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The concept of imprisonment and release has been repeatedly explored in Japanese cinema, although the truth is that most of these movies usually revolve around the Yakuza. Go Furukawa, in his feature debut, takes a completely different approach, as he focuses on the issues of visitation and delivering in local prisons, through a man who runs a service like that.

Kaneko’s Commissary is screening at Festival International des Cinemas d’Asie de Vesoul

Shinji, a man who was imprisoned due to his violent tendencies, continues to be violent even towards his wife, Miwako, when she visits him in prison. Eventually, though, he manages to change with the help of his family, including his newborn son, wife and his uncle who is also staying with them. Furthermore, as soon as he is out of prison, he starts running a commissary named after his wife, which provides service for delivering items...

Go Furukawa was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1976. He majored in Japanese at Meikai University. After graduating, he entered the film industry as a production assistant and worked as an assistant director for Asahara Yuzo’s “Free and Easy 15: No Tomorrow for Hama-chan?” (2004). He then directed the short film “Dance?” (2010). “Kaneko′s Commissary” is his first feature film as a director.

On the occasion of his film “Kaneko’s Commissary” screening at Busan International Film Festival, we speak with him about shooting a film on an unusual subject, the female characters in the film, the famous actors in the cast and his future projects.

Why did you decide to shoot a movie about this particular concept of the detention center commissary?

When I was working as assistant director, I worked in “Departures” by Yojiro Takita. I was quite moved by the concept of the person who is preparing the deceased for the funeral.

The concept of imprisonment and release has been repeatedly explored in Japanese cinema, although the truth is that most of these movies usually revolve around the Yakuza. Go Furukawa, in his feature debut, takes a completely different approach, as he focuses on the issues of visitation and delivering in local prisons, through a man who runs a service like that.

Kaneko’s Commissary is screening at Busan International Film Festival

Shinji, a man who was imprisoned due to his violent tendencies, continues to be violent even towards his wife, Kaneko, when she visits him in prison. Eventually, though, he manages to change with the help of his family, including his newborn son, wife and his uncle who is also staying with them. Furthermore, as soon as he is out of prison, he starts running a commissary named after his wife, which provides service for delivering items to prisons and detention...

It could be argued that the closest relative to films about dementia is the murder mystery. There are certainly many common features: a victim and an enigmatic killer; false memories and red herrings; clues from which an identity must be pieced together; and a (usually jubilant) resolution in which said identity is revealed, if only briefly. In this sense, Kei Chika-ura’s latest feature, Great Absence, is not natural and convincing in spite of its thrilling (if not always successful) blend of Florian Zeller’s The Father and Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder, but because of it.

After a workshop of Ionescu’s Exit the King, Takashi (Mirai Moriyama), an actor of moderate fame, receives a call from the police. His father Yohji (Tatsuya Fuji), whom he hasn’t seen for some twenty years, has just been detained by local authorities after placing a phony distress call that resulted...

Up-and-coming filmmaker Kei Chikaura unveils a second impressive feature film with “Great Absence.” Where his previous movie, “Complicity,” focused on cross-cultural communication, for his newest project, Chikaura utilizes personal experiences in a co-written effort with Keita Kumano to tell a story of family reconciliation. Collaborating with the director again is legendary actor Tatsuya Fuji, best known internationally for starring in Nagisa Oshima's films “In the Realm of the Senses” and “Empire of Passion.”

Great Absence is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Takashi is an actor based in Tokyo preparing for his latest role, with guidance from his producer, Yuki, who also happens to be his wife. While rehearsing, he is summoned by law enforcement to receive news that his father, Yohji, whom he has an estranged relationship with, had his home raided following a distress call. Reluctant due to personal resentment toward his parent, he eventually decides to...

When memory slips away, what do we know to be real anymore?

That’s the question asked by “Great Absence,” a new film that sees legendary Japanese actor Tatsuya Fuji return to the big screen in a father-son drama about life, death, mortality, and morality. Filmmaker Kei Chika-ura writes and directs the feature which centers on a rekindled family amid an Alzheimers diagnosis and a suicide.

The official synopsis reads: Distanced from his father Yohji (Tatsuya Fuji) for twenty years, actor Takashi (Mirai Moriyama) is brought back home by a jarring police call. Yohji has disconnected from reality due to dementia, and his second wife Naomi (Hideko Hara) is missing. Asked where she is, the old man replies that she committed suicide. While trying to find out about the stepmother, Takashi traces the past of Yohji he has never been able to accept. And since Yohji abandoned his family 20 years ago for Naomi,...

Comprising international premieres, short programs, and some of the country’s finest-ever films in new restorations, 2024’s Japan Cuts––running July 10-21 at New York’s Japan Society––has been unveiled. It’s in the festival’s nature that numerous works and directors are lesser-known on American shores, though a cursory search has one regularly stopping: new films by Takeshi Kitano (Kubi), Shunji Iwai (Kyrie), Shinya Tsukamoto (Shadow of Fire), and Gakuryu Ishii (The Box Man) populate the selection. Meanwhile, Hideaki Anno’s modern classic Shin Godzilla debuts in a new, black-and-white cut Shin Godzilla: ORTHOchromatic.

Its classics section is three-for-three: Ishii’s August in the Water, Shinji Somai’s Moving, and Toshiharu Ikeda Mermaid Legend, which is more or less one of the greatest films ever made. One can anticipate at least a couple of Japan Cuts’ current unknowns are tomorrow’s figureheads.

See the full lineup below:...

In the wake of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest Oscar win for “The Boy and the Heron” and the VOD dominance of “Godzilla Minus One,” Japanese cinema continues to be as vital as ever to American audiences. That should make the upcoming edition of Japan Cuts, the annual film festival celebrating Japanese cinema co-produced by Japan Society, one of the most exciting events on New York cinephiles’ summer calendars.

The lineup, which IndieWire can exclusively reveal, contains a mix of American and New York premieres alongside a curated selection of newly restored classics. Notable titles include “Shin Godzilla: ORTHOchromatic,” a new black-and-white version of Hideaki Anno’s 2016 kaiju blockbuster; and “Shadow of Fire,” the war drama from “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” director Shinya Tsukamoto that premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.

“We couldn’t be more amazed by this year’s festival,” Peter Tatara, director of film at Japan Society, who...

“Kanae (Yoko Maki) struggles to manage her family's bathhouse after her husband, Satoru (Eita Nagayama), suddenly vanishes. She is often possessed by his memories, as well as memories from her childhood that she cannot recall. One day, Takayuki (Arata Iura), a boiler man, comes seeking work and shelter, which Kanae agrees to offer.” (Official)

Undercurrent is Screening as Part of The 2024 Japan Foundation Touring Program

Offering a synopsis only provides a starting point to the work of Rikiya Imaizumi, who, as the press material for the lead-up to the film touring as part of Japan Foundation states, “skilfully portrays the emotions that have long been locked away in people's hearts.” Extending on this concept, “Undercurrents” lingers in that moment of release, making the expression of one's inner emotions not as crucial as stating them. Much of the movie is left open as major questions brought up by characters to others...

The belief that the dead live on in our memories is often the only comfort anyone can think to offer the bereaved, or those in the process of losing a loved one. But for Takashi (Mirai Moriyama), the introspective adult son at the heart of Kei Chika-ura’s quietly tectonic heartbreaker, that comfort is unavailable on multiple levels. Not only has he been long estranged from his father, Yohji (a shattering San Sebastian Best Performance-winning Tatsuya Fuji), but Yohji’s own precipitous descent into the fog of dementia means that whatever Takashi can now learn of him, at this late stage, is jumbled and fragmentary and possibly false. How can we adequately remember someone who cannot remember himself?

Like so much of “Great Absence,” that question is posed as a kind of mystery, made all the eerier by the ordinariness of the clues that tease its solution — an uncanceled meal delivery,...

Tatsuya Fuji, Mirai Moriyama star.

Gaga Corporation has acquired international sales rights excluding Japan on Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Platform entry Great Absence ahead of its European premiere in San Sebastian later this month.

Tatsuya Fuji and dance artist Mirai Moriyama star in the recent TIFF world premiere, which marks director Kei Chika-ura’s second feature after Complicity premiered at 2018 TIFF.

Great Absence is inspired by Chika-ura’s own experiences and centres on Takashi, a man who has been estranged from his father Yohji for 20 years and returns home with his wife after receiving a call from the police...

Great Absence, the second feature film from Japanese director Kei Chika-ura, is receiving its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section.

Inspired by Kei’s real-life experiences, the film tells the story of an actor living in Tokyo who is forced to travel home when the police call to say his father is suffering from dementia and has lost touch with reality. Making matters worse, his father’s second wife appears to be missing.

The actor makes the trip home with his own wife, full of conflicted emotions over a man who left the family when he was still a child, and starts an exploration into the mysteries of his father’s life. Along the way, the film touches on themes including time and memory, familial obligation and the role that women play in male-dominated Japanese society.

Veteran actor Tatsuya Fuji (In The Realm Of The Senses) plays the father,...

Around this time of year we usually post our breakthrough performances of the past twelve months, but looking at a preliminary list, we realized just about every selection could also contend for being one of the best performances of 2017, period. So, we expanded our usual count and today we present the 35 best performances in what is more strictly defined as cinema (sorry in advance, Kyle MacLachlan and the rest of the Twin Peaks cast.). Check out our selections below and let us know your favorites in the comments.

35. Ahn Seo-Hyun (Okja)

A contender for the best ensemble of the year, Bong Joon-ho’s Okja features a can’t-believe-what-i’m-seeing hilarious Jake Gyllenhaal, another twintastic turn by Tilda Swinton, the cheekily liberal activist group made up of Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, and Lily Collins, and more. The buoyant, beating heart that ties them all together is newcomer Ahn Seo-hyun, who plays Mija,...

The proverbial Top Ten List. A sacred tradition passed down by our cinematic elders. This is the fourth time I have partaken in this holy tradition, and one thing has remained constant is that this list is never set in stone. As we catch up with more films we missed or rewatch our favorites it causes us to like a movie more or less causing this list to change. In fact in 2012 and 2013 I ended up seeing my number one film of the year after I wrote up my Top 10. So the question becomes, “Why Do it?”. Well, for one it’s fun. At least I find it an enjoyable exercise as I try to break down the year that was. I watched 163 movies that were released in 2014. Narrowing that 163 down to a Top 10 is a challenge I enjoy.

Looking at 2014 as a whole it is evident it was a pretty good year.

Stars: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, Rirî Furankî, Jun Fubuki, Shôgen Hwang, Kirin Kiki, Jun Kunimura | Written and Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda

When a family is having a baby one thing they do is trust the hospital they choose to look after the mother and baby. What if something happens in that hospital though and the babies are swapped? I know this is something we often see in “true life story” movies, but when the film comes from Japan and is from globally acclaimed director Hirokazu Koreeda you know get the feeling that you may be in for something just a little special. That is what you get with Like Father, Like Son (Soshite Chichi Ni Naru).

When Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) and Midori (Machiko Ono) receive a phone call from the hospital where their son was born their lives are turned upside down when they are told that the...

Hirokazu Kore-eda: "The more elements you add to the characters the more rich they become."

On a mild October morning during the New York Film Festival, I took a stroll through Central Park with Hirokazu Kore-eda to talk about his favorite season, clothes clues, casting children, Eric Rohmer and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks. When I commented that we should have brought a kite, he said he wasn't very good at it. His latest film Like Father, Like Son (Soshite chichi ni naru) starring Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, and Lily Franky, tells the unsettling story of babies swapped in the hospital, and the way two families deal with the discovery six years later. Continuing with the matters of his thought-provoking film, I asked the director the same question the six-year-old protagonist Keita (Keita Ninomiya) has to answer in his kindergarten placement interview.

Anne-Katrin Titze: What's your favorite season?...

We have added the new UK trailer for diretor Hirokazu Koreeda forthcoming emotive drama, "Like Father, Like Son." The film was the winner of the prestigous Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Set in Japan and in the Japanese language (subtitled in English), the film stars Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki and Rirî Furankî. "Like Father, Like Son" is released in the UK from October 18th. A Us release date is yet to be announced. Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.

Tfe's coverage of the 51st New York Film Festival (Sep 27-Oct 14) is picking up pace. Here is Glenn discussing Like Father, Like Son.

That foreign language category at the Oscars just continues to be a lightning rod for controversy (or "controversy" drummed up by eager beavers wanting get extra attention for their movies). Nathaniel already discussed some of the issues of that category as pertaining to the French non-selection of Blue is the Warmest Colour. Even curiouser than that, however, was the selection of Japan. Let's face it, a three-hour lesbian drama was always going to be a stretch for a nomination even if it did qualify and even if France did select it. Japan, however, appeared to have a slam dunk in the form of Kore-eda Hirokazu's Like Father, Like Son.

Even if we ignore the fact that it also won a big award at Cannes (the Jury Prize...

Earlier today it was announced that actresses Yoko Maki, Manami Konishi, and Chizuru Ikewaki will play Takayuki Yamada’s 3 potential brides in Yuki Iwata’s upcoming film adaptation of Takami Ito’s best-selling novel Yubiwa wo Hametai.

In the film, Yamada plays Teruhiko, a 29-year-old pharmaceutical company salesman who hits his head at a skating rink and partially loses his memory. When he comes to, he looks inside his briefcase and finds an engagement ring. Not long after that, he meets three separate women who claim to be his girlfriend. Teruhiko can’t even remember dating any of them, but decides that if he spends some time with each of them, surely he’d be able to figure out which one he was going to propose to. In order to sort things out, he sets up a string of dates with each of them.

Konishi will play Chie Sumitomo, a...

The official website for the second of Takafumi Hatano’s 2-part theatrical continuation of the popular Sp (Security Police) TV drama has been updated with a full trailer.

Details of the film’s story are fairly vague right now; but that may be by design. It would take nothing less than an impenetrable wall of text to explain all the events from the TV drama and first film that led up to this.

Plot: A group of career bureaucrats carry out secret activities that threaten to undermine the public welfare. Even the chief secretary of the ruling party, Date (Teruyuki Kagawa) is involved. Additionally, a terrorism task force consisting of Sasamoto (Yoko Maki), Yamamoto (Satoshi Matsuo), and Ishida (Yu Kamio) are poised to make their move. What was the meaning behind Ogata’s (Shinichi Tsutsumi) cryptic statement? And what is his true aim?

“Sp: The Motion Picture - Part 2” will...

Oh joy. We’ve been keeping our eyes open for more goodies about the upcoming comedy Dumb Animal/Donju starring Tadanobu Asano and based on the play by Twitch fave Kankuro Kudo. The official site has undergone a face lift and as is the way of things when this kind of thing happens there is a spanking new trailer along with that fabulous two-tone score. Dig it baby.

An especially dull-witted young novelist named Dekoyan (Tadanobu Asano) goes missing and a subsequent investigation uncovers various plots by his friends to murder him—presumably for revealing a childhood secret through the increasingly-popular stories. Regardless of the absurd methods they used in their murder attempts, however, they just couldn’t seem to finish him off. NipponCinema

Tadanobu Asano - Dekoyan

Yoko Maki - Shizuka

Kazuki Kitamura - Edacchi

Yusuke Santamaria - Okaji

Yoko Minamino - Junko

Aimi Satsukawa - Nora

Jero -...

Back in July it was announced that Tadanobu Asano would be the lead in the adaptation of the stage-play Donju written by Kankuro Kudo [Go, Ping Pong, Zebraman, Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san and Maiko Haaaan!!! We can go on, you know]. The story is the mystery behind a young writer named Dekogawa (Asano), who has been “killed” multiple times, but somehow keeps reappearing.

We can now add more names to the bill. Asano’s supporting cast includes Yoko Maki [Udon and The Grudge], Kazuki Kitamura [Maiko Haaaan!!! and Azumi], Yusuke Santamaria [Udon and the Bayside Shakedown movies], Yoko Minamino, and Aimi Satsukawa.

Filming began at the beginning of this month and we can expect a release in 2009.