JAPAN CUTS all-online edition this summer July 17-30, 2020

[Chris Knipp]

IT FEELS SO GOOD 火口のふたり (Haruhito Arai 2019)

An intensely sexy, fluent film that's also dialogue-rich (the couple reviews their lives) and includes some delicious looking meals. A woman about to get married unites with her high school lover for a last fling. One night extends to five days in the post-earthquake atmosphere of go-for-broke and seize-the-day. Adapted from a prize-winning novel by Kazufummi Shirishi. (The English title is dumb. The movie isn't. The Japanese title means "Two at the Crater.")

All these films are available online at the July 17-30 virtual festival which is usually held at the Japan Society in New York but due to the pandemic, it's not.

Log in to view the films HERE.

[Chris Knipp]

EXTRO/ エキストロ (Naoki Murahashi 2019)

A mocumentary that's at once a sendoff of and love letter to Japan's movie extras, with many cameos and amusing details that will delight fans of movie-making.

This like all the films in this New York-based festival, which due to the pandemic is entirely virtual this year, may be watched by everyone in the US online for a small pay-for-view fee for each film.

Log in to view the films HERE.

[Chris Knipp]

BEYOND THE NIGHT(Natsuki Nakagawa 2019)

From the Next Generation section of Japan Cuts, this is film made for cinematic graduate school that seems like "Hedda Gabler" in the style of Robert Bresson. A neurotic, beautiful woman in the provinces. A strange young man becomes infatuated with her - but she cannot be happy in any place or with any person.

[Chris Knipp]

FUKUSHIMA 50 / フクシマ ((Setsurō Wakamatsu, 2020)

Finally a big movie about the earthquake-nuclear reactor disaster with Ken Watanabe with lots of excitement, but it's afraid to blame.

[Chris Knipp]

THE MURDERS OF OISO / ある殺人、落葉のころに (Takuya Misawa 2019)

Social rivalries and sexual jealousy among four young men in a coastal town. Interesting collaboration between Misawa and a Hong Kong team produced a result that has played in a number of Asian festivals.

[Chris Knipp]

Filmleaf 2020 all virtual Japan Cuts reviews so far

Remember these films and many more listed at the top are all availble to you onlline for a small fee Fri, Jul 17, 2020 – Thu, Jul 30, 2020. There is no in person attendance, but all the festival is available to everyone in the US during those dates, July 17-30.

Links to Reviews:
Beyond the Night (Natsuki Nakagawa 2019)
Book-Paper-Scissors つつんで、ひらいて(Nanoko HIrose 2019)
Extro エキストロ (Naoki Murahashi 2019)
Fukushima 50 フクシマ (Setsurō Wakamatsu, 2020))
It Feels So Good 火口のふたり (Haruhiko Arai 2019)
Life:Untitled タイトル、拒絶 (Kana Yamada 2019)
Mrs. Noisy ミセス・ノイズィ (Chihiro Amano 2029)
Murders of Oiso, The/ある殺人、落葉のころに (Takuya Misawa 2019)
On-Gaku: Our Sound (Kengi Iwaisawa 2019)
Roar /轟音 (Ryo Katayama 2020)
Special Actors スペシャルアクターズ (Shin'ichirô Ueda 2019)
Voices in the Wind 風の電話 (Nobuhiro Suwa 2019)

[Chris Knipp]

Japan Cuts ends today and those (links above) may be all my reviews; I'm not sure the review screeners will remain live after today. Here in brief are my reactions to each of the films I've seen and reviewed. Other good stuff was on offer beside these, I assure you, and I hope many people availed themselves of this pandemic opportunity to watch the whole series from anywhere in the country. Japanese cinema remains world class.

Beyond the Night (Natsuki Nakagawa 2019). A student film, really. It made little sense.

Book-Paper-Scissors つつんで、ひらいて(Nanoko HIrose 2019). An excellent in-depth documentary about a book designer who could be considered a National Treasure.

Extro エキストロ (Naoki Murahashi 2019). An amusing and rather lengthy homage to film extras and filmmaking in Japan.

Fukushima 50 フクシマ(Setsurō Wakamatsu, 2020). The big one about the nuclear disaster in 2011. It's at once impressive and bland.

It Feels So Good 火口のふたり (Haruhiko Arai 2019). A very sexy relationship picture about a woman who goes back for one last idyll with her teenage lover before getting married. Astonishingly well done.

Life:Untitled タイトル、拒絶 (Kana Yamada 2019). A noisy picture based on Yamada's play about contempo Tokyo call girls delivered by drivers from an agency. Lots of stagey overacting.

Mrs. Noisy ミセス・ノイズィ (Chihiro Amano 2029) A dramedy about a woman writer with creativity and neighbor problems who makes the latter solve the former. Soso.

Murders of Oiso, The/ある殺人、落葉のころに (Takuya Misawa 2019). A youthful and ambitious story about young men at loose ends in the provinces. Fascinating and rich if not altogether comprehensible. But it reminded me of Fellini, Hou Hsuau-hsien, Jia Zhang-ke - great company to join!

On-Gaku: Our Sound (Kengi Iwaisawa 2019). Adaptation of a cult manga about a high school band, pretty weird, all-hand animation took seven years to do. Comes together best at the end. Not perhaps very suitable for wider audiences. A delight to local cultists.

Roar /轟音 (Ryo Katayama 2020). Very experimental and weird picture about a traumatized young man who follows a strange vagrant. Powerful and fun at first and I liked it - for a while. Kind of thing one might encounter in ND/NF.

Special Actors スペシャルアクターズ (Shin'ichirô Ueda 2019). Sophomore effort for the maker of the big surprise hit ONE CUT OF THE DEAD, this one about breaking a crooked cult through fake performances. Very enjoyable if not up to the predecessor. Intriguing story.

Voices in the Wind 風の電話 (Nobuhiro Suwa 2019). Returning to Japan after 18 years of working in France, Suwa has made the most touching and original of the films, about a teenage girl confronting her devastating loss of family in the Fukushima tsunami. Beautiful.

As usual it was a splendid opportunity to sample so many fine new Japanese films. I'd most recommend VOICES IN THE WIND, IT FEELS SO GOOD, SPECIAL ACTORS and MURDERS OF OISU. For many, and for all Japanese, a must-see would be FUKUSHIMA 50, of course. For designers and artists, BOOK-PAPER-SCISSORS.


SHIN'ICHERO UEDA, DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL ACTORS, AGE 36