The seventeenth edition of Japan Cuts is officially just over a week away, and the festival just added two more titles to its feature slate: Kentaro Hagiwara’s latest screen treatment of Tsubasa Yamaguchi’s upcoming Blue Period, and Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s animated adventure, Look Back, which released in Japan cinemas last week. It was crucial to mention this as I push ahead with coverage this month, especially since now I’m raising the curtain on select titles I think folks might take a liking to.
Granted, I haven’t seen the aforementioned titles, but I did get to preview a good deal of what is on the roster, some of which I will have written up. That especially goes for Shun Nakagawa’s new teen drama, Sayonara, Girls., which stars lead VO role actress in Look Back, Yuumi Kawai. That film is one of six in the Next Generation raft of titles, along with another in Tanaka Toshihiko’s, Rei, a three-hour romantic drama chronicling a woman’s romantic entanglement with a deaf mute photographer after discovering his work in a playbill.
The Feature Slate also sees director Gakuryu “Sogo” Ishii marking his return to Japan Cuts two-fold, firstly with his latest oddity, The Box Man, which tackles the travails of a man living in a box as he works to solve the mystery of the science quacks who’ve become obsessed with him. That film stars Masatoshi Nagase, Koichi Sato, Ayana Shiramoto, and the incomparable Tadanobu Asano, and had its world premiere in Berlin earlier this year. Ishii’s work will also get some space in the Classics section with August In The Water, the story of a diving prodigy whose near-death experience becomes the driving force behind the frenzied media storm in lieu of mysterious anomalies and crimes.
Sho Miyake’s All The Long Nights, which centers on two peoples’ efforts to cope with their psychological impairments while functioning in normal everyday society. Shinya Tsukamoto’s Shadow Of Fire would be another worthwhile feat to check out, particularly since that film is billed as the third in the director’s third in a series of brutal and cerebrally intense anti-war pictures, the previous two being Fires On The Plain and sword drama, Killing. There’s also SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic, a reiteration of the 2016 hit from directing duo Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi which released in the U.S. in color from Funimation Films, making this re-touched re-release a treat to catch following Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla: Minus One, and its immediate re-edited successor, Godzilla: Minus One/Minus Color.
I did want to mention Kubi as well. At once presumed to be Takeshi Kitano’s final film, clearly that’s not the case. Still, that doesn’t take away from the thrill of seeing Kitano’s brand of dark humor woven in a Sengoku-era tapestry drenched in blood and taboo, and laid out in a subversive take on feudal Japanese history. The film bowed at Cannes last year to mixed reviews and continues its festival run this year as we await for what else lies ahead in Kitano’s endeavors.
There are other titles I would like to check out, including those in the Documentary section. As for the shorts programs, I did offer up an early look at the Short Cuts which you can check out here if shortfilms are more your thing, and they really are fascinating.
At any rate though, the features here are ripe for the taking, and a few of these are either selling out or are already sold out. I’m listing ten titles as the must-sees for any and all with Japan Cuts in mind as part of their summer plans, and some of these titles will be reviewed by contributors other than myself, which is awesome for a change.
Check it all out below along with all the notes via the festival, and hop on over to the Japan Cuts section of the Japan Society official website for more information.
North American Premiere – Opening Night Film with Director Masanori Tominaga Q&A and Reception. Music sweeps through 1980s Ginza, a glamorous and dangerous neighborhood where well heeled Tokyoites, artists and thugs all sway together under the power of jazz. Sosuke Ikematsu stars in this spiraling, splintering, intersecting Mobius strip of a film based on the memoirs of jazz pianist Hiroshi Minami and a single night and a forbidden song that changes destiny. Also featuring Japanese pop star Crystal Kay.
Dir. Masanori Tominaga, 2023, 94 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Sosuke Ikematsu, Riisa Naka, Go Morita, Crystal Kay.
North American Premiere. With graduation around the corner, a group of students at Shimada High School in Yamanashi Prefecture spend their final days processing their time together and the future ahead knowing that the school building will soon be demolished: Tokyo-bound Kyoko (Rina Komiyama) considers the boyfriend she will leave behind; Shiori (Tomo Nakai) seeks to overcome her debilitating shyness; music club leader Yuki (Rina Ono) manages the drama of the graduation concert; and Manami (Yuumi Kawai) wrestles with past trauma while preparing to deliver the school’s farewell speech. Led by an impressive cast of young actresses, Shun Nakagawa’s poignant feature debut deftly captures the bittersweet sensitivity of adolescence.
Dir. Shun Nakagawa, 2022, 120 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yuumi Kawai, Rina Komiyama, Tomo Nakai, Rina Ono.
North American Premiere. Hikari (Takara Suzuki) lives and works in Tokyo. Unhappy in the big city, she can’t find meaning in her existence until she meets Masato (writer/director/producer/editor/actor Toshihiko Tanaka), a photographer from far off Hokkaido. This connection leads to an adventure, loneliness, dependency and a destructive love affair. Toshihiko Tanaka’s directorial debut couples powerful views of Hokkaido’s vast landscapes with the staggering internal mindscapes of our most intimate joys and fears.
Dir. Toshihiko Tanaka, 2024, 190 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Takara Suzuki, Maeko Oyama, Shogo Moriyama, Toshihiko Tanaka.
U.S. Premiere. Based on Maiko Seo’s novel of the same name, All the Long Nights stars Mone Kamishiraishi as meek working professional Misa who suffers from an acute case of PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) that leaves her mercurial—resulting in workplace incidents, inevitably contributing to her inability to hold onto jobs. After five years of unsteady employment, Misa finds a sense of belonging in the quiet offices of Kurita Science Corp. assembling parts for children’s science kits, but her peace is disrupted by the solitary and anti-social Takatoshi (Hokuto Matsumura, Suzume), whose benign everyday rituals trigger her. Takatoshi, suffering from a severe panic disorder, shares a mutual difficulty in struggling to function in everyday life, and once the pair find the right footing, they compassionately push each other to live out “normal lives” despite their debilitating conditions. Shot on 16mm, director Sho Miyake’s (And Your Bird Can Sing, JC 2019) tender drama draws out a nuanced character study of the two, weaving together a deeply human story that shines through with the talents of its endearing leads.
Dir. Sho Miyake, 2024, 119 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mone Kamishiraishi, Hokuto Matsumura, Ken Mitsuishi.
North American Premiere. The latest feature from Kyoshi Sugita (Haruhara-san’s Recorder) is a film of repose, quietly serene and introspective. Haru (An Ogawa), a bookstore clerk, holds tightly to her cassette player which plays recordings of her late mother, encountering both Yukiko and Tsuyoshi in her daily routines. Whether drawn together by chance, deliberate choice or mere happenstance, they share a familiar sense of solace in their everyday lives. A film of stillness and quotidian beauty, Following the Sound features all the hallmarks of Sugita’s lyrical stylings.
Dir. Kyoshi Sugita, 2023, 84 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With An Ogawa, Yuko Nakamura, Hidekazu Mashima.
International Premiere. Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s 21st century masterpiece is reborn with this stunning black-and-white version, released in Japan last year in the leadup to Godzilla’s 70th anniversary. A major critical and commercial success that earned seven Japan Academy Prize awards, Shin Godzilla (2016) pays tribute to the monster movie franchise’s origins while reinventing the iconic kaiju within the context of Japan’s political present. Proposed by Anno and overseen by Higuchi, ORTHOchromatic adds new dimensions to the film’s visual impact by rendering it in orthochromatic (“ortho” for short) black-and-white, a type of monochrome characterized by starker contrasts and more pronounced blacks. The results are awe-inspiring and presents Shin Godzilla as never seen before.
Dir. Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, 2023, 119 min., DCP, black and white, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara.
North American Premiere. Shunji Iwai (Swallowtail Butterfly, All About Lily Chou-Chou) brings an enchanting new experience to the screen. Starring singer AiNA THE END in her first leading role, Kyrie tells the story of a street musician who cannot speak and can only communicate through song. With a cast rounded out by acclaimed young actors Hokuto Matsumura, Haru Kuroki and Suzu Hirose, the film is told across over 10 years and explores the delicate shape of young love, hurt and family. What tragedy stole Kyrie’s voice? What thread connects her to her friends? And what future can they weave together? Iwai’s Kyrie is a powerful and painful odyssey propelled forward by a stirring musical collaboration between AiNA THE END and Takeshi Kobayashi, the songwriter for Lily Chou-Chou (Salyu) and Swallowtail Butterfly’s Yen Town Band.
Dir. Shunji Iwai, 2023, 178 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With AiNA THE END, Hokuto Matsumura, Haru Kuroki, Suzu Hirose.
North American Premiere. Former Nogizaka46 idol Marika Ito stars in the fourth installment of the “(not) HEROINE” movie series, which also includes I Am What I Am (JAPAN CUTS 2023). The (not) HEROINE project focuses on up-and-coming actresses and next-generation directors to create films from unique perspectives and non-traditional, female-focused stories. Cha-Cha is the love story between the titular Cha-Cha, a free-spirited artist, and Raku, a boy with increasingly questionable tastes. Cha-Cha is painted with the whimsical colors of a romantic comedy at its surface that belie much, much, much darker hues to be found in its deranged depths. Cha-Cha is silly, sweet, screwball, and completely unexpected.
Dir. Mai Sakai, 2024, 108 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Marika Ito.
U.S. Premiere & Centerpiece Film – Followed by Mirai Moriyama CUT ABOVE Award presentation, Q&A with Shinya Tsukamoto and Mirai Moriyama, and Reception. The sickness of postwar Japan runs at a fever pitch in Shinya Tsukamoto’s (Tetsuo the Iron Man, Bullet Ballet) latest entry to his war trilogy, following his acclaimed wartime dramas Fires on the Plain and Killing (JC 2019). A chamber drama that evolves beyond its initial setup, Shadow of Fire opens with the chance rendezvous of two survivors—an orphan child who steals food from the black market (Oga Tsukao) and a woman forced to sell her body (Shuri) in the ruins of a burnt-out tavern. The introduction of a young soldier still tormented by the war and a mysterious stranger (played by 2024 CUT ABOVE Award recipient Mirai Moriyama) bring new complications to the pair’s impermanent way of life. An unflinching examination of the immediate postwar chaos, Tsukamoto’s masterful direction once again offers a brutally searing critique of war as Shadow of Fire portrays a populace fashioned into specters, unable to reckon with the trauma of the past.
Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto, 2023, 95 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Shuri, Mirai Moriyama, Oga Tsukao, Hiroki Kono.
New York Premiere. 77-year-old icon of Japanese film and television Takeshi Kitano (Outrage Coda, JC 2018) returns to the big screen in epic fashion with his 19th feature as producer, director, screenwriter, editor and star. A long-gestating passion project that Kitano also published as a novel, KUBI (Japanese for “neck”) is a bloody and comically subversive retelling of the famous 1582 Honnoji Incident in which the samurai warlord Oda Nobunaga —vigorously portrayed by Ryo Kase (To the Ends of the Earth) as an unhinged sadist—is betrayed through the covert machinations of his retainers Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Kitano) and Mitsuhide Akechi (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Drive My Car). Necks will be cut and heads will roll!
Dir. Takeshi Kitano, 2023, 131 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Takeshi Kitano, Ryo Kase, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Shido Nakamura.
