A Tattooed Life: underrated yakuza character study expressing anti-nationalist nihilism
Seijun Suzuki, “A Tattooed Life / Irezumi Ichidai” (1965) A surprisingly touching and quite emotional
Category: Japanese Films
Reviews of films from Japan.
Royal Space Force – the Wings of Honnêamise: a handsome coming-of-age film about individual and communal redemption
Hiroyuki Yamaga, “Royal Space Force – the Wings of Honnêamise / Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no
Steamboy: epic cyberpunk film shooting its load too quickly and running out of steam
Katsuhiro Otomo, “Steamboy / Suchimoboi” (2004) A decade in the making, Katsuhiro Otomo’s second full-length
Suicide Club: gory horror flick intended as interrogation of the state of modern Japanese society
Sion Sono, “Suicide Club / Jisatsu Sakuru” (2002) Famous for its controversial premise, full-on gory
Branded to Kill: existentialist yakuza thriller parody of the corporate rat-race and its values
Seijun Suzuki, “Branded to Kill / Koroshi no Rakuin” (1967) After his previous gangster flick
Tokyo Drifter: surreal pop-art gangster flick riffing on corporate loyalty and surviving in a corrupt world
Seijun Suzuki, “Tokyo Drifter / Tokyo nagaremono” (1966) A tale of larger-than-life characters grappling with
Laputa, Castle in the Sky: a joyful adventure film with an earnest social responsibility message
Hayao Miyazaki, “Laputa, Castle in the Sky / Tenko no shiro Ryaputa” (1986) One of
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: visually beautiful film with a strong but naive and woolly-brained ecological message
Hayao Miyazaki, “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind / Kaze no tani no Naushika”
The 47 Ronin (dir. Hiroshi Inagaki): a drawn-out epic about maintaining abstract ideals in a changing society
Hiroshi Inagaki, “The 47 Ronin / Chushingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki” (1962) The
She and Her Cat: short visual haiku meditating on doomed romance, loneliness and alienation in an overwhelming industrial world
Makoto Shinkai, “She and Her Cat” (1999) The debut animé film by Makoto Shinkai as