Along with Confessions of a Dog [see issue 35], I Just Didn’t Do It is a damning indictment of the Japanese legal system. The audience palpably gasped at some of the more appalling scenes of unfathomable injustice and clapped as Masayuki Suo took to the front of the Institute of Contemporary Arts film theatre at the end of the screening to answer questions.

Always Sunset on Third Street 2 (ALWAYS 続・三丁目の夕日), directed by Takashi Yamazaki (山崎貴), 2007, 146 minutes Review by Susan Meehan (contains plot spoilers) As the Embassy screening of Always Sunset on Third Street 2 ended, I wished I’d seen the first in the series; not just because it’s a delightful family drama, but because I [...]

directed by Koichi Omiya (大宮浩一), 2011, 75 minutes Review by Susan Meehan This documentary is the first to have been made in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami which wrecked the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan on 11 March 2011. Tohoku is the land of Omiya’s birth and his parents’ home so the disaster [...]

directed by Yojiro Takita [滝田洋二郎], 2008, 131 minutes Review by Michael Sullivan Departures is based on an autobiographical book by Aoki Shinmon [新門青木] and features Masahiro Motoki [本木雅弘] as Daigo Kobayashi, a cellist who after losing his job moves back to his hometown and starts a new job helping ‘departures.’ In 2009 it won an [...]

directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi [米林 宏昌], 2012, 91 minutes, Released on DVD 9th January 2012. Review by Michael Sullivan In 1952 The Borrowers was written by Mary Norton, since then it has been adapted for the screen several times in America and the UK. As recently as December 2011 a version of The Borrowers starring [...]

directed by Hirotsugu Kawasaki (川﨑博嗣), 2011, 98 minutes Review by Susan Meehan This anime opens with scenes of verdant ancient Japan. Amidst scenes of temples, shrines, mountains, paddy fields and old towns samurai, representing humanity, are fighting huge monsters with blazing red eyes otherwise known as “oni.” One is enormous, rivalling Godzilla in terms of [...]

directed by Yuya Ishii (石井裕也), 2011, 110 minutes. Review by Susan Meehan Director Yuya Ishii is only 27 and has already released a number of films including last year’s hit, the hilarious and poignant Sawako Decides (川の底からこんにちは). A Man With Style is a bittersweet family drama which has at its centre two fifty-something school friends [...]

directed by Shinji Aoyama (青山 真治), 2011, 119 minutes. Review by Susan Meehan Tokyo Park, based on a novel by Shoji Yukiya [小路幸也], opens with university student and aspiring photographer Koji, played by rising heart-throb Haruma Miura (三浦 春馬), taking photos in a Tokyo park. He directs his lens towards a beautiful woman pushing a [...]

Review by Michael Sullivan This film is based on the manga by Aoi Hiiragi [柊 あおい] and was the first Studio Ghibli film to be directed by Yoshifumi Kondō [近藤 喜文]. Sadly Yoshifumi passed away in 1998 at the age of 47. This movie was number one in Japanese cinemas in 1995 and has now [...]