Japanese movies at FNC

The 45th Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC) will be held from 5 to 16 October and will offer 340 films (including 138 feature films and 170 short films) from 62 countries, including 43 world premieres. That will include nine Japanese movies. For more information: nouveaucinema.ca.

Press coverage:

[ Coco Montreal ] [ Le Devoir ] [ The Gazette ] [ La Presse ] [ Shomingeki ]
[ Traduire ]


Incontournables

• After the Storm (海よりもまだ深く / Umi Yorimo Mada Fukaku). Japan, 2016, 117 min.; Dir./Scr.: Hirokazu KOREEDA; Phot.: Yutaka Yamasaki; Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Kirin Kiki, Yoko Maki, Taiyo Yoshizawa, Sosuke Ikematsu, Lily Franky, Satomi Kobayashi, Isao Hashizume.
  

  A typhoon is the catalyst for reuniting a family shattered by divorce. Hirokazu works with a huge palette of emotions. Continuing his unflinching dissection of Japanese family neuroses, Kore-Eda Hirokazu returns with a powerful ode to forgotten dreams. Supported by a rich, surprising cast of secondary characters, After the Storm is driven by a masterful performance by Hiroshi Abe, playing a jaded father, inveterate gambler and failed writer seeking redemption. Hirokazu’s tender, melancholy new film is a tribute to families torn asunder by divorce but who are still trying, against all odds, to stay afloat. (Text from the FNC website)

  Schedule: Sun Oct. 9 13:00 at Cinema Imperial, Sun Oct. 16 17:00 at Cinéma du Parc 1.
  
  [ AsianWiki ] [ IMdB ] [ Wikipedia ] [ Youtube ]
• Daguerrotype. France/Belgium/Japan, 2016, 131 min.; Dir.: Kiyoshi KUROSAWA.
  

  This first French production by Kyoshi Kurosawa stars Tahar Rahim, Olivier Gourmet and Constance Rousseau. Stéphane is a widowed former fashion photographer with an obsession for Daguerreotypes. He lives in the suburbs with his daughter, Marie. Now she is his model, and their photo sessions keep getting longer and more challenging. Then a new assistant, Jean, arrives. This is the first film Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Kaïro, Tokyo Sonata) has made outside Japan. It is a toxic tale of love and death intertwined, shot in cinemascope. Starring Tahar Rahim, Olivier Gourmet and Constance Rousseau. (Text from the FNC website)

  Schedule: Sat. Oct. 8 13:00 at Cinema Impérial, Wed. Oct. 12 13:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin 10.
  
  [ IMdB ] [ Youtube ]

Temps ø

• Antiporno (アンチポルノ / Anchi Poruno). Japan, 2016, 78 min.; Dir.: Sion SONO; Cast: Ami Tomite. North American premiere.
  

  An anarchist broadside that feminizes rage, confronts sex and cries out for freedom. Will make (some) men quake in their boots. (Text from the FNC website)

  Schedule: Mon. Oct 10 21:30 at Cinéma du Parc 1, Fri. Oct. 14 17:15 at Cinéma du Parc 2
  
  [ AsianWiki ] [ IMdB ] [ Youtube ]
• Destruction Babies (ディストラクション・ベイビーズ / Disutorakushon Beibizu). Japan, 2016, 108 min; Dir.: TETSUYA Mariko; Scr.: Tetsuya Mariko, Kohei Kiyasu; Cast: Yuya Yagira, Masaki Suda, Nana Komatsu, Nijiro Murakami. North American premiere.
  

  I punch therefore I am... A kind of psycho Fight Club about a disenfranchised generation. Harrowing. (Text from the FNC website).

  Schedule: Fri. Oct. 7 16:30 at Cinéma du Parc 1, Sun. Oct. 9 at Cinéma du Parc 2.
  
  [ AsianWiki ] [ IMdB ] [ Youtube ]
• Sadako vs. Kayako (貞子vs伽椰子). Japan, 2016, 98 min; Dir./Scr.: Kôji SHIRAISHI; Phot.: Hidetoshi Shinomiya; Cast: Mizuki Yamamoto, Tina Tamashiro, Aimi Satsukawa, Masahiro Komoto, Masanobu Ando, Mai Kikuchi, Misato Tanaka.
  

  Two legendary Japanese curses. A female face-off that shall spook evil. Horror and humour bang heads for a knock-out surprise of a film that’s drolly entertaining. (Text from the FNC website)

  Schedule: Sun. Oct. 9 21:00 at Cinéma Impérial, Sun Oct. 16 17:30 at Cinéma du Parc 2
  
  [ AsianWiki ] [ IMdB ] [ Wikipedia ] [ Youtube ]
• The Sion Sono (園子温という生きもの / Jônetsu tairiku Presents Sono Shion to iu ikimono). Japan, 2016, 107 min.; Documentary, dir.: Arata OSHIMA; Phot.: Hidenori Takahashi; Ed.: Yoshihiro Ohkawa; Cast: Ellie, Megumi Kagurazaka, Fumi Nikaidou.
  

  An amazing journey into the mind of the fiercest, most topical of the great directors. A privilege full of revelations. The universally admired Sion Sono (Whispering Star, Love Exposure, Guilty of Romance) is a cult-cinema auteur who remains something of a mystery. Here, he reveals himself at last. Painting, film, poetry, music, whether with his wife or his sister, The Sion Sono is an essential, long overdue guide to understanding the artist’s singular approach. Naturally, the film restores Sono to his rightful place at the heart of the fascinating history of modern Japanese cinema. Directed be the son of Nagisa Oshima. (Text from the FNC website).

  Schedule: Sun. Oct. 9 15:00 at UQAM Pavillon Judith-Jasmin annexe (Salle Jean-Claude Lauzon), Sat. Oct. 15 19:00 at Cinéma du Parc 1
  
  [ IMdB ] [ Official Site ] [ Youtube ]
• Wet woman in the wind (Kaze ni nureta onna). Japan, 2016, 77 min.; Dir.: Akihiko SHIOTA.
  

  A wet woman in the wind meets a cold man in nature. Love is in the air. Sex is everywhere. (Text from the FNC website).

  Schedule: Mon. Oct. 10 17:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin 17, Thur. Oct. 13 21:30 at Cinéma du Parc 1
  
  [ IMdB ]

Panorama International

• Harmonium (淵に立つ / Fuchi ni tatsu). Japan, 2016, 118 min.; Dir./Scr./Ed.: Kôji FUKADA; Phot.: Ken'ichi Negishi; Mus.: Hiroyuki Onogawa; Cast: Mariko Tsutsui, Tadanobu Asano, Kanji Furutachi.
  

  The Japanese director revisits family melodrama in this third feature. Toshio lives quietly in the suburbs with his wife and little girl. Yasaka, an old friend who’s just been released from prison, shows up at the man’s house and begs for work. As well as offering Yasaka a place to stay, Toshio welcomes his old friend into his small workshop, unaware that the ex-con is nursing an old, deep grudge. Kôji Fukada’s surprising and touching melodrama astonishes not only with its unpredictable, circuitous plot, but also with its powerful realism. (Text from the FNC website).

  Schedule: Tue. Oct. 11 20:30 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin 10, Sat. Oct. 15 15:00 at Cinéma du Parc 1
  
  [ AsianWiki ] [ IMdB ] [ Wikipedia ] [ Youtube ]
• Yamato (California). Japan/USA/Taiwan/Netherland, 2016, 119 min.; Dir./Scr.: Daisuke MIYAZAKI; Phot.: Akiko Ashizawa; Ed.: Ryoma Hirata; Cast: Nina Endo, Hanae Kan, Reiko Kataoka, Haruka Uchimura. World premiere. The director will be present to introduce his movie.
  

  In Yamato, rap is a border, a bridge that connects two young women, while at the same time addressing the “American problem” in Japan. (Text from the FNC website).

  Schedule: Sat. Oct. 8 21:15 at UQAM Pavillon Judith-Jasmin annexe (Salle Jean-Claude Lauzon), Tue. Oct. 11 17:00 at UQAM Pavillon Judith-Jasmin annexe (Salle Jean-Claude Lauzon)
  
  [ IMdB ] [ Official site ]

We also recommend the following animated feature, even if it’s not Japanese:

La tortue rouge. France/Belgium, 2016, 80 min.; Dir. Michael Dudok de Wit. International competition.

Nearly ten years in the making, La tortue rouge is a touching animated tale, sublime in its naturalism. A shipwrecked man struggles to survive on a deserted tropical island teeming with turtles, crabs and birds. His attempts to build a raft are thwarted by a red tortoise. An award winner at Un Certain Regard, La tortue rouge is the first collaboration between Ghibli Studios and an outside artist, Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit. The break with tradition pays off: this is a uniquely beautiful and moving film. (Text from the FNC website).

Schedule: Sun. Oct. 9 13:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin 17, Mon. Oct. 10 19:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin 17

[ IMdB ] [ Official site ] [ Wikipedia ] [ Youtube ]