News

South Korea’s Lyd is to handle international sales of upcoming Japanese drama On Summer Sand as it continues to expand its slate of non-Korean films.

The company, known for handling hit K-drama series including Mr. Queen and My Love From The Star, has also invested in the production and will handle non-theatrical distribution in Japan.

Prolific actor Joe Odagiri stars in the adaptation of an award-winning play of the same name by Masataka Matsuda.

Set in Nagasaki, Odagiri plays an unemployed man named Koura who is dealing with the loss of his four-year-old son and separation from his wife.

South Korea’s Lyd is to handle international sales of upcoming Japanese drama On Summer Sand as it continues to expand its slate of non-Korean films.

The company, known for handling hit K-drama series including Mr. Queen and My Love From The Star, has also invested in the production and will handle non-theatrical distribution in Japan.

Prolific actor Joe Odagiri stars in the adaptation of an award-winning play of the same name by Masataka Matsuda.

Set in Nagasaki, Odagiri plays an unemployed man named Koura who is dealing with the loss of his four-year-old son and separation from his wife.

Japanese film ‘The Zen Diary', which depicts Buddhist vegetarian cuisine and the sustainable lifestyle in Nagano, will be screening in Toronto in May 2024! Director Yuji Nakae will be attending all the screenings below.

Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre: May 23 (https://jccc.on.ca/film/zen-diary-2024-encore )

Revue Cinema: May 24 & 25 (https://revuecinema.ca/films/the-zen-diary/)

Title: The Zen Diary （『土を喰らう十二ヵ月』）

Director/Script: Yuji Nakae

Casts: Kenji Sawada, Takako Matsu, Naomi Nishida, Toshinori Omi, Koihachi Takigawa, Fumi Dan, Shohei

Hino, Tomoko Naraoka

Based on the book by Tsutomu Mizukami

Cooking: Yoshiharu Doi / Music: Yoshihide Otomo

Synopsis:

Tsutomu lives alone in the mountains, writing essays and cooking food with vegetables he grows and mushrooms he picks in the hills. His routine is happily disturbed when Machiko, his editor/love interest, occasionally visits. She loves to eat, and he loves to cook for her. Tsutomu seems content with his daily life. On the other hand,...

"Food tastes the best when eaten together." Enjoy this lovely trailer for an indie Japanese film called The Zen Diary, a humble drama about a man who loves to cook. It's getting released in Canada this summer after first opening in Japan last year. Tsutomu lives alone in the mountains in a cabin in Nagano, writing essays & cooking food with fruits & vegetables he grows and mushrooms he picks in the hills. His routine is happily disturbed when Machiko, his editor/love interest, occasionally visits. She loves to eat, and he loves to cook for her. They cook with seasonal ingredients & eat together. They have a good time. Tsutomu seems to be enjoying an easygoing life, but he is still unable to bury his dead wife's ashes in a grave. His wife died 13 years ago... Starring Kenji Sawada and Takako Matsu. Adapted from Tsutomu Mizukami's book, this gentle, thoughtful film...

Times are tough. What is left to desire when we are feeling drained? No matter – life is a journey with all the flavours to meet our palates. Life is a feast, and how it tastes is how we experience the full spectrum of desires – mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. Let’s escape to our delicious desires!

The Hong Kong Arts Centre (Hkac)’s signature programmes Opening House and Late Night Series – Art X, with the theme “Craving for…” to kick off 2023, present a full-day journey with diverse arts and culture on 25 March, 2023 (Saturday). Three food-related films will infuse your day with surprises and imagination: Heavy Craving – awarded at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, The Zen Diary – latest film starring Sawada Kenji and Matsu Takako, and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover – a sight and sound feast with Peter Greenaway, Michael Nyman and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Tickets are available at www.

Based on the essay “Tsuchi wo Kurau Hibi ” by Tsutomu Mizukami is a genuine Japanese movie, since all of its narrative elements seem to be rooted in the particular culture.

The Zen Diary is screening at Black Movie

Writer Tsutomu lives alone at a mountain cabin in Nagano, with his main dealing being growing fruits and vegetables, which he later meticulously prepares into simple but meaningful meals, as his Zen teachings during his childhood as a monk dictated. In fact, even his writings are based on the particular three aspects, as his frequent narration throughout the movie eloquently shows. Few things break his ascetic routine: the frequent visits of his editor Machiko, who is also his girlfriend, visiting his elderly neighbor, his mother-in-law, who is living in an even more remote location, and interacting, although not exactly in a pleasant way, with his brother-in-law and his wife. Lastly, Tsutomu does...

Japan Society is pleased to announce Love Letters: Four Films by Shunji Iwai, a weekend series celebrating the defining early works of filmmaker Shunji Iwai. One of the most original talents to emerge from Japan in the ’90s, Iwai tapped into the dreams and lives of Japan’s youth with his lyrical meditations on the hardships of young adulthood, capturing pivotal and unforgettable moments of life. Balancing popular entertainment with arthouse predilection, Iwai’s exhilarating takes on the youth film provided a much-needed voice for the younger generation, offering delicate portraits of adolescence, ripe with poetic yearnings of grief, friendship, and young love. Iwai’s sumptuous visual style, coupled with his affecting and underground appeal, opened a world of new possibilities in the ’90s cinescape—marking him as one of the most accomplished and unique filmmakers of his generation.

A primer on the director’s essential works, Love...

As we have mentioned many times before, the end of the Edo period in 1867, which essentially signaled the end of the samurai era in Japan, is one of the most interesting in Japanese history, and probably the one that has inspired the most films. Takashi Koizumi, whose credits include one as assistant director on Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran”, focuses on a series of events that took place in Nagaoka domain in Echigo, revolving around chief retainer Tsuginosuke Kawai, a senior military commander of the Nagaoka forces during the Boshin War of 1868–1869.

“The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

The film begins with a rather imposing monologue by the Tokugawa shogun (presented impressively by Masahiro Higashide) and an analysis, through narration, of the situation in Japan at the time, which eventually led to the Boshin War. Literally in the midst of the military preparations...

Stars: Kaori Fuji, Takako Matsu, Seiichi Tanabe | Written and Directed by Shunji Iwai

Even though I’d call myself a fan of Asian cinema, the reality is, if it isn’t horror or animated, I probably haven’t seen it. So I was thrilled to get the chance to watch 1998’s April Story at this year’s Fantasia Fest.

On the face of things, April Story is a very simple movie and not a whole lot happens. In Spring a girl, Uzuki Nireno, leaves the island of Hikkaido and her home town to attend University in Tokyo. And that’s kinda the whole story. We follow her as she struggles a little with being out of her comfort zone and the city not being quite as fantastic as she hoped.

But this is not a sad story, far from it. We see her loneliness and anxiety in new situations but...

As we have mentioned many times before, the end of the Edo period in 1867, which essentially signaled the end of the samurai era in Japan, is one of the most interesting in Japanese history, and probably the one that has inspired the most films. Takashi Koizumi, whose credits include one as assistant director on Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran”, focuses on a series of events that took place in Nagaoka domain in Echigo, revolving around chief retainer Tsuginosuke Kawai, a senior military commander of the Nagaoka forces during the Boshin War of 1868–1869.

“The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai” is screening at Japan Cuts

The film begins with a rather imposing monologue by the Tokugawa shogun (presented impressively by Masahiro Higashide) and an analysis, through narration, of the situation in Japan at the time, which eventually led to the Boshin War. Literally in the midst of the military preparations of the West and East forces,...

What began with “Pornostar” and “Blue Spring”, found its apogee in “9 Souls”, one of the greatest samples of Japanese indie cinema.

Nine convicts escape prison, since the tenth, Yamamoto, lost it just before a rat, which showed the others the way out, appeared on their cell. The convicts have decided to search for a money stash hidden by Yamamoto and so they function as a team, despite the fact that they differ in age, natire of crime and general background. Torakichi is the eldest and acts as the leader of the group. He has killed his own son. Kazuma is a young man, former member of a bike gang. He stabbed four members of his own group. Inui is a bomber (of sorts) who suffers from epilepsy. Shiratory is a dwarf, and a doctor who aided suicide. Michiru, the last one to enter prison, is an adolescent who killed his father.

Shunji Iwai always thrived in the portrayal of youths in various transitional stages of their life, with a significant part of his filmography focusing on this topic. “April Story” is another testament to the fact, although in a much tamer fashion than the majority of his work, which did not forbid it, however, from winning the audience award in Busan in 1998.

“April Story” is screening at Fantasia International Film Festival

Uzuki Nireno is a genuine country bumpkin from northern Hokkaido, who has just moved to Tokyo to study in the university. Adapting however, is not particularly easy, and the girl finds herself, either helping when not needed, interacting with men who seem anything but normal, and being pushed by a quirky girl in her classroom, the only one who wants to hang with her, into joining an air fishing club, presided by Fukatsu, an equally quirky young man. As time passes,...

Having a great cast in his hands, Shunji Iwai decided to take a trip down his own cinematic past this time, resulting in a rather nostalgic film that works on a number of levels, but also seems to fail to pack a punch. The script is based on his own novel, while in 2018 he directed a homonymous, Chinese film starring Zhou Xun.

Yuri is a middle-aged mother who has just returned to the area she grew up, along with her daughter, Fuka, to attend the funeral of her older sister, Misaki, who has just died, leaving her own daughter, Ayumi, with her grandmother, since her husband is out of the picture. When an invitation for a class reunion comes to the house, Yuri decides to attend, to inform her sister’s classmates of her death, but finds herself being confused with Misaki, to the point that an old boyfriend of hers,...

Frozen‘s Elsa is taking over Texas!

A little girl from the Lone Star state is stealing hearts across the country after a video shared by her mom depicting the very first time the toddler saw snow went viral.

When Madelyn, 2, stepped outside into a wintry wonderland for the first time earlier this month, she couldn’t help but break into song just like Elsa, the Queen of Arendelle, voiced in Frozen and Frozen II by Idina Menzel.

In the adorable video, little Madelyn wears a blue dress, crown and gloves as she frolics around in the snow, singing, “Let It Go.

The Oscars red carpet was full of Arendelle royalty on Sunday night. In honor of Frozen 2's nomination for best original song, actresses who voiced Elsa around the world - Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg from Denmark; Willemijn Verkaik from Germany; Takako Matsu from Japan; Carmen Garcia Saenz from Latin America; Lisa Stokke from Norway; Kasia Laska from Poland; Anna Buturlina from Russia; Gisela from Spain; and Gam Wichayanee from Thailand - united for the big show. The ladies looked like real-life Disney princesses as they posed for the cameras in gorgeous gowns. Meanwhile, the American voice of Elsa, Idina Menzel, arrived in a pink gown with husband Aaron Lohr. The group also joined Menzel as she sang the Oscar-nominated track "Into the Unknown" during the show. See more pictures of the Elsas ahead.

There were a handful of powerful moments from Sunday's Oscars ceremony, one of them being the performance of Frozen 2's "Into the Unknown," which was nominated for best original song. Idina Menzel, who voices Elsa in the Us version of the record-breaking Disney film, was joined by nine other stars who have portrayed the ice queen: Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg from Denmark, Willemijn Verkaik from Germany, Takako Matsu from Japan, Carmen Garcia Saenz from Latin America, Lisa Stokke from Norway, Kasia Laska from Poland, Anna Buturlina from Russia, Gisela from Spain, and Gam Wichayanee from Thailand.

The group of women, who posed together on the red carpet earlier in the evening, definitely delivered a memorable rendition of the chilling tune as Norwegian singer Aurora added her haunting harmonies. We need the studio version Asap. Look ahead to watch the performance and see more photos from the staging!

Related: Here...

Talk about a gravity-defying performance! On Sunday, Idina Menzel brought Arendelle to the 2020 Oscars with her performance of "Into The Unknown" from Frozen 2. No stranger to the Academy Awards stage, the Tony-winning actress performed the Oscar-nominated song alongside nine singers that voiced Elsa from across the globe, including Aurora, who played the voice of the siren call that the Frozen 2 heroine hears in the animated film. With Denmark's Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg, Germany's Willemign Verkaik, Japan's Takako Matsu, Latin America's Carmen Garcia Saenz, Norway's Kasia Laska, Russia's Anna Buturlina, Spain's Gisela and Thaliand's Gam...

The artist formerly known as Adele Dazeem returned to the Oscars stage on Sunday to belt out another frosty anthem fit for a queen.

Channeling her inner Elsa, Idina Menzel treated the world to a special performance of “Into the Unknown,” one of several show stoppers from Disney’s Frozen II. The catchy tune, which unsurprisingly reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Us Kid Digital Songs chart, was nominated for Best Original Song at this year’s Academy Awards.

More from TVLineChrissy Metz Makes Oscars Debut With Breakthrough Performance — WatchIdina Menzel Leads International Frozen Ballad at Oscars — Watch and...

Japanese director Shunji Iwai most recent production “Last Letter” is set for release on January 17, 2020. The films stars Takao Matsuo, as a house wife who receives confession from her first love. Matuso, previously worked with director Shunji Iwai in the 1998 movie “April Story”.

In anticipation of the films release, Toho has made a trailer available, which can be viewed below. Recently, we got a chance to speak with director Shunji Iwai, you can read our interview here.

Synopsis

Yuri Kishibeno (Takako Matsu) is a housewife. She lives with her husband (Hideaki Anno) and their two children. Yuri Kishibeno then attends her sister Misaki Tono’s funeral. There, she meets her niece Ayumi (Suzu Hirose) for the first time in many years. Ayumi is still unable to accept her mother’s death and, because of this, she can’t open a letter left behind by her mother. Yuri Kishibeno attends her...

Japanese filmmaker Toshiaki Toyoda has been making the news lately. Sadly, not with any of his films, but with being falsely arrested for the possession of a firearm. Since this has not been the first time Toyoda has come into contact with Japanese authorities, it also significantly slowed down the release of his latest project “The Planetist”, a documentary about the Ogasawara Islands, beautiful islands which can only be accessed via ship.

We sat down with the director to talk to him about his films “The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan”, which is screening at Nippon Connection, and “The Planetist” but also about his latest experiences with the Japanese authorities.

“The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan” is screening at

Nippon Connection

I would like to start the interview with a question about your recent arrest. However, you do not have to answer if you do not want to.. What happened? Since this...

Featuring such a cast, being reminiscent of the Hollywood screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, and particularly the 1932 film “Grand Hotel” and having a New Year’s feel, “Uchoten Hotel” had all the prerequisites of becoming a commercially successful film. Eventually that is exactly what it did, becoming the third highest grossing one of 2006 in Japan. Furthermore, it was nominated for 11 Japanese Academy awards, although, almost ironically, did not win a single one. Let us see what it is about though.

The story revolves around a number of characters, whose lives intermingle in a luxury hotel two hours before New Year’s Eve. Shindo, who used to work in the theatre, is now a head accommodation manager, but tries to hide the fact when his ex-wife unexpectedly arrives in the hotel. Her current husband, is in the hotel to receive an award from a deer fertility research organization,...

Japanese director Tetsuya Nakashima (“Confessions” “World of Kanako“) has completed production on his most recent film “It Comes”. The horror film is based off the novel “Bogiwan ga Kuru” by Ichi Sawamura. The film features a familiar cast with Satoshi Tsumabuki, Takako Matsu (Confessions) and Nana Komatsu (The World of Kanako) all returning to work with Nakashima on this latest production.

The film is set to be released on December 7th, 2018, a trailer for the film, originally titled “kuru”, has been released

Synopsis

Hideki Tahara (Satoshi Tsumabuki) and Kana Tahara (Haru Kuroki) are newlyweds. Hideki is excited about his future with Kana. One day, a mysterious person visits the company where Hideki works. Hideki’s colleague conveys the visitor’s message to Hideki “about Chisa-san case.” As soon as Hideki hears the name Chisa, he becomes stunned. His wife is pregnant and they have picked the name Chisa for their baby.

In the very first episode of the first season of BBC’s acclaimed police procedural ‘Luther’, the psychotic evil genius Alice Morgan, who is also the series’s most interesting character, refers to a black hole when she appears to share a little information about herself to her nemesis/object of obsession, the titular main character. “It consumes matter, sucks it in, and crushes it beyond existence. When I first heard that, I thought that’s evil in its most pure.” She explains with a sly grin and fascinated look, “Something that drags you in, crushes you, makes you nothing.”

I opted to quote Alice Morgan because that’s what the principal characters in the most cynical film ever made by the talented Tetsuya Nakashima are to each other: black holes. They drag each other into their own darkness, crush one another, and make all involved into nothing.

Buy This...

Se Asian movies, at least as they are perceived in their whole by the majority of international audience, are known for a number of things: Horror, violence, Wong Kar Wai, Park Chan-wook and Takashi Miike (ok, I am just oversimplifying things here). So, for this list I decided to show another aspect of Asian movies, not so frequently mentioned or even considered for that matter, apart from the Bollywood movies that is. Without further ado, here are 12 great dancing scenes from Asian movies, with the lion’s share belonging to Wong Kar Wai, who has presented a number of astonishing sequences through the years.

1. Lai Yiu-fai and Ho Po-wing are dancing in a kitchen (Wong Kar Wai, Happy Together,1997, Hong Kong)

Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung are tangoing in the middle of a kitchen, with their love and adoration for each other becoming evident by the way they look at and lean on each other.

Forget English soap operas about upstairs and downstairs upheavals, Yoji Yamada's chronicle of a life in the little Tokyo house with the little red roof is an emotional grabber. It's the war years of patriotic acquiescence and home-front selfishness -- and a secret, forbidden romance. The Little House (Chiisai ouchi) Twilight Time Savant Blu-ray Review Limited Edition 2014 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 136 min. / Chiisai ouchi / Ship Date August 11, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95  Starring Takaku Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Takataro Kataoka, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baisho Cinematography Masashi Chikamori Art Direction Mitsuo Degawa, Daisuke Sue Film Editor Iwao Ishii Original Music Joe Hisashi Written by Yoji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu, Kyoko Nakajima Produced by Tadashi Ohsumi Directed by Yoji Yamada

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

When Twilight Time brings out a disc not licensed from a major studio, I pay special attention. Last year they released a good Yoji Yamada film called The Twilight Samurai,...

Joining the titles already announced—including films by Alain Resnais and Dominik Graf—the following films complete the lineup for the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival's Competition section.

Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice)

People’s Republic of China

By Yinan Diao (Night Train, Uniform)

With Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang

World premiere

Boyhood

USA

By Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, Me & Orson Welles)

With Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater

International premiere

Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House)

Japan

By Yoji Yamada (Tokyo Family, About Her Brother)

With Takako Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baisho

International premiere

Historia del miedo (History of Fear)

Argentina / Uruguay / Germany / France

By Benjamin Naishtat - feature debut

With Jonathan Da Rosa, Claudia Cantero, Mirella Pascual, Cesar Bordon, Tatiana Gimenez

World premiere

Jack

Germany

By Edward Berger

With Ivo Pietzcker, Georg Arms, Luise Heyer, Vincent Redetzki, Jacob Matschenz,...

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood to compete for the Golden Bear; Beauty and the Beast, starring Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux, to play out of competition.

The 64th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16) has added 15 titles to its Competition programme, completing the line-up of 23 films - of which 20 will vye for the Golden Bear and Silver Bears.

The programme includes 18 world premieres and three feature debuts.

The line-up includes the international premiere of Boyhood, from Before Midnight director Richard Linklater. The film, which will premiere at Sundance, was shot over short periods from 2002 to 2013 and covers 12 years in the life of a family, featuring Mason and his sister Samantha. Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater star.

World premieres include In Order of Disappearance, directed by Hans Petter Moland, which stars Stellan Skarsgård as a snow plough driver whose son’s sudden death puts him in the middle of a drug war between theNorwegian mafia and the...

Dreams For Sale (Yume uru futari )

Directed by Miwa Nishikawa

Written by Miwa Nishikawa

Starring Yûsuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa, Takako Matsu, Rena Tanaka

The financial downturn continues to provide fresh ingredients, more food for though in this bittersweet Japanese comedy drama, in which a stuggiling couple have just suffered an economic tragedy as an accidental fire has gutted their modest Shibuya situated izakaya restaurant. Kanya (Yûsuke Iseya) and Satoko’s (Teruyuki Kagawa) marriage was already under financial and emotional strain, and a night of lonely drinking leads to Satoko to sleep with a drunk woman he meets on the subway, the next morning she convinces him to take a stack of yen and put it too good use, as it was guiltily donated to her by her mortally sick lover unbeknownst to his wife and children. Initially furious Kanya suddenly has an eureka moment, and wonders if lightning can strike...

From Yahoo! Japan comes the trailer for Yume Uru Futari, the latest movie by director and screenwriter Miwa Nishikawa (Sway, Dear Doctor).

Takako Matsu and Sadao Abe star as Satoko and Kanya (or maybe Nukiya?), a married couple who live a happy life together running their small Tokyo eatery until they lose everything in a fire.

When Kanya spends the night with a regular customer, Satoko immediately comes up with a plan: she’ll have her husband commit marriage fraud to earn enough money to get back on their feet financially. Together, they take advantage of lonely women and swindle each out of large sums of money, but their activities soon begin to cast a shadow on their own relationship.

“Yume Uru Futari” will be released by Asmik Ace Entertainment in Japan on September 8, 2012.

Update: Replaced with a shiny new 1080p YouTube embed...

Today more cast members were announced for Miwa Nishikawa’s next film Yume Uru Futari. The new additions are Yusuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa, and Tsurube Shofukutei.

Kagawa has previously worked with Nishikawa in both Sway and Dear Doctor, the latter of which starred Shofukutei.

Although Iseya hasn’t appeared in any of her films, they did work together on the set of Distance in 2001 when she was Hirokazu Kore-eda’s assistant director.

Today also saw the release of a new poster for the film. It features the two main stars—Sadao Abe and Takako Matsu—looking particularly shell-shocked with a small tagline under them which translates to something like “Humanity’s greatest enigma, man and woman”.

In the film, their characters are a married couple who conspire to commit marriage fraud. The targets of their scam are played by Lena Tanaka, Sawa Suzuki, Tae Kimura, Tamae Ando, and Yuka Ebara,...

It’s another jam-packed week of DVD and Blu-ray releases, here’s the rundown of what’s available to buy from today, April 25th 2011.

Street Wars (DVD/Blu-ray)

Steven Seagal (Under Siege, Machete) stars as Elijah Kane, the head of a crack undercover police unit ridding the Seattle streets of its deadly criminals. Kane and his team are in a race against the clock to bring to justice the coldblooded gang who is behind the lethal drug that is raising the body count of young people in city. To make matters worse, Kane’s unit is ordered to protect a filmmaker who’s set on exposing the city’s most dangerous city slums at any cost… Even if it means risking the lives of Kane’s hard-knock team. Review.

Woochi: The Demon Slayer (DVD/Blu-ray)

When a dark lord obtains the secret to unimaginable power, an elite army of shape-shifting...

Watch enough foreign language movies and you’re bound to develop some (usually incorrect) perception of that particular country’s citizens. Korean people are more likely to kick you than they are to smile. French folks will cheat on each other at the drop of a pastry. There are no schools for acting in Thailand. You get the idea. Japanese films are no different and in fact offer up more than one assumption about the culture. And no, they don’t all have to do with lactation or the enticing aroma of girls’ underwear. Some are about the overwhelming fear that Japanese society appears to have towards its own children. The youth of the nation are alternately dangerous to others (Battle Royale) or to themselves (Suicide Club), but the one constant is the complete lack of connection or understanding the adults have for their teenage counterparts. It’s an intriguing idea and one writer/director Tetsuya Nakashima (Kamikaze...

Director: Tetsuya Nakashima. Review: Adam Wing. Based on the award-winning novel by Minato Kanae, Confessions (a.k.a. Kokuhaku) is a beautiful, tragic and deeply affecting drama about a teacher's terrifying plan to avenge her daughter's murder. Writer-director Tetsuya Nakashima is best known for candy-covered voyages and bubblegum bounciness, taking tragic tales of darkness and drowning them in vibrant colours and sing-along pop numbers. With Confessions he takes a significant step, shifting his attention to the blues and greys of modern Japanese society. He’s no stranger to pulsating soundtracks, spunky editing and imaginative use of CGI, but with Confessions he grounds his heart-wrenching tale in gut-punching reality. The result is no less hypnotic, but in removing the comic book trimmings of previous work, Nakashima has provided a more lasting impression. Takako Matsu - Nakashima’s first and only choice for the lead - plays Yuko Moriguchi, a tragic teacher...

Director: Tetsuya Nakashima. Review: Adam Wing. Based on the award-winning novel by Minato Kanae, Confessions (a.k.a. Kokuhaku) is a beautiful, tragic and deeply affecting drama about a teacher's terrifying plan to avenge her daughter's murder. Writer-director Tetsuya Nakashima is best known for candy-covered voyages and bubblegum bounciness, taking tragic tales of darkness and drowning them in vibrant colours and sing-along pop numbers. With Confessions he takes a significant step, shifting his attention to the blues and greys of modern Japanese society. He’s no stranger to pulsating soundtracks, spunky editing and imaginative use of CGI, but with Confessions he grounds his heart-wrenching tale in gut-punching reality. The result is no less hypnotic, but in removing the comic book trimmings of previous work, Nakashima has provided a more lasting impression. Takako Matsu - Nakashima’s first and only choice for the lead - plays Yuko Moriguchi, a tragic teacher...

Updated through 3/22.

"Some of Asia's top filmmakers screened their new movies to kick off the 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival on Sunday, although the mood was subdued because of Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters," reports Min Lee for the AP. "Japan's crisis cast doubt on whether its actors and directors will attend the Hong Kong festival. Popular Japanese director Shunji Iwai, a native of hard-hit Sendai city, has canceled his appearance at the Asian premiere of his first English-language movie, Vampire. It remains unclear whether prominent Japanese nominees like Koji Yakusho, Rinko Kikuchi and Takako Matsu will attend the awards ceremony, the Asian Film Awards, on Monday."

Still, the show must go on in Hong Kong and the festival, which runs through April 4, opened today with Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai's Don't Go Breaking My Heart and the omnibus film Quattro Hong Kong 2 (trailer above). Don't Go...

Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein turned the spotlight on the survivors of the Japanese tsunami and earthquake tragedies at the 2011 Asian Film Awards on Monday - by sending out a heartfelt message.

The fifth annual ceremony took place in Hong Kong, but the Japanese devastation overshadowed the event, with many Asian stars, including nominated actors Koji Yakusho (13 Assassins), Rinko Kikuchi (Norwegian Wood) and Takako Matsu (Confessions), absent from the party.

Weinstein joined Hong Kong actress Carina Lau onstage to present the Best Actor prize, but took a moment to publicly greet Japanese actor Ken Watanabe and send his best wishes to the people of Japan.

Speaking directly into the camera, Weinstein said, "We hope you're safe and we hope things turn very well very quickly."

The tragic events in Japan also played on the minds of other celebrities at the awards show.

Filmmaker Feng Xiaogang, whose earthquake epic Aftershock landed honours for Best Visual Effects and Best Actress (Xu Fan), revealed bosses at two of the movie's key investors, Media Asia and Huayi Brothers, had pledged to donate $76,000 (£47,500) to the country's relief efforts.

Other winners at the Asian Film Awards included Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Best Picture), and South Korean director Lee Chang-dong, who claimed Best Director and Best Screenplay for Poetry.

Ha Jung-woo walked away as Best Actor for his work in The Yellow Sea, and retired producer Raymond Chow, the man behind the careers of Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Jackie Chan, was handed the Lifetime Achievement Award, as previously reported by WENN.

Violent human nature and the influence of the media on the social order of the world are brilliantly interwoven in the latest film from Japanese director Tetsuya Nakashima, the deep and disturbing psychological thriller Confessions (2010). Based upon the book of the same title by author Kanae Minato, the film consists of a series of confessions by different people, struck by the same tragedy - the murder of a child.

After a police inquiry declares the death of Manami (the child in question) as accidental, her mother Yuko Moriguchi (played brilliantly by Takako Matsu) promises not to further pursue the two students involved.

However, when it is revealed that the death of her daughter was a meaningless event to "Student A" and "Student B" - whose narcissistic need for attention replaced their guilt with pride - Yuko embarks on a dark, vengeful journey in order to punish her child's murderers, and...

Japan's nomination for the Best Foreign Language Oscar doesn't fit the template for Oscar-friendly movies at all. Here's Michael's take on Confessions...

Directed by cult favourite, Tetsuya Nakashima (Kamikaze Girls, Memories Of Matsuko), revenge drama Confessions was recently given the seal of approval from its home film industry when it was submitted as Japan's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. Although, don't let that fool you. This is not a consensus-forming safe bet. No, this is rather an ugly proposition, indeed.

Initially concerned with mystery, Confessions soon finds itself lost in relentless revelation, a feature-length third act, where characters narrate motivation either before or alongside the action itself.

In a compelling, nightmarish opening sequence, a bereaved teacher (Takako Matsu) lectures her unruly class of teenage yahoos about life. Her daughter was found dead on school grounds and, worse, she believes that it was no accident,...

Confessions (15)

(Tetsuya Nakashima, 2010, Japan) Takako Matsu, Kai Inowaki, Yoshino Kimura, Kaoru Fujiwara, Yukito Nishii, Masaki Okada. 106 mins

From an arresting opening scene in which a teacher details to her class how her daughter was killed by two of them, and what she's done in the way of retaliation, this complex, unpredictable Japanese thriller unwinds into one of the most operatic revenge plots since Old Boy. That first half-hour sequence packs in enough for a whole movie, but this has even grander ambitions, tackling familiar teen issues – bullying, alienation, malicious texting – through shifting perspectives, slick visuals and a choice soundtrack. It's bleak and moody, but the execution is bracing.

Paul (15)

(Greg Mottola, 2011, Us) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen. 104 mins

Pegg and Frost indulge their fanboyishness, and their non-gay buddy love, in a knockabout comedy that plays like a stoner Et. Their sci-fi-geek tourists get into scrapes when they harbour Rogen's fugitive alien in their Winnebago,...

An overcooked, overwrought and unconvincing revenge horror film set in a Japanese school. By Peter Bradshaw

Tetsuya Nakashima's Confessions is a film with a vast number of admirers, for whom it is a super-cool horror to be compared with Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale or Park Chan-wook's Lady Vengeance. I have to say that, despite its effective opening premise and some interestingly spacey mood-alterations and tonal shifts, I found it overcooked and overwrought, and sometimes quite implausible – a tale oddly recounted often at second hand, and in flashback.

Takako Matsu plays Moriguchi, a schoolteacher and single mother. The opening scenes show her announcing her retirement to an unruly, disorderly class finishing up their school milk and throwing the cartons everywhere. She has apparently lost all control. Her speech might as well also be a kind of embittered voiceover, happening only in her head.

Moriguchi has become profoundly disenchanted with teaching,...

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Though it made the shortlist for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, there’s little surprise that Confessions, a thoroughly unpleasant, if artistically rewarding thriller from Japan, didn’t make the final five. A million miles away from the stereotypical middle-mindedness of Oscar voters (though they did at least vote the controversial and also brilliant Greek pic Dogtooth into the five), this is a haunting film of considerable emotional depth and power, and you’ll probably struggle to shake it off for days.

Yuko Moriguchi (Takako Matsu) is a high school teacher, and she announces to the surprise of her class that she will leaving the school very soon. As a parting gift, she tells her class a story, revealing the circumstances of her own daughter’s murder. The shocked class listen on as Moriguchi reveals that the two murderers are students from this very class,...

Tetsuya Nakashima’s (‘Kamikaze Girls,’ ‘Memories Of Matsuko’) multi award winning revenge thriller…Confessions…gets its UK bow next month - via Third Window Films - and we’ve just been given a first look at the very striking poster art. Confessions stars Takako Matsu (K-20: Legend of the Mask) as Yuko Moriguchi, a high school teacher wracked by grief, on a one woman mission for revenge. Confessions opens in UK theatres Feb 18. Can’t wait! Synopsis: A middle-school teacher’s four-year-old daughter is found dead. Shattered, she finally returns to her classroom only to become convinced that two of her students were responsible for her daughter's murder. No one believes her, and she may very well be wrong, but she decides, nevertheless, that it's time to take her revenge. What happens next is all-out psychological warfare waged against her students in an attempt to force them into confessing...

Japanese pop culture is full of monsters, robots and aliens but there aren't very many human superheroes or supervillains, especially in the arena of film. Into that gap in the market swings K-20: The Legend of the Black Mask.

Today sees the movie brought to DVD and Blu-ray by Manga Entertainment, following its release in cinemas in December 2008. A trailer and full synopsis are included below.

Written and directed by Shimako Sato, and based on the novel by So Kitamura, the release is described by DVD Talk as "a Japanese steampunk superhero origin tale presented with all the bombast of a glossy Hollywood blockbuster."

Riffing on period crimefighter movies such as The Shadow, The Rocketeer and The Phantom while giving more than a passing nod to contemporary comic book movies such as V for Vendetta, Batman Begins and Spider-Man, the effects-laden action flick centres on an unlikely hero forced to...

One of the wonderful things about independent home video labels is that they are able to champion individual filmmakers in a way that major studios have no interest in doing.  Arrow Video has taken an interest in giving Argento, Romero, and Fulci their due; while Severin Films had their sights set on making the films of Jess Franco, Walerian Borowcyzk, and Joe D'Amato the credit they deserve.  Third Window Films is also determined to help bring some of their favorite directors some exposure, even if the Western world hasn't yet discovered them.  When I spoke to Third Window's Adam Torel, he gave me three names of filmmakers/auteurs that he really stood behind with his label, and those three are Tetsuya Nakashima, Sion Sono, and Miki Satoshi.  The first two should be names not unfamiliar to many Twitch readers, Nakashima's Kamikaze Girls and Sono's Love Exposure, among others, are some...

Japanese writer director Tetsuya Nakashima follows up his critically acclaimed cult hits “Kamikaze Girls” and “Memories of Matsuko” with something considerably darker in the form of “Confessions”. Based upon Kanae Minato’s award winning debut novel and dealing with themes of bullying, revenge and savage murder, the film is an exceptionally cruel affair, all the more so thanks to Nakashima’s typically idiosyncratic approach and gorgeous visuals. The film has been a massive hit in Japan, both commercially and critically, and has already been selected as the country’s official entry in the Best Foreign Film category of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. The film has also been enjoying success at international festivals, having recently had its UK premiere at the 2010 London October Frightfest. The film is essentially an ensemble piece, revolving around Takako Matsu (recently in “K20: Legend of the Mask” and “Villon’s Wife”) as Yuko Moriguchi,...

If you'd like to read about the now official Oscar submissions for Best Foreign Language Film, click away. But because you -- make that we -- can't see most of the films, due to the hideous state of international distribution, let us use this Academy press release as an excuse to take a different view, a sexytime view... a Beauty Break if you will. Let's gawk at the actors and actresses who are in the submitted films. We'll pretend it's like a Miss Universe pageant (how do you say "shallow" in Finnish?). Randomly selected hotties follow (it's not easy to find info/photos.) whether you're into the men, the women or other. Don't judge!

Beauty Knows No Borders

I presume you'll let me know your very favorites in the comments. Do I presume too much?

Handsome Guys...

Left: Bill Skarsgård a.k.a. Alexander's lil brö (20) for Sweden's Simple Simon.

Who doesn’t love Japanese horror films? Yes, the hype may have died away but the legacy remains. Noted director Tetsuya Nakashima returns to cinema screens early in 2011 with a new psychological horror film entitled Confessions, based on a novel by Kanae Minato.

Confessions has been chosen as Japan’s entry into the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony in the Best Foreign Film category. Surely a sign of its brilliance? Are you prepared for a films of “dark emotions and powered by a savage central performance”? The film also boasts a cool soundtrack featuring Radiohead and currently indie darlings The Xx.

Check out the very cool and unusual trailer below and tell me this doesn’t look the bees knees? Confessions will have its UK premiere screening at the Film4 Frightfest All-Nighter on 30th October 2010 at London’s Empire Cinema. For further information see the www.frightfest.co.uk or book tickets at www.

This Halloween (well, Saturday October 30th to be specific), the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square will once again play host to FrightFest’s annual "All-Nighter". The full line-up has now been announced. Feast your eyes!

Of course Dread Central will be there to bring you all the info you need on the movies shown. Hope to see you there!

Confessions (UK Premiere)

A teacher attempts to wreak a terrible revenge on the students she blames for the death of her 4-year-old daughter in Kamikaze Girls and Memories of Matsuko director Tetsuya Nakashima’s ethereal and sinister shocker, selected as Japan's official entry for the 2010 Oscars. Through the most twisted retaliations, a stunning operatic style, fabulous cinematic flourishes and a theme song by Radiohead, you’ll be blown away by this intensely savage masterpiece throbbing with the darkest of emotions. Shot in the cool greys and blues of a...

FilmShaft enjoyed the hell out of this year’s Film 4 FrightFest and their Halloween all-nighters are legendary.

The programme for Saturday 30th October has been announced – and boy is it great! It’s got “American psychos, sharks, cannibal girls and a Finnish nightmare before Christmas” according to the press release sent to us and it’s littered with UK premieres, a retro classic plus a world premiere for you horror hounds to enjoy and feast upon!

Tickets went on sale yesterday (2nd October) and cost £50. For ticket info and getting them you can call: call 08 714 714 714, see FrightFest’s website www.frightfest.co.uk for the full schedule and times and buy them online at www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Confessions (UK Premiere)

A teacher attempts to wreak a terrible revenge on the students she blames for the death of her 4 year-old daughter in Kamikaze Girls and Memories Of Matsuko director Tetsuya Nakashima...

Note: This review is re-published from Nyaff earlier this year and the film is showing at Tiff this week.

Over the past week I have seen some excellent films at the Nyaff, everything from epic kung-fu fighting in Ip Man 2 to psychedelic madness in Blood of Rebirth and heartfelt comedy with amazing Japanese freestyle rapping in 8000 Miles. But nothing could have prepared me for Confessions, easily the most brilliant and disturbing film I’ve seen all year. This film is like nothing you ever experienced, it’s a whirlwind of emotion wrapped in a tightly knit package of suspense, mystery and murder. That said, it’s also one of the more depressing films you’ll see, in that the subject matter its dealing with is the bizarre suicide culture that permeates in Japan, particularly in young teens. Director Tetsuya Nakashima (Kamikaze Girls, Memories of Matsuko) uses interesting visceral cinematic techniques...