Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment
Teaser for Japanese movie Shin Godzilla (シン・ゴジラ), in theatres in Japan this summer. The film is co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. It’s the 31st instalment in the Godzilla franchise and the third reboot by Toho Pictures.
The Shin is a play of words which can mean a few things. Officially it’s RESURGENCE in English title, some Asian teasers go with TRUE, social media seems to like it as GOD, while I prefer the simpler NEW instead. It all seems to fit though.
Trailer for Japanese film Mohican Comes Home (モヒカン故郷に帰る, Mohican Kokyô ni Kaeru ). Directed and written by Shuichi Okita, it tells the story of rocker reconciling with his father who’s terminally ill.
The movie is made in conjunction with the 70th anniversary of Tokyo Theatres Company. It stars Ryuhei Matsuda, Akira Emoto, Atsuko Maeda, Masako Motai and Yudai Chiba. Premiering in March 2016.
Ekichi is a struggling punk rocker in Tokyo. He and his girlfriend returns home to a small town – for the first time in ages – to announce her pregnancy and their engagement.
Osamu, Keichi’s father, appears angry but is secretly happy that he’s going to be a grandpa.
The joy doesn’t last long though, as Osamu is soon diagnosed with last-stage cancer. Keichi decides to prolong his stay to look after his old man, and the two learn more about each other in process.
Seems like a typical family drama film; Japanese are very good in this genre though. From the tone in the teaser the movie is probably on the light-comedic side instead of a sad melodrama.
Atsuko Maeda, who plays the pregnant girlfriend, was formerly a central figure in popular girl group AKB48. Interested to see how she fares in her acting since graduating from the group in 2012.
Preview photos of a Japanese food documentary featuring veteran actor Akira Emoto. I loosely translated the title (柄本明が巡るなにわ酔いどれ横丁) as Akira Emoto Explores the Drunken Alleys in Naniwa.
The two-hour show focuses on the izakaya culture in Osaka. It’s a type of informal Japanese pub, traditionally a place for people to have some drinks and to socialise after work.
Akunin (悪人, means devilish person) is a 2010 Japanese film directed by Lee Sang-il and based on Shuichi Yoshida’s crime noir novel of the same name. The movie bagged all four acting awards at the 34th Japan Academy Prize earlier this year. It missed out on the Best Picture though, which went to Confession instead.
The excellent cast include Satoshi Tsumabuki, Eri Fukatsu, Akira Emoto, Masaki Okada, Kirin Kiki and Hikari Mitsushima. Composer Joe Hisaishi also won an award for making the film score.
Akunin tells the story of a loner who kills his ex-girlfriend. The film dissects the crime and surrounding events from various angles; it makes the audience wondering who’s the real villain in the situation.
Sinking of Japan (日本沈没, Nihon Chinbotsu ) is a 2006 Japanese disaster movie directed by Shinji Higuchi. It’s a remake of a 1973 film which itself was an adaptation of a novel by Sakyo Komatsu. Both movies and the novel have different English titles but it’s the same in Japanese.
The 2006 film starred Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Mao Daichi and Mitsuhiro Oikawa etc. More details on cast and crew at end of the post.
The story is about Japan “sinking” into the sea because of tectonic plate motions. And time is running out for the Japanese people as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis begin to devour the country.