Tales from Earthsea: a fantasy film lacking in sparkle and wonder
Goro Miyazaki, “Tales from Earthsea / Gedo senki” (2006) Watching this film, gorgeous as it is visually, I couldn’t help but feel that it’s a classic…
Japanese Films
Reviews of films from Japan.
Over Your Dead Body: an extreme, almost cartoon-ish horror ghost film homage where life imitates art
Takashi Miike, “Over Your Dead Body” (2014) From the incredibly prolific director Takashi Miike, who never met a film genre he couldn’t make an insanely extreme…
5 Centimetres per Second: an insubstantial trilogy on the fleeting nature of youthful love, hope and desire
Makoto Shinkai, “5 Centimetres per Second” (2007) As with his “Your Name”, Makoto Shinkai’s earlier “5 Centimetres per Second” is a teenage romance based around desire,…
Your Name: teenage romance comedy drama comes with an unexpected twist sending it into disaster sci-fi fantasy
Makoto Shinkai, “Your Name” (2016) At first this teenage romance drama seems to be just as sappy and sentimental as any other such film – especially…
Kuroneko: an ordinary ghost horror story saved by expressionist cinematography and social commentary
Kaneto Shindo, “Kuroneko” (1968) A companion piece to his earlier classic “Onibaba”, Shindo’s “Kuroneko” explores vengeance and human desires for love in the setting of a…
Blade of the Immortal: one wearying bloodbath after another in a film on obsessive vengeance, duty and the hell of immortality
Takashi Miike, “Blade of the Immortal” (2017) Condensed from 30 volumes of manga into a single work of about 140 minutes, this film was probably always…
Zatoichi: a colourful package of comedy, violence and drama masks an unoriginal plot and characters not always worthy of sympathy
Takeshi Kitano, “Zatoichi” (2003) Based in part on the television and film series revolving around the adventures of itinerant blind masseur / swordsman Zatoichi in late…
Memoirs of a Geisha: overblown rags-to-riches soap opera romance with a shallow and conservative message
Rob Marshall, “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2002) Essentially a variation on the Cinderella story through Western stereotypes about geisha and their role and function in Japanese…
High and Low: a crime thriller of downfall and redemption, and a plea for compassion for material and spiritual suffering
Akira Kurosawa, “High and Low” (1963) Most movies based on pulp crime / police procedural novels rarely exceed their pulpy inspirations but legendary Japanese director Akira…
A pointless rehash of a low budget TV series in “Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone”
Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki, “Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” Since the original “Neon Genesis Evangelion” anime series aired on TV over two decades…