Ryuhei Matsuda was born on the 9th of May, 1983, in Tokyo, to actress and producer Miyuki Matsuda and actor Yûsaku Matsuda, and only six years later he loses his father to cancer at the premature age of 40. At only 15, Ryuhei is approached by Nagisa Oshima with the life changing offer of a prominent role in his film Gohatto. Since then, Matsuda's magnetic charisma and remarkable versatility have allowed him to portray a wide range of characters, from brooding antiheroes to quirky and endearing figures, captivating audiences both in Japan and internationally.
With a unique ability to immerse himself in diverse roles, he has left an indelible mark on Japanese cinema and continues to be a beloved and influential figure in the world of acting. However, Matsuda's congenital air of disdain for the whole world, his glacial aloofness mixed with his innate handsomeness make him the prototype of effortless coolness,...
With a unique ability to immerse himself in diverse roles, he has left an indelible mark on Japanese cinema and continues to be a beloved and influential figure in the world of acting. However, Matsuda's congenital air of disdain for the whole world, his glacial aloofness mixed with his innate handsomeness make him the prototype of effortless coolness,...
- 11/9/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japanese romantic fantasy film Who Were We?, which recently competed at the Tokyo International Film Festival, has locked down several key sales in East Asia. Happinet Phantom Studios and Tetsuya To Mina Film will co-distribute the title at home in Japan, while Seoul-based Andamiro Films has taken all rights for South Korea and mainland China rights have gone to Beijing Jungle Jim Culture Media.
The second feature from rising Japanese indie director Tetsuya Tomina, Who Were We? is a metaphysical love story that follows a man and a woman — played by the in-demand Japanese stars Ryuhei Matsuda and Nana Komatsu, respectively — who find themselves on the premises of an ancient gold mine on Japan’s remote Sado Island with no memory of how they got there or who they are.
Komatsu, also a popular fashion model in Japan, is best known internationally for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Silence,...
The second feature from rising Japanese indie director Tetsuya Tomina, Who Were We? is a metaphysical love story that follows a man and a woman — played by the in-demand Japanese stars Ryuhei Matsuda and Nana Komatsu, respectively — who find themselves on the premises of an ancient gold mine on Japan’s remote Sado Island with no memory of how they got there or who they are.
Komatsu, also a popular fashion model in Japan, is best known internationally for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Silence,...
- 11/2/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Japan’s Tetsuya Tomina is a director preoccupied with presence — a beguiling sense of place or striking actors simply existing on screen.
His second feature, Who Were We?, which premiered in competition this week at the Tokyo International Film Festival, is a metaphysical love story that follows a man and a woman — played by young stars Nana Komatsu and Ryuhei Matsuda — who find themselves on the premises of an ancient gold mine on Japan’s remote Sado Island with no memory of how they got there or who they are.
The premise for the film came to Tomina as he was finishing his debut feature Blue Wind Blows (2018), which was also shot on Sado Island (and later premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Generation Kplus section). Walking the island, the director was struck by the sight of a landform known as”Split Mountain” in Japanese, a towering...
His second feature, Who Were We?, which premiered in competition this week at the Tokyo International Film Festival, is a metaphysical love story that follows a man and a woman — played by young stars Nana Komatsu and Ryuhei Matsuda — who find themselves on the premises of an ancient gold mine on Japan’s remote Sado Island with no memory of how they got there or who they are.
The premise for the film came to Tomina as he was finishing his debut feature Blue Wind Blows (2018), which was also shot on Sado Island (and later premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Generation Kplus section). Walking the island, the director was struck by the sight of a landform known as”Split Mountain” in Japanese, a towering...
- 10/28/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hong Kong’s Haf adds 15 Wip projects ahead of first in-person edition since 2019.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society has announced 15 work-in-progress projects, completing the full line-up of the 21st Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF21).
A total of 43 projects will be presented at Haf, including 28 in-development projects announced last month, which is set to run from March 13-15 alongside the 27th Hong Kong Film & TV Market (Filmart). It will mark the first in-person edition for both events since pre-Covid 2019.
Scroll down for full list of projects
Emerging and established actors who lead the cast of the 15 Wip projects include Fish Liew,...
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society has announced 15 work-in-progress projects, completing the full line-up of the 21st Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF21).
A total of 43 projects will be presented at Haf, including 28 in-development projects announced last month, which is set to run from March 13-15 alongside the 27th Hong Kong Film & TV Market (Filmart). It will mark the first in-person edition for both events since pre-Covid 2019.
Scroll down for full list of projects
Emerging and established actors who lead the cast of the 15 Wip projects include Fish Liew,...
- 2/8/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Shuichi Okita, with a very personal style, delicate but assertive at the same time, has been able to make himself known and appreciated in the circuits of festivals and in less mainstream circles with films that are difficult to label, often defined as “dramedy” that is a mixture of drama and comedy. Like in “The Woodsman and The Rain”, “The Chef of South Polar” and “Mori: The Artist’s Habitat”, the backdrop of “The Mohican Comes Home” is also a small community on an imaginary island in the Soto Inland Sea, off the coast of Hiroshima, where Okita places one of his typical characters, always dazed and looking out of place.
on YesAsia
This time it is Eichiki (Ryuhei Matsuda), the titular “Mohican” (because of his haircut), who 7 years earlier had left his hometown for Tokyo, in search of work and fame in a death metal band.
on YesAsia
This time it is Eichiki (Ryuhei Matsuda), the titular “Mohican” (because of his haircut), who 7 years earlier had left his hometown for Tokyo, in search of work and fame in a death metal band.
- 8/2/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Prolific Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse) returned to Cannes with this genre-bending mashup, both a darkly comedic sci-fi and a slow-paced action spectacle. Three aliens on a reconnaissance mission to Earth take over the bodies of human hosts to explore the world they’re about to invade. On the way they steal individual concepts from the minds of anyone who crosses their path, from work, to free will, to love, leaving behind them a trail of soulless bodies. In doing so they start to unwittingly define the essential aspects of what it means to be human.
The film follows Narumi, whose husband, Shinji (Ryuhei Matsuda), becomes one of the three hosts. As the invasion grows nearer, Narumi’s attempts to save humanity from extinction become increasingly entwined with Shinji’s decision on whether to save the humanity within himself.
Combining the best of Kurosawa’s genre stylings...
The film follows Narumi, whose husband, Shinji (Ryuhei Matsuda), becomes one of the three hosts. As the invasion grows nearer, Narumi’s attempts to save humanity from extinction become increasingly entwined with Shinji’s decision on whether to save the humanity within himself.
Combining the best of Kurosawa’s genre stylings...
- 12/19/2018
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Before We Vanish U.S. Trailer Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s Before We Vanish / Sanpo suru shinryakusha (2017) U.S. movie trailer stars Masami Nagasawa, Ryûhei Matsuda, and Hiroki Hasegawa. Before We Vanish‘s plot synopsis: “In his twentieth film, acclaimed horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa reinvents the alien movie as a unique and profoundly human tale of love [...]
Continue reading: Before We Vanish (2017) U.S. Movie Trailer: Alien Troops Hide Inside Humans Ahead of Invasion...
Continue reading: Before We Vanish (2017) U.S. Movie Trailer: Alien Troops Hide Inside Humans Ahead of Invasion...
- 1/20/2018
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
"Is the government declaring war on them?" Neon has launched the first official Us trailer for a Japanese sci-fi drama titled Before We Vanish, which played at Cannes Film Festival and New York Film Festival last year and many other fests. The premise is rather peculiar - three aliens travel to Earth to prepare for an invasion, and take possession of human bodies. In doing so, they only leave hollow shells of these people, which start to become noticeable to those around them. The cast features Masami Nagasawa, Ryûhei Matsuda, and Hiroki Hasegawa. It's described as "equally hilarious, thrilling, and profound" and looks like a fascinatingly unique perspective on humanity (and sci-fi) that we don't normally see. I've heard very good things about this and the footage looks excellent. Looking forward to catching this film once it arrives. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish,...
- 1/13/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Watching the dreadful and painfully distended films Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa made over the last 10 years, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he was abducted in 2008 and hijacked by a clueless alien parasite trying to keep up appearances. A major figure during the early days of J-horror, Kurosawa distilled the entropy creeping into the digital age before most other artists even felt it — modern classics like “Cure,” “Pulse,” and even the less-horrifying likes of “Bright Future” continue to serve as invaluable time capsules from the era that we’re still trying to escape.
As recently as “Tokyo Sonata,” which is now almost a decade old, it seemed as though Kurosawa could sublimate his obsessions with societal decay into any genre, and the shattering final scene of that film left fans desperate to see where he would go next.
Then, things got bad. The falloff was subtle at first, and it came in small doses,...
As recently as “Tokyo Sonata,” which is now almost a decade old, it seemed as though Kurosawa could sublimate his obsessions with societal decay into any genre, and the shattering final scene of that film left fans desperate to see where he would go next.
Then, things got bad. The falloff was subtle at first, and it came in small doses,...
- 9/30/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
There are few directors who would choose to take a semi-sincere approach to a lengthy pseudo-philosophical science-fiction film — especially not one that lightly pries into our fundamental psychological foibles — but there are few directors quite like Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The prolific Japanese filmmaker behind such varied genre gems as Pulse and Tokyo Sonata has constructed a sort of skittish and overlong, albeit pleasantly existential oddity in Before We Vanish, an alien-invasion B-movie packed with A-grade ideas and craft. Nail down your windows. Lock your doors. It’s the invasion of the concept snatchers.
The story follows three extraterrestrials who have been sent to Earth to act as scouts for an imminent invasion. Their orders are to inhabit the bodies of three humans in order to research some of the more abstract concepts of human life. They do this in a sort of cut-and-paste manner by first convincing a hapless human to...
The story follows three extraterrestrials who have been sent to Earth to act as scouts for an imminent invasion. Their orders are to inhabit the bodies of three humans in order to research some of the more abstract concepts of human life. They do this in a sort of cut-and-paste manner by first convincing a hapless human to...
- 5/27/2017
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Leave it to Kiyoshi Kurosawa, our favorite director of B movies that look like art films (or are they the other way around?), to upturn the nostalgia for American blockbusters of the 1980s. Japan’s modern day Don Siegel or Robert Aldrich, who admires in equal parts Jean-Luc Godard and, based on his new film Before We Vanish, John Carpenter, does Super 8, Midnight Special and Stranger Things one better by jumping off from 30-year-old conventions and making a damn good film.A bloody prologue of a massacred family and the dazzled schoolgirl culprit (Yuri Tsunematsu) suggests Kurosawa is squarely back in the horror-thriller genre, but the film’s tone and our expectations are suddenly taken an entirely other way by Yusuke Hayashi’s soundtrack shifting to a plucky comic theme. We learn that the girl is one of three aliens who have arrived on earth and inhabit human bodies, awkwardly...
- 5/24/2017
- MUBI
The Cannes Film Festival generates more attention and excitement than any other film festival in the world, but each year is an unpredictable journey. The Official Selection, alongside the sidebars of Directors Fortnight and Critics Week, offer up a tightly-curated into a range of international cinema from both familiar sources and surprising newcomers. This year’s edition is a reliable combination of top-tier directors whose work will be shown at Cannes until the end of time, notable filmmakers who usually deliver something worthwhile, and unproven quantities with a lot of potential.
Read More: 17 Shocks and Surprises from the 2017 Cannes Lineup, From ‘Twin Peaks’ to Netflix and Vr
In order to work through all of these different possibilities, we’ve broken down our list of anticipated Cannes titles into three categories: A-list auteurs, Discoveries and Safe Bets. Every day of Cannes will bring new updates on the latest films, some of...
Read More: 17 Shocks and Surprises from the 2017 Cannes Lineup, From ‘Twin Peaks’ to Netflix and Vr
In order to work through all of these different possibilities, we’ve broken down our list of anticipated Cannes titles into three categories: A-list auteurs, Discoveries and Safe Bets. Every day of Cannes will bring new updates on the latest films, some of...
- 5/10/2017
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
In order to make accurate predictions about the potential Cannes Film Festival lineup, it’s first important to explore which films definitely won’t make the cut. The glamorous French gathering is notorious for waiting until the last minute before locking in every slot for its Official Selection. That includes competition titles, out of competition titles, a small midnight section and the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Cannes announces the bulk of its selections in Paris on April 13, but until then, there are plenty of ways to make educated guesses. Much of the reporting surrounding the upcoming festival selection is simply lists of films expected to come out this year. However, certain movies are definitely not going to the festival for various reasons.
That’s why our own list of potentials doesn’t include “Image Et Parole,” Jean-Luc Godard’s followup to “Goodbye to Language,” which sales agent Wild Bunch now anticipates as a 2018 title.
That’s why our own list of potentials doesn’t include “Image Et Parole,” Jean-Luc Godard’s followup to “Goodbye to Language,” which sales agent Wild Bunch now anticipates as a 2018 title.
- 3/31/2017
- by Chris O'Falt, Eric Kohn, Jude Dry, Kate Erbland, Steve Greene and Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Today sees the release of The Raid 2 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and they’ve provided us with an exclusive 2-minute clip that sees Rama fighting for his life in close quarters.
“Immediately following the events of The Raid: Redemption, Rama (Iko Uwais) is forced to reinvent himself as an undercover cop in order to provide protection for his wife and child. Working for the anti-corruption taskforce led by the one person he can trust, Bunawar (Cok Simbara), he is given a mission to engage himself as an enforcer for a local mob boss, Bangun (Tio Pakusodewo). Finding a way in through Bangun’s son Uco (Arifin Putra), Rama must hunt for information linking Bangun with police force corruption. All the while, he harbors a dangerous and personal vendetta for revenge and justice that threatens to consume him- and bring both this mission and the organized crime syndicates crashing down.
“Immediately following the events of The Raid: Redemption, Rama (Iko Uwais) is forced to reinvent himself as an undercover cop in order to provide protection for his wife and child. Working for the anti-corruption taskforce led by the one person he can trust, Bunawar (Cok Simbara), he is given a mission to engage himself as an enforcer for a local mob boss, Bangun (Tio Pakusodewo). Finding a way in through Bangun’s son Uco (Arifin Putra), Rama must hunt for information linking Bangun with police force corruption. All the while, he harbors a dangerous and personal vendetta for revenge and justice that threatens to consume him- and bring both this mission and the organized crime syndicates crashing down.
- 7/8/2014
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
From putting him in the middle of a muddy prison yard brawl to having him face the swift and deadly character of Hammer Girl, The Raid 2 continuously saw its main character Rama in dire situations that escalated the already mind-blowing, bone-snapping action of its predecessor. If you haven’t yet seen director Gareth Evans’ second entry in his action saga, or if you are dying to see those maniacal martial arts moves again, then the recent announcement of the Blu-ray and DVD release of The Raid 2 might get your adrenaline pumping.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is releasing The Raid 2 on Blu-ray and DVD on July 8th, and the home media release will include some interesting bonus features:
Special Features [via Blu-ray.com]
Featurettes:
Ready for a Fight: On Location (Blu-ray exclusive) Violent Ballet: Behind the Choreography (Blu-ray exclusive) Deleted Scene: Gang War (Blu-ray Exclusive) English Dub in addition to the...
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is releasing The Raid 2 on Blu-ray and DVD on July 8th, and the home media release will include some interesting bonus features:
Special Features [via Blu-ray.com]
Featurettes:
Ready for a Fight: On Location (Blu-ray exclusive) Violent Ballet: Behind the Choreography (Blu-ray exclusive) Deleted Scene: Gang War (Blu-ray Exclusive) English Dub in addition to the...
- 5/21/2014
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
A large publisher's Dictionary Editorial Department finds itself on the brink of extinction in 1995, as new technologies such as laptops and mobile telephones become more commonplace in everyday households. The Internet is on the verge of explosion and emails are about to replace handwritten letters as the primary form of "written" communication. Prognosticating that the world is about to become very used to communicating, researching and learning via their sparkly new electronic devices, the head of the department (Go Kato) wants to develop a new kind of dictionary. The dictionary of his dreams, The Great Passage, will be Japan's first to capture youth culture's lexicon, embracing modern day mutilations of the Japanese language -- slang words, modern expressions and acronyms -- while skillfully providing the proper roots and definitions for words alongside the popular-yet-incorrect new meanings. Dictionaries can take decades to develop, and before they commence this daunting task, the...
- 1/4/2014
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Boys On the Run will screen at the Walter Reade Theater, Monday, June 28th, and Japan Society on Sunday, July 4th at 12:00 Pm. Go here for details.
I worry that the exuberant Nyaff programming description of Boys On the Run might oversell the kind of comedy the movie contains. Going in I think I was expecting a raucous sex comedy but but this movie is playing a different game. It's more of a laughing quietly or uncomfortably film as opposed to a laugh-out-loud experience, but I think that's actually to the movie's benefit.
Ostensibly a romantic comedy, Boys is about Toshiyuki, a sexually frustrated salesman of vending machine toys who's just hit 29 and has no real prospects. He still lives at home, his company's second-rate, and he's generally boxed himself into a socially awkward hole that would probably have led to random stabbings or suicide (or both) if the...
I worry that the exuberant Nyaff programming description of Boys On the Run might oversell the kind of comedy the movie contains. Going in I think I was expecting a raucous sex comedy but but this movie is playing a different game. It's more of a laughing quietly or uncomfortably film as opposed to a laugh-out-loud experience, but I think that's actually to the movie's benefit.
Ostensibly a romantic comedy, Boys is about Toshiyuki, a sexually frustrated salesman of vending machine toys who's just hit 29 and has no real prospects. He still lives at home, his company's second-rate, and he's generally boxed himself into a socially awkward hole that would probably have led to random stabbings or suicide (or both) if the...
- 6/27/2010
- Screen Anarchy
It’s not often that a coming-of-age story revolves around a 29-year-old chronic masturbator who still lives with his mom, but that’s just one example of the many ways Daisuke Miura's Boys on the Run is refreshingly atypical. The film is based on a manga by Kengo Hanazawa which was originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits from 2005-2008, and although the adaptation is fairly loyal visually, the overall tone has been changed both in how the characters behave and how the story arc is presented.
When we first meet our hapless hero, Tanishi (Kazunobu Mineta), he’s spending his 29th birthday in a telekura, arranging to meet a woman who turns out to be rather large and extremely disgruntled by his unenthusiastic reaction to her. After surviving a mild beating, he just barely manages to make a run for it down the streets of Ikebukuro.
As...
When we first meet our hapless hero, Tanishi (Kazunobu Mineta), he’s spending his 29th birthday in a telekura, arranging to meet a woman who turns out to be rather large and extremely disgruntled by his unenthusiastic reaction to her. After surviving a mild beating, he just barely manages to make a run for it down the streets of Ikebukuro.
As...
- 6/8/2010
- Nippon Cinema
A new Hiroyuki Tanaka film, rejoice! He used to operate on a pretty regular schedule, sadly his last film dates almost 5 years back. By the time I'd finally caught up with his films, it seemed he quit making them. Kanikosen is a welcome come-back for Tanaka and even though it's a little different from his other output, it turned out to be a very enjoyable film indeed.
Tanaka (better known as Sabu) is without a doubt one of my favorite directors. I consider The Blessing Bell a true masterpiece, with Monday and Postman Blues only further proof of his enormous talent. His films are notoriously hard to find on DVD (English subbed that is, they seem to appreciate Tanaka in Germany a great deal more), which is quite strange considering how well-received his films are on festivals.
With Kanikosen (or The Crab Cannery Ship), Tanaka reunites his love for transportation...
Tanaka (better known as Sabu) is without a doubt one of my favorite directors. I consider The Blessing Bell a true masterpiece, with Monday and Postman Blues only further proof of his enormous talent. His films are notoriously hard to find on DVD (English subbed that is, they seem to appreciate Tanaka in Germany a great deal more), which is quite strange considering how well-received his films are on festivals.
With Kanikosen (or The Crab Cannery Ship), Tanaka reunites his love for transportation...
- 5/3/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The first trailer for Sabu’s next film, Kanikosen (The Cannery Boat), is now online. Our friend in Japan, Jason Gray, said it was coming. He gave me the heads up last week that the site had gone live and it was only a matter of time before there would be a trailer available. I was ever vigilant, checking the site each day since then, looking for the trailer to come up. Trust it to come up during the day while I was at work.
Japanese filmmaker Sabu is returning to the director’s chair after a three-year hiatus with an adaptation of Takiji Kobayashi’s famed literary work The Crab Cannery Ship (Kanikosen). Nightmare Detective star Ryuhei Matsuda will play the lead role of a sailor who spearheads a mutiny against the oppressive ruling regime on a crab fishing and processing vessel. Matsuda is joined by cast members Hidetoshi Nishijima and Hirofumi Arai.
Japanese filmmaker Sabu is returning to the director’s chair after a three-year hiatus with an adaptation of Takiji Kobayashi’s famed literary work The Crab Cannery Ship (Kanikosen). Nightmare Detective star Ryuhei Matsuda will play the lead role of a sailor who spearheads a mutiny against the oppressive ruling regime on a crab fishing and processing vessel. Matsuda is joined by cast members Hidetoshi Nishijima and Hirofumi Arai.
- 2/15/2009
- by Mack
- Screen Anarchy
The simple fact that this is the latest from cult auteur Shinya Tsukamoto should be enough to get your attention on this one, that it’s the sequel to his mind bending horror-mystery Nightmare Detective should seal the deal. Ryuhei Matsuda returns to the lead role as a suicidal man able to insert himself into the dreams of those around him and Tsukamoto creates a swirling, nightmarish reality.
Kyoichi Kagenuma, the Nightmare Detective, is back. Still plagued by his unwanted abilities – abilities that allow him to read thoughts and enter other people’s dreams – and still debating suicide as a means to end it all, all he wants is to be left alone with his misery. But solitude will not come. Drawn by word of his strange abilities a high school girl, Yukie Mashiro, comes to his home day after day begging him to free her from her recurring nightmares...
Kyoichi Kagenuma, the Nightmare Detective, is back. Still plagued by his unwanted abilities – abilities that allow him to read thoughts and enter other people’s dreams – and still debating suicide as a means to end it all, all he wants is to be left alone with his misery. But solitude will not come. Drawn by word of his strange abilities a high school girl, Yukie Mashiro, comes to his home day after day begging him to free her from her recurring nightmares...
- 9/22/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
How’s this for a stellar cast: Tadanobu Asano, Ryuhei Matsuda, Aoi Miyazaki and Koji Yakusho have joined together to star in vetern cinematographer Daisaku Kimura’s debut directorial effort. Based on a novel by Jiro Nitta the film tells the story of a team of climbers exploring the Japanese mountains, particularly the fearsome peak of the title. The actual Mt. Tsurugidake is considered one of the more treacherous mountains in the region, as evidenced by the fact sound man Teiichi Saito was badly injured in a rock slide during location shooting and had to be taken to hospital by helicopter. Was it worth it? Well, the first teaser has just been added to the Twitch Player and the cinematography is very impressive. Check it out below the break.
- 8/15/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival
BUNCHEON, South Korea -- Two long-lost brothers from Korea face off on a Japanese TV cooking program in "The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi" ("Za Yakiniku Moubi Purukogi") -- a sizzling comedy/drama that will make you rush out to the nearest Korean restaurant as soon as credits stop rolling.
First-time director Gu Su Yeon has stirred in ingredients from two hit factors in mainstream Japanese entertainment. One of them is the long existing body of food-themed films, TV drama and manga, such as the classic "Tampopo", "Shoutai's Sushi" or the recent "Udon". The other is a new boom in films with Zainichi (Koreans resident in Japan) as a subject, like "Pacchigi!" and "Pacchigi! Love and Peace," "Blood and Bones" and "Dear Pyongyang". With proper marketing, Gu's fusion film could be billed as hearty family entertainment from Seoul to Sao Paolo.
Gu has no qualms about using the tried and true formula of David versus Goliath, which translated into this film's context becomes tripe versus prime beef, humble family-run eatery versus giant national restaurant chain and traditional recipes versus nouvelle cuisine.
Shot in a style that mimics and parodies Japanese TV gourmet shows, with snappy editing, exaggerated zoom-ins and loud commentary, the narrative is strung together by amusing episodes of culinary encounters that tantalize and educate, such as an anatomy lesson on a cow's various edible insides, or the secret recipe for making pickled perilla leaves. The scenes in the final showdown live up to gastronomic expectations, and endures -- no, demands -- repeated viewing. Instead of finishing at the climactic moment, the story stretches a bit longer to deliver a rather quaint message at the end: That what really matters is not what you eat, but who you eat with.
The two main characters, Tatsuji and Torao, embody different schools of cuisine and radically different values. Ryuhei Matsuda, who is gradually emerging from the shadow of being the son of the late Yuusaku Matsuda, one of Japan greatest actors, is suitably cast to play a grungy small-town lad who feels he could never live up to his adopted grandpa's cooking skills. Ex-model Arata is a perfect foil as the haughty cooking champion manipulated by an avaricious Japanese mother, and cut off from his Korean heritage.
Vegetarians get a bashing in this pro-meat entertainment, with cult actor Taguchi Tomorowo especially funny as a meat-loathing, weasel-like yakiniku chain manager, who buys out small proprietors with banknotes and bulldozers.
Gu Su-yeon, who is an ethnic Korean born in Japan, obviously drew from personal experiences of this immigrant eating culture. Unlike other films about Zainichi, which focus on the hardships and discrimination they endure, "Bulgogi" stays clear of racial tension and social issues. But then, so what? If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then a juicy piece of salt-marinated tripe crackling on the grill can also be a gateway to understanding how ethnic culture survives even when transplanted to a sometimes hostile foreign land.
THE YAKINIKU MOVIE: BULGOGI
Phantom Films/Cinema Investment/Tokyo Eizo Kobo/Pyramid Film/Eisei Gekijyo/Pyramid Film/Artist Film/Asahi Koukokusha/Pony Canyon
Credits:
Director: Gu Su Yeon
Producer: Kimio Kataoka
Written by: Mitsunori Guu
Based from the manga by: Haroma
Producers: Kimio Kataoka, Masahiro Harada, Akira Ishii, Keisuke Konishi
Executive producer: Katsue Kobayashi
Director of photography: Hideyuki Mushu
Production designer: Tomoharu Nakamae
Music: MaMiMery
Editor: Kazuhisa Takahashi
Cast:
Ryuhei Matsuda: Tatsuji
Arata: Torao
Yu Yamada: Yori
Taguchi Tomorowo: Harada
Kaori Momoe: Kataoka
Running time -- 116 minutes
No MPAA rating...
BUNCHEON, South Korea -- Two long-lost brothers from Korea face off on a Japanese TV cooking program in "The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi" ("Za Yakiniku Moubi Purukogi") -- a sizzling comedy/drama that will make you rush out to the nearest Korean restaurant as soon as credits stop rolling.
First-time director Gu Su Yeon has stirred in ingredients from two hit factors in mainstream Japanese entertainment. One of them is the long existing body of food-themed films, TV drama and manga, such as the classic "Tampopo", "Shoutai's Sushi" or the recent "Udon". The other is a new boom in films with Zainichi (Koreans resident in Japan) as a subject, like "Pacchigi!" and "Pacchigi! Love and Peace," "Blood and Bones" and "Dear Pyongyang". With proper marketing, Gu's fusion film could be billed as hearty family entertainment from Seoul to Sao Paolo.
Gu has no qualms about using the tried and true formula of David versus Goliath, which translated into this film's context becomes tripe versus prime beef, humble family-run eatery versus giant national restaurant chain and traditional recipes versus nouvelle cuisine.
Shot in a style that mimics and parodies Japanese TV gourmet shows, with snappy editing, exaggerated zoom-ins and loud commentary, the narrative is strung together by amusing episodes of culinary encounters that tantalize and educate, such as an anatomy lesson on a cow's various edible insides, or the secret recipe for making pickled perilla leaves. The scenes in the final showdown live up to gastronomic expectations, and endures -- no, demands -- repeated viewing. Instead of finishing at the climactic moment, the story stretches a bit longer to deliver a rather quaint message at the end: That what really matters is not what you eat, but who you eat with.
The two main characters, Tatsuji and Torao, embody different schools of cuisine and radically different values. Ryuhei Matsuda, who is gradually emerging from the shadow of being the son of the late Yuusaku Matsuda, one of Japan greatest actors, is suitably cast to play a grungy small-town lad who feels he could never live up to his adopted grandpa's cooking skills. Ex-model Arata is a perfect foil as the haughty cooking champion manipulated by an avaricious Japanese mother, and cut off from his Korean heritage.
Vegetarians get a bashing in this pro-meat entertainment, with cult actor Taguchi Tomorowo especially funny as a meat-loathing, weasel-like yakiniku chain manager, who buys out small proprietors with banknotes and bulldozers.
Gu Su-yeon, who is an ethnic Korean born in Japan, obviously drew from personal experiences of this immigrant eating culture. Unlike other films about Zainichi, which focus on the hardships and discrimination they endure, "Bulgogi" stays clear of racial tension and social issues. But then, so what? If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then a juicy piece of salt-marinated tripe crackling on the grill can also be a gateway to understanding how ethnic culture survives even when transplanted to a sometimes hostile foreign land.
THE YAKINIKU MOVIE: BULGOGI
Phantom Films/Cinema Investment/Tokyo Eizo Kobo/Pyramid Film/Eisei Gekijyo/Pyramid Film/Artist Film/Asahi Koukokusha/Pony Canyon
Credits:
Director: Gu Su Yeon
Producer: Kimio Kataoka
Written by: Mitsunori Guu
Based from the manga by: Haroma
Producers: Kimio Kataoka, Masahiro Harada, Akira Ishii, Keisuke Konishi
Executive producer: Katsue Kobayashi
Director of photography: Hideyuki Mushu
Production designer: Tomoharu Nakamae
Music: MaMiMery
Editor: Kazuhisa Takahashi
Cast:
Ryuhei Matsuda: Tatsuji
Arata: Torao
Yu Yamada: Yori
Taguchi Tomorowo: Harada
Kaori Momoe: Kataoka
Running time -- 116 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/20/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York Asian Film Festival/Japan Cuts Festival of New Films
NEW YORK -- Such works as the sci-fi classic Tetsuo: The Iron Man and the outlandish costume drama Gemini have established Shinya Tsukamoto as an auteur of the strange -- a kind of intellectual version of Takashi Miike. This riff on the J-horror genre certainly is imaginative, though it lacks the visual experimentation of his previous films. Nightmare Detective occasionally is effective but suffers because it relies more on gore and bloodshed than suspense for shocks.
There's a nastiness at the core of Nightmare that many will find off-putting. It has a sadistic approach to its characters, and the violence is often misogynistic. The film has more in common with the discomfiting Marebito -- in which Tsukamoto starred -- than standard J-horrors. But the Weinstein Co., which will release here on its Dragon Dynasty imprint, should find a willing audience of horror buffs looking for a different approach to what's now become an exhausted J-genre.
The story, by Tsukamoto, revolves around Keiko (pop star Hitomi), a yuppie cop who is investigating a series of gory suicides. Keiko realizes that the deaths may not actually be suicides at all, as they happen while the victims are asleep. It transpires that something or someone is entering their dreams and causing the violence. Keiko enlists Kyoichi (Ryuhei Matsuda), a reclusive young man who has the power to enter people's nightmares, to help her.
The narrative often is befuddling. The links between the real world and the nightmares aren't made sufficiently clear, even within the bizarre world of the script. The film's psychology is basic, and doesn't tell viewers much about the characters' actions. A fast-moving story line tries to mask this confusion but only ends up making it worse.
But the tone is consistent. It's a relentlessly grim view of Human Nature where people have no defense against those with baser, crueler instincts. Its aesthetic is even gloomier than David Fincher's Seven -- a hell on earth with no respite for the civilized. Tsukamoto is adept at taking viewers into this dark world, though they might find it's a place they don't care to visit.
Makeup, rather than computers, supplies most of the effects, and Tsukamoto relishes depicting nasty slashes on the bodies of the victims. This might be ugly, but it's not particularly scary, as the editing doesn't build up much suspense.
Tsukamoto seems to be trying to make an anti-suicide statement, as most of his characters change their minds about the act when it's too late. Suicide is ritualized in Japan with traditions like hari-kari, and it also has become a social problem there: Young students commit suicide because of bullying or exam pressure. Yet Tsukamoto has chosen a bizarre way to make his point.
Tsukamoto directed, wrote, produced, shot, edited and did the production design. He also plays Zero. Apparently, all this activity didn't tire him out. A sequel is on the way.
NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE
Dimension Extreme
A Movie-Eye Entertainment presentation of a Kaijyu Theater production
Credits:
Director/screenwriter/director of photography/production designer: Shinya Tsukamato
Producers: Shinya Tsukamato, Shinichi Kawahara, Yumiko Takebe
Executive producer: Taku Uhiyama
Music: Chu Ishikawa
Editor: Shinya Tsukamoto
Cast:
Kyoichi: Ryuhei Matsuda
Keiko: Hitomi
Wakayama: Masanobu Ando
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
NEW YORK -- Such works as the sci-fi classic Tetsuo: The Iron Man and the outlandish costume drama Gemini have established Shinya Tsukamoto as an auteur of the strange -- a kind of intellectual version of Takashi Miike. This riff on the J-horror genre certainly is imaginative, though it lacks the visual experimentation of his previous films. Nightmare Detective occasionally is effective but suffers because it relies more on gore and bloodshed than suspense for shocks.
There's a nastiness at the core of Nightmare that many will find off-putting. It has a sadistic approach to its characters, and the violence is often misogynistic. The film has more in common with the discomfiting Marebito -- in which Tsukamoto starred -- than standard J-horrors. But the Weinstein Co., which will release here on its Dragon Dynasty imprint, should find a willing audience of horror buffs looking for a different approach to what's now become an exhausted J-genre.
The story, by Tsukamoto, revolves around Keiko (pop star Hitomi), a yuppie cop who is investigating a series of gory suicides. Keiko realizes that the deaths may not actually be suicides at all, as they happen while the victims are asleep. It transpires that something or someone is entering their dreams and causing the violence. Keiko enlists Kyoichi (Ryuhei Matsuda), a reclusive young man who has the power to enter people's nightmares, to help her.
The narrative often is befuddling. The links between the real world and the nightmares aren't made sufficiently clear, even within the bizarre world of the script. The film's psychology is basic, and doesn't tell viewers much about the characters' actions. A fast-moving story line tries to mask this confusion but only ends up making it worse.
But the tone is consistent. It's a relentlessly grim view of Human Nature where people have no defense against those with baser, crueler instincts. Its aesthetic is even gloomier than David Fincher's Seven -- a hell on earth with no respite for the civilized. Tsukamoto is adept at taking viewers into this dark world, though they might find it's a place they don't care to visit.
Makeup, rather than computers, supplies most of the effects, and Tsukamoto relishes depicting nasty slashes on the bodies of the victims. This might be ugly, but it's not particularly scary, as the editing doesn't build up much suspense.
Tsukamoto seems to be trying to make an anti-suicide statement, as most of his characters change their minds about the act when it's too late. Suicide is ritualized in Japan with traditions like hari-kari, and it also has become a social problem there: Young students commit suicide because of bullying or exam pressure. Yet Tsukamoto has chosen a bizarre way to make his point.
Tsukamoto directed, wrote, produced, shot, edited and did the production design. He also plays Zero. Apparently, all this activity didn't tire him out. A sequel is on the way.
NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE
Dimension Extreme
A Movie-Eye Entertainment presentation of a Kaijyu Theater production
Credits:
Director/screenwriter/director of photography/production designer: Shinya Tsukamato
Producers: Shinya Tsukamato, Shinichi Kawahara, Yumiko Takebe
Executive producer: Taku Uhiyama
Music: Chu Ishikawa
Editor: Shinya Tsukamoto
Cast:
Kyoichi: Ryuhei Matsuda
Keiko: Hitomi
Wakayama: Masanobu Ando
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/19/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TOKYO -- The latest supernatural thriller from Japan has been picked up by the Weinstein Co. for distribution in North America, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
In a deal first set in motion at November's American Film Market, Arclight Films subsidiary Easternlight Films has announced that it has sold the rights to Nightmare Detective for an undisclosed fee after the movie screened at the Pusan and Rome film festivals.
Written and directed by Shinya Tsukamoto and starring Ryuhei Matsuda, Masanobu Ando and singer Hitomi, the movie is the tale of a female detective investigating a pair of suicides mysteriously connected by the fact that both victims dialed zero on their mobile phones just seconds before they died.
The detective tracks down a man with the power to enter people's dreams, a device that enables Tsukamoto to put his idiosynchratic filming styles to good use.
Easternlight focuses on bringing Asian titles to audiences in the U.S. and Europe and has done business with the Weinsteins for several years, said Jonathan Deckter, president of international sales for Arclight Films.
In a deal first set in motion at November's American Film Market, Arclight Films subsidiary Easternlight Films has announced that it has sold the rights to Nightmare Detective for an undisclosed fee after the movie screened at the Pusan and Rome film festivals.
Written and directed by Shinya Tsukamoto and starring Ryuhei Matsuda, Masanobu Ando and singer Hitomi, the movie is the tale of a female detective investigating a pair of suicides mysteriously connected by the fact that both victims dialed zero on their mobile phones just seconds before they died.
The detective tracks down a man with the power to enter people's dreams, a device that enables Tsukamoto to put his idiosynchratic filming styles to good use.
Easternlight focuses on bringing Asian titles to audiences in the U.S. and Europe and has done business with the Weinsteins for several years, said Jonathan Deckter, president of international sales for Arclight Films.
- 12/12/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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