Racism has many faces, but two of its roots are definitely misconception and the fear of the unknown. Nobuyuki Miyake directs a 17-minute short that highlights just the fact.
“Siren” is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh
Beginning in frantic pace and constant flashbacks that are interspersed with what is happening in the present, “Siren” unfolds like a thriller, as we watch a Middle Eastern man, Abbas, breaking into the apartment of an elderly man, wrestling with him while carrying a knife, and eventually picking him up. The scenes looks like a murder attempt, and the images, the violin music, the siren sounds, and the tension that derives from them add to this sense. As the flashbacks show, however, this is a whole other case, involving the false assumptions of an old man, which are intensified by the language obstacle, as the two protagonists do not speak each other’s language,...
“Siren” is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh
Beginning in frantic pace and constant flashbacks that are interspersed with what is happening in the present, “Siren” unfolds like a thriller, as we watch a Middle Eastern man, Abbas, breaking into the apartment of an elderly man, wrestling with him while carrying a knife, and eventually picking him up. The scenes looks like a murder attempt, and the images, the violin music, the siren sounds, and the tension that derives from them add to this sense. As the flashbacks show, however, this is a whole other case, involving the false assumptions of an old man, which are intensified by the language obstacle, as the two protagonists do not speak each other’s language,...
- 10/10/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japan Foundation Asia Center and Tokyo International Film Festival have uploaded the first of their omnibus film series, “Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016: Reflections.” This film is in and of itself a compilation of three shorts; industry veterans Brillante Ma Mendoza, Isao Yukisada, and Sotho Kulikar illustrate three tales interrelating Japan to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Cambodia. While their plotlines are disconnected, their political arguments are not. Loosely tied to the theme “Living Together in Asia,” the three films wrest tongue-in-cheek responses to the inherently uneasy power dynamics between wealthy Japan and poorer parts of Southeast Asia. The collection peels back long-standing issues of poverty, servitude, and cross-cultural romance, bringing forth the lingering traces of Japanese (neo)imperialism.
The first and last shorts sing their songs of heartbreak and betrayal the most. The first, Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Shiniuma Dead Horse,” follows the bleary-eyed amputee Marcial (Lou Veloso), an undocumented...
The first and last shorts sing their songs of heartbreak and betrayal the most. The first, Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Shiniuma Dead Horse,” follows the bleary-eyed amputee Marcial (Lou Veloso), an undocumented...
- 5/31/2020
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
The Juzo Itami-Nobuko Miyamoto (director-protagonist who also were husband and wife) duo has given us a number of delightful movies, including “Tampopo“, “The Funeral” and “Minbo no Onna“. “Supermarket Woman” follows in the same footsteps.
Goro Kobayashi, owner of the Honest Goro supermarket, has been seeing his shop underperforming for years, and when a shiny new one, Bargains Galore, opens nearby, his situation becomes even worse. During an “inspection” of his new contender, he stumbles upon an old classmate, Hanako, who proceeds on explaining to him the perspective of the housewife regarding how a supermarket should work. Impressed with her input, and facing the possibility of bankruptcy, he hires her as head cashier, with the additional purpose of introducing new sales techniques and policies, particularly regarding the food section. Hanako soon takes over both customer service and the procedures of food selling, discovering a number of...
Goro Kobayashi, owner of the Honest Goro supermarket, has been seeing his shop underperforming for years, and when a shiny new one, Bargains Galore, opens nearby, his situation becomes even worse. During an “inspection” of his new contender, he stumbles upon an old classmate, Hanako, who proceeds on explaining to him the perspective of the housewife regarding how a supermarket should work. Impressed with her input, and facing the possibility of bankruptcy, he hires her as head cashier, with the additional purpose of introducing new sales techniques and policies, particularly regarding the food section. Hanako soon takes over both customer service and the procedures of food selling, discovering a number of...
- 4/25/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
“If you’re too nice to pests they increase.”
In general, Tsutomu Tamura is mostly known for his fruitful collaborations with one of the greatest icons of the Japanese New Wave, director Nagisa Oshima. Starting with “Shiiku” (1961) most of Oshima’s movies, such as “Boy” (1969) or “Death by Hanging” (1968), were based on the magnificent scripts by Tamura. The characters and their dialogues defined the right kind of mix between absurdist drama and bleakness which became a trademark for these films as well as the movement as a whole.
Interestingly, Tamura is lesser known for his only film called “The Samurai Vagabonds”, a movie which brings together some of the future stars of his collaborations with Oshima. At the same time, it is a feature that sets the tone for the particular kind of writing he provided for these later works. Now that his film is re-discovered by institutions such as Japan Society,...
In general, Tsutomu Tamura is mostly known for his fruitful collaborations with one of the greatest icons of the Japanese New Wave, director Nagisa Oshima. Starting with “Shiiku” (1961) most of Oshima’s movies, such as “Boy” (1969) or “Death by Hanging” (1968), were based on the magnificent scripts by Tamura. The characters and their dialogues defined the right kind of mix between absurdist drama and bleakness which became a trademark for these films as well as the movement as a whole.
Interestingly, Tamura is lesser known for his only film called “The Samurai Vagabonds”, a movie which brings together some of the future stars of his collaborations with Oshima. At the same time, it is a feature that sets the tone for the particular kind of writing he provided for these later works. Now that his film is re-discovered by institutions such as Japan Society,...
- 3/31/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
I am a very organized person, who likes to work in a structured way. When it comes to analyzing movies, it is the same for me. The filmography of Yoshihige (or Kiju) Yoshida is new terrain and I like to start from the beginning. Before watching any of his films, I knew that he did quite a racket with “Eros + Massacre” (1969) and “Heroic Purgatory” (1970), both sufficiently discussed by many scholars. But before venture on these so-called classics, I prefer to begin at the roots of Yoshida’s work, which brings me to his debut film “Good for Nothing” (1960).
But first, who is Yoshihige Yoshida? Graduated from Tokyo University he joined one of the big Japanese film studios, Shochiku, in 1955. After five years as assistant director, he got the chance to direct his first movie, “Good for Nothing”. 1960, the year of its release, was a critical year for the studios. The...
But first, who is Yoshihige Yoshida? Graduated from Tokyo University he joined one of the big Japanese film studios, Shochiku, in 1955. After five years as assistant director, he got the chance to direct his first movie, “Good for Nothing”. 1960, the year of its release, was a critical year for the studios. The...
- 3/23/2019
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
Jaeff is ready to disclose the last event of our lineup, the opening night gala taking place on Friday 21 September at King’s College, Lucas Lecture Theatre (Strand Campus)!
We’re excited to open this year’s festival with an exclusive screening of Ko Nakihara’s feature debut Crazed Fruit – one of the first Japanese New Wave films and a fitting tribute to the recent passing of acting legend Masahiko Tsugawa.
This film will be paired with a short experimental piece, Your Voice Came Out Through My Throat, by award winning artist Yamashiro Chikako.
Jaeff welcomes you to join us for this exciting weekend, to discover (or rediscover) classics and innovative contemporary works that resonate with themes of youth culture and social protest in Japan.
A reminder that tickets for Saturday 22 September at the Barbican and Sunday 23 September at Close-Up are already on sale – early booking is advised.
Friday 21 September 2018 – King’s College,...
We’re excited to open this year’s festival with an exclusive screening of Ko Nakihara’s feature debut Crazed Fruit – one of the first Japanese New Wave films and a fitting tribute to the recent passing of acting legend Masahiko Tsugawa.
This film will be paired with a short experimental piece, Your Voice Came Out Through My Throat, by award winning artist Yamashiro Chikako.
Jaeff welcomes you to join us for this exciting weekend, to discover (or rediscover) classics and innovative contemporary works that resonate with themes of youth culture and social protest in Japan.
A reminder that tickets for Saturday 22 September at the Barbican and Sunday 23 September at Close-Up are already on sale – early booking is advised.
Friday 21 September 2018 – King’s College,...
- 8/12/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
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