Japanese Film

[zakojanai]

I've been back in the states for about 9 months, but prior to that I'd been in Japan most of the previous five years. Because of that, I never had a Netflix account. Now that school is out for the summer, I plan on doing some serious movie watching and would like to educate myself a bit on Japanese film. I'm wondering what movies you guys love that the rest of us might not have heard of.

Let's try to leave Kurosawa and Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli out of this for the most part. Everyone knows that Seven Samurai is a masterpiece and Graveyard of the Fireflies will make you cry. I'm more interested in hearing about popular middle-brow type movies that are actually good. Like Departures (maybe...I haven't actually seen it) or Twilight Samurai (ditto...both are in my queue). Of course, I'd also love to hear about good yakuza and cult films too.

[Belton]

In no particular order

Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari)
Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware Matsuko no isshô)
by Tetsuya Nakashima

Tokyo Drifter,
The Flower and the Angry Waves
by Suzuki Seijun
He was meant to make normal B-movies for a studio but exploited the system to subvert them into art house movies. Very strong visual style. His later stuff Pistol Opera and Princess Tanuki is just plain weird.

Masahiro Shinoda 's Assassination
Japanese New Wave

The Milkwoman
Akira Ogata

Happiness of the Katakuris Takashii Miike
His films are often very violent, this is a musical however. with zombies!

Afterlife (ワンダフルライフ）
Nobody Knows　（だれもしらない）
Hana yori mo naho
All by
Hirokazu Koreeda

Azumi
female Ninja chop 'em up movie.

Death Note 1 and 2
Live action version of the anime and manga.

For Anime check out Satoshi Kon
Tokyo Godfathers
Millenium Actress
and the series Paranoia Agent
Ghibli it definitly isn't!

ohayou
by Ozu. It has fart jokes not what you'd expect from Ozu somehow.

Zatoichi
by Takeshi Kitano

Red Beard by Kurosawa is one of my favourites by him, so to is Iku

you might find something of interest in that lot.

[zakojanai]

I've seen a few of those. I thought Azumi was pretty crappy, but Zatoichi was good and Millenium Actress even better. I'm looking forward to Tokyo Godfathers and ordered Paprika too.

The Happiness of the Katakuris was already in my queue, but I'm looking forward to it. The only Miike I've seen all the way through was Audition. If you haven't seen that one, you definitely should.

By Iku, you meant Ikiru, right? I haven't seen Red Beard or Ikiru, but they're both pretty high up in my queue. I've seen a lot of Kurosawa movies and have yet to be disappointed.

Most of the other stuff is new to me and I'll try to check it out. Thanks for the tips.

[Belton]

By Iku, you meant Ikiru, right?

Yes, my mistake.

[Javizy]

I agree Azumi is pretty cheesy, although the first one is a lot better than the second! Another ninja film that was pretty good was Shinobi. I was impressed by the effects at the time (not sure about now, even though it's only a few years old). The anime film Ninja Scroll is probably my favourite of genre.

Audition is definitely worth a watch; very freaky. By the same director, Ichi the Killer was also pretty entertaining because of the funny gore, although it has some disturbingly perverted elements, which doesn't seem to be uncommon in Japanese entertainment. Even when reading Doraemon, I couldn't help but wonder why the guy likes drawing a naked 10 year old girl so much.

I found Twilight Samurai and Hidden Blade a surprisingly good watch. They're both Samurai-era dramas (as in the genre of film) that'll give you a taste of life in those times. Zaitoichi is also pretty good, although it's a bit more over the top.

For less serious stuff, Battle Royale is pretty entertaining, and although I haven't seen it, if it's as funny as the manga, then Detroit Metal City should be worth a watch.

[zakojanai]

I'll try to check out Ninja Scroll. That one seems to get recommended a lot. I'm undecided if I actually want to watch Ichi the Killer. Miike can be good, but he goes a little too extreme at times. I've never heard of Hidden Blade, so I'll add that to my list.

And Detroit Metal City! I've been wanting to see that movie for a while. They shot part of it in Inukai when I was living there, but I missed all the excitement because I was in Tokyo at the time. Plus I actually like the manga.

And while I love all the violent samurai/ninja/yakuza stuff, anyone know of any good movies that one might be able to watch with a date?

Maybe not as sappy as Shall We Dance, but stuff like Tony Takitani or Tokyo Sonata. Stuff that's a little less action oriented and a bit more character driven.

[SpamMusubi]

To add to the list:

Adrift in Tokyo (Tenten) by Miki Satoshi
A Taste of Tea (Cha no Aji) by Ishii Katsuhito
Kikujiro (Kikujiro no natsu) by Kitano takeshi. This is a very gentle film, not at all like the usual yakuza stuff he does.


If you like weird:
Yaji and Kita: Midnight Pilgrims (Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san) by Kudou Kankuro

[Jessi]

Kikujiro (Kikujiro no natsu) by Kitano takeshi. This is a very gentle film, not at all like the usual yakuza stuff he does.

I was also going to mention this one We watched it in Japanese class in college once and I remember really liking it.

[Taurus]

I don't think anybody's mentioned Udon yet, even though they mentioned it in the podcast a while back. It's not an amazing film, but I think there is something about it that is quite heartwarming.

Also, Casshern is routinely criticised for being monumentally long and boring, which, I guess it sort of is, but it's also amazingly ridiculous in a good way, and it looks utterly astonishing, so I'd recommend it anyway.

There might be a small amount of Japanese in Last Life in the Universe, too, which is a Thai film.

And from the films already mentioned, The Twilight Samurai and Ikiru are two of my favourite films. Tony Takitani is also pretty good.

[verocious]

Is there a japanese film about ninja ashiko?

[salivia_baker]

To add to the list:

Adrift in Tokyo (Tenten) by Miki Satoshi

Absolutely! I was surprised how good that film was.

My recommendations:
-> Moon Child (2003) - a movie about growing up, life, society and emotion. Not to mention a vampire.
-> Matango (1963) - People turning into Mushrooms. seriously. The IMDB comment says it all "This is a vastly underrated horror film which should be regarded as a true masterpiece, but instead is looked at as a piece of garbage"

written and directed by Kôki Mitani
-> Uchôten Hoteru (2006) aka Suite Dreams
-> Rajio no jikan (1997)
-> Za majikku awâ (2008) aka the Magic Hour
-> Warai no daigaku (2004) aka University of Laughs [only written by]

To watch with your grilfriend (or on a date):
-> Taan (2001) aka Turn
-> Ashita no kioku (2006) aka Memories of Tomorrow - really sad, you might cry *sniff*
-> Suwîto rein: Shinigami no seido (2008) aka Sweet Rain

[ktnagel]

hi,
what i liked (i think it wasnt mentioned yet here)

Be with You
with Yuko Takeuchi and Shido Takamura

a somehow strange story about a couple with a little son. the mother dies, but promises to come back in the rain season, and somehow she does, but has lost her memory...


regards
thaomas

[andynjohansen3760]

I just finished the Copenhagen PIX film festival, and got to see some newer japanese movies that i really enjoyed.

"Symbol" (Shinboru), by Osaka comedian Macchan directs and stars in this crazy and absurd comedy about a guy who wakes up in a totally white room with no doors. Flying angel penises appears from the wall, and every time he presses one, something strange in the room happens. The entire cinema-crowd was laughing a lot, and i found it to be a pretty interesting piece of comedy. The movie isnt widely popular in Japan, but i definitely recommend checking it out.

"Sawako decides" (Kawa no soko kara konnichiwa).
Funny blackhumorous comedy about a strange girl named Sawako and the people surrounding her. A great satire about japanese society and stereotypes. The cinema crowd was also enthusiastic about this one.

"Island of dreams" (Yume no shima).
A movie made in a retro style black and white and made to look like a 50ties movie. The story is about a gaijin who is an ecoterrorist and the cop who is supposed to catch him. Story was not so interesting, but the visual retro style is pretty cool made. You really feel like watching a 50ties movie. The script is also written as if we were back in the old days.

[Ulver_684]

Mina-san!

I really recommend Tokyo and Tokyo Sonata! Those films were the best I have ever seen in Japanese films.