Category: Japanese
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In this genre-shifting thriller, a manhunt for a dangerous extortionist leads the audience through the most divided parts of Japan in Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 picture. There’s a house up on a hill. Its minimalist, with a panoramic view of the city that lies below. At the bottom of the hill lies a studio apartment that…
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One man’s quest for a missing gun turns into an introspective journey on the plight of postwar Japanese veterans in this venerable Kurosawa picture. On his way home after a session at the gun range, Detective Murakami finds himself the victim of a pickpocket. But the thief doesn’t steal a couple of coins, but a…
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Porco Rosso (1992) is one of Studio Ghibli’s more unusual films. Despite its lighthearted tone, the titular character’s cynicism towards war and his more traditionally masculine attitude is a far cry from other male protagonists such as Jiro from The Wind Rises (2013) and Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). That being said, Porco Rosso…
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When it comes to imperialism, it normally boils down to a few images. Tanks rolling over flattened cities. Flames engulfing fertile forests. Soldiers planting down their nation’s flag after they have successfully won a battle. These images almost always accompany a nation’s creation of gendered identity, which is almost always masculine and visible. But there…
BEYOND THE FRAME 