2009 Asian Studies Spring Film Series
In spring of 2009, we hosted two double-features, funded by the Japan Foundation. Listed below are the films we brought in-- watch this space for our next film festival.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
7:00 pm: Postman Blues and Mind Game
Postman Blues
Color / 1997 /110 min
Written and Directed by: SABU
Until now, Sawaki, a postman, has lived a quiet, even boring life, until he runs into Noguchi, an old friend who has become a drug dealer. Noguchi sneaks a package of drugs into Sawaki's mail bag, along with his finger which he had severed in "yakuza" (Japanese gangster) tradition. That evening Sawaki starts opening the letters he was supposed to deliver. When he reads a letter from a girl named Sayoko, who is dying of cancer, he rushes to her bedside where he is befriended by a professional hit man, Joe.
During the wild turn of events that follows, the police discover Noguchi's finger in Sawaki's apartment and he becomes wanted for mutilation and murder. Unaware that he is a wanted man, Sawaki goes to fulfill his promise to Sayoko. But he has the police hot on his trail...
More on Postman Blues from IMDB >>
Shown with:
Mind Game ?
Color /Manga/ 2004 / 104 min
Director: YUASA Masaaki
In this manga (Japanese for comics or cartoon) film, Robin, a struggling manga artist, is reunited with Myon, the object of his unrequited love, and her sister Yan, both struggling to support their father's yakitori pub. Confronted by loan sharks, they flee but their car swerves off a bridge and is swallowed whole by an enormous whale.
In the belly of the whale, Nishi, Myon, and Yan, meet an old man, who has been trapped inside the whale for thirty years. From there, with the old man as there guide, the three re-examine their lives, and discover their ability to control their own destiny and realize true happiness.
The whale, sensing the end of its own life nearing, approaches Osaka bay and gives Nishi, Myon, Yan, and the old man a last chance to escape and return to what they left behind....
Tuesday February 10, 2009
7:00 pm: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
(Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki)
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
BW/ 1960 / 86 min
Director: NARUSE Mikio
This is the story of widowed Keiko, who works as a bar hostess in Ginza's posh nightclub district. She is almost 30, near the end of her career. She’s like to open her own bar, and begins to gather promises of funding. She fends off a marriage proposal from a customer who just happens to already be married, and inadvertently reveals her love to a man who takes her up on her offer. Her new lover is moving out of town but softens the news with a gift. Does she keep the gift, or go back to the bar?
More on When a Woman Ascends the Stairs from IMDB >>
Tuesday March 17
7:00 pm: Age of Assassins and Cure
Age of Assassins
Satsujinkyo jidai
BW/ 1967 / 99min
Director: OKAMOTO Kihachi
Dr. Mizorogi, director of an insane asylum, has formed a secret organization called the Great Japanese Population Regulation Council and trains his patients to kill. One target, Kikyo Shinji, is a near-sighted, bumbling criminal psychologist. He miraculously escapes the first attempt on his life and enlists the help of Keiko, a tabloid reporter, and Bill, a very minor crook. The murder attempts continue but Shinji miraculously survives. Mizorogi reveals Shinji bears a diamond, Cleopatra's Tears, implanted in his body during WW II. The plot twists when Keiko shows she isn’t who she seems to be (but then, neither is Shinji).
More on Age of Assassins from IMDB >>
Shown with:
Cure
Kyua
Color / 1997 /115 min
Director: KUROSAWA Kiyoshi
When the brutally murdered body of a prostitute is found, police detective Takabe notices a strange similarity to other recent murders. Each victim has been slashed with a large "X." But Detective Takabe has other worries. His wife Fumie is becoming more and more absent-minded and confused.
Meanwhile, investigators discover that any person who has had contact with a particular drifter during this time later committed an "X" murder?The drifter is identified as Kunihiko Mamiya?a former medical student majoring in psychiatry who seems to have hypnotic powers. This mysterious story takes quite an unexpected turn when we look closer at what Mamiya learned in medical school.
