Prepare yourself for a dreamy, spherical ghost show. Shinji Imaoka hijacks the audience for a 60-minute afterlife experience.
Is This Heaven? is screening at Camera Japan
Nobou is a middle-aged man, who has a drinking problem. In four episodes, named after alcoholic beverages, he wanders around a scenic waterfront meeting familiar and unknown people from the past, including his wife. In this otherworldly afterlife, everyone is (drunk) laughing and dancing and all sounds are muted. The plot deepens half-way through when Nobou meets the late ex-husband of his wife. Their conversation marks the emotional summit as they reminisce about the different memories that they shared with her.
Check also this interview Interview with Shinji Imaoka: Time as a healing tool for everything is a lie
Veteran actor Hidetoshi Kawaya carries the whole film through his outgoing performance, celebrating his death. Nevertheless, the elliptical odyssey is hard to come by. Without a clear road ahead,...
Is This Heaven? is screening at Camera Japan
Nobou is a middle-aged man, who has a drinking problem. In four episodes, named after alcoholic beverages, he wanders around a scenic waterfront meeting familiar and unknown people from the past, including his wife. In this otherworldly afterlife, everyone is (drunk) laughing and dancing and all sounds are muted. The plot deepens half-way through when Nobou meets the late ex-husband of his wife. Their conversation marks the emotional summit as they reminisce about the different memories that they shared with her.
Check also this interview Interview with Shinji Imaoka: Time as a healing tool for everything is a lie
Veteran actor Hidetoshi Kawaya carries the whole film through his outgoing performance, celebrating his death. Nevertheless, the elliptical odyssey is hard to come by. Without a clear road ahead,...
- 9/21/2023
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
With the fifteenth edition of the popular Camera Japan Festival closing its doors, the festival’s audience has chosen its favorite feature among this year’s selection. After a close race with Yuki Tanada’s “Romance Doll“, it was ultimately Kenji Iwaisawa’s “On-gaku, Our Sound” which received the award. According to the festival’s recent press release it is a “gem for anyone remotely interested in underground music and animation”, offering a “deliberately unpolished and very special look and feel”.
- 10/9/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
In Edo times, around the 17th century, it was common for Samurais to move households to another location on the command of the Shogun. That caused whole villages to move and leave behind many of their belongings. So is the fate of the Matsudaira Clan, who is forced to relocate 400km. Since the procession is a logistical challenge associated with a lot of costs, the daimyo assigns bookworm Katagiri to undertake this ungrateful task.
“Samurai Shifters” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Based on a script by Akihiro Dobashi, who wrote the recent Samurai dramas “Samurai Hustle” (2014) and “Samurai Marathon” (2019), the period piece is a mix of comedy and historical insight. Precedent by the shallow “Floating Castle” (2012) director Isshin Inudo takes another try on the genre and breaks away from his endless women-with-animal flicks. Indo started his career in 1999 with the very promising “Across a gold Prairie” and won...
“Samurai Shifters” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Based on a script by Akihiro Dobashi, who wrote the recent Samurai dramas “Samurai Hustle” (2014) and “Samurai Marathon” (2019), the period piece is a mix of comedy and historical insight. Precedent by the shallow “Floating Castle” (2012) director Isshin Inudo takes another try on the genre and breaks away from his endless women-with-animal flicks. Indo started his career in 1999 with the very promising “Across a gold Prairie” and won...
- 10/2/2020
- by Alexander Knoth
- 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
Indie director and scriptwriter Yuki Tanada, one the most talented women filmmakers working in Japan in the last two decades is back with “Romance Doll”, a movie that escapes easy definitions, and takes an original look at love, sex, and relationships.
“Romance Doll” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2020
Young and penniless artist graduate Tetsuo (Issey Takahashi) is tricked into a job interview that leaves him rather surprised. The interview is for a sculptor and he certainly fits the requirements but what Tetsuo doesn’t know is that the little factory where he’s being interviewed produces sex dolls or, as they are re-named to avoid law implications, love dolls. Tetsuo decides to accept the offer as he really needs to get a steady income and becomes, rather unenthusiastically, the assistant of the middle-age head of the department, Kinji (Kitaro) or Kin Kin as the colleagues call him.
“Romance Doll” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2020
Young and penniless artist graduate Tetsuo (Issey Takahashi) is tricked into a job interview that leaves him rather surprised. The interview is for a sculptor and he certainly fits the requirements but what Tetsuo doesn’t know is that the little factory where he’s being interviewed produces sex dolls or, as they are re-named to avoid law implications, love dolls. Tetsuo decides to accept the offer as he really needs to get a steady income and becomes, rather unenthusiastically, the assistant of the middle-age head of the department, Kinji (Kitaro) or Kin Kin as the colleagues call him.
- 7/29/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
It’s Friday today and Netflix has got you covered for some early weekend viewing with eight new additions being added to the streaming giant’s library. Family audiences have a couple of new animated films to enjoy, teens are being treated to a sequel to one of Netflix’s most popular romcoms and there’s even a western.
Check out the full list of everything that’s coming to the service today below:
Animal Crackers (2017) Netflix Original Dragons: Rescue Riders: Secrets of the Songwing (2020) Netflix Original Hickok (2017) Nimbe (2019) Offering to the Storm (2020) Netflix Original Romance Doll (2020) The Kissing Booth 2 (2020) Netflix Original Sing On! Spain (Season 1) Netflix Original
It’s a solid selection of content, to be sure, and first up is Animal Crackers, an American-Chinese co-production that’s had a ridiculously difficult time getting released in the U.S. Though it hit China back in 2017, it’s been...
Check out the full list of everything that’s coming to the service today below:
Animal Crackers (2017) Netflix Original Dragons: Rescue Riders: Secrets of the Songwing (2020) Netflix Original Hickok (2017) Nimbe (2019) Offering to the Storm (2020) Netflix Original Romance Doll (2020) The Kissing Booth 2 (2020) Netflix Original Sing On! Spain (Season 1) Netflix Original
It’s a solid selection of content, to be sure, and first up is Animal Crackers, an American-Chinese co-production that’s had a ridiculously difficult time getting released in the U.S. Though it hit China back in 2017, it’s been...
- 7/24/2020
- by Christian Bone
- We Got This Covered
After a brief drought in new programming, Netflix are back into adding fresh content and have several new movies and shows lined up for the week of July 20th to July 26th. With the likes of The Old Guard representing another original content success for the streamer, ahead of returning favorites like The Umbrella Academy, the platform continues to go from strength to strength. What new material can we expect, then, this week?
Well, on the series front, we’re getting the tenth and penultimate season of Showtime’s Shameless, which has weathered the departure of Emmy Rossum to continue to bring in audiences. As the only Showtime original now licensed by Netflix for new episodes, fans will be able to catch up on the long-running series before its eleventh and final season.
Other notable shows coming to Netflix this week include season 2 of How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast...
Well, on the series front, we’re getting the tenth and penultimate season of Showtime’s Shameless, which has weathered the departure of Emmy Rossum to continue to bring in audiences. As the only Showtime original now licensed by Netflix for new episodes, fans will be able to catch up on the long-running series before its eleventh and final season.
Other notable shows coming to Netflix this week include season 2 of How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast...
- 7/19/2020
- by Jessica James
- We Got This Covered
Imagine a Japanese version of “Pygmalion” in which the sculptor continues to caress slabs of marble even after Galatea has come to life. That is the unusual premise of “Romance Doll,” a marital drama in which a sex doll maker’s rapt obssession with his new prototype, leads to rejection of his human muse. Directed by Yuki Tanada, from her own 2009 novel of the same title, the film initially holds promise to become a liberating erotic art film against the objectification of the female body. However,
Although it’s underlying attitudes about female sexuality might be problematic for female and feminist viewers, its suggestive subject matter (handled without offensive kinkiness) will set many an imaginative mind sprinting. “Romance Doll” was snapped up for theatrical release by several Asian territories. Following a premiere at Udine Far East Film Festival, it starts streaming on Netflix on July 24.
Films that make sex dolls their subject,...
Although it’s underlying attitudes about female sexuality might be problematic for female and feminist viewers, its suggestive subject matter (handled without offensive kinkiness) will set many an imaginative mind sprinting. “Romance Doll” was snapped up for theatrical release by several Asian territories. Following a premiere at Udine Far East Film Festival, it starts streaming on Netflix on July 24.
Films that make sex dolls their subject,...
- 7/15/2020
- by Maggie Lee
- Variety Film + TV
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the Japanese director of “Cure,” “Pulse” and “Bright Future,” is now in post-production on period suspense romance “Wife of a Spy.” The film is being pitched at the European Film Market by sales and production firm Nikkatsu.
The film reteams “Romance Doll” stars Yu Aoi and Issey Takahashi.
The 1940-set plot involves a Japanese merchant who leaves his wife behind in order to travel to Manchuria, where he witnesses an act of barbarism. His subsequent actions cause misunderstanding, jealousy and legal problems for his wife. The screenplay is by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tadashi Nohara and Kurosawa, who previously penned the script for Kurosawa’s “Happy Hour.”
The film is set for theatrical release later this year, probably after getting some festival play. Rights have already been pre-sold to Arthouse Films for France.
“Wife of a Spy” follows Kurosawa’s coolly received “To the Ends of the Earth,” a drama...
The film reteams “Romance Doll” stars Yu Aoi and Issey Takahashi.
The 1940-set plot involves a Japanese merchant who leaves his wife behind in order to travel to Manchuria, where he witnesses an act of barbarism. His subsequent actions cause misunderstanding, jealousy and legal problems for his wife. The screenplay is by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tadashi Nohara and Kurosawa, who previously penned the script for Kurosawa’s “Happy Hour.”
The film is set for theatrical release later this year, probably after getting some festival play. Rights have already been pre-sold to Arthouse Films for France.
“Wife of a Spy” follows Kurosawa’s coolly received “To the Ends of the Earth,” a drama...
- 2/22/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
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