Yakuza and the Family (Japan, 2020)

When Kenji Yamamoto's father died from using a stimulant drug his life fell into desperation. Kenji then joined a crime syndicate. There, he meets the gang's boss Hiroshi Shibasaki. Hiroshi reaches out to Kenji and they developed a relationship like father and son. As time passes, Kenji has his own family.

Japanese yakuza flicks are not the rarest find, so when a film is centered around the Japanese mob syndicate I can't help but compare it to a dozen of earlier greats in the genre. I'm very glad to say that Yakuza and the Family (a.k.a. The Family) gave me flashbacks to Kitano's Kids Return (1996), in how a young man gets drawn into the world of yakuza and how the passage of time affects them all. It doesn't ooze of original characters but it's well-shot, has some really bone-crunching fights and you get the sense that the director wanted to make a stand-out Yakuza film with a lot of heart.

Genre: Crime/Drama. 2h 16min

Golgo 13: The Professional (Japan, 1983)

Indestructible to his enemies and irrestible to women, the professional assassin codenamed GOLGO 13 is shrouded in mystery and anonymity. If you're on his hit list your already dead. Always hired on his reputation alone, GOLGO 13 never breaks a contract. But can he survive the combine forces of the FBI, CIA, The Pentagon and the U.S. Army? Has the nameless agent finally met his match against the superhuman powers of the Snake and the twin evils of the psychopathic mercenaries, Gold and Silver?

Golgo 13 is an insane, ultra-violent ride. It oozes with so much style, and even though the film wears its Western influences on its sleeves every ounce of them has been filtered through a Japanese over-the-top mentality and turned up to 11. It takes the notion of a silent assassin and turns it into a killing spree that would make Léon blush.

Genre: Animation/Action/Crime. 1h 31min

13 Assassins (Japan, 1963)

A sadistic daimyo rapes a woman and murders both her and her husband, but even when one of his own vassals commits suicide to bring attention to the crime, the matter is quickly hushed up. Not only will there be no punishment, but because the daimyo is the Shogun's younger brother, he will soon be appointed to a high political position from which he could wreak even more havoc. Convinced that the fate of the Shogunate hangs in the balance, a plot is hatched to assassinate the daimyo. 

Having seen Takashi Miike's amazing remake from 2010, I was very excited to jump into the original. It did not disappoint one bit. It has a very accessible, straightforward plot with 13 men wanting vengeance, and the first half of the film builds up the story while the second delivers the blow against the evildoers. In lack of better words, the film felt very modern and I could definitely see this being made today. It struck me how faithfully Miike adapted the film, nothing needed to be changed. He added a lot of gore, but the original excels in beautiful cinematography. 

Genre: Adventure/Action. 2h5min

The Ballad of Narayama (Japan, 1958)

In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approaching 70, content to embrace her fate. Her widowed son Tatsuhei cannot bear losing his mother, even as she arranges his marriage to a widow his age. Her grandson Kesakichi, who's girlfriend is pregnant, is selfishly happy to see Orin die.

I've written about the 1983 version with the same title, and while both films are based on the same book they really have a personality of their own. This one was directed by Keisuke Kinoshita (Twenty-Four Eyes) and is such a beautiful, fascinating film. The story revolves around a real-life practice called ubasute, senicide, where an elderly relative was carried off into the mountains and left there to die. 

The whole film is also, as stated above, shot in the style of a Kabuki play with the accompanying narrator (benchi) and it gives the film a mythical feel, while also giving you the sense that you're at the theatre. It's done pretty much perfectly, and for its time the film is a wonder to behold. I'm always big on colors and Narayama constantly gives you that wonderful, grainy aesthetic with very warm colors not unlike Kwaidan (1964). I'm praising the look of the film but the story is equally good with a thought-provoking narrative full of shocking family morals being laid bare. An instant classic, in my opinion. 

Genre: Drama. 1h 38m

Samurai Saga (Japan, 1959)

A poet-warrior with an oversized nose (matched only by his great heart) loves a lady. But she sees him only as a friend, so he helps another man to woo her by giving him the poetry of his own heart.

You'd be forgiven if you've only seen Toshiro Mifune in Akira Kurosawa films, but Samurai Saga is directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and while it doesn't boast the same top quality as Kurosawa it certainly does serve as a good little samurai film. As always he carries the film but the story, while being much smaller scaled than we're used to see him in, is also interesting and engaging. 

I guess the next goal is to see Mifune in roles where he didn't play a samurai.

Genre: Action/Drama

Samurai Spy (Japan, 1965)

The legendary samurai Sasuke Sarutobi tracks the spy Nojiri, while a mysterious figure named Sakon leads a band of men on their own quest for the wily Nojiri. Soon no one knows just who is who and what side anyone is on.

For everyone who craves shinobi action, Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide) got you covered. Samurai Spy delivers a balanced diet of political intrigue, samurai action, assassin tactics and great cinematography. I'm aware that the infinite ocean of samurai cinema might be a bit intimidating in its seemingly never-ending supply of films, but Samurai Spy has that little extra that makes it worthwhile for lovers of chanbara movies. 

Genre: Action/Drama

The Limit of Sleeping Beauty (Japan, 2017)

Aki Oria came to Tokyo ten years ago to become an actress. She is now 29-years-old and works as a magician's assistant. She has no passion for her work or goals to live for. She pretends to be hypnotized on stage. This leads to a blurred line between reality and illusion. Soon, her mental state drifts between the two mental states.

The Limit of Sleeping Beauty is the fruit of a new wave of directors in Japan, made by Ken Ninomiya who only started to direct a few years ago. His visual language is immediately showing off with explosive colors and a rarely stationary camera (sort of like the direct opposite of Ozu), and it all marriages perfectly with a dream-like narrative that would make Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Paprika) proud. 

This film is devoid of aesthetic ugliness, everyone's gorgeous and they all exist in this candy colored fantasy, and while not exactly without its share of human malevolence, you can't help but wanting to look for the silver lining together with Aki. Also, the theme song of the film is an absolute banger.    

Genre: Drama

Crazy Samurai Musashi (Japan, 2020)

When a master samurai arrives to duel the disgraced Yoshioka dojo, he walks into an ambush. In the world's first 77-minute, one-take action film sequence, Miyamoto Musashi fights for his life against 400 warriors, earning a place in history as the crazy samurai Musashi.

Crazy Samurai Musashi doesn't come without glaring flaws but you really got to praise it for its ambition, a 77-minute long fight scene with no cuts? Yes, you read that right. You're getting some small amount of context in the beginning of the film and then it's on, 400 warriors one by one run towards Musashi only to get sliced down. I will say that the idea of the film is much better than the execution, and after a while the novelty of it has kinda worn off. You're starting to recognize the attack patters, the huge wigs for the ones who're gonna get hit on the head and awful blood effects, so it's starts to drag after some time. Because of the long sequence the actors are genuinely out of breath towards the end, and you can't help but wonder what a nightmare the whole thing must have been to shoot.

I really dig the concept though, and some parts are a lot better than others. Not a film you're likely to rewatch but an interesting one-time experience.

Genre: Action

Children of Hiroshima (Japan, 1952)

Six years after the atomic bombing of 06 August 1945, the school teacher Takako Ishikawa returns to Hiroshima on her vacation to visit friends and to honor her parents that died in the bombing. Takako was raised by her uncle and aunt. While in her hometown she stays with her friend, Natsue Morikawa, who has become infertile due to the side effect of the A-bomb. While walking along the destroyed city, she sees a former family friend, Iwakichi, who worked with her father, and is almost blind and has become a beggar. 

Children of Hiroshima is not for the faint-hearted. It's such a dark and bleak portrayal of post-war Japan that it gets under your skin and makes you beg for some slim light and the end of the tunnel. Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba, Kuroneko) directed it with the economic help from Japan Teachers Union who wanted a film based on first-person testimonies, though they were in the end unsatisfied by the end result and wanted more political criticism and less focus on personal stories and the struggle of a few individuals. In my opinion, Shindo made the wiser choice in telling a story about how the bomb affected the people on a much more focused and relatable level. 

The music, made by Akira Ifukube who later would go on to write iconic tunes for the Godzilla-franchise, further deepen the somber atmosphere with a heartbreaking and grim soundtrack.

Genre: Drama

In the Realm of the Senses (Japan, 1976)

Based on a true story set in pre-war Japan, a man and one of his servants begin a torrid affair. Their desire becomes a sexual obsession so strong that to intensify their ardor, they forsake all, even life itself.

Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging) was a film-maker who directly opposed his peers in Japanese cinema, such a Ozu and Kurosawa. He thought their ways of telling stories and their reused themes of family and stale traditions was a thing of the past. He wanted to break taboos and do things no one in Japan thought was politically correct. His filmography is avant-garde and has stirred up a lot of controversy. In the Realm of the Senses was butchered by Japanese censors due to how it portrayed the insatiable lust between a prostitute and a hotel owner. It shocked the audience with unsimulated sexual activity, and bold nudity scenes. 

The story was lifted from a particularly gruesome real-life crime that happened in the 1930's, committed by a murderous geisha called Sada Abe. It's all a very fascinating read, though quite horrifying. Oshima delivers the story with intense eroticism and believable performances.  

Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance

Himeanole (Japan, 2016)

Getting two stories in one, Himeanole depicts the story of co-workers where one of them is gunning to make a cafe's waitress his. When the co-worker visits the said cafe to see the waitress his friend is yearning for, he also meets an old class-mate he has not seen in some time. In a twist and transition the waitress tells the visiting co-worker that she is being stalked by a man. That man is none other than the old class-mate.

In this genre-bending, raw and disturbing film you're forgiven if you laugh at inappropriate times. It's a dark, sometimes shockingly brutal crime fest but the director did a great job at throwing in some amusing characters and entertaining moments without overdoing it. In one moment you're giggling at a date between a somewhat awkward guy and a cute waitress, the next you're terrified that a relentless killer is going to slam through the door. I love it. 

Genre: Crime/Thriller/Comedy

So Long, My Son (China, 2019)

 

Yaoyun and his wife Liyun once had a happy family - until their son drowned playing by a reservoir. And so Yaojun and Liyun leave their home and plunge into the big city, although nobody knows them there and they cannot even understand the local dialect. Their adopted son Liu Xing does not offer them the comfort they had hoped for either. Defiantly rejecting his 'foreign' parents, he one day disappears altogether. The married couple are repeatedly enmeshed in their memories.

So Long, My Son has everything that matters for me in a film. The outstanding performances by the actors hits every mark, and the actress who plays the mother is especially good. This story also demanded that high level acting to be as effective as it could be. So Long, My Son is an epic family drama about that big gap in our lives when someone passes away, set against the backdrop of China's tumultuous history and changing society. We're jumping back in time to get glimpses of events that will have such strong impact many years later, and after following the couple for so long the emotional weight of some scenes are absolutely devastating. All this would have amounted to a great film, but we also have the beautiful cinematography and composed camerawork which do huge favors for the heavy story. A long sit at barely over three hours, but well worth your time if you value true to life storytelling and what you get out of watching a film.  

Genre: Drama

I Just Didn't Do It (Japan, 2006)

An unemployed young man is on the packed Tokyo subway en route to a job interview when a schoolgirl grabs him by the wrist and fingers him as a molester. A man was feeling her up on the train. The young man is arrested and no one, not the station master, the public defender or the police, seems the least interested in his protestations of innocence. It would be much more efficient if he would accept a plea bargain.

When a court drama has to be good, it has to be really good. It takes a lot to keep viewers attention when you're portraying a rather dry and stale environment as the court. I Just Didn't Do It manages to be very engaging, following an innocent man all the way through a tiring, long process in Japan's legal system, fighting a seemingly hopeless battle for justice. The actors are great and Koji Yakusho was a pleasant surprise to see showing up as a defense lawyer. 

The director Masayuki Suo has previously made the wonderful Shall We Dance? so I shouldn't be too surprised at the quality of the film but still, I Just Didn't Do It makes everything needed for a good film click.

Genre: Drama

Karaoke Terror (Japan, 2003)

One member of a gang of karaoke loving middle aged women is murdered by a young man. In need of revenge, her friends track him down and kill him. This starts a war where killing one person means someone's going to be next...

With a plot like that it's pretty clear that you're not meant to take the film too seriously. Karaoke Terror escalates to the point of absurdity, and a particular scene with the blood-thirsty ladies was hilarious in the way they avenged another fallen member of their crew. At times you're wondering what the hell you're watching and later on you're cheering for one of the two rival gangs. 

Based on a book by Ryu Murakami who also wrote Audition which got a widely popular adaption by Takashi Miike.

Genre: Drama/Horror

The Net (South Korea, 2016)

Nam Chul-woo is a poor fisherman living a simple but happy life with his wife and daughter on the north side of a river that divide Korea. Every day he goes fishing on the river, where the checkpoint soldiers know him well and trust him not to cross the invisible border in the water. One day his fishing net gets caught in the boat engine, and Nam cannot stop himself from drifting into the south.

The Net is a fantastic film about a man who's caught in the limbo between South and North Korea, and must go through bureaucratic hell and investigations to determine whether he's a spy or not. Nam is a desperate character and piece by piece is revealed of him, the same with the enemies and friends he makes in the South Korean police force. None are one dimensional characters.

The Net was directed by Kim Ki-duk, and it is with a saddened heart I write that he recently passed away from complications brought on by the ongoing pandemic. Kim was always one of my most reliable directors, making different and way more thought provoking movies than what's usually out there. Pictures such as 3-Iron, The Isle and my personal favorite Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring ranks among some of the best films I've seen and they're described as unforgettable in every sense of the word and not just as shallow reaction bait. No doubt a tragic loss but we're lucky to be left with his surviving art. 

Genre: Drama