By Thomas M. Puhr. Light on their feet but not rushed, fun but not goofy, these films deliver just about everything you’d want from the hitman genre….” In 1967, Japanese director Kazuo Mori released back-to-back actioners starring Raizô Ichikawa as the archetypal hitman. Coldblooded, principled, calm under pressure—and often seen […]
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Queer-Themed Monster
By Brad Windhauser. Kore-eda’s Monster portrays Japanese queer youth forced to carve out a safe space away from their society just to experience moments of joy.” Kore-eda’s film Monster (Kore-eda, 2023), recently released digitally, demonstrates how Japanese culture, which does not encourage open exploration of queer identities, sets up their […]
“Found” in Translation: An Interview with Hirokazu Kore-eda on The Truth
When you have good actors, they know what I want. Hirokazu Kore-eda By Ali Moosavi. Japan has had a fine tradition of presenting world-class filmmakers to the world of cinema. These have included Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Kon Ichikawa, Masaki Kobayashi, Shohei Imamura, Nagisa Oshima and Hayao Miyazaki […]