Crazy Thunder Road
Crazy Thunder Road 狂い咲きサンダーロード 1980 • Directed by Ishii Sogo Japanese Cinema Punk Dystopian 1980s Cult Classic There are few more significant Japanese films of the 1970s and 1980s, and fewer still who wear their significance with such gleeful abandon, as Crazy Thunder Road. Began as a student graduation project in 16mm and ultimately given […]
Burst City
Burst City 爆裂都市 1982 • Directed by Ishii Sogo Japanese Cinema PunkDystopian 1980s Cult Classic There are few filmmakers that better encapsulate the punk aesthetic of much 1980s Japanese independent cinema than Ishii Sogo; and of his riotous, anarchic, frequently iconoclastic work in this decade arguably no film better represents such an aesthetic than Burst […]
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes ドロステン 2020 • Directed by Yamaguchi Junta Japanese Cinema Comedy Time Travel 2020s Time travel has been a frequent, if often under-appreciated, facet of Japanese cinema. The anime and animated Television series and films of Doraemon the robotic cat from the future has for many remained an entry point not […]
A STORY WRITTEN WITH WATER
A Story Written with Water 水で書かれた物語 1965 • Directed by Yoshida Kiju Japanese New Wave Drama 1960s Black and White As a key – if often overlooked – member of the Japanese new wave cinema of the early 1960s, the cinema of Kiju Yoshida is integral to Japanese film culture of the modernist, post-classical era. […]
A Scene at the Sea
A Scene at the Sea あの夏、いちばん静かな海 1991 • Directed by Kitano Takeshi Japanese Cinema Drama 1990s After beginning his directorial career with two violent dramas – Violent Cop (1989) and Boiling Point (1990) – that each reworked genre material pertaining to yakuza cinema, Kitano Takeshi set up his own production company in order to help […]