Mark Schilling - The Japan Times

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Mark Schilling

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Aug 30, 2017

Dear Etranger: When the family drama gets real

Despite a career spanning nearly three decades, Yukiko Mishima hasn't appeared on many lists of up-and-coming Japanese female directors, mine included. One reason: She had a relatively late start, not releasing her first feature, a drama based on the Junichiro Tanizaki story "The Tatooer," until 2009....

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Aug 24, 2017

'Sekigahara': A bold attempt to portray one of Japan's most decisive battles

The Battle of Sekigahara was fought on Oct. 21, 1600, and changed the course of Japanese history. Tokugawa Ieyasu and his Army of the East won an overwhelming victory over the Army of the West led by Ishida Mitsunari, resulting in the political unification of the country and the rule of the Tokugawa...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Aug 24, 2017

Takehiro Hira embodies the samurai spirit in 'Sekigahara'

In Japan children of famous actors often follow in their parent's footsteps as if it were part of some foreordained destiny. There are many examples of this in kabuki, where acting families can trace their lineages back generations, but it happens quite a lot in the supposedly more modern world of film,...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Aug 23, 2017

'Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?': Will Japan fall in love with another pair of animated teens?

Last summer, "Your Name.," Makoto Shinkai's anime about gender-swapping high school lovers, began its triumphant march into the box-office record books. Not surprisingly, this summer has seen the arrival of more teen romances, but "Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?" stands out...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Aug 16, 2017

'Meatball Machine Kodoku': Proud to be a bloody mess

In a career spanning three decades, Yoshihiro Nishimura has done about every job on the credit crawl — from gaffer to director. He is best known, however, as a mad master of effects and makeup, spewing blood sprays that achieve a certain demented grandeur and building fantastic creatures that resemble...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Aug 9, 2017

'Re:Born': 'Tak' Sakaguchi is back for some major action

Movie fight scenes, even ones that are acted by martial arts experts, rarely duplicate what actually transpires on a street or battlefield. After all, they're performed for entertainment, not as actual matters of life or death.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Aug 2, 2017

Takeshi Fukunaga draws on his own past for film on the Liberian immigrant experience

Takeshi Fukunaga first came to international attention at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, where his debut feature, "Out of My Hand," premiered. He is only now bringing the film to his homeland, and at a preview screening at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) last week an audience...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Aug 2, 2017

'Out of My Hand': Documentary-like elements add to realistic portrayal of immigrants

Japanese directors have made films in many different settings, but it's safe to say Takeshi Fukunaga is the first of his countrymen to direct a narrative feature set partly in Liberia, a small African country not too long ago embroiled in a bloody civil war. In fact, "Out of My Hand" is only the second...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Jul 27, 2017

It's a bit out of the way, but Skip City festival makes up for the distance with great films and rare access

The location for the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival doesn't make it particularly easy for casual fans to pop in. The Skip City complex — which hosts studios for audiovisual production, as well as educational and entertainment facilities — is a fairly lengthy bus ride from Kawaguchi...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 26, 2017

'Tokyo Ghoul' will have you wondering who the real monsters are

A "ghoul" was originally a creature in Arabic folklore that feasts on the flesh of the living or the dead, depending on the tale. The corpse-munching version became more popular in the West, but not in Japan, if Kentaro Hagiwara's hair-raising "Tokyo Ghoul" is any indication.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 19, 2017

Director Ryuichi Hiroki discusses 'Side Job.' and the changing feelings Fukushima evokes

Interviews with Japanese directors tend to be straightforward PR exercises. The subjects may be friendly, but they are also disinclined to deviate from their script, especially if they are on their umpteenth media interview of the day.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 19, 2017

'Side Job.' presents an authentic portrayal of life in Fukushima after disaster

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and its aftermath have been the focus of many films, both fiction and nonfiction. However, most of them have been by filmmakers who've come from outside Fukushima Prefecture, where the disaster hit hardest.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 12, 2017

'Alley Cat': Hideo Sakaki delivers a fresh take on the buddy movie

In Japanese films, a lot of what used to be considered extreme is now routine. Geysers of blood and flying body parts may still thrill fanboys, but to me that sort of play violence has become about as exciting as the spin cycle.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jul 5, 2017

Gross-out gags make 'Gintama' a miss

Some actors have a knack for picking good material. And some, like Shun Oguri, drift from stinker to stinker: "Museum," "Terra Formars," "Galaxy Turnpike," "Lupin the Third."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 28, 2017

Issey Ogata finds wonderland in Riga in 'Magic Kimono'

Issey Ogata has built his career on virtuoso one-man theater shows in which he changes characters, from drunken salaryman to female fishmonger, as easily as other actors change clothes, while amusing audiences and winning critical accolades with sui generis portrayals that dig down to universal human...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 28, 2017

'Marriage': Dean Fujioka evokes sympathy for the con man

Marriage scammers in the movies may be masters of deception, but their motives are usually clear enough. In Charlie Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947) the title character weds and murders widows to support his family. In Miwa Nishikawa's "Dreams for Sale" (2012), a husband and wife resort to serial...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 21, 2017

Don't follow this scary Pied Piper to the cinema

Released in 2003, Takashi Shimizu's "Ju-on: The Grudge" and "Ju-on: The Grudge 2" both had a simple premise — vengeful ghosts turn an ordinary suburban house into a death trap — but the scares, such as a kohl-eyed dead boy with a terrifying grip, were fresh and effective.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle

Jun 15, 2017

A scorched-earth fix to a celebrity scandal

Scandals can send a celebrity's career careening off a cliff. This is especially true in Japan, where minor violations of the social code can lead to major personal repercussions.

Japan Times

CULTURE / TV & Streaming

Jun 14, 2017

Sion Sono serves up some blood-sucking fun in 'Tokyo Vampire Hotel'

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jun 14, 2017

Kendo drama 'Mukoku' takes a stab at Showa Era sports spirit

One of the attractions of Asian martial arts for many Westerners (including this one) is the promise of self-improvement that goes beyond better street fighting.

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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