After he had cut ties with production company Nikkatsu, director Seijun Suzuki struggled for a long time to find new projects, due to the structure of the Japanese film industry as a whole and his recognition as someone who could not follow orders. With “Zigeunerweisen”, released over a decade after his last work for Nikkatsu, he returned to the spotlight in a way, directing a feature that would also mark a blend of his former stylistic approach as well as new themes and aesthetics. “Kagero-za” is the second entry into the so-called Taisho trilogy, named after the period all three features are set in, and is widely regarded as perhaps the best one in the series. While the feature may prove just as challenging for the viewer, narratively and stylistically, as the other entries in the trilogy, the story about disorientation as well as past and present longings contains some...
- 2/3/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The samurai special police force known as the Shinsengumi has been solidified as a significant part of Japanese history. The army of passionate warriors organized by the bakufu did everything in their power to try and protect the Tokugawa shogunate, as political conflict, bloodshed and war spread across Japan. Despite their controversial reputation, they remain popular in pop culture and entertainment. Various media would depict them, from anime to J-dramas to movies. One of the most popular feature films to adapt the true story of these violent warriors is Tadashi Sawashima’s “Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor.”
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
Director Tadashi Sawashima is primarily known for directing yakuza features. Still, he was no stranger to period pieces, so he is a fitting filmmaker to tell the story of the controversial bakufu swordsmen. Writing the screenplay is Kenro Matsuura and producing the...
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
Director Tadashi Sawashima is primarily known for directing yakuza features. Still, he was no stranger to period pieces, so he is a fitting filmmaker to tell the story of the controversial bakufu swordsmen. Writing the screenplay is Kenro Matsuura and producing the...
- 12/16/2022
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
by Fred Barrett
Released during the early years of what would ultimately be the Japanese New Wave’s final decade, Toshio Matsumoto’s second feature length film “Demons” has unfortunately dwelled in relative obscurity when compared to his most famous work, the 1969 arthouse fantasy-horror docudrama “Funeral Parade of Roses”.
When contrasted with the experimental approach that marked his cinematic debut, Matsumoto’s sophomore effort is a comparatively straightforward tale of bloody, delirious revenge. It tells the story of Gengobe Satsuma, an exiled samurai who yearns to join the legendary 47 ronin in their quest to avenge the death of their master. Just as an opportunity to get back into his former clan’s good graces arises in the form of 100 ryo, Gengobe learns that his lover Koman, a geisha, is about to be sold to another samurai. Gengobe uses the money to pay her ransom but soon discovers that he has...
Released during the early years of what would ultimately be the Japanese New Wave’s final decade, Toshio Matsumoto’s second feature length film “Demons” has unfortunately dwelled in relative obscurity when compared to his most famous work, the 1969 arthouse fantasy-horror docudrama “Funeral Parade of Roses”.
When contrasted with the experimental approach that marked his cinematic debut, Matsumoto’s sophomore effort is a comparatively straightforward tale of bloody, delirious revenge. It tells the story of Gengobe Satsuma, an exiled samurai who yearns to join the legendary 47 ronin in their quest to avenge the death of their master. Just as an opportunity to get back into his former clan’s good graces arises in the form of 100 ryo, Gengobe learns that his lover Koman, a geisha, is about to be sold to another samurai. Gengobe uses the money to pay her ransom but soon discovers that he has...
- 3/12/2022
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
Based on four ghost stories from books of Lafcadio Hearn, Masaki Kobayashi’s first effort in the genre and in color film was a huge success, netting him the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Eureka presents the film in its uncut, 183-minute-version, in a rather impressive 2K digital restoration.
The first part, titled “The Black Hair” revolves around an impoverished samurai, who, tired of being poor, abandons his wife who loved him passionately, for a woman of higher statute and wealth. However, soon he comes across his new wife’s cruelty and begins missing his first wife’s love. Alas, when he finally manages to return, he is met with the worst fate of all.
This part has a highly didactic tone, about the benefits of loyalty and the blights of blind ambition. However,...
The first part, titled “The Black Hair” revolves around an impoverished samurai, who, tired of being poor, abandons his wife who loved him passionately, for a woman of higher statute and wealth. However, soon he comes across his new wife’s cruelty and begins missing his first wife’s love. Alas, when he finally manages to return, he is met with the worst fate of all.
This part has a highly didactic tone, about the benefits of loyalty and the blights of blind ambition. However,...
- 3/26/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
What makes a Ghost Story scary? This classic was almost too artistic for the Japanese. Masaki Kobayashi's four stories of terror work their spells through intensely beautiful images -- weirdly painted skies, strange mists -- and a Toru Takemitsu audio track that incorporates strange sounds as spooky musical punctuation. Viewers never forget the Woman of the Snow, or the faithful Hoichi the Earless. Finally restored to its full three-hour length. Kwaidan Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 90 1964 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 183 161, 125 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 20, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Michiyo Aratama, Rentaro Mikuni; Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiko Kishi; Katsuo Nakamura, Tetsurao Tanba, Takashi Shimura; Osamu Takizawa. Cinematography Yoshio Miyajima Film Editor Hisashi Sagara Art Direction Shigemasa Toda Set Decoration Dai Arakawa Costumes Masahiro Kato Original Music Toru Takemitsu Written by Yoko Mizuki from stories collected by Kiozumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) Produced by Shigeru Wakatsuki Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 10/20/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Eclipse's Oshima's Outlaw Sixties DVD box set is the first serious attempt to represent Nagisa Oshima's 1960s filmography on North American home video. The marketing of this box tends to make Oshima seem like a Eastern Jean Luc-Godard, but like other members of the so-called Japanese New Wave, Oshima worked in a completely different aesthetic, cultural and political space.
Nagisa Oshima's feature film career can be roughly divided into three periods: Shochiko (1959-1960), Sozosha (1965-1972), and Euro-Japanese co-productions (1976-1986). The Eclipse box set presents five films from the beginning of the Sozosha period, including Pleasures of the Flesh (1965/B&W), Violence at Noon (1966/B&W), Sing a Song of Sex (1967/Color), Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (1967/B&W), and Three Resurrected Drunkards (1968/Color). These films make use key themes that Oshima would return to throughout his career like criminality, sexual deviance, the Japanese left, militarism, and Japanese-Korean relations. However,...
Nagisa Oshima's feature film career can be roughly divided into three periods: Shochiko (1959-1960), Sozosha (1965-1972), and Euro-Japanese co-productions (1976-1986). The Eclipse box set presents five films from the beginning of the Sozosha period, including Pleasures of the Flesh (1965/B&W), Violence at Noon (1966/B&W), Sing a Song of Sex (1967/Color), Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (1967/B&W), and Three Resurrected Drunkards (1968/Color). These films make use key themes that Oshima would return to throughout his career like criminality, sexual deviance, the Japanese left, militarism, and Japanese-Korean relations. However,...
- 5/24/2010
- Screen Anarchy
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