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JAPAN CUTS: 13 ASSASSINS

Kôji Yakusho sidebar at Japan Cuts festival includes Takashi Miike’s brilliant 13 ASSASSINS

FOCUS ON KOJI YAKUSHO: 13 ASSASSINS (JÛSAN-NIN NO SHIKAKU) (Takashi Miike, 2010)
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Saturday, July 21, $12, 8:20
Japan Cuts series continues through July 28
212-715-1258
www.13assassins.com
www.japansociety.org

Japanese director Takashi Miike’s first foray into the samurai epic is a nearly flawless film, perhaps his most accomplished work. Evoking such classics as Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Mizoguchi’s 47 Ronin, Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen, and Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter, 13 Assassins is a thrilling tale of honor and revenge, inspired by a true story. In mid-nineteenth-century feudal Japan, during a time of peace just prior to the Meiji Restoration, Lord Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki), the son of the former shogun and half-brother to the current one, is abusing his power, raping and killing at will, even using his servants and their families as target practice with a bow and arrow. Because of his connections, he is officially untouchable, but Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira) secretly hires Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho) to gather a small team and put an end to Naritsugu’s brutal tyranny. But the lord’s protector, Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura), a former nemesis of Shinzaemon’s, has vowed to defend his master to the death, even though he despises Naritsugu’s actions. As the thirteen samurai make a plan to get to Naritsugu, they are eager to finally break out their long-unused swords and do what they were born to do. “He who values his life dies a dog’s death,” Shinzaemon proclaims, knowing that the task is virtually impossible but willing to die for a just cause. Although there are occasional flashes of extreme gore in the first part of the film, Miike keeps the audience waiting until he unleashes the gripping battle, an extended scene of blood and violence that highlights death before dishonor. Selected for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Silver Lion at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, 13 Assassins is one of Miike’s best-crafted tales; nominated for ten Japanese Academy Prizes, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Daisuke Tengan), Best Editing (Kenji Yamashita), Best Original Score (Koji Endo), and Best Actor (Yakusho), it won awards for cinematography (Nobuyasu Kita), lighting direction (Yoshiya Watanabe), art direction (Yuji Hayashida), and sound recording (Jun Nakamura). 13 Assassins is screening at Japan Society on July 21 at 8:20 as part of the Japan Cuts sidebar “Focus on Kôji Yakusho” and will be introduced by the actor; the July 20-21 mini-festival also includes such other Yakusho vehicles as his directorial debut, Toad’s Oil, as well as Shuichi Okita’s The Woodsman and the Rain, the New York premiere of Masato Harada’s Chronicle of My Mother, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure, and Masayuki Suo’s original Shall We Dance?

NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL / JAPAN CUTS: MONSTERS CLUB

MONSTERS CLUB is another offbeat and unusual tale from Toshiaki Toyoda

MONSTERS CLUB (MONSUTAZU KURABU) (Toshiaki Toyoda, 2011)
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Sunday, July 15, 6:00
Japan Cuts series continues through July 28
212-715-1258
www.subwaycinema.com
www.japansociety.org

Two years ago, Japanese auteur Toshiaki Toyoda presented The Blood of Rebirth at the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts, his first movie in four years following a hiatus involving drug charges, as well as his previous work, 2005’s extraordinary Hanging Garden. The iconoclastic Osaka-born director of such other films as Blue Spring and 9 Souls is now back at the dual festivals with his latest, another bizarre, offbeat tale, Monsters Club. Inspired by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto that called for revolution, Toyoda has crafted another surreal mood piece that can be as mesmerizing as it is frustrating and silly. Ryoichi Kakiuchi stars as Eita, a quiet, disciplined young man who has quit society and instead lives in the middle of a snowy forest, where he calmly chops wood, cleans his cabin, and sends out letter bombs to kill corrupt corporate executives and politicians. There he is visited by his supposedly dead brother, Yuki (Yôsuke Kubozuka), as well as a strange, haunting face-painted creature (Pyuupiru) who is an oddly charming mix of Sid Haig’s freakish Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses and Hayao Miyazaki’s adorable Totoro. But soon the idyllic little life Eita has built for himself is threatened as he discovers it’s not so easy to escape from today’s must-stay-connected world. A weirdly meditative tone poem, Monsters Club is screening at Japan Society on July 15 at 6:00 and will be followed by a Q&A with director Toyoda.

NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL / JAPAN CUTS: ASURA

An animal-child is hungry for food — and blood — in Keiichi Sato’s striking anime, ASURA

ANIME FROM HELL: ASURA (Keiichi Sato, 2012)
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Thursday, July 12, $12, 8:00
Series runs July 12-28
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org
www.subwaycinema.com

Based on George Akiyama’s banned 1970-71 manga and inspired by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, Keiichi Sato’s Asura is a striking and shocking tale of survival. In fifteenth-century Kyoto, a child is born in what seems like the middle of hell. His starving mother has thoughts of devouring her newborn son, but he manages to survive, becoming a ferocious cannibal himself, living off of human flesh while he roams a nightmarish, postapocalyptic landscape. Named Asura (voiced by seventy-five-year-old actress Masako Nozawa), the animal-child is taken in by a gentle Buddhist monk (Kinya Kitaoji) and later helped by a young woman named Wakasa (Megumi Hayashibara), both of whom try to teach him elements of humanity, but it might be too late to change him from a monster into a young boy. Using a hybrid of 2D and 3D techniques, Sato (Tiger & Bunny) has created a visually stunning world of muted colors and effects that meld with a powerful soundtrack, resulting in an unrelenting battering of the senses. Asura is no coming-of-age story; instead, it continually goes to unexpected places, filled with twists and turns that lead to yet more bloodshed, though not without a yearning if unsentimental heart at its core. And be sure to hang around through the final credits. Asura is screening July 12 at Japan Society as part of the Anime from Hell section of the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts.

NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL / JAPAN CUTS: SCABBARD SAMURAI

Nomi faces a daunting task in Hitoshi Matsumoto’s SCABBARD SAMURAI

SCABBARD SAMURAI (SAYA ZAMURAI) (Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2011)
Friday, July 6, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave., 212-875-5601, 3:30
Saturday, July 14, Japan Society, 333 East 47th St. at First Ave., 212-715-1258, 1:00
www.subwaycinema.com/nyaff12

Having given up on life following the death of his wife, wayward samurai Nomi Kanjuro (first-time actor Takaaki Nomi) roams nineteenth-century Japan with an empty scabbard, running away from confrontation while accepting the verbal wrath of his extremely embarrassed nine-year-old daughter, Tae (Sea Kumada). After surviving three fanciful and fantastical — and far too silly and stylized — attacks by a trio of oddball bounty hunters (Ryo, Rolly, and Zennosuke Fukkin), Nomi is arrested and brought to a castle where the boy prince has not cracked even the hint of a smile since the recent death of his mother. Nomi is faced with the 30-Day Feat — every day for a month, he has the opportunity to try to make the prince smile. If Nomi fails, he must commit a very public seppuku. And so begins a comic series of events in which the dour Nomi, who barely ever speaks, turns into a kind of dark clown, but it’s clear that it’s going to take something very special to end the prince’s dilemma. Written and directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto (Big Man Japan, Symbol), Scabbard Samurai is an offbeat, charming black comedy about going on with life after experiencing tragic loss. Nomi is forced to try to make the boy prince smile, yet Nomi does not smile himself, rejecting his future even through the taunts of his daughter, who is very much alive and wants a more satisfying life. The inclusion of the three bounty hunters, who form a kind of Greek chorus, is unnecessary and detracts from the story’s otherwise more serious themes, but Scabbard Samurai is still an entertaining film that continually takes surprising twists and turns. Scabbard Samurai is screening July 6 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and July 14 at Japan Society, a copresentation of the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts.

j-CATION 2012: SAKURA

Riot grrl group the Suzan are part of second annual j-CATION celebration at Japan Society on April 14

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Saturday, April 14, $10, 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

Japan Society’s “Sakura — Spring Renews, Beauty Blooms” series comes to a close on Saturday with the second annual j-CATION, a twelve-hour program of special events celebrating the season and more. The New York Suwa Taiko Association gets things going at 11:00 am with a Taiko Kick-Off, followed by traditional Kamishibai storytelling at 11:20, 12 noon, 12:40 and Simply Stunning Shodo calligraphy classes taught by Masako Inkyo starting every forty-five minutes from 11:30 to 5:30. At 1:00 you can participate in the Japanese adult game show You’re on Standby!, which challenges the mind and the body and will earn one audience member free round-trip airfare to Japan. Adrienne Wong will give cherry blossom block printing demonstrations from 3:00 to 5:00, the same time that Sakura Cinema presents Tomu Uchida’s 1960 classic Killing in Yoshiwara (Heroes of the Red-Light District). There will also be Japanese for Beginners classes at 3:15, 4:00, 4:45, and 5:30. All day long you can hang out in the Hana-mi Lounge, which will be serving Japanese snacks and drinks and will host afternoon karaoke; pick up some wagashi in the foyer; learn origami and add paper cherry blossoms to a wall installation; read brand-new sakura-related haiku from around the world; play hanafuda, wanage, and kendama in the game room; check out the exhibition “Deco Japan: Shaping Art & Culture, 1920-1945” (and win a prize for being among the first three hundred people to complete the “Decoration Exploration”); and visit “Memory: Things We Should Never Forget,” a photography display about the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of Japan. The festivities conclude with the Yozakura Nights concert at 8:00 with the bilingual Alex York and riot-grrl garage punks the Suzan, followed by a dance party with DJ Aki.

SAKURA — SPRING RENEWS, BEAUTY BLOOMS: KABUKI DANCE

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
March 29-31,
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

For more than five hundred years, Japan has been telling stories using the art form known as kabuki, a highly stylized dance play that features ornate costumes, intricately choreographed movement, heavy makeup, and extreme facial gestures. As part of Japan Society’s “Sakura — Spring Renews, Beauty Blooms” festival, nihon buyo (Japanese classical dance) master Bando Kotoji will lead his troupe through four kabuki works March 29-31. Accompanied by live music, the program includes Sanbaso, Cho no Michiyuki (“The Last Journey of Two Butterflies”), Tamatori Ama (“The Pearl Diver”), and Yoshino-yama (“Yoshino Mountain”). All performances will be preceded by a lecture on shamisen music and kabuki dance by Dr. Sachiyo Ito. Japan Society will also be hosting a kabuki workshop on Saturday morning at 10:15 led by Bando; although participant tickets are sold out, you can still attend as an observer for eight dollars. Japan Society’s spring festival continues through April 14 with such films as Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai, a haiku workshop led by Sho Otaka and John Stevenson, and “J-Cation 2012,” an all-day event that includes live music, dance, art, film, food, storytelling, demonstrations, and more.

SAKURA — SPRING RENEWS, BEAUTY BLOOMS: DOLLS

Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Sawako (Miho Kanno) are literally tied to each other in Takeshi Kitano’s DOLLS

DOLLS (DORUZU) (Takeshi Kitano, 2001)
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Friday, March 23, $12, 7:30
Series runs through April 18
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org
office-kitano.co.jp

Takeshi Kitano, who is best known for such violent films as Sonatine, Brother, and Zatoichi, has also made family dramas and romances as well (Kikujiro, A Scene at the Sea), and Dolls might be his most emotional, introspective picture to date. Dolls opens with a Bunraku puppet theater excerpt from Monzaemon Chikamatsu’s The Courier for Hell before delving into the dark story of Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Sawako (Miho Kanno). Matsumoto dumps Sawako so he can marry the boss’s daughter, but when Sawako tries to kill herself and ends up in a mental hospital, Mastumoto decides to take care of the speechless, frightened shell of a woman she has become. He leads her through the seasons, tied to her by a red cord, a pair of bound beggars. Two subplots, which we’re not sure were absolutely necessary, also deal with love and loss, obsession and desire. Joe Hisaishi’s music is gorgeous, as is Katsumi Yanagijima’s cinematography. Kitano, who wrote, directed, and edited Dolls, mixes in sensational colors to balance out black-and-white tuxedos or long patches of snow: You’ll be mesmerized by the red rope, a purple-and-black butterfly, Sawako’s pink child’s toy, a glowing blue bridge, Matsumoto’s bright yellow car, a green public phone, a blue drink, twirling pinwheels, a shockingly blue umbrella, a park filled with cherry blossoms, and Yohji Yamamoto’s sparkling costumes. The film is bleak, slow-paced, and heart-tuggingly pure, a rewarding experience that will stay with you for a long time. Dolls is screening March 23 as part of Japan Society’s “Sakura — Spring Renews, Beauty Blooms” festival, which also includes such films as Nagisa Oshima’s Taboo, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai, and Hiroshi Inagaki’s The 47 Loyal Ronin.