Mark Schilling - The Japan Times

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Mark Schilling

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 23, 2018

'The Man from the Sea': A Japanese savior washes up in Aceh

Koji Fukada leads a younger generation of Japanese directors who are more internationally minded than their predecessors. He even used French export titles for his first two features — "Hospitalite" (2010) and "Au Revoir l'Ete" (2013) — reflecting the influence of French cinema, particularly the...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

May 17, 2018

Udine film festival can teach Japanese directors a few things about international appeal

I've been an adviser to the Udine Far East Film Festival since 2000. The event, held in Udine, Italy, is the largest festival in Europe dedicated to popular cinema from Asia.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 16, 2018

'Mori, the Artist's Habitat': A delightful dip into a creator's world

Fact-checking biopics is an easy game for critics to play since nearly all films about real people fudge facts or even outright lie to tell a story. I've played the game myself, but in the case of Shuichi Okita's delightful "Mori, the Artist's Habitat," it's almost beside the point.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 9, 2018

'The Blood of Wolves': Old-school yakuza thrills are back

The yakuza movie used to bestride the Japanese film industry like a colossus, but now clings to its margins. A well-known director occasionally essays the genre, as Takeshi Kitano did last year with "Outrage Coda," but a true revival has yet to come.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 2, 2018

Is the feudal era over for Japan's talent agencies?

Japanese show business definitely has a feudal side. Talent agencies control their tarento (talent) much in the way the daimyō (feudal lords) controlled the samurai in their clans, supporting their livelihoods in return for absolute fealty. And just as samurai were expected to stay with one clan their...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

May 2, 2018

'Oh Lucy!': A made-in-Japan take on the American road trip movie

I've seen my share of Japanese movies set partly or wholly in the United States. With a few exceptions, the filmmakers only skim the exotic surface, while the Japanese characters never become more than fish out of water gasping for a breath of the familiar, be it instant noodles or spoken Japanese.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 25, 2018

'Love × Doc': A rom-com on doctor's orders

When successful Japanese scriptwriters direct films, they tend to try too hard, cramming in characters, gags, plot twists and a blizzard of cuts. Sometimes, the busyness works, as in Koki Mitani's "Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald," a 1997 screwball comedy about a chaotic radio broadcast that delivers on its...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 18, 2018

'Inuyashiki': It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's salaryman!

Fantasizing about instantly acquiring superpowers is something you do as a kid — or when you're late for an appointment and imagine flying to it like Superman. But what if your power-up comes when you're creaky in the joints and counting the days to retirement?

CULTURE / Film

Apr 11, 2018

'The Bastard and the Beautiful World': Former SMAP stars let loose in a quartet of twisted tales

The members of SMAP, the five-man mega-group that disbanded in December 2016, had their share of hit films, though their central field of operation was always television. Now three of them — Goro Inagaki, Shingo Katori and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi — star in a four-part omnibus film with a limited release,...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Apr 6, 2018

Isao Takahata's gentle spirit enriched the world of Japanese animation

Isao Takahata, who died on Thursday at age 82, was long overshadowed by Studio Ghibli colleague Hayao Miyazaki, even though he was Miyazaki's senior when they both worked together at Toei Animation in the 1960s, as well as a co-founder, together with Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki, of Ghibli in...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 4, 2018

'Yamato (California)': Hanae Kan does well as an aspiring rapper that's straight outta Japan

The American military bases in Okinawa are often in the news, usually because of an accident, protest or crime. The bases elsewhere in Japan, not so much. These reminders of a postwar occupation now seven decades in the past have mostly faded from the public imagination.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 28, 2018

'Eriko, Pretended': Fake tears fuel a tale of self-discovery

People who secretly fear they are phonies when in actuality they aren't are said to suffer from "imposter syndrome." The title heroine of Akiyo Fujimura's debut feature "Eriko, Pretended" has the opposite problem: She calls herself an actress but in 10 years has only landed one paying gig in her chosen...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 21, 2018

'Smokin' on the Moon': A stoner buddy flick takes a serious turn

Marijuana was a subject for comedy back when I was taking my first clumsy steps into stoner culture: The comedy routines of Cheech and Chong, the music of Commander Cody, the midnight screenings of the unintentionally hilarious 1936 film "Reefer Madness."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 14, 2018

'Sakura Guardian in the North': A melodrama 'Sayurists' can be proud of

Sayuri Yoshinaga is the last star of Japan's postwar studio era to still be a box-office force. Playing a pure-hearted teen in films for Nikkatsu in the 1960s, she attracted a huge, mainly male, following known as "Sayurists."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 8, 2018

'Legend of the Demon Cat' presents the multicolored beauty of Chen Kaige's China

The current decade has seen China's film market rise to heights exceeded only by Hollywood; in 2017, box-office earnings grew nearly 13.45 percent year-on-year to a splendiferous 55.9 billion yuan ($8.6 billion). This bonanza has spurred massive investment and fueled out-sized ambitions.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 7, 2018

'Tremorings of Hope': The aftershocks linger in a town devastated by 2011 disaster

After the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011, dozens of documentary filmmakers headed north to the devastated Tohoku region, specifically the hard-hit coastal areas of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. One filmmaker, however, had already been filming there...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 28, 2018

Kazuo Hara returns to form as a documentary filmmaker with 'Sennan Asbestos Disaster'

Kazuo Hara became famous — some would say notorious — for the documentaries he made about individuals who defied Japanese social norms and laws.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 28, 2018

'Sunny/32': If idol-pop and 'Saw' were to have a baby, this may be it

Visitors to Japan are often surprised by the visual and aural clutter they encounter in what they might know as the land of Zen. Instead of minimalist rock gardens, Japanese cities assault the senses with bright lights, ads and loudspeaker noise. This overload extends to other areas: from stocked-to-the-rafters...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Feb 22, 2018

Awards season blows through Japan with a conspicuous lack of buzz

It's awards season. Many a film journalist, from those working at the trade papers to those at the major dailies, spend months speculating who'll get Oscar nods and, as we get closer to the March 4 ceremony, who'll win.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 21, 2018

'Going the Distance': A powerful take on the Japanese definition of family

Marriages in Japan were long between families, with the omiai (arranged marriage) process typically serving to both introduce prospective partners to each other and vet their respective family backgrounds. Have the wrong sort of ancestors? The wedding's off.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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