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ear at nippon connection was fittingly the very last one i saw sneakily lying in wait in the lineup to trump the previous offerings despite their respective strengths with its calm controlled power two years previous i was greatly impressed by korean japanese filmmaker yonghi yang s documentary sona the other myself when it was screened at the festival now making her transition into feature filmmaking with our homeland she continues to explore the troubling effects of north korea s controlling regime and more specifically how it has divided her family by preventing her from maintaining regular contact with her three brothers since they moved back to the isolated nation in the 1970s based on yang s personal experiences her new film stars arata iura better known simply as arata as songho a japanese man who has lived in north korea for 25 years away from the rest of his family permitted a three month visit to japan to treat a brain tumor an opportunity that took five years to secure he is reunited with his family and friends among them his gruff father masane tsukayama who still remains firmly devoted to north korea s ideology and his caring sister rie sakura ando who is unafraid to voice her disgust at the absurd conditions that define songho s situation a painful sense of restriction and temporality permeates every second of songho s visit underlined by the physical presence of his stoic north korean escort mr yang yang ik joon the writer and director of 2008 s breathless iura s performance does so much to reflect the traumas suffered by his character his cautious reservation nervous smiles and extreme shyness are all the signs of a man who has spent most of his life afraid of testing the dangerous authority he lives under and who can still feel its hold on him during this all too brief reprieve besides being a perfectly rendered consideration of a political subject through an intensely personal story our homeland reveals with incredible insight just how much many might take for granted because they are closer to rie s situation than songho s and thus able to enjoy the closeness of family freedom of expression and privileges of a liberal society without fear of dire and immediate repercussions we need a film like this every now and then and maybe a little more often than that to be reminded of both our own good fortunes and the grotesque injustices that still persist in certain parts of the world after the diverse array of delights shocks and food for thought that my selection of films left me with throughout the week it seemed proper to finally conclude the festival and ironically begin my journey home to my own family on a note of grateful contemplation throughout the festival attendees could watch artist kozue kodama as she live painted a new picture from scratch catherine munroe hotes during her talk with animator atsushi wada group picture of assembled guests and staff nippon visions jurors andreas platthaus chris magee and yonghi yang during the awards announcements yonghi yang introducing her film our homeland with festival director marion klomfass personal top ten 1 our homeland yonghi yang 2 kotoko shinya tsukamoto 3 casting blossoms to the sky nobuhiko obayashi 4 the egoists ryuichi hiroki 4 5 ten days before spring stefanie kolk 5 sukiyaki tetsu maeda 6 the woodsman and the rain shûichi okita 7 the sound of light juichiro yamasaki 8 my back page nobuhiro yamashita 9 come as you are kôta yoshida 10 postcard kaneto shindo other films featured throughout nippon connection 2012 that have been reviewed on the pow wow about the pink sky keiichi kobayashi come as you are kôta yoshida die directors die makoto shinozaki kanzeon neil cantwell tim grabham awards nippon cinema award the woodsman and the rain shûichi okita 2nd place tada s do it all house tatsushi omori 3rd place fukushima hula girls masaki kobayashi nippon visions award the sound of light juichiro yamasaki special mention fukushima memories of a lost landscape yojyu matsubayashi vgf nippon in motion award koi man micaela fonseca 2nd place bōru florian gautier stephan altenhein 3rd place chado the way of tea andrej uduc both chris and i would once again like to thank all the hard working organizers volunteers technicians and press relations personnel who so warmly welcomed us and the other attendees and made this film festival such a positive and memorable experience posted by marc saint cyr at 6 24 pm 270 comments labels features sunday may 6 2012 nippon connection 12 review come as you are ソーローなんてくだらない sôrô nante kudaranai released 2011 director kôta yoshida starring tateto serizawa nagisa umeno saya yasuda running time 102 min reviewed by marc saint cyr the setup for kôta yoshida s latest film sounds like it wouldn t at all be out of place in one of judd apatow s projects a young slacker named haruo tateto serizawa who is stuck in his job as a video store supervisor faces an embarrassing problem that impedes his ability to form proper romantic relationships premature ejaculation after momose an alluring new employee arrives at his store he decides to actively attempt to cure himself however this task is not that easy to pull off in his apartment where his roommate noriko nagisa umeno limited living space and thin walls eliminate any privacy he hopes to achieve when the website he consults instructs him to find a partner to help him haruo comes up with a bold proposition in return for chipping in more money for rent and keeping the place clean he wants noriko to assist him in his goal to endure sexual activity for fifteen minutes after much pleading and sucking up she agrees to do him this very personal favor come as you are certainly contains the sex comedy ingredients one would expect from that description not to mention the cheeky english title multiple scenes show through careful camera positions and blocking haruo desperately testing his endurance with several masturbation sessions and engaging in intimate encounters that end in awkwardness and failure at one point the poor guy can t even keep himself from cursing and yelling at his own malfunctioning member but rather than simply fishing for laughs to be had at his characters expense yoshida ensures that the latter particularly haruo and noriko are properly developed and given personalities that extend far beyond the comic situations in doing so both yoshida and his talented actors are to be commended serizawa s portrayal of haruo is especially impressive for how he constantly uses body language and facial expressions to reflect his character s bound up insecurities and tormented yearning the sad attempts at feigning indifference the all too brief flashes of confidence the brutally frank confessions and humiliations they all give real weight to haruo s plight and make him intensely sympathetic opposite him umeno s noriko acts as the more practical and mature one who keeps herself focused on her own priorities which include a crucial school exam her thrice daily help sessions with haruo are dutifully carried out with an old sock of his eventually replaced by gloves and are aurally portrayed by way of some wonderfully detailed sound effects perhaps predictably the unique arrangement between haruo and noriko eventually reveals the genuine feelings they have for one another but don t be fooled this is not a simple meet cute romantic comedy instead the film remains focused on the problems that plague and in fact define haruo s personal life having worked at the video store and lived in the same apartment for eight years he prefers to tell people he is pursuing acting jobs on the side when in fact he has clearly abandoned that dream directionless and lazy the only real control he seems able to exercise is over the shift schedule at work which he mostly uses so he can attempt to woo momose yet through noriko and others he steadily realizes just how sad and self destructive his current lifestyle has become after a certain point one wonders if his performance problem is in fact the latest warning sign that he needs to make some serious changes for his own good kôta yoshida is probably best known for his 2010 film yuriko s aroma another refreshingly honest and insightful work about people s sex lives and the complications within them that can spawn alienation this is an area he has proven himself to be quite talented in as he clearly understands that unlike so many other films that take such matters for granted human sexuality is a strange and complex thing that everyone experiences differently yoshida has openly demonstrated his sympathies for the less confident underdogs of the world in the process exploring the more sensitive issues that can lie in waiting when affections and simple human urges are involved his characters not only search for personal acceptance and fulfillment but also a way they can achieve that ever elusive thing called happiness without getting trampled upon by the so called social norms they are so often challenged by indeed yoshida s films seem to leave us with an important question is there such a thing as being normal if yoshida suggests that the answer is no then he also makes it clear that that is not such a bad thing posted by marc saint cyr at 2 21 am 19 comments labels movie reviews nippon connection 12 review the sound of light ひかりのおと hikari no oto released 2011 director juichiro yamasaki starring yoshitomo fujihisa toyoyuki sato yoshiko nakamoto eri mori running time 89 min reviewed by marc saint cyr the sound of light is a film entirely set in one of the tougher corners of the world a place where hard work is a minimum requirement for making a living and not even that can guarantee prosperity or even survival yoshitomo fujihisa plays the main character yusuke a young man who three years prior to the events of the film moved back to his family s farm in the mountain town of maniwa in okayama prefecture from tokyo after his father toyoyuki sato badly injured his foot this move put yusuke s ambitions of pursuing a musical career on indefinite hold a necessary sacrifice so he could lend a much needed hand in the many physically demanding tasks dutifully upheld by his father and grandmother junko sato over the years a small dairy farm fighting off debt the business requires the constant feeding and milking of its cows among other chores here routine and dedication are the defining factors of daily life bringing a regular flow of early mornings and toil the events of the sound of light are overshadowed by a past event described in an opening title card three years ago a dairy farmer named natsuo asano was killed in a car accident that spared his wife yoko eri mori and son ryota these characters are tied to yusuke s family in various ways natsuo was best friends with yoshiyuki takeshi masago yusuke s uncle and the two men worked hard together to establish their own dairy farm but in the wake of natsuo s death yoshiyuki s life and business collapsed into ruin to the point that he now bears the reputation of a madman also yusuke is in love with yoko and hopes to marry her a plan complicated by ryota being the only remaining male in the asano family if yusuke and yoko were to get married the boy would have to go live with his grandmother on natsuo s side so as to continue the asano family name thus presenting yoko with a difficult decision and indicating another way how family responsibilities shape the characters lives one of the clear strengths of the sound of light is the total immersion into small town farming life it gives the impressive chugoku mountains surround the town s scattered farms businesses and homes emphasizing the rural isolation in which the characters eke out a living work maintains a strong grip on daily life whether tending to vegetable patches preparing meals or most often tending to the cows yusuke and his family including his sister haruko yoshiko nakamoto and her boyfriend takashi soichiro tsuji who visit and lend a hand in the various chores constantly see to the tall order of responsibilities that need to be met writer and director juichiro yamasaki himself a maniwa farmer admirably approaches such actions with a still observant eye that ably captures the quiet dedication of the farmers the viewer is made quite aware of the tolls such a lifestyle demands especially through yoshiyuki who is publicly regarded as a failure and a cautionary tale having driven away his wife he burns down his barn gives in to drinking and attempts suicide his misfortunes show that it takes more than hard work to survive in farming that loyal friends and family serve as irreplaceable supports for perseverance but even then the farmers are at the mercy of forces beyond their control in one integral dialogue scene yoshiyuki explains to yusuke how he and natsuo had to contend with a sudden rise in feed costs and more importantly people s indifference to local businesses in favor of convenience the harder you work the less you get he says underlining the dire consequences of the growth of world markets at the cost of the farmers hard won labors this bitter truth is not dwelled upon for too long but its weight is certainly not lost on the viewer impressively yamasaki maintains an even balance between depicting the real life textures and issues of the farming community and the more narrative dependent strand of the film dedicated to yusuke s personal situation visiting a graveyard of amplifiers in the woods and uncovering a hidden guitar and the organ his mother gave to him before leaving the family alluding to a rift between her and yusuke s more farming oriented father he still clearly holds onto his love for making music his father even offers to give him a saved bundle of one million yen to help re ignite the distant dream of returning to tokyo yet yusuke remains bound to the important sense of duty that has kept him at the farm as a son and the heir to the farm the weight of expectation lies heavily upon his shoulders even if his family grants him the permission necessary to break away the sound of light gives an even and honest portrayal of farming life neither exaggerating the great endurance it requires nor holding it up as a utopian alternative to the light and bustle of tokyo which has never felt so distant in a japanese film as it does here but occasionally yamasaki allows for moments of hope and beauty the night scene in which an actual calf is born yusuke s song to his mother quietly performed in a cold barn the annual climb up a nearby mountain on the morning of new year s day to see the first sunlight of the year such scenes make yusuke s journey seem worth the challenges it has brought him confirming that the sacrifices he made were willingly and at times perhaps even gladly chosen posted by marc saint cyr at 2 21 am 20 comments labels movie reviews saturday may 5 2012 nippon connection 12 review the woodsman and the rain キツツキと雨 kitsutsuki to ame released 2011 ...