Zen (Japan, 2009)

'Zen' Buddhist teacher Dogen Zenji is a very important religious person during the Kamakura period, 750 years ago. After his mother died, he decides to move to China and settle as a Buddhist teacher. One bright morning, enlightened, Zenji returns to Japan as a devoted evangelist of the 'new' Buddhism. However, this new form of Buddhism is not accepted in all communities.

Zen is a very good film for history buffs, and should be seen by anyone who has so much as a fleeting interest in Buddhism. It doesn't at all feel like the dry pages from a schoolbook but way more engrossing and inviting, with beautiful scenery to boot. The actors performances are consistently believable and it never goes overboard with the story, but basically chronicles one man's ambition and journey through the land with his teachings, which somehow never gets boring but only more interesting.    

Genre: Biography/Drama

Sway (Japan, 2006)

On the anniversary of the death of the mother of a hip and happening Tokyo-based photographer, the son returns to his hometown for the funeral. What follows is a return to the past that is more than just a trek home. Old relationships, love, conflicts and memories resurface and collide. Apparently, old perspectives don't wither.

I thought I knew somewhat what Sway was going to be about. The beginning of it seem fairly standard; a man from the big city (played by Joe Odagiri) goes home to his rural roots and long past memories gets uprooted, but then the film does a 180 and what follows is a court room drama where you're not sure of what happened and two brothers perspectives are up against each other. Slow-paced, but still a recommended watch about the fragility of life.

Genre: Drama/Crime

Moonlit Winter (South Korea, 2019)

Yoon-Hee lives with her teenage daughter Sae-Bom. On a winter day, Yoon-Hee receives a letter from Otaru, Japan. Sae-Bom accidentally reads the letter and learns about her mother's first love, which she never spoke about before.

Moonlit Winter starts out like many films before it, but it still gets its hooks in you. Despite South Korea's yearning for sappy melodrama the film avoids desperate attempts at making the viewers cry, yet it has a strong emotional impact and towards the end it culminated beautifully accompanied by a lovely score. Great performances and a director who knew exactly how to pace the film makes it a great watch, not something that will blow you away but every once in a while you see a drama that makes it seem so simple to make you care abut the characters and that's always what I'm looking for. 

Genre: Drama/Romance

Ring 0: Birthday (Japan, 2000)

The prequel to the horror film Ringu, this movie provides the background story of how Sadako later became the vengeful murdering spirit. The story starts with her as a shy, somewhat withdrawn, college student who nonetheless gets involved in a drama club. The director thinks she has talent, but some of the other performers start to get jealous of the attention he gives her. Meanwhile, a reporter investigating Sadako's spiritualist mother thinks there's something very suspicious about the young woman, and arrives on campus to confront Sadako.

While Ring 0 seems to have the biggest chance of failure of the Ring-sequels it's actually one of the more fleshed out ones. I've read it was panned at release and deemed a "mediocre Carrie-ripoff", and while one could certainly see the similarities between the two I enjoyed Birthday for what it was, a prequel with less spooks but an engaging story which slowly evolved into something more sinister. It's based on one of the stories by original Ringu author Koji Suzuki, making it a huge piece of the backstory puzzle, it looks great with slow camera movements mixed with muted colors capturing an almost nostalgic 90's look. 

More story-based than you'd hope out of a Ring film, but still ambitious and a noticeable competent director behind the camera. Maybe it's a guilty pleasure, but still, I liked the film and doesn't see the reason to bash it for not having Sadako constantly coming through the TV-screen.

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Ring 2 (Japan, 1999)

In this sequel to Ringu (1998), Mai Takano is trying to learn more about the death of her professor, Ryûji. She soon hears stories about a videotape haunted by the spirit of a girl named Sadako, who died many years earlier. Supposedly, anyone watching the tape will die of fright exactly one week later. After some investigating, she learns that Ryûji's son, Yôichi, is developing the same psychic powers that Sadako had when she was alive. Mai must now find some way to keep Yôichi and herself from becoming Sadako's next victims.

You'd think it would be a horrible move to make a sequel to such a big horror milestone as Ringu, and while Ring 2 doesn't live up to high expectations following such a great horror film it does however fill in some gaps and delivers a subtle feeling of dread. It has all the right ingredients; characters that doesn't feel shoehorned in for the sake of the plot, a spooky and unnerving soundtrack (the intro music sets the mood perfectly), no desperate tries to shock the viewers with gore/jump-scares but instead keeps a steady and dark atmosphere throughout the film. It's not as memorable as the first installment but still worth a watch if the Ringu itch didn't end after the first film. 

Genre: Horror/Mystery

Have You Seen the Barefoot God? (Japan, 1986)

Shigeru, an aspiring hobby painter, adores the seemingly unapproachable flutist Haruyo Kikuchi from afar, and secretly paints her portrait for a national contest.

Have You Seen the Barefoot God? sounds far from original on paper; a triangle teen drama between friends, and the girl is caught in the middle, although you'd be missing out if this film were to pass you by. It's done with great respect to the script, the director really squeezes out the emotions out of his actors. I'm also strangely fond of films which takes place in the northern part of Japan, probably because the Tokyo/Kanto area is overrepresented in Japanese film.  

Genre: Drama

Skin of Roses (Japan, 1978)

Ritsuko is a popular madame of a nightclub. But, ever since her gangster husband got caught and imprisoned, her life has taken a turn for the worst. Now, in order to pay off his debts to a yakuza loan shark, Lady Ritsuko is forced to engage in private sex shows for the VIP clientele. After a year of these special shows, the loan is almost paid off.

Skin of Roses might be a hard sell for people uninitiated in the pinku eiga genre (pink film), but compared to many other entries in that field it feels more accessible and looks great too. It does venture into being torture porn as time goes on, but by then it had my full attention and induces feelings of painful sympathy rather than disregard. 

Like I said, for being a pink film it's very ambitious and a strong cinematic vision is present during the whole film. I mean, the director of the film, Katsuhiko Fuji, previously made films with titles such as Female Doctor: Flesh Slave, Rape Climax: Skinning and Horny Working Girl: From 5 to 9, so it's understandable if expectations aren't soaring, but in this particularly outlandish genre it's a welcomed, although sometimes uncomfortable experience.

Genre: Romance/Drama

In Search of Ozu (US/Japan, 2018)

 

In this documentary, filmmaker Daniel Raim delves into Yasujiro Ozu's remarkable late work, in which the master made the leap from black and white to color. In his stirring tribute to the great filmmaker, Raim examines Ozu's life and work through archival treasures such as his diary and the red teakettle from the family drama "Equinox Flower" (1958); sits down with Ozu's nephew and the producer of the director's gently elegiac final film, "An Autumn Afternoon" (1962); and interweaves many scenes and images from the vibrant and humane films with which the director capped his career.

If you're a fan of Ozu, you really should set aside some short quality time (it's only 46min long) to watch this documentary, and learn a lot more about one of the most important directors in history. We're treated to a treasure trove of still existing objects which have appeared in Ozu's films so many years ago, and his family gives some insight into what motivated Ozu to make the kind of family focused films he was best known for. The fact that he stayed single and never married was news to me, and people speculates wether it's because he saw too many failed marriages around him to tie the know himself. I also love the fact that he personally designed a lot of the sets and everything that went into the scenes themselves, like bar signs and posters, etc. He also seemed to be a big joker and drank a lot of sake.

A short and sweet, really informative look at the man behind many films that will be remembered forever.

Genre: Documentary