With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013
With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

Friday, March 08, 2019

Exciting new series THE OTHER JAPANESE NEW WAVE: RADICAL FILMS FROM 1958-61 coming to Japan Society early in April

Japan Society NY
Presents
Blood is Dry © 1960 Shochiku Co., Ltd.
The Other Japanese New Wave: Radical Films from 1958-61
When: April 5-27, 2019
Where: Japan Society NY
333 East 47th Street, NYC
Map

With its inception in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Japanese New Wave ushered in a postwar generation of politically engaged and artistically adventurous filmmakers that radically transformed the country's cinema in theory and practice. Looking beyond internationally lauded figures such as Nagisa Oshima and Masahiro Shinoda, The Other Japanese New Wave: Radical Films from 1958-61 aims to reexamine this dynamic moment in Japanese film history with the introduction of work by lesser-known studio directors, auteurs, documentarists and student filmmakers, including newly subtitled rarities imported from Japan never-before-seen in the U.S.

The series launches on April 5th with Kiju Yoshida’s debut feature Good-for-Nothing, introduced by series curator Go Hirasawa. A key figure in the birth of the New Wave at Shochiku, Yoshida is representative of the major studio’s attempt to attract Japan’s declining movie audiences by giving fledgling assistant directors a chance to make youth-oriented feature films. Also included in the series are rarely discussed Shochiku directors Eitaro Morikawa (The Tragedy of Bushido), Osamu Takahashi (Only She Knows) and Tsutomu Tamura, who simultaneously made their first films as part of the New Wave alongside Yoshida. A highlight of the series, Tamura’s exceedingly unavailable The Samurai Vagabonds will screen on an archival 35mm print with new English subtitles prepared by Japan Society. Rounding out the selection of studio films in the series are Yoshida’s overlooked second feature for Shochiku (Blood is Dry), a stark critique of capitalist consumerism, and two bold Nikkatsu titles directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara (The Age of Our Own and The Warped Ones) that build upon the themes and formal experiments of the studio’s youth-in-revolt “Sun Tribe” (taiyozoku) films.

Other series highlights include a selection of films made outside of the studio system by filmmakers, theorists and writers invested in uniting film theory with praxis. Following a free curator’s talk on April 6, Hirasawa introduces the shorts program “New Wave Rarities,” which includes a self-produced student film from Nihon University Film Study Club (Conversation Between Nail and Socks), a documentary by Shinkichi Noda (Forgotten Land), and an experimental portrait of political unrest (Anpo Joyaku) by Toshio Matsumoto (Funeral Parade of Roses). Later in the same day, Hirasawa introduces a 35mm screening of Eizo Yamagiwa’s virtually unknown independent feature The End of Love. Long thought lost until a negative was discovered only a couple of years ago, The End of Love will screen in the U.S. for the first time, presented with new English subtitles by Japan Society.

“The history of the Japanese New Wave remains largely unwritten, especially for English-speaking audiences,” says Kazu Watanabe, Deputy Director of Film at Japan Society. “While major films by canonical filmmakers are widely screened and analyzed, they only scratch the surface of this fascinating yet elusive period of Japanese filmmaking. I’m grateful to Go Hirasawa for coming up with such a deep and wide-ranging selection of titles—full of discoveries that offer new insight into the genesis and contexts of the New Wave in Japan—and I greatly look forward to sharing them with New York audiences.”

The Other Japanese New Wave: Radical Films from 1968-61 is curated by Go Hirasawa, researcher at Meiji-Gakuin University, and organized by Japan Society. In coordination with Japan Society, Harvard Film Archive will host the series concurrently (April 1-27) in Cambridge.

For further information about the full schedule, descriptions of each film and to buy tickets, click here.

Saturday, March 02, 2019

DOUBLE SUICIDE at Japan Society NY on March 8th at 7:00 PM

Japan Society NY
Presents
Double Suicide © 1969 Hyogensha/ATG
Double Suicide / Shinju Ten no Amijima
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda
With Kichiemon Nakamura, Shima Iwashita,
Shizue Kawarazaki, and Tokie Hidari
Japan, 1969, 104 minutes
35mm, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles

When: Friday, March 8, 2019 at 7:00 PM
Where: Japan Society
333 East 47th Street, NYC
Tickets: $14/$11 seniors & students/$5 member

New Wave director Masahiro Shinoda utilizes classic Japanese theatrical conventions and avant-garde film techniques to stunning effect in this brilliant modernist adaptation of Monzaemon Chikamatsu's 18th-century bunraku puppet play about the doomed romance of a married Osaka paper merchant and a courtesan. Among the first films produced by independent film company Art Theatre Guild (ATG)—whose productions from the late 1960s through the 1980s pushed Japanese arthouse cinema in radical new directions—Double Suicide features contributions by some of the era's most innovative artistic collaborators, including composer (and co-writer) Toru Takemitsu and production designer/art director Kiyoshi Awazu.

This screening is part of Japan Society NY's Monthly Classics film series.

Related Exhibition:
Radicalism in the Wilderness: Japanese Artists in the Global 1960s
March 8—June 9, 2019

Friday, March 01, 2019

TOKYO LIVING DEAD IDOL coming Tuesday, March 5th, 2019 on Blu-ray

Tokyo Living Dead Idol / Tôkyô ribingu deddo aidoru
Written and directed by Yûki Kumagai
Japan, 2018, 83 minutes

Published by: Kraken Releasing
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Street Date: 3/5/2019
Format: BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $19.98

Tokyo Living Dead Idol, a charming and delightful zombie romp, will be available next Tuesday, March 5th on Blu-ray.

Synopsis:
Tokyo 27-ku's the hottest pop group around, but when singer Kamiya Miku (Nana Asakawa) gets bitten by a zombie, she goes from being on top of the charts to the top of the most wanted lists! With just 72 hours until the sizzling chanteuse becomes a shuffling zombie, Miku's only hope is finding a serum that might possibly cure her. Unfortunately, if Miku can't reach the antidote in time, she's going to transform from songbird to a dead bird singing in the middle of the night, and evading paparazzi and zealous fans is nothing compared to being pursued by teams of professional zombie hunters, the police and hordes of the living dead! From life in the fast lane to racing through the hot zone, becoming a zombie can totally bite when you're the TOKYO LIVING DEAD IDOL!

South Korean financial drama DEFAULT is now available

CJ Entertainment
Presents
Default / Gukgabudo-ui Nal
Directed by CHOI Kook-hee
South Korea, 2018, 114 minutes

Default, takes a look back at a difficult time for South Korea – the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. It is directed by CHOI Kook-hee, who was awarded the Best Debut award at the Fantasia International Film Festival for his feature debut in 2016, Split. In Default, CHOI presents an enthralling storyline and a sense of emotional connection to a time when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy. The film was recently released on Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play.

Default begins with Si-hyun (KIM Hye-soo), the monetary policy manager at the Bank of Korea, predicting a massive national financial crisis and reporting it to the Director. The Director doesn't schedule an emergency summit until 10 days later but does it without notifying the public of the situation. Si-hyun urges for the crisis to be announced in order to warn people of the looming disaster, but her plea is ignored. The summit is held behind closed doors.

Jung-hak (YOO Ah-in), a financial consultant, notices Korea is suddenly hemorrhaging foreign funds, and he learns the reason is that international finance firms have ordered an all-out investment withdrawal from the country, which has caused the credit rating to plummet. He hands in his resignation and decides to play the odds on what he’s sure is a coming crisis. He secretly starts gathering investors willing to do the same.

Gap-su (HUH Joon-ho), a family man who runs a small tableware factory, has a big break and wins a contract with a department store. The fact that the price settlement terms equal to little more than a promissory note concerns him only briefly, and oblivious to the looming financial upheaval, Gap-su signs the contract. The Managing Director of IMF (Vincent Cassel) comes to Korea just one week before the country goes bust, and that is when those who try to prevent the crisis, those who seek to take advantage of it, and those only trying to protect their livelihood are caught in the wake of a national bankruptcy.

Default stars KIM Hye-soo (Tazza: The High Rollers), YOO Ah-in (Veteran), HUH Joon-ho (Silmido), JO Woo-jin (The King), and Vincent Cassel (Jason Bourne).

This film, produced by Zip CInema, is distributed by CJ Entertainment. The cost is $15.99 to purchase High Definition (HD), $11.99 to purchase Standard Definition (SD), $4.99 to rent High Definition (HD), and $3.99 to rent Standard Definition (SD).

SECTION23 FILMS has announced its April 2019 slate of releases


Home video distributor Section23 Films has announced its April slate of releases which includes Sentai Filmworks psychological thriller series KOKKOKU, available on Blu-ray April 16th.

Product details, in order of release:

Title: IS IT WRONG TO EXPECT A HOT SPRING IN A DUNGEON?! BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 25 min.
Street Date: 4/9/2019
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $19.98

SYNOPSIS: Our band of bold adventurers has just blown through the 18th level of the world's most fearsome dungeon, so what do they do for an encore? Since the city of Orario doesn't have a theme park, the next choice for Bell, Hestia, Lilly and the gang would seem to be a trip to the hot springs… and, conveniently enough, a battle with some hellhounds has led them to an undiscovered underground oasis! However, there's something fishy about these springs, beyond the fact that Hermes happens to have bathing suits for all the ladies in their correct sizes! Will the secret be discovered before it's too late? Will Hestia finally come clean with Bell? It'll all come out in the wash when our heroes learn the answer to: IS IT WRONG TO EXPECT A HOT SPRING IN A DUNGEON?!!


Title: PRINCESS RESURRECTION BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 650 min.
Street Date: 4/9/2019
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $59.98

SYNOPSIS: When Hiro Hiyorimi tries to save a beautiful young woman from certain death, he ends up a dead hero himself! However, since the drop-dead girl is Princess Hime, daughter of the King of the Monsters, his "reward" is to come back as a not-quite-living soldier in her honor guard of horror! That means helping fight off the army of supernatural monstrosities Hime's siblings are unleashing against her in hopes of moving up the ladder of succession. And if facing off with vampires and zombies isn't bad enough, how can anyone be prepared for the truly weird ones like were-sharks, pandas and killer dumplings? This sure isn't the afterlife Hiro was hoping for, but the really sad part is that Hime is the good girl in all of this. Or at least, as close to good as you can come when you're on the wrong side of the gates of Hell! Get ready for the wildest animation about reanimation ever in PRINCESS RESURRECTION - The Complete Collection!


Title: KOKKOKU BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 4/16/2019
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $69.98

SYNOPSIS: Juri Yukawa needs a timeout from her life. She's failed 19 job interviews, she's stuck living with her crazy family, and her chances of escaping to a life of her own are becoming increasingly remote. Suddenly, all of that becomes unimportant when her brother and nephew are kidnapped and held for an impossibly high ransom. That's when Juri's grandfather reveals an incredible secret: a mystical stone that allows Juri, her father and her Grandpa to enter the state of Stasis, where everyone else in the world is frozen in time! That should make rescuing their family easy, right? Wrong, because there's a sinister organization working against them who also can literally beat the clock! It's not a race against time, it's a race outside of time and the dangers are increasing with every non-second in KOKKUKO!


Title: DOREIKU: THE ANIMATION BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 4/23/2019
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $69.98

SYNOPSIS: It's an insidious invention, originally created to control animals. Now it's the ultimate rush for a dark cult of jaded thrill seekers. Place one SCM in your mouth and your opponent does the same. Then play a game… any game… and the winner literally takes control of the loser, binding them to their will and turning them into a personal plaything until the winner decides to set them free - if they ever chose to free them at all. And as the use of SCMs snakes its way through the undercurrents of society, with increasing numbers of unfortunate players bound into submission as drones and harems, the even more terrifying discovery of SCMs that can take over anyone, at any time, threatens to enthrall the rest of the population in DOREIKU - THE ANIMATION!


Title: GATCHAMAN COLLECTORS EDITION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 2880 min.
Street Date: 4/30/2019
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $149.98

SYNOPSIS: Using amazing weapons powered by super-science, the international terrorist organization known as GALACTOR is out to steal all of Earth's resources for itself and its inhuman masters. Mankind's only hope? The International Science Organization and their elite strike force, the Science Ninja Team! But these five young heroes will have their work cut out for them as they take on the seemingly impossible task of defeating GALACTOR's horrific arsenal of mechanized weapons of mass destruction and endless armies of henchmen. Can costumed commandos Ken the Eagle, Joe the Condor, Jun the Swallow, Jinpei the Sparrow and Ryu the Owl really overcome such overwhelming odds? Utilizing the incredible technology and fighting techniques created by Dr. Nambu, and with the mighty ship the God Phoenix at their command, they just might! It's time for the bad guys to get old-schooled science-ninja style as Japan's original super team defeat evil, one flying kick at a time, in the legendary, one and only GATCHAMAN!