(Image source) Japanese films, or at least the Japanese films I seem to watch, never end. They are like snapshots of life which leave you wondering what happened next and what you might have missed along the way. Au Revoir l’été (ほとりの朔子 / Hotori no Sakuko) (2013), directed by Koji Fukada, is no exception. I went … Continue reading
Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of going to see the latest Studio Ghibli film, The Tale of Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語 / Kaguya-hime no Monogatari). (Image source) The Tale of Princess Kaguya, directed and co-written by Isao Takahata (高畑 勲) (with Riko Sakaguchi), is based on the folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (竹取物語 / … Continue reading
(Image source) On a bleak Sunday morning with the wind howling around my building and rain lashing against the windows, I got under a blanket and decided to watch Isn’t Anyone Alive (生けているものはいないのか / Ikiteiru mono wa inai no ka), a film directed by Gakuryu Ishii (石井 岳龍). Gakuryu Ishii, formerly known as Sogo Ishii (石井 聰互), is usually known for … Continue reading
I’ll be honest right from the start – there are three reasons I took myself to see The Railway Man at the cinema today: 1) The Japan connection (of course!) 2) Colin Firth (Mr Darcy has always been a guilty pleasure of mine) 3) Tanroh Ishida At the Japan Matsuri last year I became captivated … Continue reading
Do you know the story of the revenge of the Forty-seven Ronin (四十七士) which took place in Japan at the start of the eighteenth century? It’s not a story I know well, but I’ve spent the last few days reading various accounts of it. Why? Because Keanu Reeves’ new movie 47 Ronin came out on … Continue reading
