The beauty of Japanese cinema
Japanese film festival 2018, featuring four Japanese films representing the genres of drama, horror, comedy and sci-fi will be screened from on July 21 and 22 at the National Film Corporation theatre, Colombo.
Organised by the Embassy of Japan, the Japan Foundation in collaboration with the National Youth Council, the National Film Corporation and Ship for World Youth Alumni Association, the festival will showcase the rich Japanese cinema with some of its latest cinema works.’
On July 21, the film ‘It’s a Beautiful Life’ will be screened at 3 pm while horror film ‘The Complex’ will be screened at 5.30 pm. On July 22, ‘Golden Orchestra’ a comedy will be screened at 3.30 pm and a sci-fi animation ‘Time of EVE’ at 5.30 pm.
This is the fifth edition of the Japanese Film Festival and entrance for the festival is free on a first-come first-served basis.
Directed by Osamu Minorikawa ‘Its a Beautiful Life’ is made based on a true story of elderly women – three childhood friends – who at their old age put up a food garnish business at Tokushima Prefecture.
Set in in the small town of Kamikatsu, where 48% of the population consists of the elderly, a group of elderly women come together to sell vegetable leaves.
Since the tangerine industry collapsed in Kamikatsu, the town seems to have slowly withered away. Eda, who works at National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, tries to boost give the town a boost. Eda’s plan is to sell vegetables leaves from the area. Residents do not like the idea, but the three women stand up for Eda’s proposal.
‘The Complex’ directed by Hideo Nakata revolves around nursing student Asuka (Atsuko Maeda) who has just moved into an apartment complex with her parents and younger brother. On the first night in her new room, she is awoken by a strange scratching sound coming from the apartment of her neighbour, a reclusive old man who has refused all attempts at communication. Concerned over his well being, Asuka enters his home only to find him dead from malnutrition. Worse, it looks as if he had been trying to claw his way into her room. Asuka learns that there have been a number of strange deaths in the complex over the years from Shinobu (Hiroki Narimiya), the handyman cleaning up the old man’s apartment. Even the girls at school whisper rumours of it being haunted. When the late night scratching returns, Asuka ventures back into her neighbour’s home and comes face to face with an apparition of the old man! Panicked by the discovery of her apartment emptied and her family gone, Asuka seeks help from Shinobu, who brings in a spiritualist to exorcise Asuka of the evil surrounding her. However, as she delves into the girl’s predicament, the spiritualist discovers that signs points not to the old man but to a small boy living in the complex with a past as tragic as the one Asuka herself lives in denial of.
Directed by Tôru Hosokawa ‘Golden Orchestra’ is a comedy released in 2016. When the new teacher at the high school, who has played violin since her school days, hears a local amateur orchestra her interest is rekindled and she determines to join. Being new and unfamiliar with the town she accidentally enrolls in an orchestra comprised of the elderly who nonetheless are delighted to have the younger blood. The teacher does not have the heart to backtrack and disappoint them. She is the permanent new conductor.
The animation film ‘Time of Eve’ is directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura.
In a not too distant future, a young man’s outlook on his home android begins to change after tracking the android’s behavioural log to a mysterious cafe.
Susitha R. Fernando
‘It’s a Beautiful Life’
‘Golden Orchestra’
The Complex’