Filmmaker had four features selected for Cannes including ‘Bashing’.
Kobayashi Masahiro, the award-winning director of Bashing and The Rebirth, has died aged 68.
The filmmaker died in Tokyo on August 20 following a five-year battle with cancer, according to reports.
In a career that spanned three decades, Kobayashi had four films play at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Leopard at Locarno with The Rebirth in 2007.
Born in Tokyo, Kobayashi was initially a folk singer before moving into writing scripts for television.
His feature directorial debut came in 1996 with Closing Time, which won the grand prize at Japan’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.
Kobayashi Masahiro, the award-winning director of Bashing and The Rebirth, has died aged 68.
The filmmaker died in Tokyo on August 20 following a five-year battle with cancer, according to reports.
In a career that spanned three decades, Kobayashi had four films play at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Leopard at Locarno with The Rebirth in 2007.
Born in Tokyo, Kobayashi was initially a folk singer before moving into writing scripts for television.
His feature directorial debut came in 1996 with Closing Time, which won the grand prize at Japan’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.
- 9/7/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
On 3 November 2019, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Rayons d’Or with Rosette, to Martine Thérouanne, Director of the Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinemas. In Japan, November 3 is the Day of Culture. This prestigious decoration, the oldest in Japan, was awarded to Thérouanne in recognition of her cultural commitment to make Japanese cinema and filmmakers known to Western audiences.
Within the 25 years of its existence, Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinemas (Vifac) that was co-founded by Thérouanne and her husband Jean-Marc Thérouanne, has presented 200 Japanese films; among them, cult films of recognized directors and young talents, as well as masters of Japanimation.
The festival awarded fifteen prizes to Japanese films and filmmakers, including the prestigious Honorary Golden Rickshaw to Kore-eda Hirokazu at Vifac 2012, later winner of the Golden Palm at Festival de Cannes 2018.
Vifac staged six retrospectives and homages. To name a few,...
Within the 25 years of its existence, Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinemas (Vifac) that was co-founded by Thérouanne and her husband Jean-Marc Thérouanne, has presented 200 Japanese films; among them, cult films of recognized directors and young talents, as well as masters of Japanimation.
The festival awarded fifteen prizes to Japanese films and filmmakers, including the prestigious Honorary Golden Rickshaw to Kore-eda Hirokazu at Vifac 2012, later winner of the Golden Palm at Festival de Cannes 2018.
Vifac staged six retrospectives and homages. To name a few,...
- 11/16/2019
- by Anomalilly
- AsianMoviePulse
Retrospective will focus on Japanese independent cinema from the past 15 years and includes Cannes favourite Naomi Kawase.
The San Sebastian Film Festival is to programme a retrospective for its 63rd edition (Sept 18-26) titles New Japanese independent cinema 2000-2015.
Among the titles making up the retrospective from known directors are:
H Story (2001) by Nobuhiro Suwa;A Snake of June (Rokugatsu no hebi, 2002) by Shin’ya Tsukamoto;Bright Future (Akarui mirai, 2003) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa;Vibrator (2003) by Ryuichi Hiroki;Bashing (2005) by Masahiro Kobayashi;Birth/Mother (Tarachime, 2006) by Naomi Kawase;Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008) by Shion Sono.
The works of several new talents to have made their debut since 2000 include:
Hole in the Sky (Sora no ana, 2001) by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri,Border Line (2002) by Sang-il Lee,No One’s Ark (Baka no hakobune, 2003) by Nobuhiro Yamashita, The Soup, One Morning (Aru asa, soup wa, 2005) by Izumi Takahashi,Fourteen (Ju-yon-sai, 2007) by Hiromasa Hirosue,Sex Is Not Laughing Matter (Hito no sekkuso...
The San Sebastian Film Festival is to programme a retrospective for its 63rd edition (Sept 18-26) titles New Japanese independent cinema 2000-2015.
Among the titles making up the retrospective from known directors are:
H Story (2001) by Nobuhiro Suwa;A Snake of June (Rokugatsu no hebi, 2002) by Shin’ya Tsukamoto;Bright Future (Akarui mirai, 2003) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa;Vibrator (2003) by Ryuichi Hiroki;Bashing (2005) by Masahiro Kobayashi;Birth/Mother (Tarachime, 2006) by Naomi Kawase;Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008) by Shion Sono.
The works of several new talents to have made their debut since 2000 include:
Hole in the Sky (Sora no ana, 2001) by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri,Border Line (2002) by Sang-il Lee,No One’s Ark (Baka no hakobune, 2003) by Nobuhiro Yamashita, The Soup, One Morning (Aru asa, soup wa, 2005) by Izumi Takahashi,Fourteen (Ju-yon-sai, 2007) by Hiromasa Hirosue,Sex Is Not Laughing Matter (Hito no sekkuso...
- 5/7/2015
- ScreenDaily
The debut feature from young Brit Paul Wright richly deserves its place in the Critics Week line-up, but Wright needs to beware of cliche and superabundance
This debut feature from young British director Paul Wright concerns a disturbed young man in a remote Scottish fishing village: Aaron, played by George Mackay. He was the only person rescued alive from a craft wrecked by a catastrophic storm; the other five crew-members, including his adored elder brother Michael (Jordan Young), were drowned. It is a study in grief, pain and survivor-guilt - that is, the guilt felt by the survivor, and also that imposed on him by a community who will not forgive him for being alive while their loved ones are dead, and whose anguish gradually metamorphoses into irrational suspicion and rage. In his loneliness and misery, Aaron becomes close to Michael's fiancee (Nichola Burley) - a taboo-infringement which just intensifies the village's anger,...
This debut feature from young British director Paul Wright concerns a disturbed young man in a remote Scottish fishing village: Aaron, played by George Mackay. He was the only person rescued alive from a craft wrecked by a catastrophic storm; the other five crew-members, including his adored elder brother Michael (Jordan Young), were drowned. It is a study in grief, pain and survivor-guilt - that is, the guilt felt by the survivor, and also that imposed on him by a community who will not forgive him for being alive while their loved ones are dead, and whose anguish gradually metamorphoses into irrational suspicion and rage. In his loneliness and misery, Aaron becomes close to Michael's fiancee (Nichola Burley) - a taboo-infringement which just intensifies the village's anger,...
- 5/18/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A first look into what’s ahead from some of our favorite auteurs, 2013′s CineMart (held during the Int. Film Festival Rotterdam) boosts an impressive selection of projects from the likes of Argentina’s Lucrecia Martel (The Headless Woman) who’ll be lensing Zama – the adaptation of a period piece about Don Diego de Zama, a 17th-century official for the Spanish crown based in Asuncion del Paraguay, who awaits his transfer to the city of Buenos Aires. We’ve got Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos from Dogtooth and Alps fame, who the last time we spoke to mentioned how he was looking to break into English language film territory and we think The Lobster might be that first foray. Among the other Cannes Film Festival introduced filmmakers who’ll be seeking coin in Rotterdam we have Michael Rowe (Leap Year) who brings Rest Home, Alice Rohrwacher (Corpo celeste) who tackles Le Meraviglie,...
- 12/12/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The fifth edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival will hold retrospectives of Girish Kasaravalli and Jahnu Barua among others. Five of Kasaravalli’s films: Tabarana Kathe (1986), Kraurya (1996), Thaayi Saheba (1997), Dweepa (2003) and Hasina (2004)will be screened. While Barua’s Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai (1987), Banani (1990), Firingoti (1992) and Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door(1995) will be screened.
Besides, three other sections are dedicated to Indian cinema. Chitrabharathi – Indian Cinema Competition, Kannada Cinema (competition and screening of films in other dialects in Karnataka) and 100 years of Indian Cinema (screening of 14 films).
Complete line up:
Retrospective
Chan-Wook Park (South Korea)
1. J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (Chan-Wook Park/110/2000/South Korea)
2. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/129/2002/South Korea)
3. Old boy (Chan-Wook Park/120/2003/South Korea)
4. Lady Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/112/2005/South Korea)
5. Thirst (Chan-Wook Park/133/2009/South Korea)
Fatih Akin (Germany)
1. Short Sharp Shock (Fatih Akin/100/1998/Germany)
2. In July (Fatih Akin/99/2000/Germany)
3. Solino (Fatih Akin/124/2002/Germany)
4. Head On (Fatih Akin/121/2004/Germany/Turkey...
Besides, three other sections are dedicated to Indian cinema. Chitrabharathi – Indian Cinema Competition, Kannada Cinema (competition and screening of films in other dialects in Karnataka) and 100 years of Indian Cinema (screening of 14 films).
Complete line up:
Retrospective
Chan-Wook Park (South Korea)
1. J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (Chan-Wook Park/110/2000/South Korea)
2. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/129/2002/South Korea)
3. Old boy (Chan-Wook Park/120/2003/South Korea)
4. Lady Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/112/2005/South Korea)
5. Thirst (Chan-Wook Park/133/2009/South Korea)
Fatih Akin (Germany)
1. Short Sharp Shock (Fatih Akin/100/1998/Germany)
2. In July (Fatih Akin/99/2000/Germany)
3. Solino (Fatih Akin/124/2002/Germany)
4. Head On (Fatih Akin/121/2004/Germany/Turkey...
- 12/7/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The first-ever manufacturer of light bulbs in Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira’s father died in 1932, nine years after Raul Brandão wrote a play called Gebo and the Shadow. In the year 2012 Oliveira turned the play into a film, making a grimy, dim oil lamp its legitimate character: elderly accountant Gebo burns the midnight oil in it as he plods away at his books. In an early scene, meanwhile, his wife lights the lanterns outside their house with a match. No one seems yet to have heard of electricity; the time setting is unclear; presumably, it’s the turn of the century.
Presumably. Oliveira’s Benilde, or The Virgin Mother (1975) opens with a title-card of this word to gradually lure us into a province of utter chronological disorder. This very same word has ever since been unchallenged as the most accurate description of the bizarre, atemporal effect that grows stronger in each subsequent Oliveira film.
Presumably. Oliveira’s Benilde, or The Virgin Mother (1975) opens with a title-card of this word to gradually lure us into a province of utter chronological disorder. This very same word has ever since been unchallenged as the most accurate description of the bizarre, atemporal effect that grows stronger in each subsequent Oliveira film.
- 11/18/2012
- by Boris Nelepo
- MUBI
I usually don’t go for Japanese tearjerkers; the melodrama just doesn’t agree with me, kind of like soft cheese. However, director Masahiro Kobayashi’s post-2011 earthquake drama “Women on the Edge” has struck a chord with me. The description I found for the flick described it as a “love-hate drama of three sisters who come back home after the quake”, and, I’m assuming, their ensuing emotional collapse. There’s a quirkiness to the trailer that I didn’t anticipate, though, to be fair, I can’t really tell if this supposed quirk is just my inability to properly process Japanese melodrama. If I’ve misinterpreted the embedded trailer, by all means, let me know. After all, there’s nothing worse than looking like a giant asshole. “Women on the Edge” stars Miho Fujima, Yuko Nakamura, and Makiko Watanabe. The film is scheduled to hit select theaters in Japan on July 28th,...
- 6/28/2012
- by Todd Rigney
- Beyond Hollywood
Chikage Awashima and Kazuo Hasegawa in Zangiku Monogatari (1956)
"Chikage Awashima, an actress known internationally for her work with Yasujiro Ozu and other greats of Japanese cinema's 1950s golden age, died of pancreatic cancer on Thursday in Tokyo," reports Mark Schilling for Variety. She was 87. In 1950, Awashima left the Takarazaka Revue Company for the Shochiku studio, where she'd appear in "a wide range of roles, though in the West she is best remembered as the vivacious, teasing friend of lead Setsuko Hara in such films as Early Summer (1951) and Early Spring (1956) or Michiko Kogure in The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952), all by Ozu. She later transferred to the Toho studio, where she starred as the level-headed geisha wife of a merchant prince's dilatory son in Shiro Toyoda's Meioto Zenzai (1955); she reprised the role in the 1963 follow-up…. Her last film role was in Masahiro Kobayashi's 2010 drama Haru's Journey."
Awashima's...
"Chikage Awashima, an actress known internationally for her work with Yasujiro Ozu and other greats of Japanese cinema's 1950s golden age, died of pancreatic cancer on Thursday in Tokyo," reports Mark Schilling for Variety. She was 87. In 1950, Awashima left the Takarazaka Revue Company for the Shochiku studio, where she'd appear in "a wide range of roles, though in the West she is best remembered as the vivacious, teasing friend of lead Setsuko Hara in such films as Early Summer (1951) and Early Spring (1956) or Michiko Kogure in The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952), all by Ozu. She later transferred to the Toho studio, where she starred as the level-headed geisha wife of a merchant prince's dilatory son in Shiro Toyoda's Meioto Zenzai (1955); she reprised the role in the 1963 follow-up…. Her last film role was in Masahiro Kobayashi's 2010 drama Haru's Journey."
Awashima's...
- 2/16/2012
- MUBI
“Salmon are lucky,” muses Ken Ogata’s aging sake maker, Nobuo in Masahiro Kobayashi’s Man Walking on Snow. “They spend half their lives in the open seas, completely free. I have always been tied down somewhere, always clinging on, always.” Kobayashi’s 2001 follow up to Bootleg Film (1999) is a mature, nuanced study of a man and his sons who have rigidly defined themselves in opposition to each other. All of them long to break free from the routines they have fallen into, yet sheer stubbornness may prevent them from reconciling with each other or ever attaining the sort of freedom that Nobuo describes.
- 1/19/2011
- by Dave Wilson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
The first half of Masahiro Kobayashi’s Bootleg Film (1999) has the sensibility of a black comedy and the texture of a fractured, sixties art film. An aging, heavy drinking yakuza named Tatsuo (Akira Emoto) and a humorless, scowling cop named Seiji (Kippei Shiina), drive through a stark winter landscape, trading insults, swigging cans of Heineken, and tossing their empty cans into the backseat. They bicker, they quote lines from movies, and they even try to strangle each other. Their tirades are offset now and then by an off-kilter saxophone march that sounds like something from the Russian circus in Moscow on the Hudson. Yet the circumstances that have brought these men together are anything but funny. Once friends, Tatsuo and Seiji are on their way to attend the funeral of a woman named Ayako, who has recently committed suicide. At various times, she was the gangster’s lover and the cop’s wife,...
- 1/4/2011
- by Dave Wilson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
The first half of Masahiro Kobayashi’s Bootleg Film (1999) has the sensibility of a black comedy and the texture of a fractured, sixties art film. An aging, heavy drinking yakuza named Tatsuo (Akira Emoto) and a humorless, scowling cop named Seiji (Kippei Shiina), drive through a stark winter landscape, trading insults, swigging cans of Heineken, and tossing their empty cans into the backseat. They bicker, they quote lines from movies, and they even try to strangle each other. Their tirades are offset now and then by an off-kilter saxophone march that sounds like something from the Russian circus in Moscow on the Hudson. Yet the circumstances that have brought these men together are anything but funny. Once friends, Tatsuo and Seiji are on their way to attend the funeral of a woman named Ayako, who has recently committed suicide. At various times, she was the gangster’s lover and the cop’s wife,...
- 1/4/2011
- by Dave Wilson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Facets has just announced that in November they'll be releasing a box set of the four films by Masahiro Kobayashi (Bootleg Film, The Rebirth, Man Walking On Snow and Bashing) under the name Kobayashi Four. We particularly enjoyed Bootleg Film here at 24Fps and definitely recommend checking out the director's work. I think it's safe to say we're all very much looking forward to his Haru To No Tabi with Tatsuya Nakadai later this year. Anyway, the box is due out Nov. 23rd in the Us with a price tag of $56 if you order it through Facets or Amazon.
- 8/31/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
The official website for Masahiro Kobayashi‘s Haru to no Tabi (something like “A Trip with Haru”) was re-launched yesterday, complete with a 2+ minute trailer.
Tatsuya Nakadai stars as Tadao, an ex-fisherman who lives with his 18-year-old granddaughter Haru (Eri Tokunaga) in a small harborside house in Hokkaido. Haru, who dreams of moving to Tokyo, recently lost her job, and Tadao can’t help but be a burden on her due to his injured leg. Unable to afford nursing home care, Tadao’s only option is to turn to his estranged brothers who he’s completely avoided until now due to incidents in the past. As Haru witnesses the conflict between her grandfather and his family first-hand, new emotions begin to build.
As reported by Tokyograph last April, Kobayashi (“Man Walking on Snow”, “Bashing”) began this project with the lofty intention of creating a modern film in a similar vein...
Tatsuya Nakadai stars as Tadao, an ex-fisherman who lives with his 18-year-old granddaughter Haru (Eri Tokunaga) in a small harborside house in Hokkaido. Haru, who dreams of moving to Tokyo, recently lost her job, and Tadao can’t help but be a burden on her due to his injured leg. Unable to afford nursing home care, Tadao’s only option is to turn to his estranged brothers who he’s completely avoided until now due to incidents in the past. As Haru witnesses the conflict between her grandfather and his family first-hand, new emotions begin to build.
As reported by Tokyograph last April, Kobayashi (“Man Walking on Snow”, “Bashing”) began this project with the lofty intention of creating a modern film in a similar vein...
- 3/27/2010
- Nippon Cinema
Locarno, a Swiss fest dedicated to indie arthouse fair, especially with an arthouse lilt, has unveiled its lineup and it includes 10 world premiers. Locarno premiers serious weirdness (and awesomeness) like David Manuli's Beket (review here) which bowed last year.
I have yet to go through everything, so I'm just posting this as of now.
Check the full lineup after the break.
The Locarno Film Festival
Piazza Grande
"500 Days of Summer," Marc Webb, U.S. (opener)
"Blue Sofa" (short), Giuseppe Baresi, Pippo Delbono, Lara Fremder, Italy
"The Two Horses of Genghis Khan" (closer), Byambasuren Davaa, Germany
"Giulias Verschwinden," Christoph Schaub, Switzerland
"La Guerre des fils de la lumiere contre les fils des tenebres," Amos Gitai, France
"The Valley," Mihaly Gyorik, Switzerland-Italy-Hungary
"Les Derniers jours du monde," Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu, France-Spain-Taiwan
"Les Yeux de Simone" (short), Jean-Louis Porchet, Switzerland-France
"My Sister's Keeper," Nick Cassavetes, U.S.
"Petit Indi," Marc Recha,...
I have yet to go through everything, so I'm just posting this as of now.
Check the full lineup after the break.
The Locarno Film Festival
Piazza Grande
"500 Days of Summer," Marc Webb, U.S. (opener)
"Blue Sofa" (short), Giuseppe Baresi, Pippo Delbono, Lara Fremder, Italy
"The Two Horses of Genghis Khan" (closer), Byambasuren Davaa, Germany
"Giulias Verschwinden," Christoph Schaub, Switzerland
"La Guerre des fils de la lumiere contre les fils des tenebres," Amos Gitai, France
"The Valley," Mihaly Gyorik, Switzerland-Italy-Hungary
"Les Derniers jours du monde," Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu, France-Spain-Taiwan
"Les Yeux de Simone" (short), Jean-Louis Porchet, Switzerland-France
"My Sister's Keeper," Nick Cassavetes, U.S.
"Petit Indi," Marc Recha,...
- 7/15/2009
- QuietEarth.us
- The jury composed of Walter Carvalho, Saverio Costanzo, Irène Jacob, Jia Zhang-ke, Romuald Karmakar and Bruno Todeschini gave out a bunch of leopards on the weekend. Masahiro Kobayashi (see pic above) won the Golden Leopard for his film Ai no yokan (The Rebirth). Best Director was awarded to Capitaine Achab by Philippe Ramos (France) and the Special Jury Prize went to Memories (Jeonju Digital Project 2007) by Pedro Costa, Harun Farocki and Eugène Green. Spanish actress Carmen Maura and the French actor Michel Piccoli both received an Excellence Award (Michel Piccoli also received the prize for best actor in Sous les toits de Paris, joint winner was Michele Venitucci in Fuori dalle corde). And finally (and not surprisingly), Death at a Funeral (the Brit comedy by Frank Oz) won the audience award – this making it the 5th or 6th time that it has walked away from an international festival with such honors.
- 8/13/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
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