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Showing all films from 日本 (Japan)
Hana-Bi (Fireworks)
Written by, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi), Hana Bi tells the story of Yoshitaka Nishi (Takeshi) a detective who's wife is terminally ill. The story follows Nishi as he spends time with the remaining days in his wife's life.
What follows is a series of strange events, which are all beautifully told. As with a number of Takeshi's other films, he doesn't say much and his body language and expressions convey much of his emotion. This film is very violent in parts while touching in others.
Overall, this is a great film, although there isn't much of a plot, you are just swept along for the ride, culminating in an unconvential ending.
Zatoichi
Takeshi Kitano (Violent Cop, Battle Royale, Sonatine) writes, directs and stars in Zatoichi.
Zatoichi is a blind masseur who also happens to be a skilled warrior. When he arrives in a town ruled by gangsters and meets 2 Geisha looking to avenge their parents death this spells bad news for the gangsters who run the town.
The film is superbly directed and filmed and the action sequences which involve a lot of sword fighting are great, very violent and well choreographed.
Takeshi Kitano plays the part of the blind Zatoichi amazingly well, coming across as someone who although blind is fully aware of everything happening around them, the music in the film is used heavily to set the tone.
The story is fantastic and captivating throughout, with some great action sequences and some funny scenes which are done well so as to inject a bit of humour without turning the film into a comedy.
Overall I urge anyone with an interest in Japanese cinema to go and see this film, Takeshi Kitano is a great director and actor and this is a great film.
バトル ロワイアル (Battle Royale)
Battle Royale has to be one of my favourite films. It follows the story of a class of school children who are selected under the BR(Battle Royale) act. Under the BR act the class are taken to a remote island and have to fight each other to the death until only one remains. Each child is given a bag with a range of weapons, ranging from guns to knifes to less useful utensils with one boy being given a pot lid. The story follows the classmates as they each make the decision on how they are going to cope with the circumstances. In particular it follows a boy and a girl who feel there must be a way off the island without having to kill everyone. This film is violent, with dark comedy moments, all in all a great piece of cinema.
極道恐怖大劇場:牛頭 (Gozu)
Miike Takashi has the dubious honour of being the most reviewed director on chored.ath.cx. Partly because his films are usually like nothing you've ever seen before, but mainly cause he makes so bloody many of them. With over 60 films to his name (at the time of writing), Takashi just seems to belt them out one after another.
Gozu follows in the tradition of his films in that it is very strange and very dark with some scenes which are pretty messed up.
Gozu follows a Yakuza named Minami who is sent to Nagoya to get rid of his brother Ozaki who has lately become a bit eccentric and very troublesome. Things go wrong when Ozaki tries to shoot at a woman claiming she is driving a Yakuza attack car which has been modified to kill Yakuza. Minami kills Ozaki while trying to stop him. Things take a turn for the worse when he stops at a restaurant to phone his boss and comes out to find the dead Ozaki has disappeared.
The rest of the film follows Minami as he tries to track down Ozaki in a town populated by some very strange characters. This is where Takashi's unique combination of violence, dark humour and just general freakishness comes into play.
While Gozu is not as violent as Ichi The Killer, not as disturbing as Audition and not as messed up as Visitor Q, it does have Takashi's stamp all over it. Fans of Takashi's work will not be disappointed, strangers of his work will wonder what they have just seen.
The film ends in true Miike Takashi fashion with one of the most memorable endings to a film I've ever seen which left me thinking 'What!?'.
Overall Gozu is a pretty good film, proving that although Miike Takashi releases a lot of films, he still has some good ones to make.
Visitor Q
Having seen a number of Takashi Miike's previous films (Ichi The Killer, The Happiness of The Katakuris, The City of Lost Souls, Audition) I know that his work can be quite varied in tone and content and is often quite extreme.
I picked up Visitor Q from the video store on the sole basis that it had Takashi Miike's name on the front, I didn't even read the blurb on the box. Looking back, that was perhaps foolish, this is one of strangest films I've ever seen, bordering on porn in some places and extremely violent in others.
The plot leaves you with no idea what is going to happen next, with one bizarre scene after another. We start with a father sleeping with his prostitute daughter, his wife who is a heroin addict and abused by her son and there is a strange man (Visitor Q of the title) who hits the man on the head with a rock. Add in some necrophilia, a couple of scenes with a lot of breast milk and you have one of the strangest and at times pretty sick films I've ever seen. In places this film is pretty funny and in other places left me wondering why I was watching it. Nothing like any of the other Takashi Miike films I've seen.
If nothing else, a lesson in why you should read the back of box before renting films, very strange. In comparision to Takashi-San's other movies, I don't really rate Visitor Q and has taught me a valuable lesson about reading the blurb before renting a movie. Hardcore fans of Takashi's work will more than likely enjoy this, if you're not familiar with the director, check out some of the other films mentioned above before watching this one.
The City of Lost Souls
Takashi Miike (Director Audition, Ichi The Killer) brings us an action thriller about a Japanese Brazilian named Mario who is trying to raise cash to escape Japan with his Chinese lover, Kei. This leads to them getting into trouble with both the Triads and the Yakuza. With a lot of action and some great set pieces, Takashi brings his unique blend of over the top violence combined with dark humour. This film is exciting to watch, funny in places and is everything I've come to expect from Takashi's films.
The Happiness of the Katakuris
Takashi Miike takes a horror film and creates a musical which is like some kind of weird Japanese version of the Sound of Music. When the Katakuris move to the country and open a guesthouse things don't go to plan when the guests start dieing. The father decides it would be better for all to just cover up the deaths rather than report them as he is scared that the guesthouse will get a bad reputation. This leads to some comedy moments along with some superbly cheesey musical numbers. Although very cheesy in parts, this film is also very funny in parts and well worth watching as long as you don't take it too seriously.
Koroshiya 1 (Ichi the Killer)
Takashi Miike (director Audition) brings us one of the most violent and fucked up films I've ever seen. First of all, a warning to most people, if you don't like violent films, don't watch this. If you're at all squeamish, you might want to avoid it. If you thought the violence in Kill Bill was over the top, you're not gonna like this and last of all if you've seen Audition and you didn't like it then this is gonna be much worse. Anyways, if you're still interested then I'll tell you a bit about the film.
The plot centres around Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano, Last Life In The Universe) a member of the Yakuza, when his boss is killed, he is determined to find the killer and get his revenge. Add to this the fact that Kakihara is a complete Masochist and the killer (Ichi of the title) is more than just a psychopath. This makes for some very extreme cinema. There is a lot of blood, gore, torture, people getting sliced up and stuff like that. I can't count the number of times, I was half trying to look away from the screen, but still wanting to see what happened. The plot is pretty good so the film doesn't rely on the shock value of the violence to make it's mark. All in all another masterpiece from director Takashi Miike.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Based on the Cowboy Bebop anime series, this movie follows a bounty hunter by the name of Spike Spiegel. After a tanker explodes on a highway unleashing some sort of biological weapon, Spike and his bounty hunting friends go after the person responsible in a bid to get a large cash reward for bringing him to justice after the authorities fear his next attack may be more widespread. This makes for an action packed movie with some sci-fi elements, and a great soundtrack. Nicely animated and very immersive. I've never seen the series, but it's definately on my list of anime to get now that I've seen this movie.
Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke tells the story of a young warrior by the name of Ashitaka. Ashitaka's village is attacked by a demon, which turns out to be a boar god who is full of hatred, this hatred seems to stem from an iron ball which is found in its body. Askitaka leaves the village to discover the source of this ball. This leads him to the mining town of iron town (imaginative name huh) where a woman called Eboshi is fighting with local animal gods including a young girl, Princess Mononoke who has been raised as the daughter of a wolf god.
As with other Miyazake films, a lot of weird stuff happens, including a bunch of Apes throwing sticks at people and some weirdy little tree spirit things with clicky heads. Over all I would highly recommend this film, it is imaginative, nicely animated and the plot is pretty good. One word of warning though, the English dub has been done with lots of 'amazing' Hollywood actors, but from what I have heard of it it ruins the movie completely, steer clear of the dub and watch the subbed version if possible.
Spirited Away
Spirited Away is one of the most imaginative films I've seen this year, it tells the story of Chihiro a young girl who is transported into a fantasy world where people are turned into animals and a witch runs a bath house for gods. The plot is anything but predictable and I found myself swept along for the ride rather than trying to second guess what was going to happen. I don't want to give too much of the plot away so I won't say too much but this film is a must see.
Spriggan
A team of researchers discover Noah's Ark buried in a mountain in Turkey and discover that it has far greater power than imagined. Of course given something this powerful there is always going to be evil people who want the Ark for themselves, so an ARCAM soldier codenamed Spriggan has to take them on. This film is full of action as well as having a tenuous biblical plot and a freaky little kid. (As my friend Neil said, all the required elements for a great anime). I wouldn't rate it as one of the best animes I've seen, but it is definately worth a watch.
Returner
When a young girl named Miri comes back in time from 80 years in the future to try and stop a war with an Alien race from starting, she enlists the help of Miyamoto, a martial arts expert and gunman. Together Miyamoto and Miri try to retrieve an Alien spacecraft and it's extra-terrestrial pilot from the clutches of a local crime lord.
Although the plot is pretty far fetched, and borrows from countless other sci-fi movies, this film is action packed and well shot. The excitement is maintained throughout and there are some great special effects and martial arts scenes.
Not a brilliant movie, but a good sci-fi action adventure from Japan.
仄暗い水の底から (Dark Water)
Hideo Nakata's film Ring is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen and so I was keen to see his latest offering Dark Water. Like Ring, this film has only a 15 certificate and no blood or gore, but yet is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. The Eastern Asian take on horror is totally different from typical Hollywood movies, with the Ring series, The Eye and now Dark Water relying far more on psychological horror rather than sharp shocks or buckets of blood. Dark Water uses only one shock to make you jump, and this comes at a time when you are already really tense from the previous 10 minutes.
The film follows a young mother who is in the process of a custody argument with her ex-husband over her daughter Ikuko. She moves into an apartment, but is plagued by a damp spot on the ceiling, whilst trying to hold down her job and care for her daughter, strange things start to happen in the apartment. This leads to one of the most tense climaxes in cinema history. Anyone who is a fan of the Japanese Ring films or wants to see a genuinely scary movie should go and see this film.
Versus
The story goes that there are 666 portals to the Other Side and somewhere in Japan the 444th portal lies within a wood. When an prisoner on the run escapes into this wood, he is drawn into a battle with the undead.
Anyone killed within the forest comes back as a zombie and it just so happens the Yakuza have buried a lot of victims here. Cue a fight with the undead as the main character tries to figure out what's going on. I have to say this film is full of great fight scenes and humour which is very similar to films like Brain Dead or Evil Dead. Non-stop action, hilarious to watch, the only thing I would say is the start did seem a bit long and it took a while before the action started, but once is started it was non-stop.
Akira
To many people Akira is their first taste of anime and to this day it still remains one of the best anime films ever made. Although now 16 years old, it is still visually stunning and as relevant as ever.
Akira tells the story of a biker gang in Neo Tokyo, when one of the members of the gang Tetsuo is involved in a motorcycle accident with a strange child, a transformation occurs within him which could signal the end of the world. He is promptly captured by the Army and his best friend Kaneda attempts to save him.
The animation is great and the story telling and set pieces make for a film which is captivating throughout. Mix that with some classic anime style weird goings on and you can see why this is regarded as a classic.
If you haven't seen Akira and are interested in anime, or want an introduction to anime, then see this film. For those of you not so keen on anime, you might still enjoy this film since it is a great story without being as ridiculous as some other animes.
アヴァロン (Avalon)
In a futuristic world, a growing trend is engaging in a virtual reality warfare game called Avalon. The game is illegal and possibly dangerous since there are a number of 'unreturned', people who have become lost in the game.
Ash, a young woman who is a class A warrior within Avalon learns that an ex-team member is currently in a hospital since becoming 'unreturned'. Hearing of a legendary ghost who can open the gateway to a secret level, she seeks to find the ghost and rescue her friend.
One of the most striking thing about the film is that the majority of the first two thirds are presented in a very muted Sepia tone with only some things appearing in colour. This makes for a very unreal experience adding to the whole virtual reality game idea. The special effects used in the 'in-game' fighting sequences are excellent. This leads to give the impression that every frame is the way it is through complete control by the director giving a very stylised visual experience.
The music and soundtrack is excellent, there are a lot of long silent parts, and there isn't that much dialogue in the film anyway. The music kicks in with classical/operatic pieces during the action which adds greatly to the visual experience.
The story is interesting and the ending is rather unexpected and leaves a few questions unanswered. Overall this is a great film which I feel draws a lot from computer games and anime so anyone into that kind of thing should enjoy it.
攻殻機動隊 (Ghost in the Shell)
Mamoru Oshii's (Avalon) anime Ghost in the Shell is along with Akira one of the best anime's I've seen. The film tells the story of Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg cop who is led into tracking down a hacker called the Puppet Master who is 'ghost hacking' people to control them.
The film has a great plot, holds your attention throughout along with having some great music and some classic anime fighting scenes. This is truly one of the animes against which all others are judged. Any fan of anime should have seen this movie already, but if you haven't go and see it now.
Perfect Blue
When Mima leaves her pop-band to reinvent herself as an actress things don't go quite as planned when she discovers a website being written from her perspective, a strange man seemingly following her and illusions of an alternate her.
This film was pretty good, the story was strong although at the end it did get a bit wacky and I was left wondering what was going on. The animation was good and there was some classic J-Pop action going on in the pop-group scenes.
Blood: The Last Vampire
Blood: The Last Vampire follows a young girl named Saya, the last living original vampire and part of a team hunting down and destroying demons. Although pretty short (48 mins or so), this is a great movie, the animation looks really nice, and is a mixture of 2D and 3D CGI. The movie contains both English and Japanese dialog as it is set in a US airforce base in Japan so the Americans speak English and the Japanese speak Japanese. The story is good and the battles between Saya and the demons are great, apart from being a little on the shortside this film is very good and well worth watching.
Kai Doh Maru
Set in Feudal Japan, Kai Doh Maru tells the story of Kintoki, a young girl who is rescued and raised by a group of peacekeepers. Although the film is pretty short (40 mins), the story is quite good, although it does seem to end very aprubtly. The best thing about this movie is it's unique visual style, the film is presented in very muted colours which add to the feel of the time period the film is set in.
Rashomon
While sheltering from the rain, two men tell another the story of a woman who was attacked and raped by a bandit in the woods. The story is told from 4 different viewpoints, the attacker, the woman, the dead woman's husband and an onlooker.
Each teller has a different take on the tale. Set in ancient Japan, Rashomon leaves the viewer to decide who if anyone is telling the truth.
Toshiro Mifune stars as the bandit Tajomaru and gives an excellent performance of the character. The story is clever and well told. Well worth a watch.
Brother
Another film written, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano/Beat Takeshi, Brother tells the story of Yamamoto, a Yakuza who leaves Japan for America after his family is taken over by another family who want him dead because he is too dangerous.
Once in America, Yamamoto meets up with his little brother who is a small time drug dealer, Yamamoto goes on a crusade to establish the Yakuza as the number one gang in the area, recruiting more and more until the attract the attention of the Mafia. Beat Takeshi plays his usual role of the hard ass guy who says very little but kicks a lot of butts. This film is full of action and violence and is a great Gangster/Yakuza movie. Any fan of Takeshi Kitano's other films will enjoy this.
Shogun Assassin
Banned in the UK since 1983, Shogun Assassin is actually a mix of two samurai films, "Sword of Vengance" and "Baby Cart at River Styx" part of the Lone Wolf series which tell of a masterless samurai who travels around with his son.
When his wife is killed by the Shogun's Ninjas, Lone Wolf is determined to avenge her death and goes on a journey of slaughter killing lots of people. The film is quite violent, with a lot of samurai action, the violence is very obviously fake, with squirting blood all over the place much like in Kill Bill. Compared to other films I've seen it isn't particularly violent, with most of the violence being humorous rather than shocking.
Overall, Shogun Assassin is a reasonable samurai film, the dubbing is pretty shoddy and video quality isn't great, but other than that it's entertaining enough.
Tokyo Godfathers
Tokyo Godfathers tells of 3 homeless friends, a young runaway, a transvestite and a middle aged bum. Homeless at Christmas in Tokyo, they find an abandoned baby while rummaging through the garbage. The 3 of them resolve to return the child to its parents.
Tokyo Godfathers is a touching tale with a strong element of light hearted humour. A lot of the humour is quite random but through the movie a strong bond with the 3 friends is formed, even Gin who is quite gruff at the start.
Beautifully directed by Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue), Tokyo Godfathers is a good tale which will make an excellent Christmas movie, although is fun to watch at any time of the year.
七人の侍 (Seven Samurai)
Akira Kurosawa's movie Seven Samurai tells the story of a poor village who learn that bandits will attack and steal their Barley as soon as it has been harvested. The village elder suggests hiring Samurai to protect their village, since they are poor and have no money to offer, their search for Samurai does not go very well.
Finally the stumble across a Ronin who agrees to help them gather a team of Samurai, he and a young Samurai who wants to be his master manage to form a group of six Samurai. Each member of the group has their own unique characteristics and personality, from the clown who runs away from battle to the master swordsman who has no interest in killing for killings sake, instead being dedicated to mastering the art of swordsmanship.
The seventh member of the group comes in the guise of Kikuchiyo (played excellently by Toshiro Mifune, Rashomon), although not a true Samurai, he is eventually welcomed into the fold.
Together the Seven men train the villagers to fight in readiness for the attack from the bandits.
Seven Samurai is truly an exceptional movie, every one of the main characters has a strong personality and background which are intractley woven into the plot, explaining their actions while not seeming contrived. Kurosawa creates a movie which has both strong characters, a strong plot and some excellent action.
Agitator
Out of all of Miike Takashi's movies which I've seen this has to be the most conventional. The plot tells of the power struggles between Yakuza families in Tokyo. When a member of one family causes trouble for another and is killed, the family of the dead man seek retribution. This leads to a war between the families. There are quite a few different gangs in the film, and keeping track of who is allied with who can get a little confusing, since the plot calls for a lot of switching of sides.
Overall Agitator is not as good as other works by Miike Takashi, but on it's own it's not a bad Yakuza action film, although it does feel quite long while watching it.
Ringu
Hideo Nakata's Ringu has become a classic example of Eastern Asian horror, the build up of tension and genuinley scary psychological horror rather than shocks and gore define the genre. While not as scary as other films in the genre including Nakata's own Dark Water and A Tale of Two Sisters, Ringu still has one of the scariest scenes in movie history along with a great plot and great acting.
The film follows a journalist who is investigating stories of a video tape which if watched causes the viewer to die 7 days later. When her own neice falls victim to the tape, she is even more determined to find the cause of it, after watching the tape she becomes strapped in a battle against time to work out the mystery within 7 days.
Ringu is genuinley scary and well worth a watch, in my opinion Nakata's original is vastly superior to the American remake.
The Castle of Cagliostro
Castle of Cagliostro tells the story of gentleman thief Lupin III aka Wolf. When Wolf and his sidekick Jigen rob a casino they find that all the money they have stolen is counterfeit and decide to track down the source of the counterfeiter in order to make a lot more money.
Their search takes them to the Kingdom of Cagliostro where they learn the evil Count Cagliostro is going to marry Princess Cagliostro against her will. Wolf swears to save her from her fate, his mission is made harder when bungling Inspector Zenigata turns up to try and capture him.
The plot is reasonable, as is the animation. The drawing style is not as Japanese looking as other anime I've seen, in particular count Cagliostro looks like a typical Scooby Doo villain. The English Dub also added to this Scooby Doo feeling which probably had a detrimental effect on my enjoyment of the film. There are some good scenes in which the Count's Ninja's appear, they feel more like characters from Miyazaki's later work.
Overall The Castle of Cagliostro is reasonably good fun, but not amazing.
Sonatine
Another film written by, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (AKA Beat Takeshi). Sonatine tells the story of a Tokyo Yakuza crew who are sent to Okinawa to help resolve a turf war. When things don't go too well, they take refuge on a beach to strengthen up again.
Although Sonatine has a few scenes of typical Yakuza violence, the main part of the film takes place on the lonely beach where the men live together, and play games as they plan their next move. The film is typical of Takeshi's work, highly atmospheric and character driven.
Overall Sonatine is a good movie, showing that Yakuza films don't need to be all guns and violence.
カオス (Chaos)
Hideo Nakata, has made a name for himself as an excellent director of East Asian suspense horror. His film リング (Ring) is a standard on which many other Eastern Asian horror movies are judged. I have to admit I am a big fan of Nakata's films, and was quite keen to see Chaos even although I knew nothing about it.
Unlike Ringu and Dark Water, Chaos is not a horror movie. Instead Nakata-san has directed a masterpiece which tells a complex story which twists about. Just when you think you know what is happening you are shown another scene which changes everything which you had believed to be true.
One of the ways Nakata does this is through his use of a skewed time line, although wheras in films like Memento and Irreversible the timeline runs backwards, in Chaos we jump around sometimes with no obvious indication of where in the story the scene takes place. This can be a little confusing if you aren't paying close attention as the indicators to where in the timeline the scene takes place are sometimes very subtle.
The film starts with the kidnapping of the wife of the head of a Japanese company. The man is then asked for the ransom money. What starts as this simple kindnapping plot then becomes more and more complex as the story twists and turns.
Overall Chaos is an excellent film which shows that Nakata's talents are not just limited to the suspense horror which he is well know for.
バトル ロワイアル 2 : レクイエム (Battle Royale II: Requiem)
Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale is one of my favourite films, it is extreme cinema at it's best. A dark premise with great performances from the whole cast. Because of this I was interested in seeing the sequel, Battle Royale 2. Whereas while making the original Kinji Fukasaku had the excellent novel by Koushun Takami to work with, BR2 is an entirely new story. The death of Kinji Fukasaku during the making was also a blow with Kenta Fukasaku stepping up to finish his fathers film.
The film is set 3 years after the first and sees Shuya Nanahara, a survivor from the first film forming an underground terror organisation and declaring war against the Grown-Ups. To try to end this uprising, the Government starts the 2nd BR program which sees a class of 42 students sent to the island where Nanahara is hiding to kill him. One member of the team is Shiori Kitano, the daughter of a teacher (Beat Takeshi) who Nanahara killed in the first film. This sees the unwitting students pitted against Nanahara's guerilla movement.
Although there are similar themes to the first one, the film has none of the shock or originality of its predecessor, the acting is terrible and special effects are dodgy to say the least. There is also a thinly disguised Anti-American vibe whereby we hear about a long list of countries which another nameless country (blatantly America) has bombed in the past 60 years.
Overall, Battle Royale 2 follows up from an important film which is destined to be a classic, removes all the importance from it and gives us what is basically an overacted action film with some political undertones which are never really explored properly. As an action film, BR2 is reasonable, as the follow up to Battle Royale, BR2 is as dissapointing as you could get.
The Grudge
Takashi Shimizu's film "The Grudge" tells the story of a house which hides a dark secret. The film follows a number of different characters, telling the story through each of the characters. It starts when a young care worker goes to the house to help an aging lady, she discovers a young boy in a cupboard in the upper floor of the house with no explanation of who he is or how he got there. Things get worse when the old lady is killed by a strange force.
The Grudge has a couple of really scary moments, but overall is not as scary as other far eastern horror movies like A Tale of Two Sisters or The Eye.
Any fans of far Eastern horror will like the film, it is scary in parts and the storyline is well written. The film's timeline jumps around a bit which can be a bit confusing if you aren't paying attention.
五人 (Gonin)
Gonin tells the story of Bandai, a night club owner, who owes a lot of money to the Yakuza as payment on loans he has taken out. He gathers together another 4 men to form a group of 5 (The title Gonin translates as 5 people) and plots to steal money from the Yakuza. When the Yakuza discover who was behind the hit they get two professionals in to hunt them down and kill them.
Bandai's group of 5 includes himself, a young gay man who comes on to rich men and then blackmails them; an ex-cop; a business man down on his luck; and a young man who's girlfriend is a Thai prostitue who's passport has been taken by the Yakuza. The 5 men each have their own background and secrets and this makes for interesting viewing as the tale unfolds.
Gonin has all the elements required for excellent viewing, interesting characters, a dark storyline and some good action scenes. One of the two hitmen brought in by the Yakuza to hunt down the men is played by Beat Takeshi who is as usual excellent in his role as a Yakuza gunman who says very little.
Overall Gonin is an excellent Yakuza flick with a deeper plot to it which makes it stand out from other purely action Yakuza films.
猫の恩返し (The Cat Returns)
Neko no Ongaeshi (The Cat Returns) is another movie from Studio Ghibli who also brought us Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. The film tells the story of a schoolgirl named Haru, when one day she saves a cat from being run over by a truck she is surprised when the cat thanks her and bows before going on its way.
That night she is visited by a strange procession of cats where she is informed that the cat she saved was actually the Prince of the Kingdom of Cats and as a thank you she is to have a special day the next day. Unfortunately the cats' idea of a special day involvs lots of catnip and gifts of mice. Things get worse for Haru when the King of the Kingdom demands she marries the prince.
She seeks the help of the Baron, a strange cat who wears a top hat and tails and his sidekick Muta. When she is kidnapped by the cats, the Baron and Muta must intervene to save her and return her to her own world.
Like the other Ghibli films I've see, The Cat Returns is very imaginative, with some rather strange things occuring. Throughout the film the plot is unpredicatable and the viewers attention is kept as scene after scene of charming events occur. As with most Ghibli films, trying to second guess what's going to happen is futile and you are swept along for the ride. If you are a fan of other Ghibli films then The Cat Returns shouldn't dissapoint.
たそがれ清兵衛 (Twilight Samurai)
Set at the end of the Tokugawa era, Twilight Samuarai tells the story of Seibei, a man belonging to the Samurai classes. His relatively low wage goes on supporting his two daughters and his aging mother. He lives alone after the death of his wife, and must hurry home directly after work to take care of his family. This leads him to be given the nickname "Twilight" by his work colleauges as he has neither the money or time to go out drinking with them.
When Tomoe, a childhood friend, returns after divorcing her drunken and abusive husband, her ex-husband challenges him to a duel which he begrudgingly takes part, even although he had turned his back on violence after the death of his wife.
The film tells the story of Seibei as he struggles through his life struggling with his feelings of love for Tomoe and the pressures put on him by his clan.
A touching film, focusing more on the character of Seibei and his struggles than on violence and death; Twilight Samurai is definitely worth watching.
3-4x 10月 (Boiling Point)
Takeshi Kitano aka Beat Takeshi nevers fails to dissapoint, known for writing, directing and starring in many a film, Boiling Point was the first film which he wrote and directed himself.
The story tells of a young Gas Attendant named Masaki when he gets into trouble with the Yakuza, his baseball coach Iguchi an ex-Yakuza goes to see them to try and sort the matter, but ends up making it worse and getting himself seriously injured. Masaki and a friend travel to Okinawa to get a gun, here the meet up with another Yakuza, Uehara (Kitano).
The film has a very surreal comedy element to it in places and is shot with no background music, and in a lot of scenes only minamal dialogue. As with many of his other movies, Kitano's character says very little, the main character Masaki is also a shy retiring type who hasn't much to say.
Beautifully bizarre in places, action filled in others but captivating throughout, Boiling Point shows that Kitano's skill as a film-maker has been there from the start. Anyone who has seen and enjoyed any of Kitano's other films will enjoy Boiling Point and if you aren't familiar with Kitano's work then this film is as good a place as any to start.
Zatoichi at the Blood Fest
Although Zatoichi at the Blood Fest is the 25th in the series of Zatoichi films, it's the first of the films which I've seen (excluding Takeshi Kitano's 2003 film).
The film sees Shintaro Katsu resume his role as Zatoichi, a blind swordsman who wanders Japan under the guise of a Masseur. In Zatoichi at the Blood Fest, Zatoichi returns to the village he was born in, to find that an childhood friend has returned to the village. His old friend seemingly helps the town out by paying taxes the farmers owe to the magistrates; but he has an alterior motive and once the town is in his debt lays claim to a quarry.
Zatoichi must intervene to ensure that fairness prevails. As the first Zatoichi film I saw, Zatoichi at the Blood Fest was a decent story with a fair amount of action. The character of Zatoichi is well developed, he has a sense of humour and likes to drink and gamble, as well as being a master swordsman. (Keep an eye out for a scene set in a gambling den which is recreated in Kitano's film).
Overall a decent film in the Zatoichi series, worth a watch for fans of the series. As an introduction to the series of films, Zatoichi at the Blood Fest is perhaps not the best as there are stronger films.
Zatoichi meets the One Armed Swordsman
The 22nd film in the series, Zatoichi meets the One Armed Swordsman sees Japan's Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) meet with China's own One Armed Swordsman (Yu Wang).
When a young Chinese boy stops a procession by running in front of it, he is about to be struck down by Samurai until his mother and father run in to stop them. The Samurai kill both his mother and father and proceed to kill other innocents until the Wang Kong, (The One Armed Swordsman of the title) intervenes and saves the young boy's life.
The young boy runs into Zatoichi, who takes him under his wing. When the pair run into Wang Kong again, the team up even although they don't understand each other. Inevitabley this language barrier causes problems.
Zatoichi meets the One Armed Swordsman has a great plot, and some good action scenes. The character of the One Armed Swordsman is great as well, with a more unreal feel to his swordplay than Zatoichi, he flies through the air escaping attacking Samurai
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
The 20th film in the Zatoichi Series, Zatoichi meets Yojimbo sees Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi meet with a nameless bodyguard known only as Yojimbo (Japanese for bodyguard). The excellent Toshiro Mifune (Rashomon, Seven Samurai) reprises his role after playing Yojimbo in Akira Kurosawa's film Yojimbo.
The plot follows Zatoichi as he arrives in a village to find that a merchant is being accused of stealing gold from the Shogunate. Yojimbo is working for the merchant's son to try and help find the gold, but is also working for the Shogun.
Zatoichi meets Yojimbo is darkly comic, with the characters of Zatoichi and Yojimbo facing off against each other as both friends and enemies. All in all, a highly entertaining film and very much what I've come to expect from the Zatoichi series of films.
Full Metal Yakuza
Full Metal Yakuza tells the story of Hagone, a Yakuza who could be in line for the most uselss Yakuza ever award. He gets beaten up by kids in the street, breaks down when he has to kill anyone and has no respect from the other members of his family.
When Hagone is killed in an unfortunate shooting incident, he is brought back to life by a self confessed "Nutty Professor". This turns him into a half metal killing machine (think a Yakuza robocop), using his new power and strength he returns to avenge the death of his boss.
Directed by super director Miike Takashi, Full Metal Yakuza isn't really one of his strongest films. Cheap special effects, a completely ridiculous plot and some dodgy acting all make for a film which isn't exactly high quality. Not surprising the film as the film was a low budget straight to video affair.
Overall, Full Metal Yakuza is a cheap nasty B-Movie which is enjoyable to watch more for the ridiculous plot and terrible special effects than for anything else.
Tetsuo
Tetsuo is a barrage of fast paced segments tied together to tell the story of a Japanese Salaryman who starts sprouting metal out his body. The sheer pace at which what we are seeing jumps between the main story and clips of all manner of metal related nonsense is insane. It's pretty hard to describe but it makes for interesting viewing with the action accompanied by a thumping industrial style score.
Tetsuo is not going to be for everyone, but if you want to see something which is nothing like anything you've seen before, it's well worth a watch.
Shibuya Kaidan
Legend has it that if you leave a present in a coin locker in Shibuya you will be gifted with good luck in your future relationships. When a group of 6 University Students use the lockers while away camping in the woods, when they return they uncover a deadly secret which the locker holds.
Shibuya Kaidan is a Japanese horror movie much in the vein of Ringu or The Grudge. While not a scary as some other movies to come out of Eastern Asia recently, it certainly does have an eerie quality. Again the plot and story are not particulary original, the evil spirit is very similar to the character of Sadako in Ringu, or the spirit in the Grudge just with a different reason for her actions of revenge.
Overall, Shibuya Kaidan is a reasonable Japanese Horror movie, lacking in originality but still creepy and enjoyable to watch.
Shibuya Kaidan 2
The sequel to Shibuya Kaidan, Shibuya Kaidan 2 picks up exactly where we left off (in fact the first 10 minutes or so of the film are pretty much the end of the first film). As Erika, the last of the 6 University Students who succumbed to the curse of the haunted Coin Locker, dies she hands the key to the locker to Kubo Anayo, a High School student she was tutoring.
It is up to Kubo to then try and solve the mystery of the locker. The plot is very much dependant on the first film and I wouldn't recommend watching this one unless you have seen the first one. As a sequel the film is pretty good, much of the same spooky horror type stuff we saw in the first film, although the sequel is slightly scarier.
Again, there is nothing particularly unique or original with this film, although for fans of the genre it is a worthwhile watch. As a sequel it would have been better if the character of Sachiko was developed more, but the movie ends with the viewer knowing little more about her and with no closure on the events I wouldn't be surprised if a third film in the series is made.
Zatoichi's Pilgrimage
The 14th film in the series of Zatoichi films starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman. In Zatoichi's Pilgrimage, Zatoichi arrives in a village to find that it is being taken over by gangsters and the women in the village are being forced into working as sex slaves. Added to his problems is a baby he helped deliver who he has to return to it's family, the mother having died during childbirth.
Zatoichi's Pilgrimage has pretty much what you come to expect from a Zatoichi film in terms of action and comedy. The plot is reasonable, and although the film is not as good as some of the others in the series, it is still worth watching if you are a fan of the films.
Sword of Vengeance
The first in the series of 6 Babycart films, Sword of Vengeance introduces us to the character of Ogami Itto aka "Lone Wolf and Cub". The film tells the story of Itto, an executioner for the Shogun. When he is framed as being disloyal to the Shogunate by a clan looking to take his position, his wife is murdered and he is forced to live life as a Ronin travelling the country with his young son.
The film is roughly split 50:50 between explaining the back story of how Itto came to be wandering on his own and another story where he arrives in a small town which is being held hostage by bandits.
The plot is pretty good and there's a lot of traditional Samurai themes. The action sequences are mostly over the top swordfights with blood spraying everywhere and appendages getting cut off all over the place.
Overall, an entertaining Samurai film which is a solid start to the series of films.
X
As the apocalypse approaches, two rival factions must battle to determine the destiny of the earth. The 7 Dragons of Earth wish to destroy the planet and The 7 Dragons of Heaven must stop them if the Earth is to be saved. The start of this battle is signalled when a young man named Kamui returns to Tokyo; he must choose a side on which to fight, after choosing, a childhood friend of his Fuma becomes the Kamui for the other side. The Dragons of Heaven must protect various shields in Tokyo from the attack by the Dragons of Earth.
The plot is a little confusing, and I think I only really understood it having watched most of the TV series of the film which was made later. The division between good and evil becomes muddied when we learn that the Dragons of Earth wish to destroy the Earth in order that it can start again having being ruined by the hand of man.
Each of the shields in Tokyo are famous Tokyo landmarks, including Tokyo Tower; the Metropolitan Government Office Buildings; Tokyo Station and the national Diet Building. This makes for interesting viewing for anyone who has visited Tokyo as the landmarks are well drawn and instantly recognisable.
The animation is top notch, with beatifully drawn backdrops for the long shots and bold bright colourful characters drawn for close ups of the characters. Each of the characters has their own special power and look which makes for colourful and engaging battle scenes. The film is packed with action as the two sides engage in combat to decide the fate of the Earth.
Personally, I loved the film but my rating may be a little high as the fact that I recognised much of the landscape of Tokyo in the film was part of my enjoyment. Also as I mentioned before having seen most of the TV series it made the plot a lot easier to follow. It's worth mentioning that most of the material in the film does not seem have been put into the series and that it's only the overall plot which the series and film have in common.
Overall, X is a great piece of Anime, although I would recommend tracking down the series before watching the film.
Zebraman
Yet another movie from Japan's most prolific director Miike Takashi, Zebraman tells of a school teacher who gets no respect from his family or his students. He is obsessed with an old TV superhero series, Zebraman, and takes to dressing up as Zebraman. When he begins to go outside in the costume, he starts to help people out and realises that maybe he really has superhero powers. Things get more interesting when 2 Government agents investigating an alien invasion need his help to save the earth.
Zebraman is a kind of sci-fi comedy with the humour mainly slapstick or just plain bizarre in a similar way to Takashi's The Happiness of the Katakuri's. It's the kind of film I thought Save The Green Planet was going to be until it took a turn for the dark and violent. Takashi's humour is excellent and the film has a decent plot, is well acted and there are some reasonable special effects. There's one scene involving a fight between a masked rider/power rangers type character and Sadako from Ringu which is alone worth seeing the movie for.
A great mix of Sci-Fi, action and comedy told in a typical Takashi way, a great example of how versatile Takashi is as a director.
Violent Cop
Violent Cop was Takeshi Kitano's directorial debut and a sure sign of the great things that were to come. Kitano wasn't originally lined up to direct the film, but stepped in after the original director pulled out having already been cast in the lead role.
The film tells the story of Azuma (Kitano), a ruthless cop who uses unorthodox methods to try and get results. The film starts with him witnessing an attack on a homeless person, he goes round to the house of one of the youths involved and beats him into confessing the next day. This violent attitude often gets him into trouble and in some cases does more bad than good.
When a bent cop winds up dead, Azuma goes after the hitman responsible, leading to him becoming a target himself. As always, Kitano is excellent in his role and like most of his films says little and relies on his character to tell us what we need to. The film is relatively slow paced, although maybe less so than some of his other work.
For fans of Takeshi Kitano Violent Cop is a must see, although I have to say when I first saw it and was less familiar with Kitano's work I wasn't as impressed as I am now.
Princess Blade
Set in a almost post apocalyptic type near future, Princess Blade is a stunning movie which combines modern swordplay with a touching tale. The film tells the story of a young woman, Yuki, who belongs to a clan of assassins. When she finds out her mother was killed by the clan she must make the decision to stay with them as their Princess or to leave. When she leaves the rest of the clan follow to kill her for betraying them.
Yuki meets a young man named Takashi who has his own set of problems. The film doesn't really tie the two characters of Yuki and Takashi together very well, they meet up and then go their own seperate ways. The first half an hour or so is an all out action fest with some quality sword fighting, the middle of the movie takes a more somber and reflecting tone with the action ramping back up towards the end. Running at a relatively short 90 minutes, Princess Blade is a decent enough modern Japanese Sword Play movie but it left me with a feeling that there could have been more.
Baby Cart at the River Styx
The second film in the Baby Cart/Lone Wolf and Cub series of films; Baby Cart at the River Styx sees Ogami Itto take a job to kill a farmer who if he should fall into the hands of the Shogunate would give up a secret dye recipe. Meanwhile, the shogunate hire a group of females Ninja assassins in an attempt to rid the world of Ogami Itto once and for all.
The content of the film is much the same as Sword of Vengeance; a good old fashioned Samurai film with lots of over the top blood and some decent sword fights. The plot is decent and engaging throughout. While there's not much in the film to make it stand out as anything other than a reasonable Samurai movie it's worth watching if you are a fan of the genre.
Audition
When an actor's son suggests that he should remarry having been single for many years following the death of his wife, a friend suggests they hold an audition for a film and use the opportunity to find a suitable partner. Of the list of potentials, one draws her attention to him and he starts dating her. What starts as romance takes a twist when she drags him into her world of violence and vengeance.
Audition starts quite slowly, plodding along for about an hour, setting the scene and characters for the shocking, violent ending which is to come. And when the ending does start, the film becomes very dark and uncomfortable viewing.
Overall, a dark, disturbing film which is one of Takashi Miike's finest and a great example of his work.
Azumi
Set in the Tokugawa era of Japans history, Azumi tells the story of a gang of young assassins raised from birth for a mission to assassinate warlord's who wish to rage war against the shogunate. One assassin in particular (Azumi of the title) is especially strong and the story focuses mainly on her role in the group.
Azumi is full of stunning scenery and action scenes which are both visually stimulating and exciting. Mixing both realistic swordplay with more fantasy styles similar to films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon the action scenes in Azumi are excellent. The build up to the final battle in particular is immense with Azumi taking on a countless number of warriors.
The plot is decent and there is a fair amount of gentler scenes to offset the violence against the more touching back stories to some of the characters.
Overall Azumi is a great action film which manages to entertain throughout despite being relatively long (142mins) for the type of film.
Babycart to Hades
Film No. 3 in the Babcart/Lone Wolf and Cub series ([1][2]). Babycart to Hades sees Ogami Itto take a contract to assassinate the deputy of a fief. This leads to him being set up against an army of warriors armed not only with the deadly sword, but bows and guns.
As far as the Babycart films go, Babycart to Hades is pretty typical of the series, over the top violence, lots of blood and some amazing sword fighting scenes. This installment features a little more guns than the previous two and the cart has been kitted out with some extra tricks. There is a lot of samurai philosophy, perhaps more than would be picked up on by the casual viewer.
Babycart to Hades is a a worthy addition to the Babycart series, but newcomers should probably start at the start with Sword of Vengeance as by this point a lot of the characters and back plot has been explained and although not required 100% does add to the film.
Maybe not a film I'd recommend to the casual viewer but for fans of the Babycart series or Samurai films in general, definately worthy of a watch.
五人2 (Gonin 2)
Takashi Ishii's sequel to his 1995 movie Gonin is not so much of a sequel in terms of plot or characters, but rather theme. This time the movie follows 5 women as they take on the Yakuza after foiling a Jewellry store robbery and running away with the Jewels themselves. As they try to escape the clutches of the Yakuza they keep bumping into a man on his own mission of bloody revenge against the gangland bosses.
Although not as good as the original, Gonin 2 has much of the same content; violence; revenge; action and a story of 5 strangers thrown together through unusual circumstances. This makes for an engaging action packed film with some offbeat comedy thrown in on the side.
Overall, Gonin 2 is let down a bit by the original being so good, but is a decent action packed Yakuza movie in its own right.
Red Shadow
Red Shadow tells the story of a group of Ninja's who belong to an ancient clan. Armed with invincible steel, a hard metal forged from an asteroid the 3 Ninja, Akakage (Red Shadow), Asuka and Aokage (Blue Shadow) invade castles and defeat warlords until after a mission goes wrong they split up. Akakage must then work alone to maintain the Shadow clan's future.
Released on a very budget label (The DVD cost me £1.25 and although it claims to have an 18 certificate on the box, the actual disc is marked as a 12) I didn't really have high hopes for the film. The back of the box does little to describe the actual content of the film and I read it to be some kind of dodgy Sci-Fi Ninja film set in the 70's.
Given all these facts when I started watching the film I realised it wasn't actually anything like it is being marketed as, in fact it is more of a kind of light comedy in the vein of Shaolin Soccer. Although not in the same league as Shaolin Soccer it has similar campy comedy and completely unrealistic action scenes.
A kind of comedy of errors in some ways, with the main Ninja being pretty useless but coming through good in the end. With a cast of Japanese stars who have been in a number of other films the acting is reasonable and overall the film is pretty well.
Red Shadow isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you fancy a reasonably funny Ninja action comedy then it's one to look out for especially since it can be picked up cheaply.
Jam Films
A collection of 7 short films from 7 Japanese directors, each film different in both content; style and genre. The first film The Messenger is directed by Ryuhei Kitamaru and tells the story of a mysterious woman who appears to a gangster hiding underground to tell him of the fate which awaits him. The film is well directed and acted and a decent start to the set.
The second film Kendama (Tetsuo Shinohara) tells the story of a man who accidentally comes into possession of a Kendama (A wooden cup and ball type toy) after a mixup when he is bumped into in the street. He takes the toy home and discovers it's not as simple as it all looks. The film is a kind of comedy/romance affair and again is well directed and acted with an interesting if not particularly original plot.
Film #3 Cold Sleep sees a mathematician awake after being frozen for 20 years and having travelled through space to awake on an alien planet. Other members of the mission have had strange side effects from the travel and have developed a child-like stupidity. He must help the only member of the mission not effected before a similar fate awaits him. Cold Sleep is a kind of Sci-Fi comedy affair and while not a bad short, it perhaps isn't as good as some of the other films in the collection.
The fourth film Pandora: Hong Kong Leg tells the story of a young woman with a secret, a bad case of Athlete's foot! Seeking help for her condition from a Chinese Herbalist his rather far out remedy is putting her feet in a box containing something alive! This rather strange plot makes for a film which is a bit out there, but still interesting to watch.
Film number 5, Hijiki comes with a warning about its depressing ending and tells of a family of 3 who are eating dinner with a murderer who has taken them hostage. They seem completely unphased by the episode and have even made the man a dish of Hijiki (Japanese Seaweed). Dark and strange, but still worth watching.
The penultimate film Justice consists of a teacher of a Japanese high school class talking about Japan's surrender in WWII and the Potsdam Declaration. The class are all tired of rambling and one young man relieves his boredom by gazing out the window at a group of girls doing hurdles. The film doesn't really have much of a plot, but the situation makes up for this.
The final film, Arita tells of a young woman who has a little character called Arita who appears on every piece of paper she uses. Assuming that everyone has one and since it's been there for as long as she can remember she thinks nothing of it. After discovering that it is unique to her and having been dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to burn a piece of paper with the drawing on it. Arita is a well directed touching tale which consists entirely of one characters monologue.
Overall, all of the films in the collection are worth watching, and a couple in particular are excellent.
Gohatto
Set in 1865, Gohatto looks at life in a Samurai compound where young men train in Swordfighting as part of a Militia. The arrival of a new recruit, Kano, causes a stir when his boyish good looks stir feelings among some of the other Samurai.
Gohatto is visually, a stunning film, the settings and scenery are breath taking and the costumes give a very real feel to what 19th century Japan might have looked like. The acting is top notch with Beat Takeshi cast in the role of Hijikata, one of the elder Samurai. Tadanobu Asano (Ichi The Killer) plays the role of Tashiro, a young recruit who joins the dojo at the same time as Kano and falls in love with him.
Overall, Gohatto is a well made film with some fine acting, great costumes as scenery and a plot which although different from many other Samurai films still has strong themese of loyalty and honour which the Samurai code requires.
Baby Cart in Peril
Film number 4 in the Baby Cart series ([1][2][3]) and more of the same. This time we see Ogami Itto paid to assassinate a tatooed woman who has defected from her clan. Still being pursued by those from his past life who wish to see him dead.
In terms of content and style, the 4th film is pretty much identical to the first 3, over the top bloody violence, large sword fights and many a limb being chopped off. Although the film is definately no worse than the previous 3, the slightly lower score is because it brings little further to the table.
One to watch for fans of the Lone Wolf and Cub series and perhaps fans of Samurai films in general, although it's probably best to start at the start rather than jumping straight in to this film.
中国の鳥人 (The bird people in China)
When Wada is sent to China by his company to investigate a possible Jade seam in the Chinese mountains, he is tailed by Ujiie, a Yakuza who's syndicate is owed money by Wada's company. Together the two are taken deep into the Chinese countryside to a remote mountain village. In this village they encounter a group of villagers who believe it is possible to fly using strap on wings, both Wada and Ujiie become engrossed in the culture of the village.
The Bird People in China is in some ways completely different from other Takashi Miike films, but it still has his stamp all over it with his offbeat and dark comic tones coming through. The film is visually stunning, with the vast, stunning scenery of the Chinese mountains being depicted in vivid colours. The combination of these amazing vistas with the quiet contemplative tone of the film makes for a touching, beautiful movie which still manages to throw in some important social questions just to keep the viewer on their toes.
The Bird People In China has to be one of, if not the most beautiful of Miike Takashi's works and is a stark contrast to some of his other more violence driven movies.
Izo
The great thing about Takashi Miike is although every one of his films has his distinctive mark plastered all over it, a lot of his films are one offs which are completely different from both the rest of his work and any other film you've seen.
While this can be pretty hit or miss, it does make for an interesting experience as you are never sure what to expect since there is no "typical" Miike Takashi movie. Izo is one of these once off pieces of work. The film follows Izo, a kind of veangeful spirit as he travels through his life killing anyone who gets in his way. This boils down to basically 2 and a bit hours of Izo appearing somewhere, killing everyone and then being somewhere else taking in a wide variety of locations and time periods as he goes. The killing is only stopped to insert some archive black and white footage of various wars/events in modern history or to listen to a man playing guitar and singing.
If it all sounds very confusing, then good because it is. Izo is full of non-stop violence and fighting with around 80% of the screen-time filled with Izo slaying whoever he encounters, the violence is so much of the film in fact that there leaves little room for a plot and this was made worse since I don't think the English subs I saw fully explain what's going on.
Because of this, the first hour or so goes by reasonably quickly, although I didn't have a clue what was going on I was happy to go along for the ride, but after that put it started to get a little tedious and a bit of plot wouldn't have gone amiss. All in all, I wasn't too taken with Izo, like Visitor Q it's probably only really one for hardcore Miike fans.
生きる (Ikiru)
Ikiru (lit. translation "To live") tells the story of Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura), section chief in the Public affairs department at city hall. When he learns he is dying of stomach cancer he reflects back on his life and realises he has wasted the past 20 years sitting at his desk esentially achieving nothing. Struggling to come to terms with this he resolves to make his final months count for something and for the first time in 20 years begins to actually live rather than going through life in a state of boredom.
Takashi Shimura is excellent in his role as Watanabe. Ikiru is a very emotional film and an actor such as Shimura was required to play the lead role of a man on the brink of death yet determined to make the most of his final days. The story unfolds partly following Watanabe as he comes to terms with his cancer and then skips to his wake where his colleagues from city hall unaware of his cancer until his death struggle to understand the change which overcame Watanabe in the previous months.
Overall, a very powerful and moving film from Akira Kurosawa.
Grave of Fireflies
Set in 1940's Japan towards the end of the Second World, Grave of Fireflies tells the story of Seita, a young boy and his younger sister. When their mother is killed in a bombing raid and his father in the Navy, Seita and his sister go to stay with his Aunt; things quickly turn sour at his Aunt's house and he decides he and his sister are better off going it alone.
Grave of Fireflies is one of those Anime which shows how powerful the medium can be; a heartbreaking tale which is told with all the emotion that a live action film would offer. Well animated and with a good plot Grave of Fireflies is well worth a watch, although if you're looking for a mindless feel good action film this isn't one for you, a depressing tale which has a powerful emotional impact on the viewer.
Babycart in the Land of Demons
The 5th and Penulimate film in the Lone Wolf and Cub Series ([1][2][3][4]) sees Ogammi Itto tracked down by 5 Ronin who wish to test his skill before offering him a mission. After defeating the 5, Itto must recover a scroll in order to preserve the integrity of the Kuroda clan.
There's not much to say about Babycart in the Land of Demons which I haven't already said about the previous four films; it's a good old fashioned Samurai flick with a reasonable plot, some great fight scenes and a lot of blood. One thing I would say is that by this point the same old Itto takes a job, fights some people and then kills a whole lot of people is getting a little overdone. If you've seen a couple of the Lone Wolf and Cub films, there's not really any need to see this one unless you are a die hard fan of the series.
My Neighbour Totoro
When 2 young girls move from the city into the countryside to be nearer the hospital where their mother is staying they discover a magical world on the doorstep of their new house. The forest next door is inhabited by Totoro, a huge furry animal which comes to the girls' aid when they need it.
Like much of Miyazaki's other work, My Neighbour Totoro is incredibly cute, Totoro doesn't speak but his expressions tell us everything we need to know. There are many moments of laughter at the strange characters which inhabit the forest including a huge multilegged cat which doubles up as a bus (Kind of has to be seen to be understodd).
My Neighbour Totoro is a classic Ghibli feel good movie, the plot isn't particularly strong but it is beautifully drawn and full of laughter and enchantment.
White Heaven in Hell
In this, the 6th and final film in the Lone Wolf and Cub series ([1][2][3][4][5]) we see Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro take their final stand against the Shadow Yagyu clan who set Itto up and forced him into the path of a Demon he now lives.
Itto must face amongst other things, a juggling swordswomen; zombie samurai and 100's of Samurai on skis and toboggans (You can't make this stuff up!). While a little more silly than some of the previous films, it fits in even in the scene with someone getting blown up by a samurai style rocket launcher!
As with the previous movies, White Heaven in Hell is action packed; full of spurting blood and fight scenes. A good end to the series, and one not to miss for those who have seen the previous 5 films.
The Black Angel
Ikko, the grand-daughter of a Yakuza boss is raised from birth as the daughter of the boss, but at the age of 6 when her family is wiped out in a bloody power struggle, she is put onto a plane to L.A. by a female assassin who goes by the moniker "The Black Angel".
At the age of 20, Ikko returns to Tokyo to avenge the death of her father, going under the pseudonym of "The Black Angel" whom she respects and looks up to. When the original Black Angel is hired by the Yakuza to capture Ikko they are violently reunited.
Director Takashi Ishii (Gonin) gives us what he's good at, an action packed Yakuza movie full of guns, explosions and general violence. While perhaps not as well shot as other Yakuza movies by director's such as Takashi Miike or Takeshi Kitano; The Black Angel has a decent plot and enough action to keep the viewer entertained throughout. If you're looking for an exciting Yakuza action movie then The Black Angel is well worth watching.
犬猫 (The Cat Leaves Home)
When Suzuleaves her boyfriend she moves in with an old friend of hers, Yoko, who she has known since primary school. The two don't get on due to their similar choice in boys. The film follows the two girls in their everyday lives.
Although there isn't much of a plot and the ending comes rather abruptly without really tying anything up, The Cat Leaves Home has a nice feel to it with some moments you can't help but smile at.
ハウルの動く城 (Howl's moving castle)
With the success in the West of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's last film, Spirited Away it seems like everyone is talking about his latest movie to be released in the UK; Howl's moving castle.
The story tells of a girl who after meeting the mysterious wizard Howl, is turned into an old lady by the Witch of the Waste. Determined to regain her youth she seeks Howl in his castle (Which incidentally moves on a set of big legs) and makes a pack with Calcifer, a demon Howl has trapped there to provide the castle with power, that if she frees him he will break the curse.
All this is set the backdrop of two countries who are at war with each other and seek Howl to help them. Set in a kind of pseudo futuristic past where all the machinery is steam powered and giant airships fly through the sky, Howl's Moving Castle is typical of Miyazaki's (and other Ghibli movies) work in it's originality.
The film is also horrendously cute with the demon Calcifer being a talking flame and one of the herione's unlikely helpers being a scarecrow she nicknames Turnip.
Overall, Howl's Moving Castle is full of original ideas and nearly every frame is stunningly drawn. If you liked Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away you won't be disappointed with what Howl's Moving Castle has to offer.
On a sidenote watch out for the shoddy Disney dub and go see it in an independent cinema which is showing it with the original Japanese dialogue.
ヴィタール (Vital)
Director, Shinya Tsukamoto opens Vital with a scene reminisscent of his 1988 piece Tetsuo, an abrasive soundtrack pumping in the background while we are shown images of chimney stacks billowing smoke into the air.
While Vital is slightly more conventional in it's telling of the story than Tetsuo, it still regains some of the same feel by not being a straightfoward watch the plot kind of a movie and leaving a lot of what happens for the viewer to determine themselves.
The film tells the story of Takagi (Tadanobu Asano), a young man who awakes from a coma to find his girlfriend is dead from the accident which left him in the coma and he can remember very little of his life. He decides to start his medical training again, a career path he had decided not to follow before the accident. At the medical college he meets a girl who has her own problems and things take a turn for the weird when he begins his dissection classes and starts to realise that his group's cadaver might be his dead girlfriend.
Vital is a great example of how a conventional plot is not required by a talented director to make a film which is both beautiful to watch and engaging for the viewer. There are many stunning scenes in the film and by the end of the film a lot for the viewer to think about.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
The sequel to 1995's Ghost in the Shell sees Batou from the first film investigate a case which sees androids built for sexual pleasure going haywire and murdering their owners befor commiting suicide themselves.
The film is simply stunning visually, a mix of heavy CG scenes and the more traditional look, the appearance has certainly come on a lot since the far simpler artistic style of the first film. The plot is good and engaging, if you are a fan of the first film then you shouldn't be disappointed by the sequel.
Black Angel 2
In true Takashi Ishii style, this sequel to Black Angel isn't so much of a sequel in terms of plot or character but more a continuation of the themes from the original. With the Black Angel having a different name and being played by a different actress.
The film tells the story of Mayu, a lone female assassin (The Black Angel of the title). When a hit on a gang boss goes wrong a young woman's husband is killed in the confusion. Mayu is thrown together with the man's widow as the woman seeks revenge for her husband's death and Mayu finishes her contract.
Black Angel 2 is typical Takashi Ishii, a dark gritty film about the seedy Tokyo underworld, with strong female characters. Each of the main character's in the film are interesting and while the film doesn't have a high budget feel or sheen it is well worth watching for fans of Ishii, or Yakuza movies in general.
Kagemusha
There are few movies which can truly be desribed as epics, but one such movie Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha. Set in 16th century Japan, the film tells the story of Shingen, the head of the Takeda clan who are currently at war with another clan. When Shingen's brother discovers a thief who was to be executed that bears an uncanny resemblence to Shingen, he recruits him as a double or Kagemusha (lit. Shadow Warrior).
When Shingen is wounded in battle and is close to dieing he instructs his generals to keep his death secret for 3 years from both the enemy and his own men. This means that the man who was playing him part time has to become him full time, this invariably puts strain on everyone involved.
Kagemusha has some amazing set pieces with literally hundreds of mounted Samurai and troops fighting in huge battles. The scale of the battle scenes is amazing and Kurosawa comes up with some great shots. The other side of the story centering on the role of the Kagemusha is told in an emotionally engaging way as he deals with the strains forced upon him.
Kagemusha is a masterpiece of a movie from a very talented director.
Score
When Chance (Hitoshi Ozawa is released from Prison on parole he owes the Yakuza big time. They agree that he can have his debts wiped clean if he conducts a robbery on a jewelry store and delivers the haul to them. Gathering together a team of accomplises Chance makes the hit and readies himself and his 3 partners to deliver the jewels to the Yakuza at an abandoned factory.
Things don't go to plan when a couple of petty thieves set their sights on the jewels and attack them.
Score is a tale of deceit and double crossing which is in most ways as terrible as Hitoshi Ozawa's mullet. The acting is pretty shoddy, the action scenes consist mainly of people shooting and missing and the times people do get hit in the shoulder they seem to recover quickly and can be using the affected arm only minutes later. Luckily these major flaws make the movie so terrible it is highly entertaining to watch; everything is so unbelievably bad or cheesy that it is a joy to see what terrible pleasesures the next scene will herald.
Overall, a terrible Yakuza movie which is enjoyable only for it's unintended humour.
Score 2
Score 2 sees much of the same cast from the original return in a movie written and directed by the star of Score Hitoshi Ozawa. Different characters; different setting; different plot, who knows why this is billed as a sequel.
After the death in a car crash of the leader of a gang who stole a large amount of cash and buried it; a team of professionals decide to claim the cash for themselves; even although an amusement park has been built on the site on which is was buried. When the 6 strong gang arrive at the park they find themselves in trouble from a traitor from within and the police who also want their hands on the cash.
Score 2 is mildy better than the original, with much of the terribleness removed and some sillyness added. Having said that, it is by no means perfect and the plot can be confusing at times as everyone runs about in the darkness shooting at each other. Definately only one to watch for fans of the genre and those who enjoyed Score
ゴジラ (Godzilla)
The original Godzilla made back in 1954 is due to be released on DVD very shortly and I was lucky enough to catch a showing of it on the big screen. After nuclear tests in the Pacific, a giant monster from the Jurassic period is awakened from the depths and begins to wreak havoc on Tokyo. The Japanese scientists are split into two camps those who want to destroy the monster and those who want to study it. Takashi Shimura stars as Dr. Yamane, an expert in the prehistoric who belongs to the second camp.
While Gojira is a monster movie it also has a very strong anti-nuclear message behind it and upon it's original release shortly after the second World War not everyone was happy about what the movie was trying to say. While the special effects are (understandably) very dated now; the original message is still there and the tone of the film and plot have stood the test of time making it still enjoyable for modern audiences.
Ping Pong
A Japanese comedy about Table Tennis doesn't sound like the most exciting of movies but Ping Pong makes up for this by being wonderfully shot and containing a script and characters which wouldn't seem out of place in an anime series.
Two friends Tsukimoto and Peco are on their school's table tennis team but the both have issues regarding their involvement in the sport. When the enter an inter school table tennis tournament they must battle against a group of skinhead students from another school and a young Chinese prodigy regarded as one of the World's best.
Ping Pong is a touching comedy about friendship and table tennis which is a joy to watch.
Uzumaki
Uzumaki is a bit of a strange one, based on a Japanese Manga it tells the story of Kirie, a schoolgirl, and her boyfriend Shuichi. There are strange goings on in their town which are all related to spirals, Shuichi's father becomes obsessed with the shape, ultimately leading to his death while other students at the school are acting strange.
Uzumaki's Manga roots are obvious in the translation to film with a number of characters which have an over the top cartoon feel, situations which require suspension of belief and a number of interesting camera movements and use of colour. The plot is a little crazy and at the end, little is explained about the reasons for the events. The film is a little eerie but not really scary unless you have a real fear of spirals.
Overall, an interesting and well directed movie even if it does lose it's way a little bit towards the end.
Heaven and Earth
The second film I've seen this year titled Heaven and Earth, this one is an epic samurai movie. Set in feudal Japan it tells the story of two warlords each keen to stop the other from gaining power.
The film features a number of battle scenes filmed on an epic scale with literally hundreds of warriors on horseback clashing with each other. There are some nicely shot scenes of the Japanese countryside, but even with such grandeur the film still feels a little slow and didn't fully capture my interest.
Ju-on: The Grudge 2
After the English language remake and the impending English language sequel, the sequel to the original Japanese The Grudge has just been released in cinemas. Filmed directly after the first film, The Grudge 2 tells the story of an actress and film crew who do an interview in the haunted house where the events of the first film took place.
The Grudge 2 is similar in content and style to the first film with the narrative very broken up, starting at the end and jumping all over the place. The movie goes from quiet unsettling scenes to loud screams with the main actors playing their roles well. The horror is in parts very unsettling and spooky and in other places completely ridiculous and verging on laughable. This means that you can go from campy laughable horror to frightening psychological fear all in the same scene.
Overall, The Grudge 2 is a bit of a mixed bag, but in general is a good horror film in-line with the tone of the other Far Eastern horror movies released.
Casshern
In an alternative futuristic version of Earth, the world is at war. A scientist discovers that he may be able to grow spare human body parts from "Neo-Cells" he has identified in the Genome of an older human race. When an accident at his labaratory causes the spare parts to come together, a new race of "Neo-Sapiens" are born, they vow to wipe human life off the planet. Man-kind's only hope is the son of the scientist, brought back from the dead and wearing a specially designed armoured suit he must fight the Neo-Sapiens.
Casshern is a film of epic proportions on a number of levels. The visuals alone are stunning with the majority of the film being live action with CGI rendered backdrops. The settings vary from computer generated urban cityscapes to black and white war torn images from the front line and stunningly beautiful landscapes.
The music in the film is also similarly varied, orchestral music sets the tone in the tense bits, with loud guitar based music and pumping electronica for the action scenes. The musical score for the film fits in perfectly with the on screen action.
Plotwise, the screenplay can be a little confusing and in some places feels rushed to fit everything in, I got the feeling the film could quite easily have been extended from the 2 and a bit hour runtime. Overall, a visually stunning film which has some minor flaws, but is worth seeing for the sheer beauty.
天空の城ラピュタ (Laputa: Castle in the Sky)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky follows the story of a young boy, Pazu and a young girl Sheeta. Sheeta is the daughter of a wealthy family and finds herself being chased by the military and pirates who are both eager to get their hands on a mystical stone she wears around her neck. When she falls out of an airship, the stone ensures a safe landing for her where she meets Pazu. Pazu comes from a small mining village where he lives alone, he seeks to find the mysterious floating island of Laputa.
Made in 1986, Laputa is classic Ghibli, beautifully illustrated backgrounds with all manner of imaginative machinery. Set in a world where huge airship fly through the sky seemingly powered by steam with a wonderful futuristic meets days gone by feel to it. The story is excellent as you would expect from Miyazaki and there is always something exciting or breathtaking happening on screen to capture the attention of the viewer.
魔女の宅急便 (Kiki's Delivery Service)
Kiki is a 13 year old witch; tradition dictates that at this age, she must leave her home for a year and live in a town without a witch in order to help the townspeople. So Kiki and her black cat Jiji head off on her broomstick in search of a town where she can use her magic to help others, she finds a large town in need of a witch where she starts a small courier business, transporting things for people on her broomstick.
Kiki's Delivery Service is an amazing animated tale, the story is extremely heart felt and full of little touches of "cute" humour. Another piece of classic Ghibli.
隠し砦の三悪人 (The Hidden Fortress)
The Hidden Fortress is an adventure, samurai movie. The film follows to peasants who are trying to flee their province amidst a war and cross the frontier into another province. While camped out in the wilderness they discover a stick with a gold ingot hidden inside and this in turn leads them to meet general Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune). Lured by the promise of more gold they agree to help Makabe escape to safety along with his stash of gold and a princess in exile.
The film focuses mainly on the two peasant characters who are both very much anti-heroes, cowardly, inept and driven only by greed as the try to escape with the princess and the gold. The plot is well written and maintains excitement as it leads up to the finale. Toshiro Mifune is as always excellent in his role as the general. Shot in wide screen, there is a fair amount of action, at times on an epic scale with hundreds of extras in shot reminding me in a way of the scale of Kurosawa's later movie Kagemusha.
Kurosawa never disapoints to fans of his work will enjoy The Hidden Fortress. All in all a well made and very watchable film.
らせん Spiral
Shortly after Hideo Nakata made his 1998 movie Ringu based on Koji Suzuki's novel of the same name; Jouji Iida made and directed a film based on Spiral, the 2nd novel in the trilogy. Using the same cast for the characters which span across the two films the movie is largely overshadowed by Nakata's own sequel to the film Ring 2.
The plot picks up where the first film left off, the death of Ryuji Takayama leads to Mitsuo Ando, a friend of Takayama's from medical school doing the autopsy. He finds something strange with the cause of death and what's even stranger is a seemingly coded note he finds in the body. Knowing that at medical school Takayama used to set him codes to decipher as a game, he is convinced there is something sinister with his sudden death.
This feeling leads him to meet with Takayama's student, Mai and slowly he begins to learn of the Video tape which Sadako uses to spread her curse.
While the film has much of the same cast as the original, for one reason or another it doesn't have the same edge as the first movie. Perhaps this is due to the change of director or perhaps it is due to the fact that in the past 9 years any number of similar East Asian horror movies have come out which are scarier.
As far as the ring movies go, Spiral is one of the weaker ones, but is interesting none the less for fans of the series as it is the only sequel which sticks closely to Koji Suzuki's novel.
Evil Dead Trap
When Nami, the host of a late night TV horror show, receives a video in the mail, at first glimpse, it looks like it might be a snuff movie. The video clearly gives directions to where it was shot, so Nami and the rest of her crew decide to check it out. Arriving at the abandonded factory pointed to in the video, they find themselves in the midst of a creepy setting which gets more eerie as the day wears on.
Not so much of a scary movie as a Japanese slasher flick, there's nothing in there which gave me goosebumps but there are a couple of moments which were pretty gorey and a fair bit of violence. The plot is standard slasher movie affair, whenever you think that the lone girl really shouldn't be wandering off on her own, you're always right and with Nami taking an almost all female gang on her expedition there are a few lone female to dispatch of before the movie is done.
With the ending movie more towards the supernatural, Evil Dead Trap has very little that is unique, although this is perhaps compounded by it's age. The visuals are done well and while it's not a bad movie and is by all means watchable, for me, it lacked any real bite.
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Set in a Japanese POW camp in Indonesia, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence follows the lives of the Japanese guards and the mainly British prisoners as they try to understand each other's vastly different cultures. When a British major is sent to the camp, he upsets the balance and interpreter Colonel Lawrence finds his position between the two sides become increasingly difficult.
Beat Takeshi stars as Gengo Hara, a Japanese officer who is almost friendly to Colonel Lawrence. The film is well acted and driven by the relationships between the characters rather than a strong plot.
Porco Rosso
In an alternate 1930's, a bounty hunting pilot takes money to protext ships against attack from air-pirates. Known as Porco Rosso (or the Crimson Pig) because of a spell which has left him looking like a pig. When a top gun American pilot joins the pirates, Porco is drawn into a battle to protect his honour.
Made by Studio Ghibli in the early 90's Porco Rosso is similar in style to other Ghibli movies of the time with well drawn backdrops and clear bold characters. The plot also is typically Ghibli, with clear heroes and villains and a little sense of magic thrown in.
Porco Rosso is one of a line of great Ghibli movies, charming and with a feel good factor.
The Great Yokai War
Director Miike Takashi, known for his extreme cinema has done any number of movies each unique in their own way and covering a vast array of genres, themes and overall quality. The Great Yokai War is a rather strange one, even for Miike Takashi's standards. Billed as a family fantasy, it takes the old formula of one child who has the power to save the world from great evil and adds in some typical Miike violence (albiet toned down almost child friendly Miike violence).
Tadashi is a young boy who after his parent's divorce goes to live with his mother and his alcoholic grandfather in a town in the Japanese countryside. At a folk festival he is chosen to be the "Kirin Rider" which legend has it will get a long lost sword from the Goblin King and use it to save the world. It is after he is revealed as this year's chosen "Kirin Rider" that he meets the Yokai, a wide variety of demon's taken many forms from vaguely humanoid to a hopping umbrella.
He learns that he must save Tokyo from the onslaught of the evil Kato (who is helped by his just as evil womanservant Agi), Kato and Agi are taking Yokai, combining them with unused technological trash and turning them into robotic killing machines.
Describing the plot in any more detail is a little confusing as there is quite a bit happening. The plot is fine for the genre and were the film shines most is in the characters. For the most part the Yokai are well designed with literally 100's of different characters; most are actors with heavy make up, although sometimes the odd dodgy CGI will be thrown up. The evil robots are similarly well designed although suffer from dodgy CGI most of the time.
Full of typic wtf? Miike Takashi moments, The Great Yokai War is well made and great fun.
Karas: The Prophecy
Released in Japan as a 6 part OVA, Karas: The Prophecy is the first 3 episodes combined into a feature length release. The story follows Karas, a fighter trying to save the world from Mikura (Japanese Youkai which have been turned into machines to do their masters evil bidding). The plot is quite hard to follow so I don't really know much of what else went on.
The animation is done very well, mixing CG and more traditional styles although sometimes the action is so fast that you can't see entirely what's going on. There is a huge amount of action packed into the short runtime which means even if you don't know entirely what's going on, there's plenty of eye candy to look at.
All in all, a stunning albiet confusing anime.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Following on from the playstation game, Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children follows the character of Cloud as he becomes embroiled in a plot to kidnap the city of Midgar's children and bring Sephiroth back to life. If you've not played FFVII and none of that made much sense, don't worry, the plot is a lot easier to follow than it is to explain.
I was a bit disappointed with the animation, while some scenes do look stunning, a lot of the character animation doesn't look too real and as a whole the effect wasn't as great as that of Final Fantasy: The Spirits within which at the time was way ahead of anything I'd seen before.
The plot and characters are reasonable and pretty much what you'd expect from a good Japanese anime.
Overall, a film more suited for fans of the game, but there's still enough there to warrant watching it if you are interested in this style of movie in general.
Aria
When a widowed piano tuner meets an elderly performer who does a puppet show, he is roped into a search for a piano the man sold to a pawn shop many years ago. When the performer dies, the piano tuner and the performers apprentice go on a road trip to find the piano, they are joined by an enchanting young woman claiming to be the performer's daughter.
Aria starts of very slowly and deliberately paced and from then on doesn't pick up too much steam as we follow the trio on the road. The meet a number of characters on their way and pass through some stunning scenery making for a movie which is a joy to watch.
Namikibashi Shorts
A series of short films from director Junji Kojima, most of them providing a tongue in cheek look at Japanese life, including the art of Origami, Onigiri (rice balls), Japanese dating and eating in a sushi bar. Each of the films was funny in it's own right, but the first one wasn't of as high a standards as the subsequent films.
The stand out film of the series takes the form of an American woman explaining the intricacies of dating in Japan (all very over the top and tongue in cheek). The humour is taken to the next level in the second half of the film where we see the events mentioned in the tutorial realised in a "real life" situation.
Overall, a hugely funny and entertaining series of shorts which aside from their entertainment potential, give an insight into Japanese life albeit in an over the top hammed up manner.
Pom Poko
Japanese folklore attributes Tanuki (Raccoons) with extraordinary powers of shape shifting, the source of their magic coming from their testicles. Pom Poko tells a cautionary environmental tale about a group of Tanuki who find themselves forced out of their natural habitat as the forests are cut down to create more homes for the ever expanding Tokyo metropolis. The film follows two of these Tanuki who each have different ideas of how the humans should be dealt with.
The animation is as good as you expect from Studio Ghibli and the subject matter more direct than Miyazaki's work but still well presented. From a foreigners perspective, the obsession with the Tanukis' huge balls is a little weird, especially when they are stretched to form a trampoline or grow large enough to be used as a weapon, but it provides humour. Some (possibly unintended) innuendos also provide puerile giggles, but for the most part, the films serious message shines through the humour and cute characters.
Tetsuo II: Bodyhammer
Not so much as a sequel to Tetsuo but more of another film along the same lines, Tetsuo II features more of the same man/machine imagery accomponied by an industrial soundtrack.
The film follows a Japanese family man in the wake of the kidnap of his son, this event causes him to unleash an internal power helped on by a sinister group participating in an experiment of melding man and machine. This power causes him to transform into a half metal crazed killing machine.
Shot with a very frantic feeling and some handheld camera work, Tetsuo II follows the visual aesthetic of the first, but now in colour. The effects are (similar to the first film) stunning stop motion pieces which at times look pretty amazing, there's also bucket loads of blood as various characters meet the wrath of the "Iron Man". I'm not sure if the second film has a more coherent plot, or I'm just more used to these kind of films than I was 3 years ago, but I found Tetsuo II easier to follow than when I watched the first one.
With a very raw feel to it, Tetsuo II isn't really for everyone, but fans of the first and this kind of anarchic cinema in general shouldn't be disappointed.
Drunken Angel
Made in Japan shortly after the war and set in the same times, Drunken Angel follows Dr. Sanada (Takashi Shimura). The doctor tends his patients in a community in Tokyo rebuilding after the war. When a young gangster, Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune), comes to him to have a bullet removed from his hand, Sanada looks down on him, but after suspecting he has Tuberculosis, convinces him to get an X-Ray.
The film follows the pair as Sanada struggle with his alcoholism and his contempt for the Yakuza mixed with his sense of wanting to help, similarly Matsunaga has mixed feelings about the doctor, ill health is not compatible with his lifestyle but at the same time he fears what might become of him at the hands of the illness.
Regarded by many as Kurosawa's breakthrough film, Drunken Angel is well presented and the acting from the main duo, Shimura and Mifune (both to become regulars in Kurosawa's work) is excellent. The story is timeless and despite being 50 years old, the main characters are easy to relate to.
Overall, an excellent film well worth watching.
Kairo (Pulse)
Made during the period when dark Asian horrors were the big thing in World Cinema, Kairo starts which a plot very similar to that of Ringu or The Phone. We follow two different groups of young people, the first 3 friends who work together at a plant nursery, when one of their friends commits suicide, they find strange pictures on his computer and are drawn into the mystery surrounding his death.
The second plot line follows Kawashima, an economics student who begins to get strange videos on his PC after getting his first internet connection, he seeks out the help of a young computer science student to explain what is happening.
Just as young begin to think "I get it, it's the Ring but the with the internet instead of a video tape", Kairo changes into an almost different movie entirely. Painting a bleak and almost post apocalyptic world and examining the philosophy behind death and the after life. It is this second part which provides most of Kario's depth and interest.
Running at 2 hours, the clumsy student-investigating-the-supernatural start detracts a little from the overall themes of the film and it seems like there could have been a better way to get to the second act than what is already there.
Overall, Kairo is a reasonable movie and certainly one that provides interesting questions in the latter half, but anyone who has seen a fair number of Asian horror movies may find that they have to get through the boring and almost by the book Asian horror start before things get interesting.
パプリカ (Paprika)
Paprika centres around the DC-mini, a device which can record, play back and even allow people to enter into dreams. When 3 DC-mini devices are stolen from the scientists who create them, they are used to influence people's dreams, the scientists involved team up with a policeman to apprehend the thief and regain control of the DC-mini's.
With a plot like this, it's not surprise that much of the action takes place within dream-like sequences, all beautifully drawn and displayed to us through some incredible visuals. Paprika is an immense visual experience from start to finish and with a pretty complex plot it's a movie which is sure to keep your attention throughout.
There are echoes of many other works in there, but the film is also unique enough to stand on its own and fans of Satoshi Kon or anime in general won't be disappointed.
Tekkonkinkreet
Shiro and Kuro are two street urchins living in Treasure City, part of a Japanese megalopolis. Their daily lives involve keeping the city safe from the Yakuza and the street gangs prevalent in the area but things get more interesting when another player enters the game, one with plans to turn Treasure City into a massive amusement park in order to make a lot of money. Shiro and Kuro have their work cut out with their new adversary.
Tekkonkinkreet, although directed by an American, is very much a Japanese anime. The convoluted plot and super human skills the main characters possess goes with the territory but makes for interesting viewing. The art style is very varied, with some very nicely drawn backdrops and some unexpected changes in style in parts, although I wasn't too taken with the manner in which most of the characters are drawn.
Overall, Tekkonkinkreet is bright, vibrant and has a plot which is engaging albiet a little difficult to follow. All in all, a decent anime which is worth watching.
Yojimbo
When a wandering samurai (Toshiro Mifune) arrives in a village split in half by two gangs of gamblers at war with each other, he decides to exploit the situation by playing the two gangs off against each other to see which will pay the most for his services as a bodyguard.
Full of twists as the cunning samurai keeps double crossing each of his prospective employers, Yojimbo is a film which is captivating to watch. Mifune is great as always, playing the slightly arrogant Samurai of the title. With some excellent sword fights and a hint of black comedy, Yojimbo is a samurai film which despite being on a smaller scale than some of Kurosawa's Samurai epics is none-the-less watchable and entertaining.
Millenium Actress
Satoshi Kon's Millenium Actress tells the story of a camerman and his producer who travel out to visit and aging Actress to film an interview with her. As she tells her life story, the two are drawn (literally) into the story and witness the events first hand in a tale of love and yearning split across a number of historical moments in Japan's history.
Millenium Actress is, like Satoshi Kon's other motion pictures, a visual feast. The film effortlessly moves from one setting to another as we follow the main character and the two spectators. While the plot is a little loose (and it has to be for the film to work), there's enough visual stimulation and mental engagement from the events which unfold to make this of know consequence.
All in all, a great Anime and a great movie.
Zatoichi Monogatari
Zatoichi Monogatari is the first of the Zatoichi series of films which sees Shintaro Katsu play the role of Zatoichi, a blind swordsman who travels feudal Japan under the guise of being a blind masseur.
When Zatoichi arrives in a small town, the guest of a local gambling den owner and Yakuza boss he unwittingly chooses a side in a battle between another gang of Yakuza from a neighbouring town. He learns that the opposition have hired a ronin to help them in their fight and that he must go head to head with the ronin if he wants the rest of the payment he has received to help the gang win the fight.
The first in the series contains many of the staples found in subsequent films, gambling, sword fighting and a great plot. With a touch of Yojimbo about it, the film is a good introduction to the series and sets up the main character of Zatoichi well.
All in all, a decent Samurai film which focuses more on the man, his flaws and strengths, rather than relying on massive sword fight sequences.
Crows Zero
Crows Zero takes place in the Suzuran boys school, very little learning goes on at the school, with the various different classes, mainly fighting each other to show their supremacy. The top boy is Serizawa who most people fear, his plan is to conquer all the classes in the school and become the King of Suzuran. His hopes of achieving this goal are given a blow, when new boy Genji turns up, the son of a Yakuza boss, Genji has the same goal as Serizawa and starts making his mark in the school.
Based on a Manga, Crows Zero is a kind of ridiculous fighting movie, with some comedy elements thrown in. A lot of the light relief comes in the form of Ken, one of Genji's own true friends, a useless Yakuza who attened Suzuran himself.
The action and plot are typical Miike Takashi (or at least they would be if there was such a thing as "typical" Miike Takashi. There are some great sequences and some genuinley funny moments thrown in too.
Overall, action packed and light hearted in places, with a strong visual style which runs throughout the movie.
Only Yesterday
Isao Takahata's 1991 anime, Only Yesterday follows Tokyo born and bred office worker, Taeko and she takes a 10 day holiday and travels to the country to work on a farm. While on her journey, she has flashbacks to her time in 5th grade in the 60's. The story alternates between Taeko from the present (1984) and Taeko from the past.
The plot is a little slow and more focused on the character development of the two Taeko's that any dramatic event, I found this to be a little dull. The animation is ok, it definitely feels a little dated.
Overall, an alright but not amazing film an nowhere near as good as Grave of Fireflies, Takahata's previous film.
Tokyo Zombie
Sakichi Satô, writer of such demented Miike Takashi movies as Gozu and Ichi the Killer, directs this film version of Yusaku Hanakuma's demented Manga.
Following the same basic plot as the Manga, two colleagues who work in a fire extinguisher factory spend their free time with the elder, Mitsuo, teaching the younger, Fujio (Tadanobu Asano), Jiu-Jitsu in their spare time. When Tokyo becomes over-run with Zombies, the pair find themselves on the run.
Most of the insanity from the Manga is carried through to the screen, a little more time is taken to develop the main characters and a dog with no speech in the Manga is replaced with a (almost) love interest for Fujio in the film.
Overall, enjoyable and entertaining, but a little rought around the edges.
One Missed Call
In the early part of the decade when it seemed every other film being made in Japan, Korea or Hong Kong was a Ringu rip-off, shock Japanese director Miike Takashi jumped on the bandwagon with his version, One Missed Call.
The plot is pretty straightforward, Yumi is a young university student who becomes involved in a supernatural event when her friend Yoko receives a voicemail from her futureself. The voicemail consists of a few words and then a blood curdling scream and is dated the day after tomorrow. When the time comes to pass, Yoko dies with the same last words as predicted in the call. As more and more of her friends fall victim to the same fate, Yumi is left wondering when her time will come.
The film is pretty much Ringu with a phone instead of a videotape, the same themes of vengeful spirits exist. The film is pretty spooky for the most part, but not amazingly scary, the end is a bit annoying at first, but gets better before leaving a few questions unanswered.
In someways, this is Miike-Takashi-Light, it's a pretty straightforward by the book Asian horror compared to many of his other films. As an example of Japanese horror inspired by Ringu, it's better than most, but it still feeld a bit cliched and by the numbers.
Ring 2
The second sequel to the movie which brought the Ring phenomenon to Western audiences is a direct follow on from Ringu. The plot mostly follows Mai Takano, a student of Ryuji Takayama who died in the famous ending to the original. Takano is trying to get to the bottom of her mentor's death and in doing so winds up getting involved with the curse of Sadako. There are also sub-plots following the police who are keen to track down Reiko Asakawa and her son Yoichi as well as a journalist sniffing around the story.
This is a completely different plot from Spiral (either the film or the book), although the main characters are similar. Stylistically, the film is a bit more crazy than the original as well, with lots of psycho-babble and a plot which jumps around quite a bit.
All in all, Ringu 2 is still pretty creepy and fans of the series shouldn't be disappointed (although will probably have already seen this).
Mai Mai Miracle
On the face of it, Mai Mai Miracle should be a strong contender to join Studio Ghibl in the ranks of Japanese animation know to many outside Anime circles, but the problem is, it's not that good.
The story follows a young girl named Shinko growing up in a small town in Japan shortly after World War II. She listens to stories her grandfather tells her about how the ancient capital of the region used to sit on the land they now farm and makes friends with a new girl in her school who no-one else is interested in.
She has an imagination that lets her travel 1000 years into the past to see what life was like in those times. And this is where the main problem with the film creeps in, the flashbacks to the past are too prevalent to just be a passing thought, but aren't fleshed out enough and don't have enough relevance to the rest of the story to have any point. There are a couple of other sub-plots and they are each ok when taken alone, but don't gel together well.
The animation is reasonable and it looks like there should be a Ghibli-esque story in there somewhere, but I found the film dragged on, despite only running to just over 90 minutes.
Overall, not a terrible film, but should have been so much better.
Hana-Bi (Fireworks)
Director:
Takeshi Kitano
Year: 1997
Language: 日本語 (Japanese), English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Written by, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi), Hana Bi tells the story of Yoshitaka Nishi (Takeshi) a detective who's wife is terminally ill. The story follows Nishi as he spends time with the remaining days in his wife's life.
What follows is a series of strange events, which are all beautifully told. As with a number of Takeshi's other films, he doesn't say much and his body language and expressions convey much of his emotion. This film is very violent in parts while touching in others.
Overall, this is a great film, although there isn't much of a plot, you are just swept along for the ride, culminating in an unconvential ending.
Dave W - 8th August, 2004 - 22:50
Director:
Takeshi Kitano
Year: 2003
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Takeshi Kitano (Violent Cop, Battle Royale, Sonatine) writes, directs and stars in Zatoichi.
Zatoichi is a blind masseur who also happens to be a skilled warrior. When he arrives in a town ruled by gangsters and meets 2 Geisha looking to avenge their parents death this spells bad news for the gangsters who run the town.
The film is superbly directed and filmed and the action sequences which involve a lot of sword fighting are great, very violent and well choreographed.
Takeshi Kitano plays the part of the blind Zatoichi amazingly well, coming across as someone who although blind is fully aware of everything happening around them, the music in the film is used heavily to set the tone.
The story is fantastic and captivating throughout, with some great action sequences and some funny scenes which are done well so as to inject a bit of humour without turning the film into a comedy.
Overall I urge anyone with an interest in Japanese cinema to go and see this film, Takeshi Kitano is a great director and actor and this is a great film.
Dave W - 23rd March, 2004 - 21:46
Director:
Kinji Fukasaku
Year: 2000
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Battle Royale has to be one of my favourite films. It follows the story of a class of school children who are selected under the BR(Battle Royale) act. Under the BR act the class are taken to a remote island and have to fight each other to the death until only one remains. Each child is given a bag with a range of weapons, ranging from guns to knifes to less useful utensils with one boy being given a pot lid. The story follows the classmates as they each make the decision on how they are going to cope with the circumstances. In particular it follows a boy and a girl who feel there must be a way off the island without having to kill everyone. This film is violent, with dark comedy moments, all in all a great piece of cinema.
Dave W - 16th November, 2003 - 14:28
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2003
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Miike Takashi has the dubious honour of being the most reviewed director on chored.ath.cx. Partly because his films are usually like nothing you've ever seen before, but mainly cause he makes so bloody many of them. With over 60 films to his name (at the time of writing), Takashi just seems to belt them out one after another.
Gozu follows in the tradition of his films in that it is very strange and very dark with some scenes which are pretty messed up.
Gozu follows a Yakuza named Minami who is sent to Nagoya to get rid of his brother Ozaki who has lately become a bit eccentric and very troublesome. Things go wrong when Ozaki tries to shoot at a woman claiming she is driving a Yakuza attack car which has been modified to kill Yakuza. Minami kills Ozaki while trying to stop him. Things take a turn for the worse when he stops at a restaurant to phone his boss and comes out to find the dead Ozaki has disappeared.
The rest of the film follows Minami as he tries to track down Ozaki in a town populated by some very strange characters. This is where Takashi's unique combination of violence, dark humour and just general freakishness comes into play.
While Gozu is not as violent as Ichi The Killer, not as disturbing as Audition and not as messed up as Visitor Q, it does have Takashi's stamp all over it. Fans of Takashi's work will not be disappointed, strangers of his work will wonder what they have just seen.
The film ends in true Miike Takashi fashion with one of the most memorable endings to a film I've ever seen which left me thinking 'What!?'.
Overall Gozu is a pretty good film, proving that although Miike Takashi releases a lot of films, he still has some good ones to make.
Dave W - 4th August, 2004 - 18:36
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Having seen a number of Takashi Miike's previous films (Ichi The Killer, The Happiness of The Katakuris, The City of Lost Souls, Audition) I know that his work can be quite varied in tone and content and is often quite extreme.
I picked up Visitor Q from the video store on the sole basis that it had Takashi Miike's name on the front, I didn't even read the blurb on the box. Looking back, that was perhaps foolish, this is one of strangest films I've ever seen, bordering on porn in some places and extremely violent in others.
The plot leaves you with no idea what is going to happen next, with one bizarre scene after another. We start with a father sleeping with his prostitute daughter, his wife who is a heroin addict and abused by her son and there is a strange man (Visitor Q of the title) who hits the man on the head with a rock. Add in some necrophilia, a couple of scenes with a lot of breast milk and you have one of the strangest and at times pretty sick films I've ever seen. In places this film is pretty funny and in other places left me wondering why I was watching it. Nothing like any of the other Takashi Miike films I've seen.
If nothing else, a lesson in why you should read the back of box before renting films, very strange. In comparision to Takashi-San's other movies, I don't really rate Visitor Q and has taught me a valuable lesson about reading the blurb before renting a movie. Hardcore fans of Takashi's work will more than likely enjoy this, if you're not familiar with the director, check out some of the other films mentioned above before watching this one.
Dave W - 6th June, 2004 - 19:33
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2000
Language: Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Takashi Miike (Director Audition, Ichi The Killer) brings us an action thriller about a Japanese Brazilian named Mario who is trying to raise cash to escape Japan with his Chinese lover, Kei. This leads to them getting into trouble with both the Triads and the Yakuza. With a lot of action and some great set pieces, Takashi brings his unique blend of over the top violence combined with dark humour. This film is exciting to watch, funny in places and is everything I've come to expect from Takashi's films.
Dave W - 11th January, 2004 - 16:49
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Takashi Miike takes a horror film and creates a musical which is like some kind of weird Japanese version of the Sound of Music. When the Katakuris move to the country and open a guesthouse things don't go to plan when the guests start dieing. The father decides it would be better for all to just cover up the deaths rather than report them as he is scared that the guesthouse will get a bad reputation. This leads to some comedy moments along with some superbly cheesey musical numbers. Although very cheesy in parts, this film is also very funny in parts and well worth watching as long as you don't take it too seriously.
Dave W - 23rd December, 2003 - 23:02
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Takashi Miike (director Audition) brings us one of the most violent and fucked up films I've ever seen. First of all, a warning to most people, if you don't like violent films, don't watch this. If you're at all squeamish, you might want to avoid it. If you thought the violence in Kill Bill was over the top, you're not gonna like this and last of all if you've seen Audition and you didn't like it then this is gonna be much worse. Anyways, if you're still interested then I'll tell you a bit about the film.
The plot centres around Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano, Last Life In The Universe) a member of the Yakuza, when his boss is killed, he is determined to find the killer and get his revenge. Add to this the fact that Kakihara is a complete Masochist and the killer (Ichi of the title) is more than just a psychopath. This makes for some very extreme cinema. There is a lot of blood, gore, torture, people getting sliced up and stuff like that. I can't count the number of times, I was half trying to look away from the screen, but still wanting to see what happened. The plot is pretty good so the film doesn't rely on the shock value of the violence to make it's mark. All in all another masterpiece from director Takashi Miike.
Dave W - 3rd November, 2003 - 23:35
Director:
Shinichir Watanabeo
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English dub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Based on the Cowboy Bebop anime series, this movie follows a bounty hunter by the name of Spike Spiegel. After a tanker explodes on a highway unleashing some sort of biological weapon, Spike and his bounty hunting friends go after the person responsible in a bid to get a large cash reward for bringing him to justice after the authorities fear his next attack may be more widespread. This makes for an action packed movie with some sci-fi elements, and a great soundtrack. Nicely animated and very immersive. I've never seen the series, but it's definately on my list of anime to get now that I've seen this movie.
Dave W - 22nd October, 2003 - 18:27
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 1997
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Princess Mononoke tells the story of a young warrior by the name of Ashitaka. Ashitaka's village is attacked by a demon, which turns out to be a boar god who is full of hatred, this hatred seems to stem from an iron ball which is found in its body. Askitaka leaves the village to discover the source of this ball. This leads him to the mining town of iron town (imaginative name huh) where a woman called Eboshi is fighting with local animal gods including a young girl, Princess Mononoke who has been raised as the daughter of a wolf god.
As with other Miyazake films, a lot of weird stuff happens, including a bunch of Apes throwing sticks at people and some weirdy little tree spirit things with clicky heads. Over all I would highly recommend this film, it is imaginative, nicely animated and the plot is pretty good. One word of warning though, the English dub has been done with lots of 'amazing' Hollywood actors, but from what I have heard of it it ruins the movie completely, steer clear of the dub and watch the subbed version if possible.
Dave W - 21st October, 2003 - 20:36
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Spirited Away is one of the most imaginative films I've seen this year, it tells the story of Chihiro a young girl who is transported into a fantasy world where people are turned into animals and a witch runs a bath house for gods. The plot is anything but predictable and I found myself swept along for the ride rather than trying to second guess what was going to happen. I don't want to give too much of the plot away so I won't say too much but this film is a must see.
Dave W - 21st September, 2003 - 16:10
Director:
Hirotsugu Kawasaki
Year: 1998
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
A team of researchers discover Noah's Ark buried in a mountain in Turkey and discover that it has far greater power than imagined. Of course given something this powerful there is always going to be evil people who want the Ark for themselves, so an ARCAM soldier codenamed Spriggan has to take them on. This film is full of action as well as having a tenuous biblical plot and a freaky little kid. (As my friend Neil said, all the required elements for a great anime). I wouldn't rate it as one of the best animes I've seen, but it is definately worth a watch.
Dave W - 21st September, 2003 - 15:56
Director:
Takashi Yamazaki
Year: 2002
Language: Japanese, English
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When a young girl named Miri comes back in time from 80 years in the future to try and stop a war with an Alien race from starting, she enlists the help of Miyamoto, a martial arts expert and gunman. Together Miyamoto and Miri try to retrieve an Alien spacecraft and it's extra-terrestrial pilot from the clutches of a local crime lord.
Although the plot is pretty far fetched, and borrows from countless other sci-fi movies, this film is action packed and well shot. The excitement is maintained throughout and there are some great special effects and martial arts scenes.
Not a brilliant movie, but a good sci-fi action adventure from Japan.
Dave W - 22nd February, 2004 - 19:00
Director:
Hideo Nakata
Year: 2002
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Hideo Nakata's film Ring is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen and so I was keen to see his latest offering Dark Water. Like Ring, this film has only a 15 certificate and no blood or gore, but yet is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. The Eastern Asian take on horror is totally different from typical Hollywood movies, with the Ring series, The Eye and now Dark Water relying far more on psychological horror rather than sharp shocks or buckets of blood. Dark Water uses only one shock to make you jump, and this comes at a time when you are already really tense from the previous 10 minutes.
The film follows a young mother who is in the process of a custody argument with her ex-husband over her daughter Ikuko. She moves into an apartment, but is plagued by a damp spot on the ceiling, whilst trying to hold down her job and care for her daughter, strange things start to happen in the apartment. This leads to one of the most tense climaxes in cinema history. Anyone who is a fan of the Japanese Ring films or wants to see a genuinely scary movie should go and see this film.
Dave W - 24th November, 2003 - 22:30
Director:
Ryuhei Kitamura
Year: 2000
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The story goes that there are 666 portals to the Other Side and somewhere in Japan the 444th portal lies within a wood. When an prisoner on the run escapes into this wood, he is drawn into a battle with the undead.
Anyone killed within the forest comes back as a zombie and it just so happens the Yakuza have buried a lot of victims here. Cue a fight with the undead as the main character tries to figure out what's going on. I have to say this film is full of great fight scenes and humour which is very similar to films like Brain Dead or Evil Dead. Non-stop action, hilarious to watch, the only thing I would say is the start did seem a bit long and it took a while before the action started, but once is started it was non-stop.
Dave W - 17th November, 2003 - 19:00
Director:
Katsuhiro Otomo
Year: 1988
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
To many people Akira is their first taste of anime and to this day it still remains one of the best anime films ever made. Although now 16 years old, it is still visually stunning and as relevant as ever.
Akira tells the story of a biker gang in Neo Tokyo, when one of the members of the gang Tetsuo is involved in a motorcycle accident with a strange child, a transformation occurs within him which could signal the end of the world. He is promptly captured by the Army and his best friend Kaneda attempts to save him.
The animation is great and the story telling and set pieces make for a film which is captivating throughout. Mix that with some classic anime style weird goings on and you can see why this is regarded as a classic.
If you haven't seen Akira and are interested in anime, or want an introduction to anime, then see this film. For those of you not so keen on anime, you might still enjoy this film since it is a great story without being as ridiculous as some other animes.
Dave W - 10th April, 2004 - 03:04
Director:
Mamoru Oshii
Year: 2001
Language: Polish (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
In a futuristic world, a growing trend is engaging in a virtual reality warfare game called Avalon. The game is illegal and possibly dangerous since there are a number of 'unreturned', people who have become lost in the game.
Ash, a young woman who is a class A warrior within Avalon learns that an ex-team member is currently in a hospital since becoming 'unreturned'. Hearing of a legendary ghost who can open the gateway to a secret level, she seeks to find the ghost and rescue her friend.
One of the most striking thing about the film is that the majority of the first two thirds are presented in a very muted Sepia tone with only some things appearing in colour. This makes for a very unreal experience adding to the whole virtual reality game idea. The special effects used in the 'in-game' fighting sequences are excellent. This leads to give the impression that every frame is the way it is through complete control by the director giving a very stylised visual experience.
The music and soundtrack is excellent, there are a lot of long silent parts, and there isn't that much dialogue in the film anyway. The music kicks in with classical/operatic pieces during the action which adds greatly to the visual experience.
The story is interesting and the ending is rather unexpected and leaves a few questions unanswered. Overall this is a great film which I feel draws a lot from computer games and anime so anyone into that kind of thing should enjoy it.
Dave W - 11th April, 2004 - 02:43
Director:
Mamoru Oshii
Year: 1995
Language: Japanese, English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Mamoru Oshii's (Avalon) anime Ghost in the Shell is along with Akira one of the best anime's I've seen. The film tells the story of Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg cop who is led into tracking down a hacker called the Puppet Master who is 'ghost hacking' people to control them.
The film has a great plot, holds your attention throughout along with having some great music and some classic anime fighting scenes. This is truly one of the animes against which all others are judged. Any fan of anime should have seen this movie already, but if you haven't go and see it now.
Dave W - 18th April, 2004 - 14:14
Director:
Satoshi Kon
Year: 1997
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When Mima leaves her pop-band to reinvent herself as an actress things don't go quite as planned when she discovers a website being written from her perspective, a strange man seemingly following her and illusions of an alternate her.
This film was pretty good, the story was strong although at the end it did get a bit wacky and I was left wondering what was going on. The animation was good and there was some classic J-Pop action going on in the pop-group scenes.
Dave W - 28th September, 2003 - 22:22
Director:
Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Year: 2000
Language: Japanese, English
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Blood: The Last Vampire follows a young girl named Saya, the last living original vampire and part of a team hunting down and destroying demons. Although pretty short (48 mins or so), this is a great movie, the animation looks really nice, and is a mixture of 2D and 3D CGI. The movie contains both English and Japanese dialog as it is set in a US airforce base in Japan so the Americans speak English and the Japanese speak Japanese. The story is good and the battles between Saya and the demons are great, apart from being a little on the shortside this film is very good and well worth watching.
Dave W - 28th September, 2003 - 22:11
Director:
Kanji Wakabayashi
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Set in Feudal Japan, Kai Doh Maru tells the story of Kintoki, a young girl who is rescued and raised by a group of peacekeepers. Although the film is pretty short (40 mins), the story is quite good, although it does seem to end very aprubtly. The best thing about this movie is it's unique visual style, the film is presented in very muted colours which add to the feel of the time period the film is set in.
Dave W - 27th September, 2003 - 16:47
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1950
Language: 日本語 (Japanese), English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
While sheltering from the rain, two men tell another the story of a woman who was attacked and raped by a bandit in the woods. The story is told from 4 different viewpoints, the attacker, the woman, the dead woman's husband and an onlooker.
Each teller has a different take on the tale. Set in ancient Japan, Rashomon leaves the viewer to decide who if anyone is telling the truth.
Toshiro Mifune stars as the bandit Tajomaru and gives an excellent performance of the character. The story is clever and well told. Well worth a watch.
Dave W - 8th August, 2004 - 22:41
Director:
Takeshi Kitano
Year: 2000
Language: Japanese
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Another film written, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano/Beat Takeshi, Brother tells the story of Yamamoto, a Yakuza who leaves Japan for America after his family is taken over by another family who want him dead because he is too dangerous.
Once in America, Yamamoto meets up with his little brother who is a small time drug dealer, Yamamoto goes on a crusade to establish the Yakuza as the number one gang in the area, recruiting more and more until the attract the attention of the Mafia. Beat Takeshi plays his usual role of the hard ass guy who says very little but kicks a lot of butts. This film is full of action and violence and is a great Gangster/Yakuza movie. Any fan of Takeshi Kitano's other films will enjoy this.
Dave W - 15th August, 2004 - 17:28
Banned in the UK since 1983, Shogun Assassin is actually a mix of two samurai films, "Sword of Vengance" and "Baby Cart at River Styx" part of the Lone Wolf series which tell of a masterless samurai who travels around with his son.
When his wife is killed by the Shogun's Ninjas, Lone Wolf is determined to avenge her death and goes on a journey of slaughter killing lots of people. The film is quite violent, with a lot of samurai action, the violence is very obviously fake, with squirting blood all over the place much like in Kill Bill. Compared to other films I've seen it isn't particularly violent, with most of the violence being humorous rather than shocking.
Overall, Shogun Assassin is a reasonable samurai film, the dubbing is pretty shoddy and video quality isn't great, but other than that it's entertaining enough.
Dave W - 15th August, 2004 - 17:38
Director:
Satoshi Kon
Year: 2003
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Tokyo Godfathers tells of 3 homeless friends, a young runaway, a transvestite and a middle aged bum. Homeless at Christmas in Tokyo, they find an abandoned baby while rummaging through the garbage. The 3 of them resolve to return the child to its parents.
Tokyo Godfathers is a touching tale with a strong element of light hearted humour. A lot of the humour is quite random but through the movie a strong bond with the 3 friends is formed, even Gin who is quite gruff at the start.
Beautifully directed by Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue), Tokyo Godfathers is a good tale which will make an excellent Christmas movie, although is fun to watch at any time of the year.
Dave W - 30th August, 2004 - 20:25
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1954
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Akira Kurosawa's movie Seven Samurai tells the story of a poor village who learn that bandits will attack and steal their Barley as soon as it has been harvested. The village elder suggests hiring Samurai to protect their village, since they are poor and have no money to offer, their search for Samurai does not go very well.
Finally the stumble across a Ronin who agrees to help them gather a team of Samurai, he and a young Samurai who wants to be his master manage to form a group of six Samurai. Each member of the group has their own unique characteristics and personality, from the clown who runs away from battle to the master swordsman who has no interest in killing for killings sake, instead being dedicated to mastering the art of swordsmanship.
The seventh member of the group comes in the guise of Kikuchiyo (played excellently by Toshiro Mifune, Rashomon), although not a true Samurai, he is eventually welcomed into the fold.
Together the Seven men train the villagers to fight in readiness for the attack from the bandits.
Seven Samurai is truly an exceptional movie, every one of the main characters has a strong personality and background which are intractley woven into the plot, explaining their actions while not seeming contrived. Kurosawa creates a movie which has both strong characters, a strong plot and some excellent action.
Dave W - 5th September, 2004 - 12:23
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Out of all of Miike Takashi's movies which I've seen this has to be the most conventional. The plot tells of the power struggles between Yakuza families in Tokyo. When a member of one family causes trouble for another and is killed, the family of the dead man seek retribution. This leads to a war between the families. There are quite a few different gangs in the film, and keeping track of who is allied with who can get a little confusing, since the plot calls for a lot of switching of sides.
Overall Agitator is not as good as other works by Miike Takashi, but on it's own it's not a bad Yakuza action film, although it does feel quite long while watching it.
Dave W - 5th September, 2004 - 22:20
Director:
Hideo Nakata
Year: 1998
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Hideo Nakata's Ringu has become a classic example of Eastern Asian horror, the build up of tension and genuinley scary psychological horror rather than shocks and gore define the genre. While not as scary as other films in the genre including Nakata's own Dark Water and A Tale of Two Sisters, Ringu still has one of the scariest scenes in movie history along with a great plot and great acting.
The film follows a journalist who is investigating stories of a video tape which if watched causes the viewer to die 7 days later. When her own neice falls victim to the tape, she is even more determined to find the cause of it, after watching the tape she becomes strapped in a battle against time to work out the mystery within 7 days.
Ringu is genuinley scary and well worth a watch, in my opinion Nakata's original is vastly superior to the American remake.
Dave W - 7th September, 2004 - 22:55
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 1979
Language: English (Dub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Castle of Cagliostro tells the story of gentleman thief Lupin III aka Wolf. When Wolf and his sidekick Jigen rob a casino they find that all the money they have stolen is counterfeit and decide to track down the source of the counterfeiter in order to make a lot more money.
Their search takes them to the Kingdom of Cagliostro where they learn the evil Count Cagliostro is going to marry Princess Cagliostro against her will. Wolf swears to save her from her fate, his mission is made harder when bungling Inspector Zenigata turns up to try and capture him.
The plot is reasonable, as is the animation. The drawing style is not as Japanese looking as other anime I've seen, in particular count Cagliostro looks like a typical Scooby Doo villain. The English Dub also added to this Scooby Doo feeling which probably had a detrimental effect on my enjoyment of the film. There are some good scenes in which the Count's Ninja's appear, they feel more like characters from Miyazaki's later work.
Overall The Castle of Cagliostro is reasonably good fun, but not amazing.
Dave W - 18th September, 2004 - 15:13
Director:
Takeshi Kitano
Year: 1993
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Another film written by, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (AKA Beat Takeshi). Sonatine tells the story of a Tokyo Yakuza crew who are sent to Okinawa to help resolve a turf war. When things don't go too well, they take refuge on a beach to strengthen up again.
Although Sonatine has a few scenes of typical Yakuza violence, the main part of the film takes place on the lonely beach where the men live together, and play games as they plan their next move. The film is typical of Takeshi's work, highly atmospheric and character driven.
Overall Sonatine is a good movie, showing that Yakuza films don't need to be all guns and violence.
Dave W - 20th September, 2004 - 18:25
Director:
Hideo Nakata
Year: 1999
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Hideo Nakata, has made a name for himself as an excellent director of East Asian suspense horror. His film リング (Ring) is a standard on which many other Eastern Asian horror movies are judged. I have to admit I am a big fan of Nakata's films, and was quite keen to see Chaos even although I knew nothing about it.
Unlike Ringu and Dark Water, Chaos is not a horror movie. Instead Nakata-san has directed a masterpiece which tells a complex story which twists about. Just when you think you know what is happening you are shown another scene which changes everything which you had believed to be true.
One of the ways Nakata does this is through his use of a skewed time line, although wheras in films like Memento and Irreversible the timeline runs backwards, in Chaos we jump around sometimes with no obvious indication of where in the story the scene takes place. This can be a little confusing if you aren't paying close attention as the indicators to where in the timeline the scene takes place are sometimes very subtle.
The film starts with the kidnapping of the wife of the head of a Japanese company. The man is then asked for the ransom money. What starts as this simple kindnapping plot then becomes more and more complex as the story twists and turns.
Overall Chaos is an excellent film which shows that Nakata's talents are not just limited to the suspense horror which he is well know for.
Dave W - 31st October, 2004 - 13:59
Director:
Kinji Fukasaku
Kenta Fukasaku
Year: 2003
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) - English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale is one of my favourite films, it is extreme cinema at it's best. A dark premise with great performances from the whole cast. Because of this I was interested in seeing the sequel, Battle Royale 2. Whereas while making the original Kinji Fukasaku had the excellent novel by Koushun Takami to work with, BR2 is an entirely new story. The death of Kinji Fukasaku during the making was also a blow with Kenta Fukasaku stepping up to finish his fathers film.
The film is set 3 years after the first and sees Shuya Nanahara, a survivor from the first film forming an underground terror organisation and declaring war against the Grown-Ups. To try to end this uprising, the Government starts the 2nd BR program which sees a class of 42 students sent to the island where Nanahara is hiding to kill him. One member of the team is Shiori Kitano, the daughter of a teacher (Beat Takeshi) who Nanahara killed in the first film. This sees the unwitting students pitted against Nanahara's guerilla movement.
Although there are similar themes to the first one, the film has none of the shock or originality of its predecessor, the acting is terrible and special effects are dodgy to say the least. There is also a thinly disguised Anti-American vibe whereby we hear about a long list of countries which another nameless country (blatantly America) has bombed in the past 60 years.
Overall, Battle Royale 2 follows up from an important film which is destined to be a classic, removes all the importance from it and gives us what is basically an overacted action film with some political undertones which are never really explored properly. As an action film, BR2 is reasonable, as the follow up to Battle Royale, BR2 is as dissapointing as you could get.
Dave W - 7th November, 2004 - 14:24
Director:
Takashi Shimizu
Year: 2003
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Takashi Shimizu's film "The Grudge" tells the story of a house which hides a dark secret. The film follows a number of different characters, telling the story through each of the characters. It starts when a young care worker goes to the house to help an aging lady, she discovers a young boy in a cupboard in the upper floor of the house with no explanation of who he is or how he got there. Things get worse when the old lady is killed by a strange force.
The Grudge has a couple of really scary moments, but overall is not as scary as other far eastern horror movies like A Tale of Two Sisters or The Eye.
Any fans of far Eastern horror will like the film, it is scary in parts and the storyline is well written. The film's timeline jumps around a bit which can be a bit confusing if you aren't paying attention.
Dave W - 19th December, 2004 - 16:37
Director:
Takashi Ishii
Year: 1995
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Gonin tells the story of Bandai, a night club owner, who owes a lot of money to the Yakuza as payment on loans he has taken out. He gathers together another 4 men to form a group of 5 (The title Gonin translates as 5 people) and plots to steal money from the Yakuza. When the Yakuza discover who was behind the hit they get two professionals in to hunt them down and kill them.
Bandai's group of 5 includes himself, a young gay man who comes on to rich men and then blackmails them; an ex-cop; a business man down on his luck; and a young man who's girlfriend is a Thai prostitue who's passport has been taken by the Yakuza. The 5 men each have their own background and secrets and this makes for interesting viewing as the tale unfolds.
Gonin has all the elements required for excellent viewing, interesting characters, a dark storyline and some good action scenes. One of the two hitmen brought in by the Yakuza to hunt down the men is played by Beat Takeshi who is as usual excellent in his role as a Yakuza gunman who says very little.
Overall Gonin is an excellent Yakuza flick with a deeper plot to it which makes it stand out from other purely action Yakuza films.
Dave W - 28th December, 2004 - 19:59
Director:
Hiroyuki Morita
Year: 2002
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Neko no Ongaeshi (The Cat Returns) is another movie from Studio Ghibli who also brought us Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. The film tells the story of a schoolgirl named Haru, when one day she saves a cat from being run over by a truck she is surprised when the cat thanks her and bows before going on its way.
That night she is visited by a strange procession of cats where she is informed that the cat she saved was actually the Prince of the Kingdom of Cats and as a thank you she is to have a special day the next day. Unfortunately the cats' idea of a special day involvs lots of catnip and gifts of mice. Things get worse for Haru when the King of the Kingdom demands she marries the prince.
She seeks the help of the Baron, a strange cat who wears a top hat and tails and his sidekick Muta. When she is kidnapped by the cats, the Baron and Muta must intervene to save her and return her to her own world.
Like the other Ghibli films I've see, The Cat Returns is very imaginative, with some rather strange things occuring. Throughout the film the plot is unpredicatable and the viewers attention is kept as scene after scene of charming events occur. As with most Ghibli films, trying to second guess what's going to happen is futile and you are swept along for the ride. If you are a fan of other Ghibli films then The Cat Returns shouldn't dissapoint.
Dave W - 29th December, 2004 - 17:29
Director:
Yoji Yamada
Year: 2002
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Set at the end of the Tokugawa era, Twilight Samuarai tells the story of Seibei, a man belonging to the Samurai classes. His relatively low wage goes on supporting his two daughters and his aging mother. He lives alone after the death of his wife, and must hurry home directly after work to take care of his family. This leads him to be given the nickname "Twilight" by his work colleauges as he has neither the money or time to go out drinking with them.
When Tomoe, a childhood friend, returns after divorcing her drunken and abusive husband, her ex-husband challenges him to a duel which he begrudgingly takes part, even although he had turned his back on violence after the death of his wife.
The film tells the story of Seibei as he struggles through his life struggling with his feelings of love for Tomoe and the pressures put on him by his clan.
A touching film, focusing more on the character of Seibei and his struggles than on violence and death; Twilight Samurai is definitely worth watching.
Dave W - 9th January, 2005 - 15:04
Director:
Takeshi Kitano
Year: 1990
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Takeshi Kitano aka Beat Takeshi nevers fails to dissapoint, known for writing, directing and starring in many a film, Boiling Point was the first film which he wrote and directed himself.
The story tells of a young Gas Attendant named Masaki when he gets into trouble with the Yakuza, his baseball coach Iguchi an ex-Yakuza goes to see them to try and sort the matter, but ends up making it worse and getting himself seriously injured. Masaki and a friend travel to Okinawa to get a gun, here the meet up with another Yakuza, Uehara (Kitano).
The film has a very surreal comedy element to it in places and is shot with no background music, and in a lot of scenes only minamal dialogue. As with many of his other movies, Kitano's character says very little, the main character Masaki is also a shy retiring type who hasn't much to say.
Beautifully bizarre in places, action filled in others but captivating throughout, Boiling Point shows that Kitano's skill as a film-maker has been there from the start. Anyone who has seen and enjoyed any of Kitano's other films will enjoy Boiling Point and if you aren't familiar with Kitano's work then this film is as good a place as any to start.
Dave W - 9th January, 2005 - 15:32
Director:
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1973
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Although Zatoichi at the Blood Fest is the 25th in the series of Zatoichi films, it's the first of the films which I've seen (excluding Takeshi Kitano's 2003 film).
The film sees Shintaro Katsu resume his role as Zatoichi, a blind swordsman who wanders Japan under the guise of a Masseur. In Zatoichi at the Blood Fest, Zatoichi returns to the village he was born in, to find that an childhood friend has returned to the village. His old friend seemingly helps the town out by paying taxes the farmers owe to the magistrates; but he has an alterior motive and once the town is in his debt lays claim to a quarry.
Zatoichi must intervene to ensure that fairness prevails. As the first Zatoichi film I saw, Zatoichi at the Blood Fest was a decent story with a fair amount of action. The character of Zatoichi is well developed, he has a sense of humour and likes to drink and gamble, as well as being a master swordsman. (Keep an eye out for a scene set in a gambling den which is recreated in Kitano's film).
Overall a decent film in the Zatoichi series, worth a watch for fans of the series. As an introduction to the series of films, Zatoichi at the Blood Fest is perhaps not the best as there are stronger films.
Dave W - 23rd January, 2005 - 20:18
Director:
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1971
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The 22nd film in the series, Zatoichi meets the One Armed Swordsman sees Japan's Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) meet with China's own One Armed Swordsman (Yu Wang).
When a young Chinese boy stops a procession by running in front of it, he is about to be struck down by Samurai until his mother and father run in to stop them. The Samurai kill both his mother and father and proceed to kill other innocents until the Wang Kong, (The One Armed Swordsman of the title) intervenes and saves the young boy's life.
The young boy runs into Zatoichi, who takes him under his wing. When the pair run into Wang Kong again, the team up even although they don't understand each other. Inevitabley this language barrier causes problems.
Zatoichi meets the One Armed Swordsman has a great plot, and some good action scenes. The character of the One Armed Swordsman is great as well, with a more unreal feel to his swordplay than Zatoichi, he flies through the air escaping attacking Samurai
Dave W - 23rd January, 2005 - 20:47
Director:
Kihachi Okamoto
Year: 1970
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The 20th film in the Zatoichi Series, Zatoichi meets Yojimbo sees Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi meet with a nameless bodyguard known only as Yojimbo (Japanese for bodyguard). The excellent Toshiro Mifune (Rashomon, Seven Samurai) reprises his role after playing Yojimbo in Akira Kurosawa's film Yojimbo.
The plot follows Zatoichi as he arrives in a village to find that a merchant is being accused of stealing gold from the Shogunate. Yojimbo is working for the merchant's son to try and help find the gold, but is also working for the Shogun.
Zatoichi meets Yojimbo is darkly comic, with the characters of Zatoichi and Yojimbo facing off against each other as both friends and enemies. All in all, a highly entertaining film and very much what I've come to expect from the Zatoichi series of films.
Dave W - 29th January, 2005 - 12:17
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 1997
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Full Metal Yakuza tells the story of Hagone, a Yakuza who could be in line for the most uselss Yakuza ever award. He gets beaten up by kids in the street, breaks down when he has to kill anyone and has no respect from the other members of his family.
When Hagone is killed in an unfortunate shooting incident, he is brought back to life by a self confessed "Nutty Professor". This turns him into a half metal killing machine (think a Yakuza robocop), using his new power and strength he returns to avenge the death of his boss.
Directed by super director Miike Takashi, Full Metal Yakuza isn't really one of his strongest films. Cheap special effects, a completely ridiculous plot and some dodgy acting all make for a film which isn't exactly high quality. Not surprising the film as the film was a low budget straight to video affair.
Overall, Full Metal Yakuza is a cheap nasty B-Movie which is enjoyable to watch more for the ridiculous plot and terrible special effects than for anything else.
Dave W - 4th February, 2005 - 18:24
Director:
Shinya Tsukamoto
Year: 1988
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Tetsuo is a barrage of fast paced segments tied together to tell the story of a Japanese Salaryman who starts sprouting metal out his body. The sheer pace at which what we are seeing jumps between the main story and clips of all manner of metal related nonsense is insane. It's pretty hard to describe but it makes for interesting viewing with the action accompanied by a thumping industrial style score.
Tetsuo is not going to be for everyone, but if you want to see something which is nothing like anything you've seen before, it's well worth a watch.
Dave W - 5th February, 2005 - 13:09
Director:
Horie Kei
Year: 2003
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Legend has it that if you leave a present in a coin locker in Shibuya you will be gifted with good luck in your future relationships. When a group of 6 University Students use the lockers while away camping in the woods, when they return they uncover a deadly secret which the locker holds.
Shibuya Kaidan is a Japanese horror movie much in the vein of Ringu or The Grudge. While not a scary as some other movies to come out of Eastern Asia recently, it certainly does have an eerie quality. Again the plot and story are not particulary original, the evil spirit is very similar to the character of Sadako in Ringu, or the spirit in the Grudge just with a different reason for her actions of revenge.
Overall, Shibuya Kaidan is a reasonable Japanese Horror movie, lacking in originality but still creepy and enjoyable to watch.
Dave W - 5th February, 2005 - 14:37
Director:
Horie Kei
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The sequel to Shibuya Kaidan, Shibuya Kaidan 2 picks up exactly where we left off (in fact the first 10 minutes or so of the film are pretty much the end of the first film). As Erika, the last of the 6 University Students who succumbed to the curse of the haunted Coin Locker, dies she hands the key to the locker to Kubo Anayo, a High School student she was tutoring.
It is up to Kubo to then try and solve the mystery of the locker. The plot is very much dependant on the first film and I wouldn't recommend watching this one unless you have seen the first one. As a sequel the film is pretty good, much of the same spooky horror type stuff we saw in the first film, although the sequel is slightly scarier.
Again, there is nothing particularly unique or original with this film, although for fans of the genre it is a worthwhile watch. As a sequel it would have been better if the character of Sachiko was developed more, but the movie ends with the viewer knowing little more about her and with no closure on the events I wouldn't be surprised if a third film in the series is made.
Dave W - 5th February, 2005 - 16:04
Director:
Kazuo Ikehiro
Year: 1966
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The 14th film in the series of Zatoichi films starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman. In Zatoichi's Pilgrimage, Zatoichi arrives in a village to find that it is being taken over by gangsters and the women in the village are being forced into working as sex slaves. Added to his problems is a baby he helped deliver who he has to return to it's family, the mother having died during childbirth.
Zatoichi's Pilgrimage has pretty much what you come to expect from a Zatoichi film in terms of action and comedy. The plot is reasonable, and although the film is not as good as some of the others in the series, it is still worth watching if you are a fan of the films.
Dave W - 15th February, 2005 - 20:11
Director:
Kenji Misumi
Year: 1972
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The first in the series of 6 Babycart films, Sword of Vengeance introduces us to the character of Ogami Itto aka "Lone Wolf and Cub". The film tells the story of Itto, an executioner for the Shogun. When he is framed as being disloyal to the Shogunate by a clan looking to take his position, his wife is murdered and he is forced to live life as a Ronin travelling the country with his young son.
The film is roughly split 50:50 between explaining the back story of how Itto came to be wandering on his own and another story where he arrives in a small town which is being held hostage by bandits.
The plot is pretty good and there's a lot of traditional Samurai themes. The action sequences are mostly over the top swordfights with blood spraying everywhere and appendages getting cut off all over the place.
Overall, an entertaining Samurai film which is a solid start to the series of films.
Dave W - 17th February, 2005 - 21:44
Director:
Rintaro
Year: 1996
Language: 本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
As the apocalypse approaches, two rival factions must battle to determine the destiny of the earth. The 7 Dragons of Earth wish to destroy the planet and The 7 Dragons of Heaven must stop them if the Earth is to be saved. The start of this battle is signalled when a young man named Kamui returns to Tokyo; he must choose a side on which to fight, after choosing, a childhood friend of his Fuma becomes the Kamui for the other side. The Dragons of Heaven must protect various shields in Tokyo from the attack by the Dragons of Earth.
The plot is a little confusing, and I think I only really understood it having watched most of the TV series of the film which was made later. The division between good and evil becomes muddied when we learn that the Dragons of Earth wish to destroy the Earth in order that it can start again having being ruined by the hand of man.
Each of the shields in Tokyo are famous Tokyo landmarks, including Tokyo Tower; the Metropolitan Government Office Buildings; Tokyo Station and the national Diet Building. This makes for interesting viewing for anyone who has visited Tokyo as the landmarks are well drawn and instantly recognisable.
The animation is top notch, with beatifully drawn backdrops for the long shots and bold bright colourful characters drawn for close ups of the characters. Each of the characters has their own special power and look which makes for colourful and engaging battle scenes. The film is packed with action as the two sides engage in combat to decide the fate of the Earth.
Personally, I loved the film but my rating may be a little high as the fact that I recognised much of the landscape of Tokyo in the film was part of my enjoyment. Also as I mentioned before having seen most of the TV series it made the plot a lot easier to follow. It's worth mentioning that most of the material in the film does not seem have been put into the series and that it's only the overall plot which the series and film have in common.
Overall, X is a great piece of Anime, although I would recommend tracking down the series before watching the film.
Dave W - 9th March, 2005 - 22:06
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Yet another movie from Japan's most prolific director Miike Takashi, Zebraman tells of a school teacher who gets no respect from his family or his students. He is obsessed with an old TV superhero series, Zebraman, and takes to dressing up as Zebraman. When he begins to go outside in the costume, he starts to help people out and realises that maybe he really has superhero powers. Things get more interesting when 2 Government agents investigating an alien invasion need his help to save the earth.
Zebraman is a kind of sci-fi comedy with the humour mainly slapstick or just plain bizarre in a similar way to Takashi's The Happiness of the Katakuri's. It's the kind of film I thought Save The Green Planet was going to be until it took a turn for the dark and violent. Takashi's humour is excellent and the film has a decent plot, is well acted and there are some reasonable special effects. There's one scene involving a fight between a masked rider/power rangers type character and Sadako from Ringu which is alone worth seeing the movie for.
A great mix of Sci-Fi, action and comedy told in a typical Takashi way, a great example of how versatile Takashi is as a director.
Dave W - 27th March, 2005 - 17:37
Director:
Takeshi Kitano
Year: 1989
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Violent Cop was Takeshi Kitano's directorial debut and a sure sign of the great things that were to come. Kitano wasn't originally lined up to direct the film, but stepped in after the original director pulled out having already been cast in the lead role.
The film tells the story of Azuma (Kitano), a ruthless cop who uses unorthodox methods to try and get results. The film starts with him witnessing an attack on a homeless person, he goes round to the house of one of the youths involved and beats him into confessing the next day. This violent attitude often gets him into trouble and in some cases does more bad than good.
When a bent cop winds up dead, Azuma goes after the hitman responsible, leading to him becoming a target himself. As always, Kitano is excellent in his role and like most of his films says little and relies on his character to tell us what we need to. The film is relatively slow paced, although maybe less so than some of his other work.
For fans of Takeshi Kitano Violent Cop is a must see, although I have to say when I first saw it and was less familiar with Kitano's work I wasn't as impressed as I am now.
Dave W - 28th March, 2005 - 22:08
Director:
Shinsuke Sato
Year: 2001
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Set in a almost post apocalyptic type near future, Princess Blade is a stunning movie which combines modern swordplay with a touching tale. The film tells the story of a young woman, Yuki, who belongs to a clan of assassins. When she finds out her mother was killed by the clan she must make the decision to stay with them as their Princess or to leave. When she leaves the rest of the clan follow to kill her for betraying them.
Yuki meets a young man named Takashi who has his own set of problems. The film doesn't really tie the two characters of Yuki and Takashi together very well, they meet up and then go their own seperate ways. The first half an hour or so is an all out action fest with some quality sword fighting, the middle of the movie takes a more somber and reflecting tone with the action ramping back up towards the end. Running at a relatively short 90 minutes, Princess Blade is a decent enough modern Japanese Sword Play movie but it left me with a feeling that there could have been more.
Dave W - 6th April, 2005 - 18:42
Director:
Kenji Misumi
Year: 1972
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The second film in the Baby Cart/Lone Wolf and Cub series of films; Baby Cart at the River Styx sees Ogami Itto take a job to kill a farmer who if he should fall into the hands of the Shogunate would give up a secret dye recipe. Meanwhile, the shogunate hire a group of females Ninja assassins in an attempt to rid the world of Ogami Itto once and for all.
The content of the film is much the same as Sword of Vengeance; a good old fashioned Samurai film with lots of over the top blood and some decent sword fights. The plot is decent and engaging throughout. While there's not much in the film to make it stand out as anything other than a reasonable Samurai movie it's worth watching if you are a fan of the genre.
Dave W - 6th April, 2005 - 20:50
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 1999
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When an actor's son suggests that he should remarry having been single for many years following the death of his wife, a friend suggests they hold an audition for a film and use the opportunity to find a suitable partner. Of the list of potentials, one draws her attention to him and he starts dating her. What starts as romance takes a twist when she drags him into her world of violence and vengeance.
Audition starts quite slowly, plodding along for about an hour, setting the scene and characters for the shocking, violent ending which is to come. And when the ending does start, the film becomes very dark and uncomfortable viewing.
Overall, a dark, disturbing film which is one of Takashi Miike's finest and a great example of his work.
Dave W - 9th April, 2005 - 16:25
Director:
Ryuhei Kitamura
Year: 2003
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Set in the Tokugawa era of Japans history, Azumi tells the story of a gang of young assassins raised from birth for a mission to assassinate warlord's who wish to rage war against the shogunate. One assassin in particular (Azumi of the title) is especially strong and the story focuses mainly on her role in the group.
Azumi is full of stunning scenery and action scenes which are both visually stimulating and exciting. Mixing both realistic swordplay with more fantasy styles similar to films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon the action scenes in Azumi are excellent. The build up to the final battle in particular is immense with Azumi taking on a countless number of warriors.
The plot is decent and there is a fair amount of gentler scenes to offset the violence against the more touching back stories to some of the characters.
Overall Azumi is a great action film which manages to entertain throughout despite being relatively long (142mins) for the type of film.
Dave W - 16th April, 2005 - 15:53
Director:
Kenji Misumi
Year: 1972
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Film No. 3 in the Babcart/Lone Wolf and Cub series ([1][2]). Babycart to Hades sees Ogami Itto take a contract to assassinate the deputy of a fief. This leads to him being set up against an army of warriors armed not only with the deadly sword, but bows and guns.
As far as the Babycart films go, Babycart to Hades is pretty typical of the series, over the top violence, lots of blood and some amazing sword fighting scenes. This installment features a little more guns than the previous two and the cart has been kitted out with some extra tricks. There is a lot of samurai philosophy, perhaps more than would be picked up on by the casual viewer.
Babycart to Hades is a a worthy addition to the Babycart series, but newcomers should probably start at the start with Sword of Vengeance as by this point a lot of the characters and back plot has been explained and although not required 100% does add to the film.
Maybe not a film I'd recommend to the casual viewer but for fans of the Babycart series or Samurai films in general, definately worthy of a watch.
Dave W - 16th April, 2005 - 17:49
Director:
Takashi Ishii
Year: 1996
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Takashi Ishii's sequel to his 1995 movie Gonin is not so much of a sequel in terms of plot or characters, but rather theme. This time the movie follows 5 women as they take on the Yakuza after foiling a Jewellry store robbery and running away with the Jewels themselves. As they try to escape the clutches of the Yakuza they keep bumping into a man on his own mission of bloody revenge against the gangland bosses.
Although not as good as the original, Gonin 2 has much of the same content; violence; revenge; action and a story of 5 strangers thrown together through unusual circumstances. This makes for an engaging action packed film with some offbeat comedy thrown in on the side.
Overall, Gonin 2 is let down a bit by the original being so good, but is a decent action packed Yakuza movie in its own right.
Dave W - 23rd April, 2005 - 13:48
Director:
Hiroyuki Nakano
Year: 2001
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Red Shadow tells the story of a group of Ninja's who belong to an ancient clan. Armed with invincible steel, a hard metal forged from an asteroid the 3 Ninja, Akakage (Red Shadow), Asuka and Aokage (Blue Shadow) invade castles and defeat warlords until after a mission goes wrong they split up. Akakage must then work alone to maintain the Shadow clan's future.
Released on a very budget label (The DVD cost me £1.25 and although it claims to have an 18 certificate on the box, the actual disc is marked as a 12) I didn't really have high hopes for the film. The back of the box does little to describe the actual content of the film and I read it to be some kind of dodgy Sci-Fi Ninja film set in the 70's.
Given all these facts when I started watching the film I realised it wasn't actually anything like it is being marketed as, in fact it is more of a kind of light comedy in the vein of Shaolin Soccer. Although not in the same league as Shaolin Soccer it has similar campy comedy and completely unrealistic action scenes.
A kind of comedy of errors in some ways, with the main Ninja being pretty useless but coming through good in the end. With a cast of Japanese stars who have been in a number of other films the acting is reasonable and overall the film is pretty well.
Red Shadow isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you fancy a reasonably funny Ninja action comedy then it's one to look out for especially since it can be picked up cheaply.
Dave W - 3rd May, 2005 - 22:21
Director:
Ryuhei Kitamura
Hiroyuki Nakano
Daizaburo Hanada
George Iida
Shunji Iwai
Rokuro Mochizuki
Tetsuo Shinohara
Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Isao Yukisada
Year: 2002
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
A collection of 7 short films from 7 Japanese directors, each film different in both content; style and genre. The first film The Messenger is directed by Ryuhei Kitamaru and tells the story of a mysterious woman who appears to a gangster hiding underground to tell him of the fate which awaits him. The film is well directed and acted and a decent start to the set.
The second film Kendama (Tetsuo Shinohara) tells the story of a man who accidentally comes into possession of a Kendama (A wooden cup and ball type toy) after a mixup when he is bumped into in the street. He takes the toy home and discovers it's not as simple as it all looks. The film is a kind of comedy/romance affair and again is well directed and acted with an interesting if not particularly original plot.
Film #3 Cold Sleep sees a mathematician awake after being frozen for 20 years and having travelled through space to awake on an alien planet. Other members of the mission have had strange side effects from the travel and have developed a child-like stupidity. He must help the only member of the mission not effected before a similar fate awaits him. Cold Sleep is a kind of Sci-Fi comedy affair and while not a bad short, it perhaps isn't as good as some of the other films in the collection.
The fourth film Pandora: Hong Kong Leg tells the story of a young woman with a secret, a bad case of Athlete's foot! Seeking help for her condition from a Chinese Herbalist his rather far out remedy is putting her feet in a box containing something alive! This rather strange plot makes for a film which is a bit out there, but still interesting to watch.
Film number 5, Hijiki comes with a warning about its depressing ending and tells of a family of 3 who are eating dinner with a murderer who has taken them hostage. They seem completely unphased by the episode and have even made the man a dish of Hijiki (Japanese Seaweed). Dark and strange, but still worth watching.
The penultimate film Justice consists of a teacher of a Japanese high school class talking about Japan's surrender in WWII and the Potsdam Declaration. The class are all tired of rambling and one young man relieves his boredom by gazing out the window at a group of girls doing hurdles. The film doesn't really have much of a plot, but the situation makes up for this.
The final film, Arita tells of a young woman who has a little character called Arita who appears on every piece of paper she uses. Assuming that everyone has one and since it's been there for as long as she can remember she thinks nothing of it. After discovering that it is unique to her and having been dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to burn a piece of paper with the drawing on it. Arita is a well directed touching tale which consists entirely of one characters monologue.
Overall, all of the films in the collection are worth watching, and a couple in particular are excellent.
Dave W - 8th May, 2005 - 11:33
Director:
Nagisa Oshima
Year: 1999
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Set in 1865, Gohatto looks at life in a Samurai compound where young men train in Swordfighting as part of a Militia. The arrival of a new recruit, Kano, causes a stir when his boyish good looks stir feelings among some of the other Samurai.
Gohatto is visually, a stunning film, the settings and scenery are breath taking and the costumes give a very real feel to what 19th century Japan might have looked like. The acting is top notch with Beat Takeshi cast in the role of Hijikata, one of the elder Samurai. Tadanobu Asano (Ichi The Killer) plays the role of Tashiro, a young recruit who joins the dojo at the same time as Kano and falls in love with him.
Overall, Gohatto is a well made film with some fine acting, great costumes as scenery and a plot which although different from many other Samurai films still has strong themese of loyalty and honour which the Samurai code requires.
Dave W - 10th May, 2005 - 08:23
Director:
Buichi Saito
Year: 1972
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Film number 4 in the Baby Cart series ([1][2][3]) and more of the same. This time we see Ogami Itto paid to assassinate a tatooed woman who has defected from her clan. Still being pursued by those from his past life who wish to see him dead.
In terms of content and style, the 4th film is pretty much identical to the first 3, over the top bloody violence, large sword fights and many a limb being chopped off. Although the film is definately no worse than the previous 3, the slightly lower score is because it brings little further to the table.
One to watch for fans of the Lone Wolf and Cub series and perhaps fans of Samurai films in general, although it's probably best to start at the start rather than jumping straight in to this film.
Dave W - 10th May, 2005 - 10:52
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 1998
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When Wada is sent to China by his company to investigate a possible Jade seam in the Chinese mountains, he is tailed by Ujiie, a Yakuza who's syndicate is owed money by Wada's company. Together the two are taken deep into the Chinese countryside to a remote mountain village. In this village they encounter a group of villagers who believe it is possible to fly using strap on wings, both Wada and Ujiie become engrossed in the culture of the village.
The Bird People in China is in some ways completely different from other Takashi Miike films, but it still has his stamp all over it with his offbeat and dark comic tones coming through. The film is visually stunning, with the vast, stunning scenery of the Chinese mountains being depicted in vivid colours. The combination of these amazing vistas with the quiet contemplative tone of the film makes for a touching, beautiful movie which still manages to throw in some important social questions just to keep the viewer on their toes.
The Bird People In China has to be one of, if not the most beautiful of Miike Takashi's works and is a stark contrast to some of his other more violence driven movies.
Dave W - 16th May, 2005 - 21:20
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) - English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The great thing about Takashi Miike is although every one of his films has his distinctive mark plastered all over it, a lot of his films are one offs which are completely different from both the rest of his work and any other film you've seen.
While this can be pretty hit or miss, it does make for an interesting experience as you are never sure what to expect since there is no "typical" Miike Takashi movie. Izo is one of these once off pieces of work. The film follows Izo, a kind of veangeful spirit as he travels through his life killing anyone who gets in his way. This boils down to basically 2 and a bit hours of Izo appearing somewhere, killing everyone and then being somewhere else taking in a wide variety of locations and time periods as he goes. The killing is only stopped to insert some archive black and white footage of various wars/events in modern history or to listen to a man playing guitar and singing.
If it all sounds very confusing, then good because it is. Izo is full of non-stop violence and fighting with around 80% of the screen-time filled with Izo slaying whoever he encounters, the violence is so much of the film in fact that there leaves little room for a plot and this was made worse since I don't think the English subs I saw fully explain what's going on.
Because of this, the first hour or so goes by reasonably quickly, although I didn't have a clue what was going on I was happy to go along for the ride, but after that put it started to get a little tedious and a bit of plot wouldn't have gone amiss. All in all, I wasn't too taken with Izo, like Visitor Q it's probably only really one for hardcore Miike fans.
Dave W - 31st May, 2005 - 00:16
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1952
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Ikiru (lit. translation "To live") tells the story of Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura), section chief in the Public affairs department at city hall. When he learns he is dying of stomach cancer he reflects back on his life and realises he has wasted the past 20 years sitting at his desk esentially achieving nothing. Struggling to come to terms with this he resolves to make his final months count for something and for the first time in 20 years begins to actually live rather than going through life in a state of boredom.
Takashi Shimura is excellent in his role as Watanabe. Ikiru is a very emotional film and an actor such as Shimura was required to play the lead role of a man on the brink of death yet determined to make the most of his final days. The story unfolds partly following Watanabe as he comes to terms with his cancer and then skips to his wake where his colleagues from city hall unaware of his cancer until his death struggle to understand the change which overcame Watanabe in the previous months.
Overall, a very powerful and moving film from Akira Kurosawa.
Dave W - 15th June, 2005 - 13:37
Director:
Isao Takahata
Year: 1988
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Set in 1940's Japan towards the end of the Second World, Grave of Fireflies tells the story of Seita, a young boy and his younger sister. When their mother is killed in a bombing raid and his father in the Navy, Seita and his sister go to stay with his Aunt; things quickly turn sour at his Aunt's house and he decides he and his sister are better off going it alone.
Grave of Fireflies is one of those Anime which shows how powerful the medium can be; a heartbreaking tale which is told with all the emotion that a live action film would offer. Well animated and with a good plot Grave of Fireflies is well worth a watch, although if you're looking for a mindless feel good action film this isn't one for you, a depressing tale which has a powerful emotional impact on the viewer.
Dave W - 28th July, 2005 - 17:54
Director:
Kenji Misumi
Year: 1973
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The 5th and Penulimate film in the Lone Wolf and Cub Series ([1][2][3][4]) sees Ogammi Itto tracked down by 5 Ronin who wish to test his skill before offering him a mission. After defeating the 5, Itto must recover a scroll in order to preserve the integrity of the Kuroda clan.
There's not much to say about Babycart in the Land of Demons which I haven't already said about the previous four films; it's a good old fashioned Samurai flick with a reasonable plot, some great fight scenes and a lot of blood. One thing I would say is that by this point the same old Itto takes a job, fights some people and then kills a whole lot of people is getting a little overdone. If you've seen a couple of the Lone Wolf and Cub films, there's not really any need to see this one unless you are a die hard fan of the series.
Dave W - 3rd August, 2005 - 09:16
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 1988
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When 2 young girls move from the city into the countryside to be nearer the hospital where their mother is staying they discover a magical world on the doorstep of their new house. The forest next door is inhabited by Totoro, a huge furry animal which comes to the girls' aid when they need it.
Like much of Miyazaki's other work, My Neighbour Totoro is incredibly cute, Totoro doesn't speak but his expressions tell us everything we need to know. There are many moments of laughter at the strange characters which inhabit the forest including a huge multilegged cat which doubles up as a bus (Kind of has to be seen to be understodd).
My Neighbour Totoro is a classic Ghibli feel good movie, the plot isn't particularly strong but it is beautifully drawn and full of laughter and enchantment.
Dave W - 16th August, 2005 - 17:32
Director:
Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Year: 1974
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
In this, the 6th and final film in the Lone Wolf and Cub series ([1][2][3][4][5]) we see Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro take their final stand against the Shadow Yagyu clan who set Itto up and forced him into the path of a Demon he now lives.
Itto must face amongst other things, a juggling swordswomen; zombie samurai and 100's of Samurai on skis and toboggans (You can't make this stuff up!). While a little more silly than some of the previous films, it fits in even in the scene with someone getting blown up by a samurai style rocket launcher!
As with the previous movies, White Heaven in Hell is action packed; full of spurting blood and fight scenes. A good end to the series, and one not to miss for those who have seen the previous 5 films.
Dave W - 17th August, 2005 - 10:01
Director:
Takashi Ishii
Year: 1997
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Ikko, the grand-daughter of a Yakuza boss is raised from birth as the daughter of the boss, but at the age of 6 when her family is wiped out in a bloody power struggle, she is put onto a plane to L.A. by a female assassin who goes by the moniker "The Black Angel".
At the age of 20, Ikko returns to Tokyo to avenge the death of her father, going under the pseudonym of "The Black Angel" whom she respects and looks up to. When the original Black Angel is hired by the Yakuza to capture Ikko they are violently reunited.
Director Takashi Ishii (Gonin) gives us what he's good at, an action packed Yakuza movie full of guns, explosions and general violence. While perhaps not as well shot as other Yakuza movies by director's such as Takashi Miike or Takeshi Kitano; The Black Angel has a decent plot and enough action to keep the viewer entertained throughout. If you're looking for an exciting Yakuza action movie then The Black Angel is well worth watching.
Dave W - 22nd August, 2005 - 13:58
Director:
Nami Iguchi
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When Suzuleaves her boyfriend she moves in with an old friend of hers, Yoko, who she has known since primary school. The two don't get on due to their similar choice in boys. The film follows the two girls in their everyday lives.
Although there isn't much of a plot and the ending comes rather abruptly without really tying anything up, The Cat Leaves Home has a nice feel to it with some moments you can't help but smile at.
Dave W - 22nd August, 2005 - 14:38
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
With the success in the West of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's last film, Spirited Away it seems like everyone is talking about his latest movie to be released in the UK; Howl's moving castle.
The story tells of a girl who after meeting the mysterious wizard Howl, is turned into an old lady by the Witch of the Waste. Determined to regain her youth she seeks Howl in his castle (Which incidentally moves on a set of big legs) and makes a pack with Calcifer, a demon Howl has trapped there to provide the castle with power, that if she frees him he will break the curse.
All this is set the backdrop of two countries who are at war with each other and seek Howl to help them. Set in a kind of pseudo futuristic past where all the machinery is steam powered and giant airships fly through the sky, Howl's Moving Castle is typical of Miyazaki's (and other Ghibli movies) work in it's originality.
The film is also horrendously cute with the demon Calcifer being a talking flame and one of the herione's unlikely helpers being a scarecrow she nicknames Turnip.
Overall, Howl's Moving Castle is full of original ideas and nearly every frame is stunningly drawn. If you liked Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away you won't be disappointed with what Howl's Moving Castle has to offer.
On a sidenote watch out for the shoddy Disney dub and go see it in an independent cinema which is showing it with the original Japanese dialogue.
Dave W - 27th September, 2005 - 11:12
Director:
Shinya Tsukamoto
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Director, Shinya Tsukamoto opens Vital with a scene reminisscent of his 1988 piece Tetsuo, an abrasive soundtrack pumping in the background while we are shown images of chimney stacks billowing smoke into the air.
While Vital is slightly more conventional in it's telling of the story than Tetsuo, it still regains some of the same feel by not being a straightfoward watch the plot kind of a movie and leaving a lot of what happens for the viewer to determine themselves.
The film tells the story of Takagi (Tadanobu Asano), a young man who awakes from a coma to find his girlfriend is dead from the accident which left him in the coma and he can remember very little of his life. He decides to start his medical training again, a career path he had decided not to follow before the accident. At the medical college he meets a girl who has her own problems and things take a turn for the weird when he begins his dissection classes and starts to realise that his group's cadaver might be his dead girlfriend.
Vital is a great example of how a conventional plot is not required by a talented director to make a film which is both beautiful to watch and engaging for the viewer. There are many stunning scenes in the film and by the end of the film a lot for the viewer to think about.
Dave W - 10th October, 2005 - 12:56
Director:
Mamoru Oshii
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The sequel to 1995's Ghost in the Shell sees Batou from the first film investigate a case which sees androids built for sexual pleasure going haywire and murdering their owners befor commiting suicide themselves.
The film is simply stunning visually, a mix of heavy CG scenes and the more traditional look, the appearance has certainly come on a lot since the far simpler artistic style of the first film. The plot is good and engaging, if you are a fan of the first film then you shouldn't be disappointed by the sequel.
Dave W - 10th November, 2005 - 13:25
Director:
Takashi Ishii
Year: 1999
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
In true Takashi Ishii style, this sequel to Black Angel isn't so much of a sequel in terms of plot or character but more a continuation of the themes from the original. With the Black Angel having a different name and being played by a different actress.
The film tells the story of Mayu, a lone female assassin (The Black Angel of the title). When a hit on a gang boss goes wrong a young woman's husband is killed in the confusion. Mayu is thrown together with the man's widow as the woman seeks revenge for her husband's death and Mayu finishes her contract.
Black Angel 2 is typical Takashi Ishii, a dark gritty film about the seedy Tokyo underworld, with strong female characters. Each of the main character's in the film are interesting and while the film doesn't have a high budget feel or sheen it is well worth watching for fans of Ishii, or Yakuza movies in general.
Dave W - 22nd November, 2005 - 13:57
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1980
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
There are few movies which can truly be desribed as epics, but one such movie Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha. Set in 16th century Japan, the film tells the story of Shingen, the head of the Takeda clan who are currently at war with another clan. When Shingen's brother discovers a thief who was to be executed that bears an uncanny resemblence to Shingen, he recruits him as a double or Kagemusha (lit. Shadow Warrior).
When Shingen is wounded in battle and is close to dieing he instructs his generals to keep his death secret for 3 years from both the enemy and his own men. This means that the man who was playing him part time has to become him full time, this invariably puts strain on everyone involved.
Kagemusha has some amazing set pieces with literally hundreds of mounted Samurai and troops fighting in huge battles. The scale of the battle scenes is amazing and Kurosawa comes up with some great shots. The other side of the story centering on the role of the Kagemusha is told in an emotionally engaging way as he deals with the strains forced upon him.
Kagemusha is a masterpiece of a movie from a very talented director.
Dave W - 28th November, 2005 - 15:47
Director:
Atsushi Muroga
Year: 1995
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When Chance (Hitoshi Ozawa is released from Prison on parole he owes the Yakuza big time. They agree that he can have his debts wiped clean if he conducts a robbery on a jewelry store and delivers the haul to them. Gathering together a team of accomplises Chance makes the hit and readies himself and his 3 partners to deliver the jewels to the Yakuza at an abandoned factory.
Things don't go to plan when a couple of petty thieves set their sights on the jewels and attack them.
Score is a tale of deceit and double crossing which is in most ways as terrible as Hitoshi Ozawa's mullet. The acting is pretty shoddy, the action scenes consist mainly of people shooting and missing and the times people do get hit in the shoulder they seem to recover quickly and can be using the affected arm only minutes later. Luckily these major flaws make the movie so terrible it is highly entertaining to watch; everything is so unbelievably bad or cheesy that it is a joy to see what terrible pleasesures the next scene will herald.
Overall, a terrible Yakuza movie which is enjoyable only for it's unintended humour.
Dave W - 29th November, 2005 - 00:01
Director:
Hitoshi Ozawa
Year: 1999
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Score 2 sees much of the same cast from the original return in a movie written and directed by the star of Score Hitoshi Ozawa. Different characters; different setting; different plot, who knows why this is billed as a sequel.
After the death in a car crash of the leader of a gang who stole a large amount of cash and buried it; a team of professionals decide to claim the cash for themselves; even although an amusement park has been built on the site on which is was buried. When the 6 strong gang arrive at the park they find themselves in trouble from a traitor from within and the police who also want their hands on the cash.
Score 2 is mildy better than the original, with much of the terribleness removed and some sillyness added. Having said that, it is by no means perfect and the plot can be confusing at times as everyone runs about in the darkness shooting at each other. Definately only one to watch for fans of the genre and those who enjoyed Score
Dave W - 29th November, 2005 - 00:07
Director:
Ishiro Honda
Year: 1954
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The original Godzilla made back in 1954 is due to be released on DVD very shortly and I was lucky enough to catch a showing of it on the big screen. After nuclear tests in the Pacific, a giant monster from the Jurassic period is awakened from the depths and begins to wreak havoc on Tokyo. The Japanese scientists are split into two camps those who want to destroy the monster and those who want to study it. Takashi Shimura stars as Dr. Yamane, an expert in the prehistoric who belongs to the second camp.
While Gojira is a monster movie it also has a very strong anti-nuclear message behind it and upon it's original release shortly after the second World War not everyone was happy about what the movie was trying to say. While the special effects are (understandably) very dated now; the original message is still there and the tone of the film and plot have stood the test of time making it still enjoyable for modern audiences.
Dave W - 2nd January, 2006 - 21:00
Director:
Fumihiko Sori
Year: 2002
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
A Japanese comedy about Table Tennis doesn't sound like the most exciting of movies but Ping Pong makes up for this by being wonderfully shot and containing a script and characters which wouldn't seem out of place in an anime series.
Two friends Tsukimoto and Peco are on their school's table tennis team but the both have issues regarding their involvement in the sport. When the enter an inter school table tennis tournament they must battle against a group of skinhead students from another school and a young Chinese prodigy regarded as one of the World's best.
Ping Pong is a touching comedy about friendship and table tennis which is a joy to watch.
Dave W - 15th January, 2006 - 18:53
Director:
Higuchinsky
Year: 2000
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Uzumaki is a bit of a strange one, based on a Japanese Manga it tells the story of Kirie, a schoolgirl, and her boyfriend Shuichi. There are strange goings on in their town which are all related to spirals, Shuichi's father becomes obsessed with the shape, ultimately leading to his death while other students at the school are acting strange.
Uzumaki's Manga roots are obvious in the translation to film with a number of characters which have an over the top cartoon feel, situations which require suspension of belief and a number of interesting camera movements and use of colour. The plot is a little crazy and at the end, little is explained about the reasons for the events. The film is a little eerie but not really scary unless you have a real fear of spirals.
Overall, an interesting and well directed movie even if it does lose it's way a little bit towards the end.
Dave W - 8th June, 2006 - 13:07
Director:
Haruki Kadokawa
Year: 1990
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The second film I've seen this year titled Heaven and Earth, this one is an epic samurai movie. Set in feudal Japan it tells the story of two warlords each keen to stop the other from gaining power.
The film features a number of battle scenes filmed on an epic scale with literally hundreds of warriors on horseback clashing with each other. There are some nicely shot scenes of the Japanese countryside, but even with such grandeur the film still feels a little slow and didn't fully capture my interest.
Dave W - 8th June, 2006 - 13:16
Director:
Takashi Shimizu
Year: 2003
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
After the English language remake and the impending English language sequel, the sequel to the original Japanese The Grudge has just been released in cinemas. Filmed directly after the first film, The Grudge 2 tells the story of an actress and film crew who do an interview in the haunted house where the events of the first film took place.
The Grudge 2 is similar in content and style to the first film with the narrative very broken up, starting at the end and jumping all over the place. The movie goes from quiet unsettling scenes to loud screams with the main actors playing their roles well. The horror is in parts very unsettling and spooky and in other places completely ridiculous and verging on laughable. This means that you can go from campy laughable horror to frightening psychological fear all in the same scene.
Overall, The Grudge 2 is a bit of a mixed bag, but in general is a good horror film in-line with the tone of the other Far Eastern horror movies released.
Dave W - 12th July, 2006 - 14:10
Director:
Kazuaki Kiriya
Year: 2004
Language: 日本語 (Japanese)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
In an alternative futuristic version of Earth, the world is at war. A scientist discovers that he may be able to grow spare human body parts from "Neo-Cells" he has identified in the Genome of an older human race. When an accident at his labaratory causes the spare parts to come together, a new race of "Neo-Sapiens" are born, they vow to wipe human life off the planet. Man-kind's only hope is the son of the scientist, brought back from the dead and wearing a specially designed armoured suit he must fight the Neo-Sapiens.
Casshern is a film of epic proportions on a number of levels. The visuals alone are stunning with the majority of the film being live action with CGI rendered backdrops. The settings vary from computer generated urban cityscapes to black and white war torn images from the front line and stunningly beautiful landscapes.
The music in the film is also similarly varied, orchestral music sets the tone in the tense bits, with loud guitar based music and pumping electronica for the action scenes. The musical score for the film fits in perfectly with the on screen action.
Plotwise, the screenplay can be a little confusing and in some places feels rushed to fit everything in, I got the feeling the film could quite easily have been extended from the 2 and a bit hour runtime. Overall, a visually stunning film which has some minor flaws, but is worth seeing for the sheer beauty.
Dave W - 31st July, 2006 - 17:24
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 1986
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky follows the story of a young boy, Pazu and a young girl Sheeta. Sheeta is the daughter of a wealthy family and finds herself being chased by the military and pirates who are both eager to get their hands on a mystical stone she wears around her neck. When she falls out of an airship, the stone ensures a safe landing for her where she meets Pazu. Pazu comes from a small mining village where he lives alone, he seeks to find the mysterious floating island of Laputa.
Made in 1986, Laputa is classic Ghibli, beautifully illustrated backgrounds with all manner of imaginative machinery. Set in a world where huge airship fly through the sky seemingly powered by steam with a wonderful futuristic meets days gone by feel to it. The story is excellent as you would expect from Miyazaki and there is always something exciting or breathtaking happening on screen to capture the attention of the viewer.
Dave W - 15th August, 2006 - 13:01
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 1989
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Kiki is a 13 year old witch; tradition dictates that at this age, she must leave her home for a year and live in a town without a witch in order to help the townspeople. So Kiki and her black cat Jiji head off on her broomstick in search of a town where she can use her magic to help others, she finds a large town in need of a witch where she starts a small courier business, transporting things for people on her broomstick.
Kiki's Delivery Service is an amazing animated tale, the story is extremely heart felt and full of little touches of "cute" humour. Another piece of classic Ghibli.
Dave W - 29th August, 2006 - 12:39
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1958
Language: 日本語 (Japanese)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The Hidden Fortress is an adventure, samurai movie. The film follows to peasants who are trying to flee their province amidst a war and cross the frontier into another province. While camped out in the wilderness they discover a stick with a gold ingot hidden inside and this in turn leads them to meet general Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune). Lured by the promise of more gold they agree to help Makabe escape to safety along with his stash of gold and a princess in exile.
The film focuses mainly on the two peasant characters who are both very much anti-heroes, cowardly, inept and driven only by greed as the try to escape with the princess and the gold. The plot is well written and maintains excitement as it leads up to the finale. Toshiro Mifune is as always excellent in his role as the general. Shot in wide screen, there is a fair amount of action, at times on an epic scale with hundreds of extras in shot reminding me in a way of the scale of Kurosawa's later movie Kagemusha.
Kurosawa never disapoints to fans of his work will enjoy The Hidden Fortress. All in all a well made and very watchable film.
Dave W - 21st October, 2006 - 14:24
Director:
George Iida
Year: 1998
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Shortly after Hideo Nakata made his 1998 movie Ringu based on Koji Suzuki's novel of the same name; Jouji Iida made and directed a film based on Spiral, the 2nd novel in the trilogy. Using the same cast for the characters which span across the two films the movie is largely overshadowed by Nakata's own sequel to the film Ring 2.
The plot picks up where the first film left off, the death of Ryuji Takayama leads to Mitsuo Ando, a friend of Takayama's from medical school doing the autopsy. He finds something strange with the cause of death and what's even stranger is a seemingly coded note he finds in the body. Knowing that at medical school Takayama used to set him codes to decipher as a game, he is convinced there is something sinister with his sudden death.
This feeling leads him to meet with Takayama's student, Mai and slowly he begins to learn of the Video tape which Sadako uses to spread her curse.
While the film has much of the same cast as the original, for one reason or another it doesn't have the same edge as the first movie. Perhaps this is due to the change of director or perhaps it is due to the fact that in the past 9 years any number of similar East Asian horror movies have come out which are scarier.
As far as the ring movies go, Spiral is one of the weaker ones, but is interesting none the less for fans of the series as it is the only sequel which sticks closely to Koji Suzuki's novel.
Dave W - 17th February, 2007 - 23:15
Director:
Toshiharu Ikeda
Year: 1988
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When Nami, the host of a late night TV horror show, receives a video in the mail, at first glimpse, it looks like it might be a snuff movie. The video clearly gives directions to where it was shot, so Nami and the rest of her crew decide to check it out. Arriving at the abandonded factory pointed to in the video, they find themselves in the midst of a creepy setting which gets more eerie as the day wears on.
Not so much of a scary movie as a Japanese slasher flick, there's nothing in there which gave me goosebumps but there are a couple of moments which were pretty gorey and a fair bit of violence. The plot is standard slasher movie affair, whenever you think that the lone girl really shouldn't be wandering off on her own, you're always right and with Nami taking an almost all female gang on her expedition there are a few lone female to dispatch of before the movie is done.
With the ending movie more towards the supernatural, Evil Dead Trap has very little that is unique, although this is perhaps compounded by it's age. The visuals are done well and while it's not a bad movie and is by all means watchable, for me, it lacked any real bite.
Dave W - 16th March, 2007 - 20:25
Director:
Nagisa Oshima
Year: 1983
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Set in a Japanese POW camp in Indonesia, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence follows the lives of the Japanese guards and the mainly British prisoners as they try to understand each other's vastly different cultures. When a British major is sent to the camp, he upsets the balance and interpreter Colonel Lawrence finds his position between the two sides become increasingly difficult.
Beat Takeshi stars as Gengo Hara, a Japanese officer who is almost friendly to Colonel Lawrence. The film is well acted and driven by the relationships between the characters rather than a strong plot.
Dave W - 19th March, 2007 - 12:56
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Year: 1992
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
In an alternate 1930's, a bounty hunting pilot takes money to protext ships against attack from air-pirates. Known as Porco Rosso (or the Crimson Pig) because of a spell which has left him looking like a pig. When a top gun American pilot joins the pirates, Porco is drawn into a battle to protect his honour.
Made by Studio Ghibli in the early 90's Porco Rosso is similar in style to other Ghibli movies of the time with well drawn backdrops and clear bold characters. The plot also is typically Ghibli, with clear heroes and villains and a little sense of magic thrown in.
Porco Rosso is one of a line of great Ghibli movies, charming and with a feel good factor.
Dave W - 28th March, 2007 - 13:08
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2005
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Director Miike Takashi, known for his extreme cinema has done any number of movies each unique in their own way and covering a vast array of genres, themes and overall quality. The Great Yokai War is a rather strange one, even for Miike Takashi's standards. Billed as a family fantasy, it takes the old formula of one child who has the power to save the world from great evil and adds in some typical Miike violence (albiet toned down almost child friendly Miike violence).
Tadashi is a young boy who after his parent's divorce goes to live with his mother and his alcoholic grandfather in a town in the Japanese countryside. At a folk festival he is chosen to be the "Kirin Rider" which legend has it will get a long lost sword from the Goblin King and use it to save the world. It is after he is revealed as this year's chosen "Kirin Rider" that he meets the Yokai, a wide variety of demon's taken many forms from vaguely humanoid to a hopping umbrella.
He learns that he must save Tokyo from the onslaught of the evil Kato (who is helped by his just as evil womanservant Agi), Kato and Agi are taking Yokai, combining them with unused technological trash and turning them into robotic killing machines.
Describing the plot in any more detail is a little confusing as there is quite a bit happening. The plot is fine for the genre and were the film shines most is in the characters. For the most part the Yokai are well designed with literally 100's of different characters; most are actors with heavy make up, although sometimes the odd dodgy CGI will be thrown up. The evil robots are similarly well designed although suffer from dodgy CGI most of the time.
Full of typic wtf? Miike Takashi moments, The Great Yokai War is well made and great fun.
Dave W - 23rd May, 2007 - 13:13
Director:
Keiichi Sato
Year: 2006
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Released in Japan as a 6 part OVA, Karas: The Prophecy is the first 3 episodes combined into a feature length release. The story follows Karas, a fighter trying to save the world from Mikura (Japanese Youkai which have been turned into machines to do their masters evil bidding). The plot is quite hard to follow so I don't really know much of what else went on.
The animation is done very well, mixing CG and more traditional styles although sometimes the action is so fast that you can't see entirely what's going on. There is a huge amount of action packed into the short runtime which means even if you don't know entirely what's going on, there's plenty of eye candy to look at.
All in all, a stunning albiet confusing anime.
Dave W - 2nd July, 2007 - 22:30
Director:
Tetsuya Nomura
Year: 2005
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Following on from the playstation game, Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children follows the character of Cloud as he becomes embroiled in a plot to kidnap the city of Midgar's children and bring Sephiroth back to life. If you've not played FFVII and none of that made much sense, don't worry, the plot is a lot easier to follow than it is to explain.
I was a bit disappointed with the animation, while some scenes do look stunning, a lot of the character animation doesn't look too real and as a whole the effect wasn't as great as that of Final Fantasy: The Spirits within which at the time was way ahead of anything I'd seen before.
The plot and characters are reasonable and pretty much what you'd expect from a good Japanese anime.
Overall, a film more suited for fans of the game, but there's still enough there to warrant watching it if you are interested in this style of movie in general.
Dave W - 28th July, 2007 - 11:23
Director:
Takushi Tsubokawa
Year: 2007
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When a widowed piano tuner meets an elderly performer who does a puppet show, he is roped into a search for a piano the man sold to a pawn shop many years ago. When the performer dies, the piano tuner and the performers apprentice go on a road trip to find the piano, they are joined by an enchanting young woman claiming to be the performer's daughter.
Aria starts of very slowly and deliberately paced and from then on doesn't pick up too much steam as we follow the trio on the road. The meet a number of characters on their way and pass through some stunning scenery making for a movie which is a joy to watch.
Dave W - 18th August, 2007 - 11:45
Director:
Junji Kojima
Year: 2007
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
A series of short films from director Junji Kojima, most of them providing a tongue in cheek look at Japanese life, including the art of Origami, Onigiri (rice balls), Japanese dating and eating in a sushi bar. Each of the films was funny in it's own right, but the first one wasn't of as high a standards as the subsequent films.
The stand out film of the series takes the form of an American woman explaining the intricacies of dating in Japan (all very over the top and tongue in cheek). The humour is taken to the next level in the second half of the film where we see the events mentioned in the tutorial realised in a "real life" situation.
Overall, a hugely funny and entertaining series of shorts which aside from their entertainment potential, give an insight into Japanese life albeit in an over the top hammed up manner.
Dave W - 23rd August, 2007 - 13:39
Director:
Isao Takahata
Year: 1994
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Japanese folklore attributes Tanuki (Raccoons) with extraordinary powers of shape shifting, the source of their magic coming from their testicles. Pom Poko tells a cautionary environmental tale about a group of Tanuki who find themselves forced out of their natural habitat as the forests are cut down to create more homes for the ever expanding Tokyo metropolis. The film follows two of these Tanuki who each have different ideas of how the humans should be dealt with.
The animation is as good as you expect from Studio Ghibli and the subject matter more direct than Miyazaki's work but still well presented. From a foreigners perspective, the obsession with the Tanukis' huge balls is a little weird, especially when they are stretched to form a trampoline or grow large enough to be used as a weapon, but it provides humour. Some (possibly unintended) innuendos also provide puerile giggles, but for the most part, the films serious message shines through the humour and cute characters.
Dave W - 19th November, 2007 - 12:35
Director:
Shinya Tsukamoto
Year: 1992
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Not so much as a sequel to Tetsuo but more of another film along the same lines, Tetsuo II features more of the same man/machine imagery accomponied by an industrial soundtrack.
The film follows a Japanese family man in the wake of the kidnap of his son, this event causes him to unleash an internal power helped on by a sinister group participating in an experiment of melding man and machine. This power causes him to transform into a half metal crazed killing machine.
Shot with a very frantic feeling and some handheld camera work, Tetsuo II follows the visual aesthetic of the first, but now in colour. The effects are (similar to the first film) stunning stop motion pieces which at times look pretty amazing, there's also bucket loads of blood as various characters meet the wrath of the "Iron Man". I'm not sure if the second film has a more coherent plot, or I'm just more used to these kind of films than I was 3 years ago, but I found Tetsuo II easier to follow than when I watched the first one.
With a very raw feel to it, Tetsuo II isn't really for everyone, but fans of the first and this kind of anarchic cinema in general shouldn't be disappointed.
Dave W - 8th January, 2008 - 20:34
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1948
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Made in Japan shortly after the war and set in the same times, Drunken Angel follows Dr. Sanada (Takashi Shimura). The doctor tends his patients in a community in Tokyo rebuilding after the war. When a young gangster, Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune), comes to him to have a bullet removed from his hand, Sanada looks down on him, but after suspecting he has Tuberculosis, convinces him to get an X-Ray.
The film follows the pair as Sanada struggle with his alcoholism and his contempt for the Yakuza mixed with his sense of wanting to help, similarly Matsunaga has mixed feelings about the doctor, ill health is not compatible with his lifestyle but at the same time he fears what might become of him at the hands of the illness.
Regarded by many as Kurosawa's breakthrough film, Drunken Angel is well presented and the acting from the main duo, Shimura and Mifune (both to become regulars in Kurosawa's work) is excellent. The story is timeless and despite being 50 years old, the main characters are easy to relate to.
Overall, an excellent film well worth watching.
Dave W - 16th January, 2008 - 12:33
Director:
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Made during the period when dark Asian horrors were the big thing in World Cinema, Kairo starts which a plot very similar to that of Ringu or The Phone. We follow two different groups of young people, the first 3 friends who work together at a plant nursery, when one of their friends commits suicide, they find strange pictures on his computer and are drawn into the mystery surrounding his death.
The second plot line follows Kawashima, an economics student who begins to get strange videos on his PC after getting his first internet connection, he seeks out the help of a young computer science student to explain what is happening.
Just as young begin to think "I get it, it's the Ring but the with the internet instead of a video tape", Kairo changes into an almost different movie entirely. Painting a bleak and almost post apocalyptic world and examining the philosophy behind death and the after life. It is this second part which provides most of Kario's depth and interest.
Running at 2 hours, the clumsy student-investigating-the-supernatural start detracts a little from the overall themes of the film and it seems like there could have been a better way to get to the second act than what is already there.
Overall, Kairo is a reasonable movie and certainly one that provides interesting questions in the latter half, but anyone who has seen a fair number of Asian horror movies may find that they have to get through the boring and almost by the book Asian horror start before things get interesting.
Dave W - 16th February, 2008 - 13:55
Director:
Satoshi Kon
Year: 2006
Language: Japanese
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Paprika centres around the DC-mini, a device which can record, play back and even allow people to enter into dreams. When 3 DC-mini devices are stolen from the scientists who create them, they are used to influence people's dreams, the scientists involved team up with a policeman to apprehend the thief and regain control of the DC-mini's.
With a plot like this, it's not surprise that much of the action takes place within dream-like sequences, all beautifully drawn and displayed to us through some incredible visuals. Paprika is an immense visual experience from start to finish and with a pretty complex plot it's a movie which is sure to keep your attention throughout.
There are echoes of many other works in there, but the film is also unique enough to stand on its own and fans of Satoshi Kon or anime in general won't be disappointed.
Dave W - 19th February, 2008 - 20:48
Director:
Michael Arias
Year: 2006
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Shiro and Kuro are two street urchins living in Treasure City, part of a Japanese megalopolis. Their daily lives involve keeping the city safe from the Yakuza and the street gangs prevalent in the area but things get more interesting when another player enters the game, one with plans to turn Treasure City into a massive amusement park in order to make a lot of money. Shiro and Kuro have their work cut out with their new adversary.
Tekkonkinkreet, although directed by an American, is very much a Japanese anime. The convoluted plot and super human skills the main characters possess goes with the territory but makes for interesting viewing. The art style is very varied, with some very nicely drawn backdrops and some unexpected changes in style in parts, although I wasn't too taken with the manner in which most of the characters are drawn.
Overall, Tekkonkinkreet is bright, vibrant and has a plot which is engaging albiet a little difficult to follow. All in all, a decent anime which is worth watching.
Dave W - 2nd April, 2008 - 13:11
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1961
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When a wandering samurai (Toshiro Mifune) arrives in a village split in half by two gangs of gamblers at war with each other, he decides to exploit the situation by playing the two gangs off against each other to see which will pay the most for his services as a bodyguard.
Full of twists as the cunning samurai keeps double crossing each of his prospective employers, Yojimbo is a film which is captivating to watch. Mifune is great as always, playing the slightly arrogant Samurai of the title. With some excellent sword fights and a hint of black comedy, Yojimbo is a samurai film which despite being on a smaller scale than some of Kurosawa's Samurai epics is none-the-less watchable and entertaining.
Dave W - 7th April, 2008 - 12:39
Director:
Satoshi Kon
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Satoshi Kon's Millenium Actress tells the story of a camerman and his producer who travel out to visit and aging Actress to film an interview with her. As she tells her life story, the two are drawn (literally) into the story and witness the events first hand in a tale of love and yearning split across a number of historical moments in Japan's history.
Millenium Actress is, like Satoshi Kon's other motion pictures, a visual feast. The film effortlessly moves from one setting to another as we follow the main character and the two spectators. While the plot is a little loose (and it has to be for the film to work), there's enough visual stimulation and mental engagement from the events which unfold to make this of know consequence.
All in all, a great Anime and a great movie.
Dave W - 23rd November, 2008 - 21:45
Director:
Kenji Misumi
Year: 1962
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English Sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Zatoichi Monogatari is the first of the Zatoichi series of films which sees Shintaro Katsu play the role of Zatoichi, a blind swordsman who travels feudal Japan under the guise of being a blind masseur.
When Zatoichi arrives in a small town, the guest of a local gambling den owner and Yakuza boss he unwittingly chooses a side in a battle between another gang of Yakuza from a neighbouring town. He learns that the opposition have hired a ronin to help them in their fight and that he must go head to head with the ronin if he wants the rest of the payment he has received to help the gang win the fight.
The first in the series contains many of the staples found in subsequent films, gambling, sword fighting and a great plot. With a touch of Yojimbo about it, the film is a good introduction to the series and sets up the main character of Zatoichi well.
All in all, a decent Samurai film which focuses more on the man, his flaws and strengths, rather than relying on massive sword fight sequences.
Dave W - 13th January, 2009 - 17:43
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2007
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Crows Zero takes place in the Suzuran boys school, very little learning goes on at the school, with the various different classes, mainly fighting each other to show their supremacy. The top boy is Serizawa who most people fear, his plan is to conquer all the classes in the school and become the King of Suzuran. His hopes of achieving this goal are given a blow, when new boy Genji turns up, the son of a Yakuza boss, Genji has the same goal as Serizawa and starts making his mark in the school.
Based on a Manga, Crows Zero is a kind of ridiculous fighting movie, with some comedy elements thrown in. A lot of the light relief comes in the form of Ken, one of Genji's own true friends, a useless Yakuza who attened Suzuran himself.
The action and plot are typical Miike Takashi (or at least they would be if there was such a thing as "typical" Miike Takashi. There are some great sequences and some genuinley funny moments thrown in too.
Overall, action packed and light hearted in places, with a strong visual style which runs throughout the movie.
Dave W - 16th August, 2009 - 22:43
Director:
Isao Takahata
Year: 1991
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Isao Takahata's 1991 anime, Only Yesterday follows Tokyo born and bred office worker, Taeko and she takes a 10 day holiday and travels to the country to work on a farm. While on her journey, she has flashbacks to her time in 5th grade in the 60's. The story alternates between Taeko from the present (1984) and Taeko from the past.
The plot is a little slow and more focused on the character development of the two Taeko's that any dramatic event, I found this to be a little dull. The animation is ok, it definitely feels a little dated.
Overall, an alright but not amazing film an nowhere near as good as Grave of Fireflies, Takahata's previous film.
Dave W - 19th August, 2009 - 12:45
Director:
Sakichi Satô
Year: 2005
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
Sakichi Satô, writer of such demented Miike Takashi movies as Gozu and Ichi the Killer, directs this film version of Yusaku Hanakuma's demented Manga.
Following the same basic plot as the Manga, two colleagues who work in a fire extinguisher factory spend their free time with the elder, Mitsuo, teaching the younger, Fujio (Tadanobu Asano), Jiu-Jitsu in their spare time. When Tokyo becomes over-run with Zombies, the pair find themselves on the run.
Most of the insanity from the Manga is carried through to the screen, a little more time is taken to develop the main characters and a dog with no speech in the Manga is replaced with a (almost) love interest for Fujio in the film.
Overall, enjoyable and entertaining, but a little rought around the edges.
Dave W - 9th December, 2009 - 12:04
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 2003
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
In the early part of the decade when it seemed every other film being made in Japan, Korea or Hong Kong was a Ringu rip-off, shock Japanese director Miike Takashi jumped on the bandwagon with his version, One Missed Call.
The plot is pretty straightforward, Yumi is a young university student who becomes involved in a supernatural event when her friend Yoko receives a voicemail from her futureself. The voicemail consists of a few words and then a blood curdling scream and is dated the day after tomorrow. When the time comes to pass, Yoko dies with the same last words as predicted in the call. As more and more of her friends fall victim to the same fate, Yumi is left wondering when her time will come.
The film is pretty much Ringu with a phone instead of a videotape, the same themes of vengeful spirits exist. The film is pretty spooky for the most part, but not amazingly scary, the end is a bit annoying at first, but gets better before leaving a few questions unanswered.
In someways, this is Miike-Takashi-Light, it's a pretty straightforward by the book Asian horror compared to many of his other films. As an example of Japanese horror inspired by Ringu, it's better than most, but it still feeld a bit cliched and by the numbers.
Dave W - 17th December, 2009 - 12:36
Director:
Hideo Nakata
Year: 1999
Language: Japanese (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
The second sequel to the movie which brought the Ring phenomenon to Western audiences is a direct follow on from Ringu. The plot mostly follows Mai Takano, a student of Ryuji Takayama who died in the famous ending to the original. Takano is trying to get to the bottom of her mentor's death and in doing so winds up getting involved with the curse of Sadako. There are also sub-plots following the police who are keen to track down Reiko Asakawa and her son Yoichi as well as a journalist sniffing around the story.
This is a completely different plot from Spiral (either the film or the book), although the main characters are similar. Stylistically, the film is a bit more crazy than the original as well, with lots of psycho-babble and a plot which jumps around quite a bit.
All in all, Ringu 2 is still pretty creepy and fans of the series shouldn't be disappointed (although will probably have already seen this).
Dave W - 30th March, 2010 - 22:44
Director:
Sunao Katabuchi
Year: 2009
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) (English Sub)
Country: 日本 (Japan)
On the face of it, Mai Mai Miracle should be a strong contender to join Studio Ghibl in the ranks of Japanese animation know to many outside Anime circles, but the problem is, it's not that good.
The story follows a young girl named Shinko growing up in a small town in Japan shortly after World War II. She listens to stories her grandfather tells her about how the ancient capital of the region used to sit on the land they now farm and makes friends with a new girl in her school who no-one else is interested in.
She has an imagination that lets her travel 1000 years into the past to see what life was like in those times. And this is where the main problem with the film creeps in, the flashbacks to the past are too prevalent to just be a passing thought, but aren't fleshed out enough and don't have enough relevance to the rest of the story to have any point. There are a couple of other sub-plots and they are each ok when taken alone, but don't gel together well.
The animation is reasonable and it looks like there should be a Ghibli-esque story in there somewhere, but I found the film dragged on, despite only running to just over 90 minutes.
Overall, not a terrible film, but should have been so much better.
Dave W - 21st June, 2010 - 19:08
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