Since Japan occasionally produces films that are not animated, I figured it might be nice to have a thread in which to discuss them. Japan has one of the richest cinema histories of any country in the world, and if you are interested in the culture (as I'm sure most people here are to some degree), I think it would be a sin to ignore the many classic Japanese live-action movies.

I actually know very little about modern Japanese cinema, but I'd like to explore it more. The main reason I'm starting this thread is I recently saw The Taste of Tea (Cha no Aji) and it's AMAZING. I strongly urge everyone to seek it out. I would hesitate to call it a "live-action Ghibli movie" because in a lot of ways it's more similar to American indie movies like The Royal Tenenbaums and Me and You and Everyone We Know. If it was a Ghibli movie, it'd probably be more a Takahata film than a Miyazaki. But I think there's a good chance that Ghibli fans would like it. Also, it does a better job of capturing rural Japanese life than any movie I've ever seen.

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I like tea!

I'll keep an eye out for it!

One of my favourites is Okuribito, known in some places as Departures. It won an Oscar in 2009 for best foreign-language film, and Hisaishi composed the soundtrack, so it has a Ghibli connection in that way. It's very... heartfelt. It's hard to describe in any other way. The pacing is slow and introspective, but it's not at all boring, and it sheds light on an aspect of Japanese culture that even most Japanese are not familiar with.

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Weirdly enough, not only have I seen Departures, I even own it. It's one of very few recent Japanese films I'm familiar with. I think my parents gave it to me for Christmas since they knew I was interested in Japanese stuff. I thought it was a really good drama, and I found the cultural insights into the encoffinment ceremony fascinating, though as an outsider I was a little baffled by the existence of such a huge stigma against the main character's profession. The idea that death is somehow contaminating must be a really persistent one in Japanese culture. Come on people, science! But no, I agree, it's a really lovely movie.

The Taste of Tea is similarly long and leisurely paced, particularly for a comedy; it's almost two-and-a-half hours and almost nothing "happens" with a capital H, but the effect is mesmerizing. I think a lot of Japanese movies are bit slower and more contemplative in tone than Western ones, which I find refreshing.

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I like tea!

interestingly i have watched a lot of japanese live action movie.

however do not remmerber any names

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There aren't all that many that I've seen, but here are a few that I saw and enjoyed each for very different reasons.

Zero Focus: a recent feature film version of a 1960s thriller novel. It's been adapted so many times that the plot is well-known in Japan, so this time the director decided not to focus on making the twists very unexpected.

A Stranger of Mine: a film of three segments, each following different characters through the same story and resulting in different genres. Very funny, and involves the Yakuza.

United Red Army: a long and unflinching docu-drama about an extremist left-wing organisation, in particular an incident where they became increasingly obsessive and ultimately destroyed the group from within. Fascinating, but not an easy watch.

Kamikaze Girls: a wacky comedy with many bizarre and over-the-top characters, involving girl gangs, lolita fashion and many other things you wouldn't really expect to happen in the same movie.

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Lol, I saw The Taste of Tea in a film festival, got hooked, and bought the dvd as soon as I learned of the existence of a subbed copy. Whole family loved it.

One movie that captured my heart, but NOT subbed, is 15-years old. Story of a boy who ran away from home, but his journey brought him in contact with a lot of broken families and different people, that when he finally returned home, he immediately managed to patch things up with everyone.

It was on tv but a subbed dvd was never released, nor is there a fansub of it. Which is sad, because it's such a great movie for a parent and child to watch together.

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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Originally posted by Mush
I'll keep an eye out for it!

One of my favourites is Okuribito, known in some places as Departures. It won an Oscar in 2009 for best foreign-language film, and Hisaishi composed the soundtrack, so it has a Ghibli connection in that way. It's very... heartfelt. It's hard to describe in any other way. The pacing is slow and introspective, but it's not at all boring, and it sheds light on an aspect of Japanese culture that even most Japanese are not familiar with.

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The last really good Japanese movie I watched was Aruitemo Aruitemo (aka Still Walking). About this family that gets together 15 years after the death of the oldest son. So beautiful.

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Still Walking, Nobody Knows, and Maboroshi (by the same director) are all on my to-watch list. Hirokazu Koreeda is apparently one of few modern directors keeping the spirit of traditional Japanese cinema alive.

Speaking of traditional Japanese cinema, anybody seen any Ozu or Kurosawa? Kurosawa is probably the most accessible for a Western audience, since he was influenced by, and in turn influenced, a lot of Western movies. Ozu can be harder to get into, but I think he's key to understanding some of the differences between Japanese and Western artistic sensibilities. His movies are quiet family dramas where almost all the tension is implicit and unstated, shot in a distinctive style wherein the camera almost never moves. You can see his influence on Miyazaki whenever Miyazaki breaks up the action with shots that don't necessarily advance the story or establish setting (think: the snail climbing the flower stem in Totoro) but are there simply to regulate the pace and give the audience a little time to reflect.

If you're interested in Japanese cinema that's a little more off the beaten path, I would recommend:

Pale Flower (Kawaita Hana) - a dark yakuza-themed noir from 1964 with extraordinary cinematography, an unsettling soundtrack, and nightmare-like atmosphere. It contains many scenes of gambling, which I found weirdly riveting and hypnotic, considering the rules of the game are complex and never explained. Somewhat corny but still awesome old trailer

Woman in the Dunes (Suna no Onna) - a dark absurdist fable from 1964 with extraordinary cinematography, an unsettling soundtack, and nightmare-like atmosphere. Hmm, I'm noticing a theme here. The plot is basically: entomologist gets trapped at the bottom of a sand pit with a mysterious woman and is forced to shovel the sand daily to keep from getting buried alive. He tries to escape. I don't know how the filmmakers managed to make this set-up enthralling for over two hours, but they did. Original trailer with some unfortunate audio skipping

Branded to Kill (Koroshi no Rakuin) - extremely weird yakuza picture from 1967 made by Seijun Suzuki, an eccentric director famous for taking generic B-movie scripts and somehow turning them into surrealist dreamscapes. He got weirder and weirder until his studio finally fired him after making this one, which they deemed "incomprehensible" (a not entirely unfair assessment). It's still basically a sleazy exploitation movie, with a fairly shocking amount of nudity and violence for a movie from the '60s, so be warned. But the strangeness permeating every aspect of the film makes it worth a watch, in my opinion. If you like this, also check out Tokyo Drifter by the same director. Original trailer, NSFW

Tampopo - unconventional comedy from 1986 described as a "Ramen Western" (as opposed to "Spaghetti Western" I guess), about a woman trying to improve her ramen shop, assisted by, um, cowboys? There is a sequence in which two lovers pass a raw egg yolk back and forth via their mouths, if that gives you any sense of the kind of movie you're in for. Trailer with Subtitles


Oh, and how could I forget House? One of the wackiest horror movies ever.

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I like tea!

I've seen Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story) by Ozu and Shichin no Samurai by Kurosawa. They're both quite famous I think, and I realized that the latter one has had its plot blatantly recycled by many, many other movies with a paper-thin varnish... Still, it was good. Tokyo Monogatari was quite a valuable exposition of life in Tokyo in the '60s, but I didn't find it especially captivating. Mainly in that the characters felt a little stiff. But I can see the appeal in the cinematography.

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Tokyo Monogatari was quite a valuable exposition of life in Tokyo in the '60s, but I didn't find it especially captivating. Mainly in that the characters felt a little stiff.

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I like tea!

I really enjoy a good Japanese horror film.

Battle royale is a classic

Has anyone seen Tetsuko? It's a really weird 'silent' horror film about a guy who turns into a scrap metal monster. Not for the faint hearted.

Anyone have any recommendations for some really scary J-horrors?

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