From the emotional quicksand of Hokkaido men to a display of high school angst and quirks, the Japanese Film Festival 2015 brings the taste of cinematic Japan to town. The 10-day festival begins tonight and continues until Feb 8 at Paragon Cineplex. The selection is rich, and as new Japanese movies have rarely gotten regular releases in Thai cineplex these days, the festival is a mini goldmine for audiences.
The Light Shines Only There.
There are 15 films in the programme, and you can check out the schedule and details on the Japan Foundation website (www.jfbkk.or.th). Here, I'll highlight a couple of titles that are worth a trip down to the cinema this weekend and beyond.
First off, you wouldn't want to miss Soko Nomi Nite Hikari Kagayaku (The Light Shines Only There). Mipo Oh's wrenching drama is Japan's representative at the Oscars this year (it didn't make the cut into the shortlist), but it's far superior to Japan's 2008 Oscar winner Okuribito (Departure), which feels like a lump of mush.
Soko Nomi Nite Hikari Kagayaku, however, is heavy, almost relentless in its plunge into a swamp. Set in unglamorous quarters of Hokkaido — the antithesis to what Thai tourists perceive about the island or even about Japan — the film centres on three lost souls who form a connection. Tatsuo is an alcoholic who whiles away his time in a pachinko joint, where he meets Takuji, a peroxide-haired rascal with yellowed teeth. At Takuji's home (it looks more like a shack by the coast) Tatsuo meets Chinatsu, a woman of primitive sensuality who works as a semi-prostitute in a local bar while taking care of her paralysed father. Crushed by fate, Tatsuo and Chinatsu are drawn together — there are caresses and there's sex, mostly joyless, and there are glimmers of light shining from the depth of their misery, but salvation isn't a free-flowing currency in this part of town.
is honest; it doesn't blink when it stares into the abyss — and yes, Japan has hidden abysses beyond the gleaming skylines and beautiful nature that we've come to take for granted. A fun country is also the saddest when the laughter dies down. (Soko Nomi Nite Hikari Kagayaku screens on Sunday at 4pm.)
Soko Nomi Nite Hikari Kagayaku
Social decay is observed with more humour and eccentric notes in Saudâji (Saudade), a strange and affecting film by Bangkok-based Katsuya Tomita (he's been living here to prepare for his next film, which is to be set in our capital). Saudade — a Portuguese word roughly meaning nostalgia — is set in the nondescript city of Kofu (again, no Thai tourists!) in which a group of young people work in construction, digging earth and moving rocks, and hang out in karaoke bars at night. There are Thai hostess girls and there is penetrating dialogue about soulless Japan and whether Thailand is the paradise that some Japanese might believe it is.
Saudâji is striking in its unconventional, loose-limbed form that however manages to pack a punch of social critique. The director, Kasuya, has eyes from minor details, and his understanding (or curiosity) about young people adrift in the flotsam of Japan's economic miracle makes his film strangely powerful. (Saudâji plays tomorrow at 5pm.)
Thailand makes an appearance in another film in the festival. Rupan Sansei (Lupin The Third), which opens the festival tonight, was shot almost entirely in Thailand. This adaptation of a popular manga is pure silly delight about cool safe-crackers, Mission Impossible heists, and a wild-goose chase for Cleopatra's ruby (which happens to be, surprise, in Bangkok!). Lupin is a master thief and hipsterish con-artist whom we Thais are familiar with through comic books — in this particular adventure he teams up with other stylish burglars to hunt down the prized treasure while Inspector Zenigata (Tadanobu Asano in Colombo-style trench coat) smacks his forehead and chases him around town.
Thai actors play prominent roles. Ratha Pho-ngarm as a femme fatale, Vithaya Pansringarm as a kendo expert and Nirut Sirijanya as a mob boss. Otherwise, we have a squad of sexy crooks in leather jackets preening like anime characters — and that's pretty entertaining. (Rupan Sansei plays tonight and on Feb 7 at 1.30pm)
There are other highlights, such as the high school drama Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo (The Kirishima Thing) and the post-Fukushima feel-good title Yokomichi Yonosuke (A Story Of Yonosuke), and another hit manga adaptation Himitsu No Akko-Chan (Akko-chan The Movie).
Saudade.
