Japan Cuts 2011

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 05 July 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 5th annual Japan Cuts 2011: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema runs July 7 - 22, 2011 at Japan Society in Manhattan, New York City. 

The World’s Largest Contemporary Japanese Film Festival displays the "diversity and vitality of one of the most exciting world cinemas, and ranging from refined, high-concept art house titles to popular and grindhouse genre movies." Ten of the films are co-presented with the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), and all but one of the festival‛s films are US premieres.

Japan Society’s chief film programmer and curator of the 2011 festival, Samuel Jamier, notes: "In light of the tragic events following the March 11 earthquake in Japan, this fifth edition of Japan Cuts shows the resilience and vibrancy of one of the longest-standing film industries.

A substantial number of titles this year can’t be easily categorized or confined to strict genre boundaries, but all faithfully and artfully translate the intricacies, tragedies and boundless possibilities of being human on the big screen."

Haru’s Journey, directed by Masahiro Kobayashi and starring Tatsuya Nakadai, was shot entirely in Northern Japan in the area affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake. The film shows the uneasy journey of an elderly fisherman and his granddaughter as they hit the hard roads of Northern Japan.

The director will appear at the July 10 screening to make a special statement paying homage to the victims of the disaster. Half of the film‛s proceeds go to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, and a reception follows the screening.

The Opening Night film is Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha: The Great Departure / Akai sabakuyo utsukushiku, directed by Kozo Morishita. The adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s graphic novel recounts the drama of life as told through the eyes of Siddhartha, who becomes the Buddha. Starring the voices of Sayuri Yoshinaga, Masato Sakai, Kiyokazu Kanze, Hidetaka Yoshioka.

The Closing Night film is Into the White Night / Byakuyakou, directed by Yoshihiro Fukagawa, starring Maki Horikita, Kengo Kora. A pawn shop owner in Osaka is murdered, but due to a lack of conclusive evidence the police lists the man's death as a suicide. The latest adaptation of top mystery novelist Keigo Higashino's novel.

The Centerpiece Presentation is Three☆Points / Suri pointo, directed by Masashi Yamamoto, starring Jun Murakami, Sora Aoi, Daichi Watanabe, Shinji Aoyama
The rough edges of Japanese society are examined in three locales: Kyoto, with its semi-bohemian, down-and-out rappers; Okinawa, where life is about crab-hunting and hanging out with American GIs; and Tokyo, where a girl falls into a strange and slightly terrifying relationship with a random Tokyo drifter who saves her from a street gang. Introduction and Q&A with Masashi Yamamoto and Sora Aoi

Some of the other films are:

The Last Ronin / Saigo no Chuushingura
Directed by Shigemichi Sugita 
Starring Koji Yakusho, Koichi Sato, Nanami Sakuraba, Nizaemon Kataoka, Narumi Yasuda, Koji Yamamoto, Yoshi Oida, Jun Fubuki, Kunie Tanaka, Masato Ibu
Another take on the Noble 47 Ronin, the most popular samurai story of all time. Sixteen years after the ronin avenged their lord's death and then committed ritual suicide, the sole survivor of the tragedy travels the land on a mission to find the families of the fallen warriors.

Rinco’s Restaurant / Shokudo Katatsumuri
Directed by Mai Tominaga
Starring Kou Shibasaki, Kimiko Yo, Kyoko Enami
Female director Tominaga’s second feature follows a young woman who loses her voice after a bad break-up with her boyfriend. Her process of healing involves returning to her hometown, where she reacquaints herself with a free-spirited mother and opens a very special restaurant.

A Liar and a Broken Girl / Usotsuki Mi-kun to Kowareta Ma-chanDirected by Natsuki Seta
Starring Aya Omasa, Shota Sometani, Masaki Miura
A couple of children go missing while a serial killer with a thing for stabbing young women is on the loose.

Rail Truck / Torokko
Directed by Hirofumi Kawaguchi
Starring Machiko Ono, Kento Harada, Mei Fang, Liu Hong, Kyoichi Omae
Yumiko, who married against her parents' wishes, has struggled on in stubborn determination since her husband’s death, moving her family from their Tokyo home to the rural Taiwan village of her in-laws. Her son Atsushi, strongly conscious that in ethnocentric Japan he is "different", rebels against both the society in which he has grown up and his mother. Based on the 1922 short story by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, moved from the original early 20th century Izu Peninsula to present-day Taiwan. 

Sword of Desperation / Hisshiken torisashi
Directed by Hideyuki Hirayama
Starring Etsushi Toyokawa, Chizuru Ikewaki, Koji Kikkawa, Naho Toda, Jun Murakami, Megumi Seki, Fumiyo Kohinata, Ittoku Kishibe
A bushido tale of samurai Sanzaemon, who suddenly kills his lord’s favored concubine to put a stop to her destructive influence. Sentencing the samurai to a mere year of house arrest, the lord bides his time, waiting for revenge, and Sanzaemon must ultimately fight for his life and honor.

For more information, visit www.japansociety.org.

Japan Cuts 2011
July 7 - 22, 2011

Japan Society
333 E 47th Street
New York City
212-832-1155

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