Fresh off of the cult hit “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (1983), Nobuhiko Obayashi leapt into his fifth project with Kadokawa Productions, “The Island Closest to Heaven”. Based on the novel of the same name by Katsura Morimura, the film is a soul-searching affair that’s a far cry from the director’s earlier, more frantic pictures. However, despite moving away from his outlandish visuals, Obayashi manages to deliver a tender tale of love, childhood, and coming of age.
Buy This Title
on Terracotta
After the death of her father, Mari Katsuragi (Tomoyo Harada) decides to venture to New Caledonia, an island in the Southwest Pacific where her dad once said she’d find ‘the island closest to heaven’. While looking for this fabled spot to fulfil a childhood promise, Mari explores new, exciting, and occasionally dangerous places, aided by expats, islanders, and other Japanese tourists who have travelled to this tropical paradise.
Buy This Title
on Terracotta
After the death of her father, Mari Katsuragi (Tomoyo Harada) decides to venture to New Caledonia, an island in the Southwest Pacific where her dad once said she’d find ‘the island closest to heaven’. While looking for this fabled spot to fulfil a childhood promise, Mari explores new, exciting, and occasionally dangerous places, aided by expats, islanders, and other Japanese tourists who have travelled to this tropical paradise.
- 8/25/2022
- by Tom Wilmot
- AsianMoviePulse
In the career of Nobuhiko Obayashi, his works from the 1980s are certainly some of the most interesting features the director made. Although some of these movies have become somewhat obscure and hard to find for film fans wanting to discover more from Obayashi besides arguably his most popular work today, his 1977 feature “House”. One of the director’s favorite works was “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Yasutaka Tsutsui, which also served as the foundation to the 2006 anime directed by Mamoru Hosoda. In his approach to the source material, Obayashi and screenwriter Wataru Kenmotsu highlight the idea of the story being about growth as well as the various irritations when becoming an adult.
Buy This Title
on Terracotta
Kazuko Yoshiyama (Tomoyo Harada) is a high-school student living in the city of Onomichi. One day, as she is tasked with cleaning the chemistry lab,...
Buy This Title
on Terracotta
Kazuko Yoshiyama (Tomoyo Harada) is a high-school student living in the city of Onomichi. One day, as she is tasked with cleaning the chemistry lab,...
- 8/22/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Atsushi Omori’s interest in the various aspects of religion became evident from his “blasphemous” debut, “Whispering of the Gods”, back in 2005. Although his style has developed exponentially since then, the interest on the topic and of people living on the borders of society remained, and “Under the Stars” highlights the fact in the most eloquent fashion.
“Under the Stars” is screening at Nippon Connection
The story is based on Natsuko Imamura’s novel “Hoshi No Ko” and revolves around Chihiro, who, as the movie begins, is a baby suffering from eczema. Her parents try to find a cure, but nothing works. That is until a colleague of her father gives him some water from a strange religious group that eventually is proven to be a cult. Chihiro is actually cured, and her parents begin to follow this religion, becoming fervent followers. Years later, Chihiro is a student in the...
“Under the Stars” is screening at Nippon Connection
The story is based on Natsuko Imamura’s novel “Hoshi No Ko” and revolves around Chihiro, who, as the movie begins, is a baby suffering from eczema. Her parents try to find a cure, but nothing works. That is until a colleague of her father gives him some water from a strange religious group that eventually is proven to be a cult. Chihiro is actually cured, and her parents begin to follow this religion, becoming fervent followers. Years later, Chihiro is a student in the...
- 5/30/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.