Director and screenwriter Haruhiko Arai worked as an assistant director for Wakamatsu Productions before making his screenwriting debut with Shinjuku, Messy District: I'll Be There (1977), directed by Chusei Sone. He established his reputation in Japan and worldwide with works such as W's Tragedy (1984), Flakes of Snow (1985), and Someday (2011). For the latter Haruhiko received the Screenplay of the Year Award by the Japan Academy Film Prize. Body and Soul (1997) was his directorial debut. A Spoiling Rain (2023), IFFR 2024 selection, is his fourth feature film.
On the occasion of “A Spoiling Rain” screening at IFFR, we speak with him about the changes he have seen in the industry through the years, love and sex, adapting the particular novel, the casting and the current situation of the Japanese film industry.
translation by Shione Kunimori
My name is Haruhiko Arai. It has been 27 years since I was at the IFFR last time. 27 years ago, I...
On the occasion of “A Spoiling Rain” screening at IFFR, we speak with him about the changes he have seen in the industry through the years, love and sex, adapting the particular novel, the casting and the current situation of the Japanese film industry.
translation by Shione Kunimori
My name is Haruhiko Arai. It has been 27 years since I was at the IFFR last time. 27 years ago, I...
- 2/11/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
It seems that the approach Nikkatsu has been implementing for the pinku film through her Roman Porno is creating ripples in the Japanese movie industry, with Toei also following suit, through the same, more sensitive to the times approach, that also focuses on women as much as on men. Haruhiko Arai has been another ‘champion' of the approach, as witnessed in his previous work, “It Feels So Good”. “A Spoiling Rain”, based on the Akutagawa Prize-winning 2000 novella “Hanakutasi” by Hisaki Matsuura, follows in the same footsteps, although the focus on the actual Japanese movie industry gives it a more personal sense, since Arai, as a scriptwriter, got his start as a screenwriter in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno.
A Spoiling Rain is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
Two bodies wash on a beach in the winter of 2012, in a lover's suicide involving actress Shoko Kirioka and director Kuwayama. It is left to Suichi Kutani,...
A Spoiling Rain is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
Two bodies wash on a beach in the winter of 2012, in a lover's suicide involving actress Shoko Kirioka and director Kuwayama. It is left to Suichi Kutani,...
- 1/29/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The concept of the art-house erotic film is quite new, in Asian cinema at least, as in the moment there are very few entries in the category, if one could even call it that. Titles like “It Feels so Good” by Haruhiko Arai and “White River” by Ma Xue are the first that come to mind, with “In the Morning of La Petite Mort” also moving towards the same, quite unusual direction.
“In the Morning of La Petite Mort” will premiere on VOD & Digital on January 19, 2024, courtesy of Film Movement
Ching is a beautiful young prostitute who lives in a stylish apartment where she “services” mostly elderly men, essentially just for the money since she seems not to enjoy herself at all. Matsui is a homeless food delivery driver, who spends his days from destination to destination to deliver goods and his nights to find a place to stay. Eventually,...
“In the Morning of La Petite Mort” will premiere on VOD & Digital on January 19, 2024, courtesy of Film Movement
Ching is a beautiful young prostitute who lives in a stylish apartment where she “services” mostly elderly men, essentially just for the money since she seems not to enjoy herself at all. Matsui is a homeless food delivery driver, who spends his days from destination to destination to deliver goods and his nights to find a place to stay. Eventually,...
- 1/19/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Emmys producers Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay had reason to be upbeat the morning after the kudocast: In what seems to be a rarity for awards shows these days, their production earned almost universally high marks from critics and viewers. For the 75th annual celebration, the Jesse Collins Entertainment trio leaned into nostalgia and the history of television to create a three-hour event that paid tribute to the small screen.
“It was ambitious, and we were like, ‘Is this actually going to work?’ But we felt good about it in the end,” Collins told Variety on Tuesday morning. Except for one thing: The 75th Emmys on Fox faced an NFL wild card game, as well as news coverage of the Iowa caucuses. Throw in awards show fatigue (coming right after the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards) and confusion over the delayed Emmys (pushed four months from...
“It was ambitious, and we were like, ‘Is this actually going to work?’ But we felt good about it in the end,” Collins told Variety on Tuesday morning. Except for one thing: The 75th Emmys on Fox faced an NFL wild card game, as well as news coverage of the Iowa caucuses. Throw in awards show fatigue (coming right after the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards) and confusion over the delayed Emmys (pushed four months from...
- 1/18/2024
- by Michael Schneider and Emily Longeretta
- Variety Film + TV
Haruhiko Arai (recently portrayed by Kisetsu Fujiwara in “Dare to Stop Us“) has always been a somewhat controversial personality in his more than 40 years in the movie industry, although his prowess in script writing is undeniable. One of the elements that make his work stand out, is that he is one of the few Japanese artists who uses explicit sex in organic fashion in his movies, not mainly to titillate, but as part of the overall narrative, with films like “Vibrator” and “Kabukicho Love Hotel” highlighting this trait in the best fashion. This approach is also obvious in his third (fourth if you count a co-director credit in “Gushing Prayer“) directorial effort which netted him awards from Kinema Junpo and Yokohama Film Festival.
It Feels so Good is screening at Camera Japan
Akita and Naoko are cousins but also used to be lovers some time ago. Since then, however, their...
It Feels so Good is screening at Camera Japan
Akita and Naoko are cousins but also used to be lovers some time ago. Since then, however, their...
- 9/24/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
With over 35+ films, Camera Japan Festival is proud to announce their full and diverse programme, combining films ranging from de newest and best Japanese arthouse, animation, documentaries, short films and experimental cinema.
The 15th edition of the festival will be opened at LantarenVenster on September 24th with the Dutch premiere of Tanada Yuki’s Romance Doll. The yearly unofficial kick-off will be held on September 23rd at Worm with a screening of the experimental The Day of Destruction by Toyoda Toshiaki. From 1 to 4 October, the festival moves to Amsterdam’s LAB111.
With five international and eight European premieres, the festival consists of a special and exclusive programme. Films such as 108: Revenge and Adventure of Goro Kaiba, Fancy, Haruka’s Pottery, Mother and The Other Home, will have their first screenings outside of Japan here at Camera Japan Festival.
As usual, animation film will be present at Camera Japan Festival.
The 15th edition of the festival will be opened at LantarenVenster on September 24th with the Dutch premiere of Tanada Yuki’s Romance Doll. The yearly unofficial kick-off will be held on September 23rd at Worm with a screening of the experimental The Day of Destruction by Toyoda Toshiaki. From 1 to 4 October, the festival moves to Amsterdam’s LAB111.
With five international and eight European premieres, the festival consists of a special and exclusive programme. Films such as 108: Revenge and Adventure of Goro Kaiba, Fancy, Haruka’s Pottery, Mother and The Other Home, will have their first screenings outside of Japan here at Camera Japan Festival.
As usual, animation film will be present at Camera Japan Festival.
- 9/2/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Japan Cuts 2020, North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema, returns for its unprecedented 14th edition as an entirely online experience.
Featuring a diverse slate of 30 feature films and 12 shorts—including studio blockbusters, independent productions, documentaries, restored classics, animation and avant-garde works—Japan Cuts 2020 offers unique access to the best new films from Japan with filmmaker video introductions, live virtual Q&As and panel discussions.
For the first time ever, Japan Cuts is expanding its reach beyond New York to audiences across the entire United States, maintaining the festival’s sense of community and dedication to intercultural communication.
During the 14-day festival period, you will be able to purchase and view all film selections on demand and on-the-go, with playback available through both the dynamic streaming website and iTunes & Android mobile apps. (The latter will be released with the festival launch in July.) Films will be available to rent...
Featuring a diverse slate of 30 feature films and 12 shorts—including studio blockbusters, independent productions, documentaries, restored classics, animation and avant-garde works—Japan Cuts 2020 offers unique access to the best new films from Japan with filmmaker video introductions, live virtual Q&As and panel discussions.
For the first time ever, Japan Cuts is expanding its reach beyond New York to audiences across the entire United States, maintaining the festival’s sense of community and dedication to intercultural communication.
During the 14-day festival period, you will be able to purchase and view all film selections on demand and on-the-go, with playback available through both the dynamic streaming website and iTunes & Android mobile apps. (The latter will be released with the festival launch in July.) Films will be available to rent...
- 6/25/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Exclusive: North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema, Japan Cuts, has selected 30 features and 12 shorts for a 2020 edition that will take place entirely online due to continued corona disruption.
Running July 17-30, the traditionally New York-based event will instead be available across the country via a digital platform set up in partnership with Festival Scope and Shift72. Films will be made available to rent with a limited number or virtual tickets per title, priced at $2–$7 with discounted bundles.
Alongside screenings, there will also be virtual Q&As, discussion panels, and video introductions from filmmakers in a bid to maintain the festival’s sense of community and dedication to intercultural communication.
The fest will kick off with a live virtual Q&a with Shinichiro Ueda, director of opening film selection Special Actors, the follow-up to Ueda’s popular breakout debut One Cut of the Dead. The festival’s Centerpiece...
Running July 17-30, the traditionally New York-based event will instead be available across the country via a digital platform set up in partnership with Festival Scope and Shift72. Films will be made available to rent with a limited number or virtual tickets per title, priced at $2–$7 with discounted bundles.
Alongside screenings, there will also be virtual Q&As, discussion panels, and video introductions from filmmakers in a bid to maintain the festival’s sense of community and dedication to intercultural communication.
The fest will kick off with a live virtual Q&a with Shinichiro Ueda, director of opening film selection Special Actors, the follow-up to Ueda’s popular breakout debut One Cut of the Dead. The festival’s Centerpiece...
- 6/24/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
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