Based on Ueda Akinari's tales “The House in the Thicket” and “The Lust of the White Serpent”, “Ugetsu” is set in Japan's civil war torn Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) and is probably Kenji Mizoguchi's most celebrated work, and a definitive part of the Golden Age of Japanese films. The movie was restored in 2016 by The Film Foundation and Kadokawa Corporation, in the version we watched in Thessaloniki.
“Ugetsu Monogatari“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
On the shores of Lake Biwa in the Omi Province, Genjuro, husband of Miyagi and father of an infant son, has his first break with selling his pottery in Nagahama, making a small fortune in the process. His brother-in-law, Tobei, is eager to become a samurai, and during the same trip is utterly disgraced, eventually agreeing to help Genjuro with his pottery instead of chasing his crazy dreams. Right before the next batch is made,...
“Ugetsu Monogatari“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
On the shores of Lake Biwa in the Omi Province, Genjuro, husband of Miyagi and father of an infant son, has his first break with selling his pottery in Nagahama, making a small fortune in the process. His brother-in-law, Tobei, is eager to become a samurai, and during the same trip is utterly disgraced, eventually agreeing to help Genjuro with his pottery instead of chasing his crazy dreams. Right before the next batch is made,...
- 11/4/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
By the end of the 1940s, director Akira Kurosawa had established himself as a dependable worker for several movie studios, including Daei, who had already produced “The Quiet Duel” in 1949 and who would approach him with the proposal of adapting “In a Grove”, a short story by writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. At the end of the same year, and despite a fire in the studio, Kurosawa and his team managed to finish “Rashomon”, which would be released in Japan to moderate success, but ultimately to some international attention, such as Giuliana Stramigioli, the president of Venice Film Festival. The rest, as they say, is history, with “Rashomon” becoming a major success for its creator and the Japanese film industry as a whole, whose reputation, even today, relies to some extent on Kurosawa’s works. Despite its role for Japanese culture, “Rashomon” regularly attracts many cinephiles and scholars for its approach to storytelling,...
- 1/28/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Michelle Yeoh becomes the second Asian performer to win the Best Comedy/Musical Actress Golden Globe
As expected, Michelle Yeoh took home the Best Comedy/Musical Actress Golden Globe Tuesday night for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” becoming just the second Asian performer to win the award.
Her victory comes three years after Awkwafina (“The Farewell”) made history as the first Asian Best Comedy/Musical Actress champ. Yeoh was just the the seventh woman of Asian descent to be nominated in this category. Besides Awkwafina, Machiko Kyo (1956’s “The Teahouse of the August Moon”), Miyoshi Umeki (1961’s “Flower Drum Song”), Yvonne Elliman (1973’s “Jesus Christ Superstar”), Hailee Steinfeld (2016’s “The Edge of Seventeen”), who’s of Filipino descent, and Constance Wu (2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians”) were past nominees.
See Full list of Golden Globe winners
Awkwafina ended up snubbed by the Oscars, but it would be shocking if Yeoh met the same fate. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a top Best Picture contender and Yeoh...
Her victory comes three years after Awkwafina (“The Farewell”) made history as the first Asian Best Comedy/Musical Actress champ. Yeoh was just the the seventh woman of Asian descent to be nominated in this category. Besides Awkwafina, Machiko Kyo (1956’s “The Teahouse of the August Moon”), Miyoshi Umeki (1961’s “Flower Drum Song”), Yvonne Elliman (1973’s “Jesus Christ Superstar”), Hailee Steinfeld (2016’s “The Edge of Seventeen”), who’s of Filipino descent, and Constance Wu (2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians”) were past nominees.
See Full list of Golden Globe winners
Awkwafina ended up snubbed by the Oscars, but it would be shocking if Yeoh met the same fate. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a top Best Picture contender and Yeoh...
- 1/11/2023
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
The ruined gate of Rashōmon in Kyoto, which acts as the central setting in Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's short story "Rashōmon," had an unsavory reputation during the 12th century. A frequent hideout for thieves and hooligans, the Rashōmon gate came to be known as a symbol of moral degradation, which Akutagawa incorporated in his short to great effect. When filmmaker Akira Kurosawa wove together aspects of two Akutagawa shorts — "Rashōmon" and "In A Grove" — in his 1950 Jidaigeki drama "Rashomon," he transformed the ruined gate into a site of subjective retelling, a sort of moral crossroads where despair and hope coexist. Kurosawa opens "Rashomon" with three men seeking shelter from torrential rain under the ruined gate, which leads to the recounting of a murder mystery with no definite ending. Four eyewitnesses recall a singular incident in the forest in wildly different ways, making the truth impossible to arrive at. What does this all mean?...
- 1/6/2023
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
The BFI has announced full details of its major celebration of one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), taking place across the UK during January and February 2023. Kurosawa, a two-month complete retrospective of 30 feature films at BFI Southbank, in partnership with the Japan Foundation, co-curated by film director Asif Kapadia and film author Ian Haydn Smith, launches on 1 January continuing until 28 February. On 6 January, BFI Distribution re-releases Kurosawa’s ground-breaking Rashomon (1950) in cinemas UK-wide; the film will also be available to watch on BFI Player. There will be a rare and one-off opportunity on 28 January to see masterpiece Seven Samurai (1954) on the biggest screen in the UK (65 feet high) at the newly refurbished BFI IMAX. A collection of 15 of the director’s films will be available on BFI Player subscription to enable UK-wide audiences to fully immerse themselves in Kurosawa’s world.
Kagemusha
Kurosawa curators...
Kagemusha
Kurosawa curators...
- 11/29/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
After a near-five-year break, Kinuyo Tanaka returned behind the camera to direct her fourth feature film, “The Wandering Princess”. The studio Daiei project sees the director take advantage of both color and Cinemascope for the first time, garnering gorgeous results with both. By far Tanaka’s most ambitious directorial effort at this point in her career, the feature is a tragic historical epic that tackles a controversial part of modern Japanese history and is centered around the struggles of women.
“The Wandering Princess” is screening at the BFI London as part of “Kinuyo Tanaka: A Life in Film”
Based on the memoirs of Hiro Saga, the narrative begins at the outset of World War II and follows the story of Ryuko Korinkakura (Machiko Kyô), a distant relative of the emperor Hirohito. With Japan looking to cement ties throughout its empire, Ryuko is chosen as a suitable bride for Futetsu (Eiji Funakoshi...
“The Wandering Princess” is screening at the BFI London as part of “Kinuyo Tanaka: A Life in Film”
Based on the memoirs of Hiro Saga, the narrative begins at the outset of World War II and follows the story of Ryuko Korinkakura (Machiko Kyô), a distant relative of the emperor Hirohito. With Japan looking to cement ties throughout its empire, Ryuko is chosen as a suitable bride for Futetsu (Eiji Funakoshi...
- 8/16/2022
- by Tom Wilmot
- AsianMoviePulse
By the end of the 1940s, director Akira Kurosawa had established himself as a dependable worker for several movie studios, including Daei, who had already produced “The Quiet Duel” in 1949 and who would approach him with the proposal of adapting “In a Grove”, a short story by writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. At the end of the same year, and despite a fire in the studio, Kurosawa and his team managed to finish “Rashomon”, which would be released in Japan to moderate success, but ultimately to some international attention, such as Giuliana Stramigioli, the president of Venice Film Festival. The rest, as they say, is history, with “Rashomon” becoming a major success for its creator and the Japanese film industry as a whole, whose reputation, even today, relies to some extent on Kurosawa’s works. Despite its role for Japanese culture, “Rashomon” regularly attracts many cinephiles and scholars for its approach to storytelling,...
- 6/29/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The film “No Country for Old Men” tells the story of Llewelyn Moss, a welder and Vietnam veteran who finds a case of drug money in the aftermath of a bad drug deal.
Anton Chigurh, a relentless and psychopathic killer, attempts to make off with the money from the crime scene. The film follows Moss as he tries to outwit his pursuer while also dealing with the interference of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, an old lawman who is struggling to come to terms with the changes that have taken place in his town.
“No Country for Old Men” film is written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel. The film was met with critical acclaim and won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Bardem), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen).
If you’re a fan of movies...
Anton Chigurh, a relentless and psychopathic killer, attempts to make off with the money from the crime scene. The film follows Moss as he tries to outwit his pursuer while also dealing with the interference of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, an old lawman who is struggling to come to terms with the changes that have taken place in his town.
“No Country for Old Men” film is written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel. The film was met with critical acclaim and won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Bardem), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen).
If you’re a fan of movies...
- 6/27/2022
- by Israr
- buddytv.com
The 75th Venice International Film Festival has finally announced the line-up in a press conference in Rome, hosted by the President of the Biennale di Venezia Paolo Baratta and by the Director of the Cinema department Alberto Barbera.
The Venice International Film Festival has been welcoming in the past many Asian movies especially under the previous Director Marco Muller (2004-2011), a dedicated advocate and promoter of Asian Cinema, but this year the Asian presence is particularly poor. A bit surprising after the success in Cannes of Palme d’Or director Hirokazu Kore’eda with “Shoplifters” and Lee Chang-dong with “Burning”.
Only one film – Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto’s new movie “Zan” – is in the Official Competition and few more “usual suspects” are scattered in the other sections. Chinese director Tsai Ming-Liang – a regular of the festival – is in the Out of Competition Section with his “Ni De Lian“, where other...
The Venice International Film Festival has been welcoming in the past many Asian movies especially under the previous Director Marco Muller (2004-2011), a dedicated advocate and promoter of Asian Cinema, but this year the Asian presence is particularly poor. A bit surprising after the success in Cannes of Palme d’Or director Hirokazu Kore’eda with “Shoplifters” and Lee Chang-dong with “Burning”.
Only one film – Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto’s new movie “Zan” – is in the Official Competition and few more “usual suspects” are scattered in the other sections. Chinese director Tsai Ming-Liang – a regular of the festival – is in the Out of Competition Section with his “Ni De Lian“, where other...
- 7/31/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This August will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
- 7/24/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Ugetsu
Blu-ray
Criterion
1953 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date June 6, 2017
Starring: Mitsuko Mito, Masayuki Mori, Kikue Mouri, Sakae Ozawa, Kinuyo Tanaka
Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa
Film Editor: Mitsuzô Miyata
Written by Matsutarô Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda
Produced by Masaichi Nagata
Music: Fumio Hayasaka, Tamekichi Mochizuki, Ichirô Saitô
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
In 1941 Orson Welles was busy giving the film industry a hot foot with Citizen Kane, a bullet-train of a movie whose rhythms sprang from the ever accelerating hustle and bustle of contemporary American life. That same year one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers, Kenji Mizoguchi, was taking his sweet time with a four hour samurai epic set 240 years in the past, The 47 Ronin.
The story of a band of loyal soldiers seeking revenge on a corrupt landowner, The 47 Ronin plays out in a precisely measured, ceremonial style, its 241 minutes leading up to the moment when the fierce band of brothers...
Blu-ray
Criterion
1953 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date June 6, 2017
Starring: Mitsuko Mito, Masayuki Mori, Kikue Mouri, Sakae Ozawa, Kinuyo Tanaka
Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa
Film Editor: Mitsuzô Miyata
Written by Matsutarô Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda
Produced by Masaichi Nagata
Music: Fumio Hayasaka, Tamekichi Mochizuki, Ichirô Saitô
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
In 1941 Orson Welles was busy giving the film industry a hot foot with Citizen Kane, a bullet-train of a movie whose rhythms sprang from the ever accelerating hustle and bustle of contemporary American life. That same year one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers, Kenji Mizoguchi, was taking his sweet time with a four hour samurai epic set 240 years in the past, The 47 Ronin.
The story of a band of loyal soldiers seeking revenge on a corrupt landowner, The 47 Ronin plays out in a precisely measured, ceremonial style, its 241 minutes leading up to the moment when the fierce band of brothers...
- 7/1/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Street of Shame is a beautiful drama film that follows the daily lives of five prostitutes situated in Yoshiwara, Tokyo’s red light district, during the mid-1950s. The American occupation has ended and the majority of the Japanese population is still struggling to get by after the destructive Second World War that ended over a decade ago. For the sex-workers times have become extra challenging as the Diet is considering to ban prostitution, which would mean losing their income. But for some it would also mean a way out of the life they are stuck in.
Street of Shame is the last film of legendary Japanese filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi, director of timeless classics like Ugetsu (1953) and The Life of Oharu (1952). He died a few months after the film was released, leaving his audience with a strong motion picture as a closure to a prolific career. The film was a...
Street of Shame is the last film of legendary Japanese filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi, director of timeless classics like Ugetsu (1953) and The Life of Oharu (1952). He died a few months after the film was released, leaving his audience with a strong motion picture as a closure to a prolific career. The film was a...
- 12/28/2016
- by Thor
- AsianMoviePulse
(Region B) Akira Kurosawa's unquestioned top rank classic remains a fascinating study of truth and justice. A forest encounter left a man murdered and his wife raped. Or did something entirely different happen? The witnesses Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Machiko Kyo give radically differing testimony. This UK edition offers a full commentary by Japanese film expert Stuart Galbraith IV. Rashômon Region B UK Blu-ray BFI 1950 / B&W / 1.33:1 / 88 min. / Street Date September 21, 2015 / Available at Amazon UK / £15.99 Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma. Cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa Art Direction So Matsuyama Film Editor Akira Kurosawa Original Music Fumio Hayasaka Written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa from stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa Produced by Minoru Jingo, Masaichi Nagata Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This reviewer doesn't review most foreign discs, but with major studios licensing out their libraries, there are...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This reviewer doesn't review most foreign discs, but with major studios licensing out their libraries, there are...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture: Movie Takedown of the Day: Okay, it's not so much a takedown this time, but Honest Trailers does make a few jokes at the expense of Mad Max: Fury Road while also being totally truthful about its awesomeness: Movie Redo of the Day: People of all ages should be able to enjoy Fight Club. Now your kids can, too, with this G-rated animated version: Hollywood Satire of the Day: Funny or Die shows us the real reason that women don't direct more action movies, starring Catherine Hardwicke, Nicole Holofcener and other great filmmakers (via Film School Rejects): Vintage Image of the Day: Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyo in Rashomon. Akira Kurosawa's...
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- 8/26/2015
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
Chicago – Beneath every honorable warrior is a cold-hearted opportunist hell-bent on dominating his victimized prey at all costs. That’s a theory indelibly illustrated by Teinosuke Kinugasa’s revered 1953 classic, “Gate of Hell,” a melodrama populated by such frustrating characters that it nearly loses the viewer’s interest before its admittedly splendid finale, when the tale takes on grand dimensions of Greek tragedy.
The real—and, regrettably, only—reason to seek out Criterion’s new release of this long-forgotten landmark is to marvel at the new digital master of a 2011 2K restoration that brought Kôhei Sugiyama’s vibrant color photography back to life. This was not only one of the first color pictures in Japanese cinema, but one of the first films to utilize color with the arresting vibrance of a truly painterly eye. The golds, reds and blues pop with such potency that they would’ve felt right at...
The real—and, regrettably, only—reason to seek out Criterion’s new release of this long-forgotten landmark is to marvel at the new digital master of a 2011 2K restoration that brought Kôhei Sugiyama’s vibrant color photography back to life. This was not only one of the first color pictures in Japanese cinema, but one of the first films to utilize color with the arresting vibrance of a truly painterly eye. The golds, reds and blues pop with such potency that they would’ve felt right at...
- 4/29/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Teinosuke Kinugasa’s glorious and vibrant masterpiece, Gate of Hell, excitingly receives a Criterion digital remastering this month, a certifiable occasion because this not only recreates the film’s initial visual beauties, but the first time it will be widely available stateside (cinephiles were only previously privy to Eureka Entertainment’s UK Blu-ray release). Winner of the top prize at Cannes, as well as the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Costume Design, Martin Scorsese names the film among one of the most beautiful color films of all time.
Based on the play Kesa’s Husband by Ken Kikuchi, the setting is 1159 Ad, known as the Heiji Era, and a rebellion has been staged against the royal family. Under siege, it is decided that a decoy must be used to distract the rebel army, and Lady Kesa (Machiko Kyo) assumes the responsibility, carted away by a group of samurais.
Based on the play Kesa’s Husband by Ken Kikuchi, the setting is 1159 Ad, known as the Heiji Era, and a rebellion has been staged against the royal family. Under siege, it is decided that a decoy must be used to distract the rebel army, and Lady Kesa (Machiko Kyo) assumes the responsibility, carted away by a group of samurais.
- 4/16/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
★★★★☆ Winner of two Oscars and the Grand Prix Prize at Cannes, Teinosuke Kinugasa's arresting 1953 effort Gate of Hell was the first Japanese film to employ a Western colour process. Now, thanks to the hard work of the always reliable Masters of Cinema strand, Kinugasa's sumptuous hues and diverse palette have been gloriously reissued on Blu-ray, once again capturing the awe and magnificence of this visually spellbinding film. During an attempted coup in 12th century Japan, an attractive young woman, Lady Kesa (Machiko Kyo) volunteers to act as a decoy in order to help the lord's wife escape to safety.
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- 12/4/2012
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
In 1950, Akira Kurosawa released a film based on two stories, told from four perspectives. Rashomon is a gorgeous exercise in minimalism with courageous acting from Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyo and Takashi Shimura. This iconic movie tells the tale of the rape of a woman and the murder of a man, but the details and actions change depending on who’s telling the story. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s high time they did. For those that have, they know how infinitely rewatchable it is. It is, without hyperbole, one of the best movies ever made, which is why we’re honored to be hosting a very special online screening of this masterpiece on Wednesday, March 28th at 7pm Central. It’s our first, powered by our new partnership with Constellation, and the perks are undeniable: The site works like a box office, but the movie comes to you. Which...
- 3/21/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire Marlon Brando Movies on TCM: The Wild One, Julius Caesar, The Chase Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am The Fugitive Kind (1960) A drifter ignites passions among the women of a Mississippi town. Dir: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward. Bw-121 mins, Letterbox Format 8:15 Am Julius Caesar (1953) An all-star adaptation of Shakespeare's classic about Julius Caesar's assassination and its aftermath. Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Cast: John Doucette, George Macready, Michael Pate. Bw-121 mins. 10:30 Am The Chase (1966) A convict's escape ignites passions in his hometown. Dir: Arthur Penn. Cast: Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford. C-133 mins, Letterbox Format 1:00 Pm Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967) A military officer becomes obsessed with an enlisted man. Dir: John Huston. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Brian Keith. C-109 mins, Letterbox Format 3:00 Pm Teahouse Of The...
- 8/1/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Nick Pinkerton in the Voice on Five Japanese Divas, running from tomorrow through April 21: "Rarefied Ozu, bold Kurosawa, saturnine Naruse, magisterial Mizoguchi. The Great Men are here, and then some, but Film Forum's 23-feature series foregrounds other names in the credits: Yamada, Kyo, Tanaka, Hara, Takamine — the women of Japanese cinema's ridiculously fecund postwar Golden Age, when on-screen drama addressed an upended social reality for a national audience that suddenly included many females cashing their first paychecks."
Time Out New York's David Fear offers a "quick primer" on Setsuko Hara ("The Girl Next Door"), Machiko Kyô ("The Chameleon"), Hideko Takamine ("The Icon"), Kinuyo Tanaka ("The Martyr") and Isuzu Yamada ("The Technician").
"Considered a bold feminist statement for 1936 Japan as well as a turning point in his own career, Kenji Mizoguchi's Sisters of the Gion is a perfect showcase for his early muse, Isuzu Yamada," finds Joe Bendel.
"Of...
Time Out New York's David Fear offers a "quick primer" on Setsuko Hara ("The Girl Next Door"), Machiko Kyô ("The Chameleon"), Hideko Takamine ("The Icon"), Kinuyo Tanaka ("The Martyr") and Isuzu Yamada ("The Technician").
"Considered a bold feminist statement for 1936 Japan as well as a turning point in his own career, Kenji Mizoguchi's Sisters of the Gion is a perfect showcase for his early muse, Isuzu Yamada," finds Joe Bendel.
"Of...
- 4/4/2011
- MUBI
Starting today, and for most of April, Film Forum in New York will be honoring five of Japan’s greatest actresses in a portmanteau retrospective entitled 5 Japanese Divas. The divas in question are Setsuko Hara, Kinuyo Tanaka, Isuzu Yamada, Machiko Kyo and Hideko Takamine who, collectively, starred in some of the greatest Japanese films of the 1950s golden age (there are more masterpieces per square foot in this retrospective than in any other theater in town). Takamine died last December at the age of 86 (and was featured on Movie Poster of the Week earlier this year), but, remarkably, three of these goddesses—Kyo, Hara and Yamada—are still with us, aged 87, 90 and 94 respectively.
I love the Japanese posters of the 1950s with their crowded montages of faces (I can never be sure if they are photographs or hyper-realist illustrations) in which the actors are paramount, more because I love the...
I love the Japanese posters of the 1950s with their crowded montages of faces (I can never be sure if they are photographs or hyper-realist illustrations) in which the actors are paramount, more because I love the...
- 4/1/2011
- MUBI
Maggie McNamara, William Holden in Otto Preminger's scandalous The Moon Is Blue Turner Classic Movies has a lot to offer tonight and tomorrow morning. There's a lot to say about the scheduled movies, but since time is short — the first one listed below has already started, I'll be brief. First of all, don't miss Sidney Franklin's The Hoodlum, a 1919 comedy-drama that feels more modern than most of the stuff that gets released today. Mary Pickford is simply sensational in the title role. Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, considered by many one of the greatest movies ever made, features one of the greatest performances ever: Machiko Kyo's conniving wife. Peter Davis' Oscar winning Hearts and Minds probably caused strokes and heart attacks in American militaristic right-wingers. One sequence that haunts me to this day shows a U.S. military officer describing the Vietnamese as cold, detached people unlike "us.
- 11/15/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ajami (15)
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
- 6/18/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Akira Kurosawa's 1950 masterwork is a chilling, utterly memorable dissection of the nature of human communication, writes Peter Bradshaw
Spy magazine in the 1990s had a witty essay on how, in American journalism, it only took a couple of slightly conflicting accounts of the same event for someone to trot out the word "Rashômon". Here is an opportunity to revisit Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film, and to appreciate how the cliche does not do justice to a uniquely disturbing drama.
Rashômon is about a court proceeding, recalled in flashback, relating to a mysterious crime. A bandit, Tajômaru (Toshirô Mifune) is on trial for murdering a samurai (Mayasuki Mori) and raping his wife (Machiko Kyô) in the remote forest. Each of these three figures addresses the court, the dead man via a medium – an amazingly, electrifyingly strange conceit, carried off with absolute conviction. A fourth witness (Takashi Shimura) offers his own version,...
Spy magazine in the 1990s had a witty essay on how, in American journalism, it only took a couple of slightly conflicting accounts of the same event for someone to trot out the word "Rashômon". Here is an opportunity to revisit Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film, and to appreciate how the cliche does not do justice to a uniquely disturbing drama.
Rashômon is about a court proceeding, recalled in flashback, relating to a mysterious crime. A bandit, Tajômaru (Toshirô Mifune) is on trial for murdering a samurai (Mayasuki Mori) and raping his wife (Machiko Kyô) in the remote forest. Each of these three figures addresses the court, the dead man via a medium – an amazingly, electrifyingly strange conceit, carried off with absolute conviction. A fourth witness (Takashi Shimura) offers his own version,...
- 6/17/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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