Eitaro Morikawa made his debut at Shochiku studios with this wonderful forgotten gem around the same time as the more famous New Wave pioneers Nagisa Oshima, Masahiro Shinoda and Yoshishige Yoshida entered the scene. This is easily the most accomplished debut of any of them, and so, the real tragedy here is that this was the only film Morikawa ever made. There is a striking confidence in the direction and a formal brilliance to the…
Another one of those ”radical bands who get conventional documentaries” sorts of thing. It's not a bad film: there’s some decent montages and the live footage is great, even though most of it is easily available on YouTube. For anyone who likes the music of The Birthday Party, this will be enjoyable. However, part of what made Todd Haynes’ film about The Velvet Underground so good was that it through creative editing and use of image and sound managed to…
Part of growing up is starting to see and, maybe, accept your parents for what they are: individuals with wishes, dreams, faults, disappointments and regrets of their own. Sōmai captures the strange relation between child and parents better than just anyone, in all its beauty and sadness. The direction and cinematography is sublime, it’s a wonder how so long and meticulously planned and choreographed takes can flow so naturally. Tomoko Tabata is amazing as Renko, who’s just such a wonderful,…
