Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

:naughty: hai.....

Ok, The Machine Girl...

I wasn't expecting much, so I wasn't disappointed. Without giving away too much of the "plot", it's about a schoolgirl taking revenge on a Yakuza family.
I doubt it won many awards.... except for, maybe, Most Amount Of Fake Blood Used In A Movie.. there was gallons of the stuff, gushing in fountains mostly. I had to laugh sometimes at how ludicrous it looked... this movie was about excess. Overacting, excessive blood and gore... you get the picture :)

Kobuzuka Yousuke and Koyuki in Laundry (2002), synopsis below:
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Handicapped teenager Teru (Kubozuka Yosuke) has taken care of his grandmother's laundromat ever since childhood. While he delivers cleaned laundry he becomes acquainted with Mizue (Koyuki) who suffers from a failed relationship. She has the bad habit of making up for her lost love by peeking at other people in the shop. After some unfortunate circumstances, the laundromat is closed down. With the passing of his grandmother, Teru is left alone. Teru sadly bids his grandmother a final farewell in the company of Mizue, both having tasted life's tragic turns time and time again. Sensitive, romantic, and affecting, Laundry marks the assured directorial debut of Mori Junichi, who won the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award for the film. The film stars popular actor Kobuzuka Yosuke (Ping Pong) as a simple-minded, but kindhearted man; Koyuki (The Last Samurai) co-stars as a troubled young woman. When these two lonely souls meet up, they find courage to face life's gentle tragedies together.

Musuko (1991), a Yoji Yamada film. A good film that tells the story of a man and his sons. Familiar themes permeate the film which give it a very Japanese feel. Filial piety, duty, a reverence for history, and the tension between old and young. Excellent story telling...something one comes to expect from a Yamada film.

Thanks shin2.

Tu_triky wrote:Musuko (1991), a Yoji Yamada film. A good film that tells the story of a man and his sons. Familiar themes permeate the film which give it a very Japanese feel. Filial piety, duty, a reverence for history, and the tension between old and young. Excellent story telling...something one comes to expect from a Yamada film.

Thanks shin2.

Glad you enjoyed it.

One of four Yamada movies to win the Japan Academy Award for Best Film.

Emi Wakui looked so young and so pretty in the movie. And she won the Japan Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

shin2 wrote:

Glad you enjoyed it.

One of four Yamada movies to win the Japan Academy Award for Best Film.

Emi Wakui looked so young and so pretty in the movie. And she won the Japan Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Yeah she was excellent, but the father played by Rentaro Mikuni stole the show (for me).

Tu_triky wrote:

Yeah she was excellent, but the father played by Rentaro Mikuni stole the show (for me).

Which is why he won the Best Actor award for his performance in this movie.

He's such a forceful presence in scenes. And he's had this presence for a long long time over an illustrious career.

shin2 wrote:

Tu_triky wrote:

Yeah she was excellent, but the father played by Rentaro Mikuni stole the show (for me).

Which is why he won the Best Actor award for his performance in this movie.

He's such a forceful presence in scenes. And he's had this presence for a long long time over an illustrious career.

Dang, that name rings a bell.....

Time to do a Wiki search.

EDIT: He was Matahachi in Inagaki Hiroshi's Miyamoto Musashi (1954)... :victory:

shin2 wrote:

Which is why he won the Best Actor award for his performance in this movie.

He's such a forceful presence in scenes. And he's had this presence for a long long time over an illustrious career.

The guy just seemed so real. It was an easy task to suspend disbelief.

I just watched Yuki Uchida's "Welcome to the Quiet Room"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997174/

Terrific movie.

Way way way back in 1979 I saw a TV movie called "The Cracker Factory" starring Natalie Wood. She played a bright, funny, sharp witted, sharp mouthed... deeply troubled woman who had somehow ended up committed to a psych ward. (As the movie went on you found out why she belonged there.)

The movie was well written, and it featured an amazing cast of actresses playing the other crazies that surrounded Wood's character.

And that one little TV movie changed my opinion of Natalie Wood as an actress forever. After seeing it, she went from being a girl who was in movies because she was simply too beautiful to be anything other than a movie star. To being a first class actress. (At least in my head anyway.)

"Welcome to the Quiet Room" reminded me a lot of "The Cracker Factory".

I wouldn't call it a remake of the earlier film. It's very similar... but there are some major differences.

But the thing that really got to me was watching Yuki Uchida come of age as an actress.

I expect she and that cast of supporting loonies are gonna stick in my head for a very long time. Maybe even as long as "Cracker Factory" has.

Downloading this from AsianDVDClub (one of five):

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Synopsis from AsianDVDClub:
Miyamoto Musashi was the most famous swordsman in Japanese history. His legendary exploits have been portrayed in many books and films. The most famous version of his life story was written by Yoshikawa Eiji, and formed the basis of the Academy Award winning SAMURAI TRILOGY starring Mifune Toshiro which is the version most Americans are familiar with. While that trilogy is a great introduction to the samurai, it omits much of the most interesting and important parts of the story. The best and most complete version of the Musashi story was filmed 6 years later as a 5 part series starring Nakamura Kinnosuke and directed by Uchida Tomu. Needless to say, this has always been the most popular version of the Musashi story in Japan, with all the important developments and duels missing from the earlier production. This series also featured noted Yakuza star Takakura Ken in the pivotal role of Sasaki Kojiro, Musashifs arch enemy, his last samurai role until 1994. Alternately known as ZEN & SWORD, or UNTAMED FURY we have the entire series available on home video with English subtitles for the very first time. Also known as UNTAMED FURY, this film starts as 2 survivors of the Battle Of Sekigahara struggle to escape. The two childhood friends, Takezo and Matahachi manage to get away, and are helped by a mother and daughter who rob the dead of their weapons and armor to sell for a modest living. When brigands come to take the womenfs hoard, Takezo bravely steps forward and defeats them single-handedly. When he tries to go back to his hometown hefs hunted down like a dog by the victorious Tokugawa forces, and has to survive cruel treatment. This film introduces us to some of the main characters in Musashifs life who are seen throughout the entire series.

Now downloading Part 4. :victory:

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Synopsis:
After defeating Yoshioka Seijuro in a match, Miyamoto Musashi has become a marked man. Countless people want revenge against him for a variety of reasons, and he is challenged by the Yoshioka family to a rematch, only since the new titular head of the Yoshioka school is a mere child, they can bring in over 100 skilled samurai to fight him in the most memorable version of the famous showdown with the Yoshioka by the lonesome pine tree near Ichijoji Temple. This is the most action packed entry in the series as should be expected. Unlike the whitewash given to Musashi in the earlier version from Toho, Musashi does not hesitate to carry out what needs to be done in order to win a duel against 100 men!

I watched the 1958 version of Tange Sazan today and it had me bouncing around for most of the afternoon.

This is a color copy of the story shot in "Toei Scope". I figured I'd mention that because the studio seemed to be pretty proud of that.

Shows you how much I know. I tried to look the movie up on the Internet Data Base, and it turns out... there are a series of Tange Sazan movies (he's another of the franchise Samurai) dating back to 1935. (I'd never heard of the character before.)

Though this version doesn't seem to be listed in the data base, the story of "the pot worth a million" has been done before in the Tange Sazan series. And no wonder. It's a terrific piece of story telling.

Put it this way. I gave up my Sunday afternoon nap to see how it came out. I can't think of a higher recommendation.

Many thanks to shin 2. You are a very generous man, bub.

Finished watching Minna no Ie (2001) a Koki Mitani film; he also directed Radio no Jikan and Uchouten Hotel. Minna no Ie is a worthwhile comedy with a great cast of characters that all add to the laughs of the film. A solid film that illustrates its Japanese roots in the conflicts portrayed throughout the film. If you want to laugh, check this film out.

I loved Minna no Ie

Not a remake, but a wonderful companion piece to 1948's Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

Geezer wrote:I loved Minna no Ie

Yeah, it made me chuckle a few times. After seeing a couple of Koki Mitani films I could feel his imprint on this film, it had the ambiance of some of his other films. I enjoyed watching the film, even as a social commentary of some of the traditions of Japanese life.

Minna no Ie is another example of Koki Mitani's skill as a writer and director.

Kunie Tanaka was great as the father--when he made this film, he'd already been a professional actor for 40 years, going all the way back to Kurosawa's Tsubaki Sanjuro. And of course he will always be remembered by Japanese TV audiences as the father in the beloved Kita no Kuni Kara dorama.

Something I remembered about this movie was how it was chock full of cameo appearances. Lots of familiar faces popping up, some quite briefly. I think if you blinked, you might miss stars like Sanma Akashiya and Hiroyuki Sanada.

shin2 wrote:Minna no Ie is another example of Koki Mitani's skill as a writer and director.

Kunie Tanaka was great as the father--when he made this film, he'd already been a professional actor for 40 years, going all the way back to Kurosawa's Tsubaki Sanjuro. And of course he will always be remembered by Japanese TV audiences as the father in the beloved Kita no Kuni Kara dorama.

Something I remembered about this movie was how it was chock full of cameo appearances. Lots of familiar faces popping up, some quite briefly. I think if you blinked, you might miss stars like Sanma Akashiya and Hiroyuki Sanada.

I didn't notice them, to be honest...but I did notice the goofy Shingo Katori as the priest who presided over the groundbreaking ceremony.

Tu_triky wrote:

I didn't notice them, to be honest...but I did notice the goofy Shingo Katori as the priest who presided over the groundbreaking ceremony.

Akashiya has a five-second non-speaking walk-on (literally, as he is seen walking through a scene). You only know it's him when he turns around to face the camera and you see those instantly recognizable teeth.

Sanada plays a bartender who keeps remixing Keiko Toda's (another cameo example) drink; he mumbles apology after apology to Toda after repeatedly tossing the contents of her drink out and starting again.

On topic: I seem to be following in Tu_triky's footsteps, having recently watched two movies he recently reviewed on this thread.

Megane: Writer/director Naoko Ogigami's latest movie. Has a lot of the quirkiness of her previous Kamome Shokudo. Plus it also has Satomi Kobayashi and Masako Motai who were also in Kamome Shokudo.

While I enjoyed a number of scenes in Megane, imo it is not nearly as good a movie as KS. There is an aimlessness which pervades the movie to such an extent that I'm asking myself what is the point of all of this. That said, Kobayashi and Motai are always interesting actresses to watch and the scenery is beautiful.


Always 2: The satisfying sequel to the blockbuster hit of a couple of years ago. It doesn't have the impact of the first movie--the sense of wonderment which made the first movie so special is absent, and the storyline is weaker--but all the characters that created a heartwarming feeling are back, and it's great to see them again.

A couple little moments that made me smile: the ice man in the first movie who knows his job is about to become obsolete because of the advent of home refrigerators reappears in this movie selling popsicles; a full house of moviegoers rocking to the incessant onscreen drumming of Yujiro Ishihara, the Japanese version of Elvis/James Dean.

shin2 wrote:

Akashiya has a five-second non-speaking walk-on (literally, as he is seen walking through a scene). You only know it's him when he turns around to face the camera and you see those instantly recognizable teeth.

Sanada plays a bartender who keeps remixing Keiko Toda's (another cameo example) drink; he mumbles apology after apology to Toda after repeatedly tossing the contents of her drink out and starting again.

Oh, man, I didn't even recognize him...I guess I always attribute him to larger, more weighty performances...but his part was really hilarious. "Watashi no mondai desu." His was a really funny scene.

On topic: I seem to be following in Tu_triky's footsteps, having recently watched two movies he recently reviewed on this thread.

Megane: Writer/director Naoko Ogigami's latest movie. Has a lot of the quirkiness of her previous Kamome Shokudo. Plus it also has Satomi Kobayashi and Masako Motai who were also in Kamome Shokudo.

While I enjoyed a number of scenes in Megane, imo it is not nearly as good a movie as KS. There is an aimlessness which pervades the movie to such an extent that I'm asking myself what is the point of all of this. That said, Kobayashi and Motai are always interesting actresses to watch and the scenery is beautiful.


Always 2: The satisfying sequel to the blockbuster hit of a couple of years ago. It doesn't have the impact of the first movie--the sense of wonderment which made the first movie so special is absent, and the storyline is weaker--but all the characters that created a heartwarming feeling are back, and it's great to see them again.

A couple little moments that made me smile: the ice man in the first movie who knows his job is about to become obsolete because of the advent of home refrigerators reappears in this movie selling popsicles; a full house of moviegoers rocking to the incessant onscreen drumming of Yujiro Ishihara, the Japanese version of Elvis/James Dean.

Yeah I enjoyed Always 2 quite a bit. I agree the first one was better but then sequels are rarely known to trump the movies they follow.