOL and quasi-kidnap someone, acts that can only have serious repercussions? Open-ended like all parts of the Leesong Hee-ill trilogy, Namjjokeuro Ganda feels bleaker than either Baekya or Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi, with a long journey to happiness still ahead for both characters.

Explosion of feelings: A fight till…?

Within this trilogy, Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi is my personal favourite – not because it is necessarily that most accomplished film among all three, but because of the deeply uncomfortable and highly problematic questions that it raises about but also very much beyond homosexual relationships and society. Unlike in 후회하지 않아 (Huhoehaji Anha/No Regret, 2006), the focus in Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi as well as the other ‘One Night and Two Days’ segments, is entirely on characters’ feelings, employing simple narratives and significantly less twists than Leesong Hee-il’s full-length debut film.

Baekya.

Feelings, of course, are complicated things: they can surreptitiously sneak up on us. Although they may at times be inappropriate, immoral or even verboten, their subconscious development is not something individuals can straight-out be condemned for, only acting on such feelings can. With Baekya, Jinanyeorum, Gapjagi and Namjjokeuro Ganda all inhabiting a space where characters are somewhere in between – having begun to realise what they feel, they must decide now how to act – Leesong puts the camera lens on the most difficult moment of all, when some individuals will triumph and others falter. Although not always easy to watch, the raw honesty of these stories is commendable.

Rating: 8/10 (joint rating for all three films)

Overall Verdict: Leesong Hee-il confirms his talents as a filmmaker with a trilogy consisting of two shorts and one feature-length film, telling stories of visual and aural beauty, but perhaps more importantly of emotional depth even within shorter runtimes. The raw honesty of these tales – all focusing on the often deeply problematic feelings of its characters, all posing difficult but very real questions – is commendable.

Bonus Bits:

• A note on the cinematography and, especially, the music in the films: Leesong Hee-il’s filmmaking has in been praised in the past for its notably assured and beautiful cinematography for an indie production. The visuals are indeed often memorable, but equally so is the musical score of Leesong’s films. Songs – ranging from Western popular music to Korean ballads – are chosen with care, many instilling a sense of peace, nostalgia or even wistfulness, rather in contrast with the inner turmoil experienced by characters.
• I’m rather pleased that Lee Yi-Kyung, one of the cast members of the popular Hakkyo 2013 drama, is one of the leads in Baekya. It still happens that actors in (South East Asian) gay films get typecast, so it’s great to see Lee’s debut film has not stopped him from participating in more mainstream projects. He currently stars in the NTV drama 나인: 아홉 번의 시간여행 (Nain: Ahob beonui Shiganyeohaeng/Nine: Nine Times Time Travel, 2013) as the younger version of one of the secondary characters and is certainly a talent to watch.
• Some websites give One Night and Two Days as the English title for Baekya. However, I think that is actually the name of the entire trilogy. 
• Q&A with Leesong Hee-il via Hanguk Yeonghwa: Part 1 and Part 2.
• Other reviews: Modern Korean Cinema (Baekya), Hanguk Yeonghwa (Baekya; Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi; Namjjokeuro Ganda), Better than Disneyland (Baekya), London Korean Links (joint review for entire trilogy).

Image Gallery:

Note: Images 1-6 from Baekya, 7-9 from Jinanyeoreum, Gapjagi, 10-12 from Namjjokeuro Ganda.

I didn’t quite manage to finish this Trailer Weekly last night, staying out somewhat late to attend one final screening of the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (the Leesong Hee-il double bill). I rather enjoyed all films I watched as part of LLGFF this year (reviews to come), although I was struck by the fact that at most events viewers were predominantly male. Admittedly, except for آینه های روبرو (Aynehaye Rooberoo/Facing Mirrors, Iran/Germany, 2011), a drama on transgender identity, all films I saw focused on male-male relationships, but still… Does this mean that the audience of this festival is mostly made up of gay attendees? (If so, why?) And that those will often gravitate towards films reflecting their own sexuality/gender?

Trailers now:

• 데이지 (Deiji/Daisy, South Korea, 2006) – Dir. by Lau Wai Keung. It always makes my day when someone wanders over to this blog, thinking it’s a good place to find a review for a particular film they have seen or want to see. Unfortunately, there are still lots of films I haven’t reviewed, so when Raine asked about Deiji I had to admit I hadn’t even heard of it before(but felt honoured she thought I was the one to ask). I had to check out the film of course, which, it turns out, is about an Amsterdam-set love triangle between Hye-young, Jeong-woo and Park Yi. Hye-young works as a painter on weekends. Jeong-wo is an interpol cop, while Park Yi is a criminal – a hit man to be exact. Both develop feelings for Hye-young, but keep their real identities a secret, wooing her only from afar (e.g. by leaving flowers on her doorstep).
• 「ただいま、ジャクリーン」(Tadaima, Jacqueline/Tadaima, Jacqueline, Japan, 2013) – Dir. by Ohku Akiko. Every now and then I check if workaholic Sometani Shota – who keeps delivering with his performance in the increasingly awesome「xxxHOLIC」dorama these days – has anything new lined up. One of his forthcoming projects for 2013 is Tadaima, Jacqueline, which fits right into Sometani’s diverse and often unusual (bizarre?) filmography: he plays Satoru, an orphan, who lost his parents as a 5-year old in a bus accident. At the scene of the accident there was also Jacqueline, a ventriloquist doll, which reappears in his life thirteen years later when he is asked to perform with the puppet. Still carrying the trauma of the accident with him, Satoru is not keen on the idea. Where this story is going I wouldn’t know but a) Sometami’s film choices are always worth checking out and b) he’s a stellar actor. ’nuff said.
• 「東京無印女子物語」 (Tokyo Mujirushi Joshi Monogatari/Tokyo Nameless Girl’s Story, Japan, 2009) – Dir. by Ohku Akiko. Never having heard of the director of Tadaima, Jaqueline, I had to investigate her filmography further. It’s fairly short – Ohku has made five films to date – but includes other projects of interest, in particular Tokyo Mujirushi Joshi Monogatari, which takes two stories from a manga anthology and makes them into one narrative about two girls, now living in fast-paced Tokyo, that must adapt to the speed of life there and the changes that it brings, including to the relationship with each their boyfriends.
• 「千年の愉楽」 (Sennen no Yuraku/The Millennial Rapture, Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Wakamatsu Koji. Released in Japan a few weeks back, Sennen no Yuraku is another current project of Sometani’s, although in this case he plays one of several leads, each one a member of a cursed family. Specifically, it is the men of the Nakamoto clan that all seem doomed to infidelity and faithlessness, generation after generation. Reviews are rather mixed, most commenting that it is not the sort of tale that will travel well beyond the borders of Japan, but I’ll still give it a try: there’s Sometani after all, plus Kora Kengo as one of the other cursed guys.
• 「ボクたちの交換日記」 (Bokutachi no Kokan Nikki/My Diary of Our Exchange, Japan, 2013) – The credit for #5 of this Trailer Weekly goes to Genki Jason, who featured it as part of his Saturday round-up of films newly released in Japanese cinemas. Bokutachi no Kokan Nikki is about Yohei and Koji who make up a comedy duo but have found no success even after twelve years of working together. They decide to go their separate ways and also begin to wonder whether they should be in the entertainment industry at all. Ito Atsushi and Koide Keisuke star and while their faces look familiar, I have to say I don’t know either one too well – I have only seen them in small roles (though a number of Koide’s bigger projects have been on my to-watch list for a while).
• 「スイッチを押すとき」 (Switch wo osu toki/When I Kill Myself, Japan, 2011) – Dir. by Nakajima Ryo. Not horror, but a bleakie this one certainly promises to be: Switch wo osu toki takes a very timely Japanese topic – the high suicide rate among youth – and employs it for a plot set in the year 2026. In this future the national government is conducting experiments with children, placing them under constant surveillance. The children a given a device that allows them to request an instant death and are encouraged to do so, leading most to follow through. The handful that survive remain in the facility and are treated more like objects than human beings, and are even only referred to by their number rather than name. Then Yohei (played by Bokutachi no Kokan Nikki’s Koide), a new and much friendlier warden, arrives and things slowly begin to change. However, not everything is at it seems. Although Koide plays a real character within the story, I wonder if his function might not be more metaphorical, as part of a film that wishes to raise questions about youth suicide in Japan.

Year: 2012
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Director: Nishikawa Miwa
Screenplay: Nishikawa Miwa
Cinematography: Yanagishima Katsumi
Soundscore: more rhythm
Cast: Matsu Takako, Abe Sadao, Tanaka Rena, Kimura Tae, Suzuki Sawa, Ando Tamae, Ebara Yuka
Runtime: 137 min

Trailer:

Seen at the film’s UK premiere at the 56th BFI London International Film Festival.

Yume Uru Futari appeared on quite a number of Top 10 Films of 2012 lists. Tom Mes, Catherine Munroe Hotes and Eija Niskanen all counted it among their favourites in a Midnight Eye feature and Jason Grey (Loaded Films) included it as part of the “10% goodness” of cinema of the past year over at Wildgrounds, to name some examples. Having missed Nishikawa Miwa’s previous film 「ディア・ドクター」 (Dia Dokuta/Dear Doctor, Japan, 2009) at the Japan Touring Film Programme earlier in 2012, I was looking forward to Yume Uru Futari, which had quite an intriguing premise: Kanya (Abe Sadao) and Satoko (Matsu Takako), a married couple, lose their livelihood – a small izakaya (pub) that they run together – in a fire. While Satoko manages to find temporary work in a ramen shop, Kanya does not and aimlessly wanders the street, ending up in the arms of another woman on a night of too many drinks. Other than leaving him with a guilty conscience, Kanya also walks away from the one-night stand with a wad of cash, which eventually saves him from his wife’s wrath. Initially furious about Kanya’s betrayal, Satoko quickly realises that this may be an easy way for them to achieve their dreams (opening a new izakaya) and devises a plan for her husband to charm his way into multiple women’s hearts and money out of their pockets by promising them marriage.

Satako and Kanya are complete opposites of one another, something that becomes ever clearer as the story plays out. Satako, unsurprisingly, wears the trousers in the relationship, masterminding and micromanaging the marriage scam ruthlessly, without the tiniest tinge of guilt. Kanya, meanwhile, is a weakling: guilt-ridden because of his drink-fuelled sexual escapade and intrinsically kind-hearted, deceiving innocent people is something that weighs heavily on his mind. However, as the one that committed the first act of betrayal, he has no choice but to do what Satako asks him to if he wants to save his marriage: he thus plays slave to various lonely and needy women, cheering them on in sporting competitions, chopping vegetables for dinner and even sexually satisfying them. Satoko’s consent, indeed, encouragement, in all this makes for a strange dynamic, hinting that there may more behind the marriage scam than the wish to achieve a dream. Rather, it is a cruel form of punishment that Satoko is unleashing on her husband.

Scheming wife.

It is this dynamic, this intriguing tension, that drives the film – or would, were it not for the fact that an all-important detail is overlooked: that the person meant to pull off the act of deception is a bit of wimp and, as the scene depicting the aftermath of a drunken night out illustrates, a terrible lier. While we might be convinced that Kanya is capable of deceiving someone over the phone – ruthless Satako is seated right next to him after all, dictating the script of the conversation word for word –, it is much less believable that he manages to trick the women targeted when he is on his own, without the back-up of his fierce wife, in the victims’ kitchens or bedrooms. Kanya may be able to temporarily distract himself by the acts of kindness he performs (his giving nature makes it obvious that he genuinely enjoys helping his victims and deeply sympathises with them about their woes), but his romantic affection is still feigned – and yet he manages to make love to a couple of them as if he were some sort of Don Juan.

Yume Uru Futari’s climax also feels rather contrived as pieces fall into place rather too easily. [Slight spoiler alert] A knife is dropped. A child finds it the next day because somehow it has gone unnoticed (despite its size and all). That much we might still buy, but then things really come to a head as random people show up just at that moment and somehow everyone freaks out, the situation spinning out of control. Things get bloody, lies follow and are never cleared up – it’s an exciting final twist perhaps, but sense it does not make so much. [End spoiler alert]

What Yume Uru Futari does contain is an insightful portrayal of some of the side characters in the story, in particular Minagawa Hitomi (Ebara Yuka), a rather large and butch weight-lifter, who is so very unlike the petite, kawaii women that typically appear in Japanese films and especially doramas and whose pain at society’s prejudice towards herself is acutely tangible. Others have also praised the performances of lead actors Matsu Takako and Abe Sadao (Matsu was nominated for Best Actress at the Japan Academy Awards) as well as the cinematography, but neither particularly stood out to me.

The husband who has lost his way.

The festival screening included a Q&A with Nishikawa Miwa who had flown in from Japan earlier that day. While it is always a fantastic opportunity to be able to ask the very people that made the film questions directly, not every Q&A session works – and, for me, this one was of them. Rather that offering new insights into the film by sharing details unknown (or even unknowable) to viewers, Nishikawa primarily fell into explanations of what this and that meant in Yume Uru Futari, how certain scenes were supposed to be interpreted, which feelings precisely they were meant to evoke. Yet such things are not for a director to elucidate post-screening, but to communicate through the film itself, while we are in the midst of watching – for if we must be told how a moment in Yume Uru Futari should have made us feel, rather making us feel that way, something has failed.

You may still want to give Yume Uru Futari a try – the general reception of the film has been largely positive. For myself, Nishikawa’s fourth feature-length creation is not so much a terrible or unwatchable film, but a rather mixed bag of things, with characters and motivations I can’t quite comprehend (Why is it that Satako and Kanya stay together?). Yume Uru Futari‘s premise may intrigue, but narrative developments are less than compelling at times.

Overall verdict: Containing an unusual, indeed intriguing story at its core – a man that befriends and seduces them with his charms to scam them out of money, all with the blessing of his wife – Yume Uru Futari has gaps particularly in the portrayal of one of its central characters that make its story not quite compelling.

Rating: 6.5/10

Bonus Bits:

• Other films of Nishikawa Miwa include the previously mentioned「ディア・ドクター」 (Dia Dokuta/Dear Doctor, Japan, 2009), as well as「ゆれる」(Yurera/Sway, 2006) and「蛇イチゴ」(Hebi Ichigo/Wild Berries, 2003).
• Other reviews: Variety, Japan Times, Isugoi and Twitchfilm (generally with a more positive verdict than mine).

Image Gallery:

Seen at the ICA as part of the Pan-Asia Film Festival. A special Thank you! goes to the Coventry University East Asia Film Society (CUEAFS) for two free tickets.

Although I watch quite a lot of films, there are generally few shorts among them. I like to be entertained for an hour or two because it’s a length that allows a decent amount of development in a story and characters. When there is a film festival, it is for this reason that when I have to choose between seeing a feature film or multiple 5-, 10-, 20-minute clips, I’ll habitually always go for the former and leave the latter as an afterthought – as also happened when the Pan-Asia Film Festival rolled around. Then CUEAFS had a ticket competition for the HK Fresh Wave Shorts screening on Twitter and somehow I got lucky (and I didn’t even mean to… only retweeted to spread the news about the competition).

“Fresh Wave” is a Hong Kong-based festival for short films that was first organised in 2005 and originally part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. In 2010 it went independent, becoming an event in its own right to showcase the best of young, local talent by making grants of 40,000 HK$ available to filmmakers aged 18-35 and pairing them up with mentors from the industry – Mabel Cheung and the fabulous Herman Yau having been among them. The best shorts receive awards and younger directors can compete in the special student category. The festival also screens a selection of international shorts each year.

On the programme at Pan-Asia were four of the best films from the 2012 round of Fresh Wave, all award winners: 《野犬與貓咪》 (Yěquǎn yǔ māomī/The Little One), 《忘語花》(Wàng yǔ huā/Flowers with Aphasia), 《無眠夜行》(Wú mián yèxíng/On Sleepless Roads, the Sleepless Goes) and《冬去》(Dong/Dong).

《野犬與貓咪》 (Yěquǎn yǔ māomī/The Little One), dir. by Tam Wai-ching, 28 mins

Award: Fresh Wave Best Creativity Award (Student Division) 2012

Synopsis: Yěquǎn yǔ māomī is about a teenage boy and his stepsister. Their life is a deeply unhappy one as the boy’s father is abusive and the girl’s mother pays no attention to them, leaving them only one place to find solace: with each other. When the boy’s father discovers their relationship, the situation escalates.

It’s not a story we haven’t seen before in some way, but it is one that is worth telling again and again as it gives voice to the victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Tam’s film opens with black-and-white shots and carefully chosen angles that convey the suffering of a small child hauntingly through images, immediately signalling a home that is not normal. Then colours flood in and take us into the present, the child now a teenage boy. More jumps back and forth in time follow, some lasting no longer than a few seconds. It’s an effective approach to fill in some details for the characters and their backstory, but also one that can make the film feel rather choppy at times. There is too much material covered in too little time – Yěquǎn yǔ māomī is an example of a short that really should have been a feature length film.

《忘語花》(Wàng yǔ huā/Flowers with Aphasia), dir. by Li Sum-yiet, 29 mins

Awards: Fresh Wave Award 2012; Fresh Wave Best Film Award (Open Division) 2012

Synopsis: One character is a gruff, middle-aged florist, the other a persistent little boy who wants a wreath made in the shape of a teddy bear. Not being the sort of customer that usually appears in his shop, the florist initially ignores the boy but as the child returns day after day, it gets harder to disregard him.

Fancy cinematography, powerful sound or other film trickery of sorts are not what makes Wàng yǔ huā the gem that it is: it is its story. Although simple – no more than an anecdote really – the narrative that unfolds is precious and unexpectedly moving. Dare I say that not one eye was left dry in the cinema by the time the credits rolled? Not surprisingly, Wàng yǔ huā was a double award winner at the 2012 Fresh Wave Festival and the audience at the Pan-Asia Film Festival too voted for it as “Best Short” of the selection screened.

《無眠夜行》(Wú mián yèxíng/On Sleepless Roads, the Sleepless Goes), dir. by Isabella Candice Lam, 20 mins

Award: Fresh Wave Best Creativity Award (Open Division) 2012

Synopsis: One night a minivan driver observes a crime and intervenes, ending up in a bloody fight with a robber. The police however is not quite willing to believe his story.

In terms of soundscore and cinematography Wú mián yèxíng scores high, indeed, particularly in terms of the former it was probably the most accomplished one in this selection for Fresh Wave shorts. Sounds and visuals however aren’t enough to make a good film – an interesting story is needed as well. Using a non-chronological narrative that commences with the minivan driver – his face bloodied, his eyes downcast – being harshly interrogated by a police man, the potential for that story is there but somehow deflates like a balloon slowly losing air as the plot progresses. What seems like a great, dark mystery at first just becomes a bunch of policemen distrustful of a young lad, lacking a twist that something that could enliven the tale and turn it into something fresh.

《冬去》(Dong/Dong), dir. by Li Yushan, 23 mins

Awards: Fresh Wave Best Film Award (Student Division) 2012; Fresh Wave Best Script (Student Division) 2012

Synopsis: Dong and Nuannuan are two 12-year olds that live somewhere in the Chinese countryside. Every day they train hard at their local performance arts school, hoping to stand on the stage of the Beijing Opera in the future.

When the organisers of the Pan-Asia Festival asked viewers to choose their favourite short, I didn’t quite play by the rules and voted for two: the lovely《忘語花》(Wàng yǔ huā/Flowers with Aphasia) and this creation by Li Yushan. I wasn’t surprised that Wàng yǔ huā beat out Dong, for it is certainly the more accessible film of the two. With a meta-narrative of traditional performance arts set within the story, Li’s work is not only the most ‘Chinese’ contribution among the Fresh Wave quartet of shorts, but also more complex: On the surface it is a tale of two ambitious students who are approaching the cusp of adulthood, their emotions stirring. Nuannuan likes Dong, whose attention however lies elsewhere – with the girl’s young aunt. It’s not quite love, but rather a “nameless affection” (quote), somewhere in between an innocent boyhood crush on a beautiful woman and a longing for a maternal figure in place of his dead mother. The auntie, fortunately, is sensitive enough to understand Dong’s confused feelings, perhaps in part because of her own situation. A relationship has fallen apart and her family wishes to set her up with someone else. Nuannuan, who currently lives with her, is openly dismissive, making faces and criticising her – within earshot of the aunt – when talking to her mother on the phone. A sad reject the woman may seem, but in her interactions with the children, particularly Dong, we see that she is a much more interesting character, delicately attuned to the people around her and sufficiently confident in her sense of self, even if never raising her voice in defense against personal criticism.

Childhood memories.

To convey all this within 23 minutes is quite an achievement, but Li Yushan manages even more as Dong is further infused with metaphors and symbolism. Some of these – the story told within the opera practice sessions – are largely lost in translation, as the songs are not subtitled, though we discern unrequited love there too, the female character tugging at the clothes of the male one, who fails to respond. There are also the characters’ names (Dong means ‘winter’, Nuannuan ‘warmth), diametrically opposed, and an ominous black balloon in the flashback to Dong’s otherwise happy childhood memories of his mother, all adding their bit to the tale. Li Yushang furthermore demonstrates an eye for compelling cinematography, working with Chen Shufan, Luo Yuanhao and additional support from Diogo Martins behind the camera. Flashbacks are visually distinct and scenes such as the children practicing their scales outdoors are ingenious, making an ordinary routine an extraordinary moment.

Dong is a film full of promise of a talented director that I can’t wait to see more of. With such emotional and intellectually engaging fare offered in less than half an hour, I simply have to wonder what Li would create at feature-length and keep my fingers crossed for such a project to become a reality sooner rather than later.

Bonus Bits

• Official website of the Fresh Wave Film Festival (in Chinese and English)

Posting early today as I’m off to see two films at the BFI Lesbian & Gay Film Festival this afternoon/evening (with a visit to Chinatown in between).

• 「 桐島、部活やめるってよ」(Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo/The Kirishima Thing, Japan, 2012) – Dir. by Yoshida Daihachi. I’ll confess: I accidentally watched this one a couple of days ago. I was looking for some lightweight entertainment for my tired brain (ideally a dorama), stumbled across this and totally didn’t realise what it was (i.e. that film that just won Best Picture at the Japan Academy Awards last week). It came with with the Japanese title only and no cover image. The Kirishima in itself didn’t ring a bell because I hadn’t really been paying attention to the film previously and the synopsis was super-short and vague. So I started watching, thinking it be some perfect-for-tired-brain romance (or something of that sort) that you forget about as soon as you’ve seen it… but I quickly realised this was a whole box of other things. A box of complicated, intriguing, awesome things. It kind of reminded me of 「生きてるものはいないのか」(Ikiteru Mono Wa Inai No Ka/Isn’t Anyone Alive?, Japan 2012), though it is not absurd but realistic. I don’t want to give away anything about the story – let’s just say it follows a bunch of high school students over a few days – but can someone please screen this at whichever Asian film festival is coming up next in London or release it on DVD? I want to watch it again, properly and pronto. Note: Superb cast too. There’s Kamiki Ryunosuke, whom I hadn’t seen in anything before but instant-mesmerised me (you know, like Matsuda Shota), Hashimoto Ai, who was pitch-perfect in「管制塔」 (Kanseitou/Control Tower, Japan, 2011) and probably has been pitch-perfect in everything else she has ever starred in (she is definitely one to watch) and also Higashide Masahiro, who keeps getting more interesting as Doumeki in the currently airing xxxHOLIC (though he doesn’t beat Sometani’s Watanuki… but no one beats Sometani ). UPDATE 6/4/2013: Review added on Otherwhere.
• 「遠くの空に消えた」 (Toku no sora ni kieta/Into the Faraway Sky, Japan, 2007) – Dir. by Yukisada Isao. Well, Kamiki Ryunosuke was mesmerising, so I decided to check out other films he has done. He is not even twenty yet, but has quite a film- and TV-ography, mostly small roles of course. In Toku no Sora ni Kieta he is one of the leads, playing a boy who moves to a new town. Although he initially clashes with Kohei, they become friends – brought together by Hiharu, a strange girl who stands on top of a hill looking for the UFO that took away her father. The children still dream and try to make Hihahu’s wish come true, the adults, submersed too deeply in reality, fight and block their path. A coming of age story of sorts I guess. Note: Kamiki has a dorama coming up at the end of this month – 「小暮写眞館」 (Kogure Shashinkan/Kogure Photo Studio). Can’t wait. I have a feeling he’s another young actor to look out for!
• 《南方小羊牧場》 (Nánfāng xiǎo yáng mùchǎng/When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep, Taiwan, 2012) – Dir. by Hou Chi-Jan. Gotta love that title. This is more light-weight romantic comedy fare, but it seems entertaining enough. There is Tung, who works in a photocopy shop. He is copying papers from a cram school and notices a sheep that appears on sheets, the drawings creating a story over the different days. The artist is Yang, who is a teacher at the cram school and finds herself bored –hence the doodles. Though her students don’t notice what she has been doing, Tung does. I wouldn’t expect anything too deep or new, but I wouldn’t mind watching it on a lazy Friday.
• 「監禁探偵」 (Kankin Tantei/Captivity Detective, Japan) – Dir. by Takuro Oikawa. A mystery that is set to be released in Japan in June. A murder has been committed. A young man and a young woman are both in the apartment where the crime was committed. The man suspects the woman might have some involvement and ties her to a bed while he investigates. The woman, somewhat scantily clad, doesn’t just lie there quietly, but lets him know that she too has detective skills that could help him uncover the truth – or so she says. It’s an odd set-up, but ohhhh, oozing with all kinds of possibilities. Flirtation. Manipulation. And a “smell of death” (quote).
• 「桜、ふたたびの加奈子」 (Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako/Cherry Blossoms, Kanako’s Once More, Japan, 2013) – Dir. by Kurimura Minoru. I wonder what kind of film this will be: it has a story that could become overly dramatic in a we-have-seen-this-before way, but there is an interesting cast. Hirosue Ryoko (the wonderful lead in 「ゼロの焦点」(Zero no Shōten/Zero Focus, Japan, 2009) is Yoko, whose daughter Kanako suddenly dies in an accident. Yoko’s world falls apart. She tries to commit suicide, survives – but continues to act strangely. Her husband Nobuki (Inagaki Goro, who recently tried my patience with an infuriating character he played in the wonderful dorama「流れ星」/Nagareboshi, 2010) struggles to help Yoko. Then Yoko meets Masami, a high school student that is pregnant, and becomes convinced that Masami’s child is a reincarnation of her own. The director is a relative newbie (this is his second film), so Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako could be hit or miss either way. Film poster: about as atrocious (and boring) as they get…
• 《浮城謎事》(Fúchéng mí shì/Mystery, China, 2012) – Dir. by Lou Ye. I’m not so sure about this one either, which I picked off some Film Award nominees list. Here too we have a woman whose world crumbles before her eyes, but for very different reasons: Lu Jie lives a fairly happy life with her husband Yongzhao and their daughter. One day she sees Yongzhao enter a hotel with a young woman. While this is bad enough, there is more to come: a few hours later the young woman dies in an accident with a car, except that the police believe it was no accident, but murder. Lu Jie slowly comes to realise that her husband has a double life, and one that is very, very dark. The trailer looks super-intense, but I’m not sure if it will not be just a little bit too much (you know, a too contrived plot line).

Bonus Bits

• Genki Jason did a fabulous Great East Japan Earthquake Aftermath on Film post. Do have a look at it.
• As 「コクリコ坂から」 (Kokuriko-zaka Kara/From up on Poppy Hill, Japan, 2011) was released in US cinemas this week, there have been a few feature articles on the film, including this  Miyazaki Goro interview.