CURE coming to Japan Society NY on October 26th

Japan Society NY

Presents

Cure © 1997 KADOKAWA

Cure / Kyua

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

With Koji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa

Japan, 1997, 11 minutes 

35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles

When: Friday, October 26th at 7:00 PM

Where: Japan Society

333 East 47th Street, NYC

Map

Tickets- $14/$11 seniors & students / $5 members

An international breakout hit that firmly established director Kiyoshi Kurosawa as a master of fear, Cure follows detective Takabe (the great Koji Yakusho) as he investigates a series of gruesome Tokyo murders in which a large X is found carved into the base of each victim's throat. When Takabe confronts the only link to every crime scene, a mysterious drifter who possibly possesses hypnotic powers, he is pulled into an unsettling mind game that risks his own sanity. Utilizing an ingenious visual style that evokes horror in every frame, Kurosawa's deeply unnerving twist on the police procedural suggests modern society's unknowing capacity for unspeakable evil.
 
18+ This film is unrated, but is not recommended for persons younger than 18 years of age due to violent imagery.

BEFORE WE VANISH arriving in theaters on February 2nd

Super LTD

presents

Before We Vanish / Sanpo suru shinryakusha

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Starring Masami Nagasawa (Godzilla: Final Wars), Ryuhei Matsuda (The Raid 2),

Mahiro Takasugi, Yuri Tsunematsu, and Hiroki Hasegawa (Shin Godzilla)

Japan, 2017, 127 minutes

Japanese Language with English Subtitles 

The Acclaimed Cannes Selection Arrives in Cinemas February 2nd From Super LTD

In his twentieth film, acclaimed horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Pulse) reinvents the alien movie as a unique and profoundly human tale of love and mystery. Three aliens travel to Earth on a reconnaissance mission in preparation for a mass invasion. Having taken possession of human bodies, the visitors rob the hosts of their essence – good, evil, property, family, belonging – leaving only hollow shells, which are all but unrecognizable to their loved ones. Equally hilarious, thrilling, and profound, BEFORE WE VANISH reminds audiences of the continued strength of one of Japanese cinema's most unique auteurs – and the value of the human spirit.

DAGUERROTYPE opens on VOD on Tuesday, November 7th

UNDER THE MILKY WAY

Presents

(Photo Credit: Under The Milky Way)

Daguerrotype / Le secret de la chambre noire

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Starring Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, and Oliver Gourmet 

France/Belgium/Japan, 2016, 131 minutes

In French with English subtitles

From acclaimed Japanese master Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Creepy, Pulse), comes Daguerrotype, a classic ghost story bent through the lens of one of the most singular horror visionaries at work today. It will open on VOD Nationwide on Tuesday, November 7 on all major platforms including iTunes, Sony, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft, Vudu, Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vimeo, and various other cable operators.

Jean (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet), a young Parisian with few skills and even fewer prospects, seems an unlikely candidate for assistant to famed photographer Stéphane (Olivier Gourmet), an obsessive perfectionist living in isolation since his wife’s unexpected death. Yet he soon finds himself in his new employer’s vast, decaying mansion, helping to create life-sized daguerrotypes so vivid they seem almost to contain some portion of their subjects’ souls.

Their model is most often Stéphane’s daughter and muse, Marie (Constance Rousseau), and as she and Jean fall in love they realize they must hatch a plot to leave Stéphane’s haunted world forever. But is there something malevolent within the massive daguerrotypes that will prevent their escape?

Daguerrotype was an official selection of the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

ACF 247: Tokyo Sonata opens this Friday

Copyright Regent Releasing

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Japan/Hong Kong/The Netherlands, 2008, 119 mins
In Japanese with English subtitles

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a special preview at Japan Society of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's latest film, which is set to open theatrically in the U.S. this Friday, March 13th, 2009. The auditorium, which has nicely raked and very comfortable seating, was at near capacity, and many in the audience broke into vigorous, heartfelt, and well-deserved, applause at film's end.

Unlike the tales of horror and the supernatural that director Kurosawa is most well known for (such as Cure from 1997 and 2001's Pulse/Kairo), Tokyo Sonatata is a family drama, that coincidentally has great resonance in the harsh realities of America's current economic doldrums.

The Sasaki family is headed by Ryuhei, an administrative salaryman who is downsized out of his job and who hides this development from his wife and two sons. Instead he searches for a new job, only to find out that the only ones available are far below his former postition, and hanging out with other unemployed former bread-winners.

Teruyuki Kagawa, who was recently seen as the sheriff in Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django and in Yasuo Furuhata's The Haunted Samurai/Tsukigami, both from 2007, is perfectly cast as this Japanese everyman who can't quite come to grips with his new lot in life. Largely as a result of his response to the stress of this development, the entire family structure is sent spinning out of control.

His wife Megumi is beautifully portrayed by Kyoko Koizumi. Since 1983 she's been in 35 films according to IMDb, but I didn't recognize any of those listed there. Her finely nuanced performance here is a marvel to behold. She won both the 2008 Hochi Film Award and the 2009 Kinema Junpo Film Award for best actress for her work in Tokyo Sonata and in Gou-Gou datte neko de aru.

Yu Koyanagi has a relatively small role as Takashi, the older brother. A slacker who is described by his father as "a mess," Takashi leaves the family to join the U.S. military to serve in the Middle East.

The pivotal role of Kenji, the younger brother, is superbly handled by Inowaki Kai. An independent spirit, Kenji starts taking piano lessons from a lovely young female teacher. This is where the musical connection with the film's title is made. Kai won the 2009 Kinema Junpo Award for Best New Actor in this, his first film!

The film runs a broad gamut of emotions, from darkly humorous to achingly poignant. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just conclude my comments by saying that I thought the film ended perfectly. At a certain point when the film was clearly going to end before long, I had an incredibly strong feeling that it should conclude in a certain way. The actual ending was very close to what I'd envisioned, only it was actually a bit better. Kurosawa's vision, not surprisingly, was superior to my own.

I give the film an ACF rating of 4 out of 4 stars - outstanding, not-to-be-missed.

Tokyo Sonata won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of last year's Cannes Film Festival.

In New York the film will open at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Broadway between West 62nd and 63rd Streets (212.757.2280) and at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, at West Third Street (212.924.7771).

In San Francisco, Tokyo Sonata will be showing at the 27th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (scroll down this link page, then click on the Tokyo Sonata link there for the pop-up window) on Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 6:45 PM at the Sundance Kabuki 3 and on Saturday, March 14th at 6:00 PM at Pacific Film Archive

There's lots of info to be had at the Tokyo Sonata website, including a full Release Schedule.