A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Reviews of Japanese-language films I find significant or interesting.
Kenji Mizoguchi, “Ugetsu” (1953) Two interwined morality plays about peasants blinded by thoughts of personal fame and glory are the basis for an exploration of love,…
Tadashi Imai, “Yuki: Snow Fairy” (1981) In the hands of Tadashi Imai, notable as a director of social realist films in Japan in the 1950s /…
Kaneto Shindo, “Onibaba” (1964) An old Japanese Buddhist tale of a woman who uses a mask to frighten her daughter from visiting a temple becomes in…
French and French-language Films, Japanese Films
Michaël Dudok de Wiet, “The Red Turtle” (2016) God save us all from pretty packages with lots of high gloss finish and finicky attention to detail…
Noboru Iguchi, “RoboGeisha” (2009) For a film about two sisters and their love-hate relationship, “RoboGeisha” offers more than just the usual floods of tears, emotional declamations…
Akira Kurosawa, “I Live in Fear” (1955) I must admit to not being very impressed with this film: it seems like an over-long and overwrought soap…
Hayao Miyazaki, “Spirited Away” (2001) In many ways, “Spirited Away” represents the peak of Studio Ghibli’s creativity and innovation, and the beginning of its decline as a creator…
Masato Harada, “Kakekomi Onna to Kakedashi Otoko” (2015) A light-hearted historical drama set in Japan during the early 1840s, “Kakekomi …” combines comedy with some social…
Takashi Koizumi, “A Samurai Chronicle” (2014) I’m afraid that these days the Japanese just don’t make samurai dramas the way they used to, with devil-may-care flair…
Kon Ichikawa, “The Makioka Sisters” (1983) Admittedly this is a beautifully shot film and its style is very graceful but even the skill and experience of…