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Japanese Films 2011With thanks to The Consulate-General of Japan, and The Japan Cultural Centre, Sydney Time: 7pm DATES FOR 2011:
Changes are uncommon, but please confirm dates on this website or with the Administrator near to the time. Enquiries: Diane Kenning, on 07 838 4932
Thursday 17 February
"Tora-san", a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. In the midst of Japan's rising economy of the mid-1980's, the itinerant Tora-san becomes drunk with a hard-working salaryman, Tominaga. After an hour commute, the two sleep off their night's revelry at Tominaga'shome in Ibaraki Prefecture. When Tominaga disappears due to the pressure of his job, Tora-san helps his wife to find the man, while secretly hoping they do not, as he has fallen in love with her. Stars Kiyoshi Atsumias TorajirōKuruma(Tora-san), and Reiko Ōharaas his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san's Forbidden Loveis the thirty-fourth entry in the popular, long-running OtokowaTsuraiyoseries.
Thursday 17 March
The beautiful struggle that is life... Following his 1995 brush with death in the form of a motorcycle accident, actor/comedian/writer/director Takeshi Kitano spins this wistful --if bleak --tale about a pair of high school buddies and their inevitable slide into adulthood. Bumptious Masaru and his quiet sidekick, Shinji ,spend much of their time harassing teachers and shaking down students instead of going to school. At one point they dangle a large anatomically correct doll before the class window of a particularly maligned teacher. One day, one of their favorite marks brings along a more skilled street punk to thwart his tormentors. Their thrashing is so thorough that Masaru drags Shinji to a boxing gym. There they learn the ways of pugilism, but it turns out that only Shinji has a gift for the sport. As Shinji rises in boxing rank, Masaru drifts away from his friend and joins a yakuza gang. --------- Thursday 7 April
Comedy from the director of Battle Royale. Winner of five awards from the Japanese Academy, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress, internationally acclaimed director KinjiFukasaku's"Fall Guy" is a moving love story and a heartfelt valentine to the movies. Ginshirois, a vain and selfish actor whose stardom is threatened by rising star Tachibana. In a desperate bid to burnish his image, Ginshirocompels a devoted member of his entourage, Yasu, to marry Ginshiro's pregnant mistress, Konatsu. To support his new wife, the devoted Yasu becomes a stunt man, performing increasingly dangerous stunts. Konatsuis torn between Yasu and Ginshiro, who compels his loyal disciple to perform a death-defying stunt that could save the film and Ginshiro'scareer. Thursday 19 May
A tale of the true tragedy of war and innocence lost. In the aftermath of a World War II bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside. To Seitaand his four-year-old sister, the helplessness and indifference of their countrymen is even more painful than the enemy raids. Through desperation, hunger and grief, these children's lives are as heartbreakingly fragile as their spirit and love is inspiring. The film was directed by Isao Takahata, who is associated with the famous GhibliStudio, source of the greatest Japanese animation. It's based on a semi-autobiographical novel by NosakaAkiyuki--who was a boy at the time of the firebombs, whose sister did die of hunger and whose life has been shadowed by guilt. Thursday 23 June
Be honest , be strong … The year is 1932 and the Japanese military is dismantling each Karate dojo across the country for their own uses. Amidst this reform, the master of one dojo dies before passing on the "Kuro-obi" black belt to a successor. The three men of the dojo - Taikan, Giryuand Choei - must face the might of the Japanese army, but find that this leads them on very different paths of martial arts. These paths of Karate pit one man against the other and ultimately thrust them into a terrible encounter with fate… Thursday 21 July
The Golden Age of Movies Final Take is Japanese director Yoji Yamada's love letter to 1930s moviemaking. A Shochiku production set at the company's own Kamata Studios during the transition from silent film to talkies, it traces one woman's journey from extra to leading player. It's made with obvious affection and movie buffs will find it fascinating, but it plays as if Yamada was eager to make a film about the era but couldn't settle on a story or tone for his picture. In The environment and the movie stars at a Japanese film studio in the early '30s are recreated in this drama that looks back on a distinctive period in cinematic history. Using celebrated director Yasujiro Ozu as a model, fictional director Ogata discovers a new female star quite by accident. Koharu Tanaka works selling candy at a studio theater when she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters. Thursday 11 August Summer Wars
Kenji is your typical teenage misfit. He's good at math, bad with girls, and spends most of his time hanging out in the all-powerful, online community known as OZ. His second life is the only life he has -until the girl of his dreams, Natsuki, hijacks him for a starring role as a fake fianceat her family reunion. Things only get stranger from there. A late-night email containing a cryptic mathematic riddle leads to the unleashing of a rogue AI intent on using the virtual word of OZ to destroy the real world, literarily. As Armageddon looms on the horizon, Kenji and his new "family" set aside their differences and band together to save the worlds they inhabit. Thursday 15 September
Boys be Ambitious Kazuyuki Izusu directs this film about, gangs, layabouts, and the downwardly mobile, based on the autobiographical novel by truck-driver turned author Riichi Nakaba. Chunba and Kotetsu, grows up in the working class neighbourhood of Kishiwadain Osaka in the mid-seventies. Their life in school is a never-ending series of fights and reprisals against rival gangs landing them in trouble with organised crime and in the juvenile court. Thursday 6 October
Wartime past offers lessons for today The post war trial of Lieutenant General Tasuku Okada, who took responsibility for ordering the execution of 38 captured US prisoners of war, after he considered them to be war criminals instead for the war time fire bombing of Nagoya. Okada took full blame for the war crime, in effect, shielding his subordinates from harsh punishment and earning him wide respect. The movie seeks to call attention to the unresolved question of American war crime culpability in the fire and atomic bombings of Japan.
Thursday 10 November
Academy Award Nominee Best Animated Feature 2005 In Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated masterpiece, journey beyond imagination and enter a "breathtaking fantasy world" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) filled with adventure, humor and heart. Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a spell on Sophie. In a life-changing adventure, Sophie climbs aboard Howl's magnificent flying castle and enters a magical world on a quest to break the spell. Miyazaki's artistry comes to life with inventive characters, unique storytelling and richly detailed animation. |
Tora-san's Forbidden Love
Kid's Return
Fall Guy 蒲田行進曲
Tombstone For Fireflies 火垂るの墓 
Black Belt 黒帯
Final Take キネマの天地
Kishiwada Bad Boys
Best Wishes for Tomorrow
Howl's Moving Castle
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences - Te Kura Kete Aronui
The University of Waikato - Te Whare Wananga o Waikato
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