Tag: Japanese Cinema
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Shoplifters (2018)
Shoplifters (2018; Manbiki Kazoku) is the first that I’ve seen of writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s many critically-acclaimed films. It’s about a struggling family that make ends meet by shoplifting and who take in a young girl from an abusive home. Observational, funny and warm, there were moments that just had me tearing up instantly. At first,… Read.
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The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Unboxing DVDs that I’ve had in storage for several years, I didn’t realise I had this copy of Akira Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well (1960). So I finally watched it and it was excellent. Set in post-war Japan, it unravels the revenge plot set in motion by Nishi (Toshiro Mifune) who is climbing the ranks… Read.
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Blade Of The Immortal (2017)
Blade Of The Immortal (2017; Mugen no jūnin) is a two and a half hour samurai action epic with supernatural undertones and ghoulish flashes of humour and violence befitting the reputation of its director, Takashi Miike (his 100th film as director). It’s about a masterless samurai, Manji (played by Takuya Kimura, wonderfully surly) cursed with… Read.
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Doberman Cop (1977)
Aside from being referenced in True Romance and starring in Kill Bill Vol. 1, I’d not actually seen any Sonny Chiba films. So I took a chance on Doberman Cop (1977; Doberman Deka), which is based on a manga, and has Chiba playing a cop from Okinawa, trying to solve the murder of a young… Read.
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Sanjuro (1962)
I didn’t realise there was a sequel to Yojimbo, which reunites director Akira Kurosawa with actor Toshiro Mifune as the wandering hero. So I was in the mood for the 90 minute samurai movie, Sanjuro (1962; Tsubaki Sanjūrō) where Mifune’s character gets mixed up with helping nine younger samurai trying to release their uncle from… Read.
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