Hirokazu Koreeda

Started by Lottery, December 10, 2013, 09:06:03 AM

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Lottery

Hmmm.

Okay, in an ideal world, you'd go chronologically but that's usually too much of investment.
But anyway, I started with Still Walking and it might my favourite, (I dunno, most of them are great).

Nobody Knows is a good choice. It's exhausting and powerful, it seems to really bring together his old and new style very well. It's his most famous work and for good reason too.


N

I can vouch for Still Walking.
Very thought-provoking and bittersweet, made me happy-cry.

I'll check out Nobody Knows when I can, Koreeda definitely has something special.

Punch

The World According to Koreeda Hirokazu: Video Essay

* http://vimeo.com/62088276 *


The cinema of Koreeda Hirokazu is defined by moments of everyday life Light Spoiler. Whatever potential there is for heightened drama – the suicide of a husband, a cult massacre, abandoned children Spoiler Ended it is diffused by the familiar rhythms of everydayness. This attention to the everyday must be understood within the context of death, which plays a significant role in all of Koreeda's films. It is death that deepens our sense of life and makes even the most mundane moment seem profound.

However, in life we often seek to escape this everydayness, and movies have always been generous in providing such escape. It is startling then to be confronted by a film that offers everydayness instead. I once screened Edward Yang's A One and a Two... (Yi Yi) for a class, and afterwards heard smart, thoughtful students wonder why such a film would even be made.

"It was like watching paint dry," said one girl.

Yi Yi is absolutely not like watching paint dry – unless you think the experience of human existence is like watching paint dry. And maybe this is the point. Everyday life seems boring and slow to us.

There is a critical relationship between cinema and everyday life in this regard. Walker Percy suggests that for moviegoers everydayness is the enemy. Movies not only offer escape, but in doing so, they alter our taste for everyday life. Jean Mitry asked, "Why is it that life seems so dreary after we leave the cinema?" Is it possible that our regular consumption of the extraordinary makes the ordinary taste even more bland in comparison?

I grew up on a steady diet of movies that made everyday life seem less and less interesting. But along the way, I encountered films that offered a different sensibility. I found that when I left the cinema after watching these films, everyday life didn't seem more dreary or bland, but more meaningful and savoury. In a way, these films helped restore my taste for the everyday.

Of all contemporary filmmakers, Koreeda Hirokazu has most consistently served this kind of cinematic dish. For this reason, he is often compared to Ozu Yasujirô. In recent interviews, Koreeda seems to be shunning this comparison, and you can understand why. They're not the same filmmakers. Their styles and content are different.

I think the reason we compare Koreeda to Ozu is because his cinema tastes like Ozu's. When we leave his films we experience a similar aftertaste, which is to say, a deeper sense of life. And it turns out that the everyday is a lot like tofu (which may explain why Ozu referred to himself as a tofu maker). It may seem bland in comparison to the spectacle of other dishes and desserts being offered, but if we happen to stumble upon a master chef capable of bringing out its subtle flavours, it will change the way we experience tofu forever.


http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/video-world-according-koreeda
"oh you haven't truly watched a film if you didn't watch it on the big screen" mumbles the bourgeois dipshit

Lottery

Got around to watching Like Father, Like Son. Finally.

A respectable and competent film but it's possibly another entry into the 'Lesser Koreeda' folder. It's understated like most Koreeda films but I feel like the man is losing his edge and is becoming a little too comfortable. Perhaps it's about time he found a comfortable space after his shifting style- this one is certainly a true continuation of I Wish and Still Walking though. There's a fairly complex situation which arises from the basic script, it's a neat little concept and it really does present some serious questions regarding parenthood and y'know, actually being a good parent. It's 'I've abandoned my child' at its most subtle. Such a situation does make for a messy affair and the cast does a great job with it, the performances add a greater depth to the story itself (than the script would manage alone). And Masaharu Fukuyama manages well in stoic, busy undad role.
Ultimately, it lacks the engagement of Koreeda's previous works. Yes, it's good and funtionally the film serves the film's thematic and story content well but it almost feels a little automatic in a way. I'll need to watch it again in near future because I feel like I'm coming off as a little negative. A worthwhile story being told here and for the most part it's convincing. The whole switched at birth thing is observed through a realistic lens and there are a few rather touching moments resulting from it. There's this hidden sort of complexity amongst it all, behind the straightforward ideas of nature vs nurture and upper class vs middle class etc, there's an emotional and familial importance to the film. It's pretty typical for Koreeda but he does it better than most.


Lottery

Yees! New project for next year.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_japan/anime_news/AJ201406230023
QuoteAkimi Yoshida's critically acclaimed manga series "Umimachi Diary" will be adapted into a live-action feature film by Cannes-winning director Hirokazu Koreeda.

The film is set for theatrical release in early summer 2015 in Japan.

The names of the actresses playing the roles of four sisters, the main characters in the film, will be announced shortly.

"Umimachi Diary" won the Excellence Award in the Manga Division at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2007, and went on to receive the Cartoon Grand Prize in 2013.

The original manga series has been running in Shogakukan Inc.'s Flowers monthly comic anthology since summer 2006 on an irregular basis, currently spanning five comic book volumes.

Set in the seaside city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, the story follows three sisters living with their grandmother. One day, they receive news of the death of their father whom they haven't met for a long time. The sisters meet their younger half sister for the first time and decide to live with her.

Koreeda, one of Japan's leading film directors, has won a number of awards at film festivals at home and abroad. Most recently, he won the Prix du Jury (Jury Prize) at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival with his "Like Father, Like Son."

Many of Koreeda's films are based on his original ideas. But the director said he was eager to make a feature film adaptation of the manga series.

Yoshida came under the spotlight in the 1980s after she published many popular titles, including "California Story," "Kissho Tennyo" and "Banana Fish." Although Yoshida's works are intended for girls, her manga stories with an almost literary flavor are well supported by women and men alike.


http://variety.com/2014/film/games/top-female-cast-booked-for-hirokazu-kore-edas-kamakura-diary-1201241378/
QuoteTOKYO — Masami Nagasawa, Haruka Ayase, Kaho, and Suzu Hirose will star in Hirokazu Kore-eda's upcoming pic "Kamakura Diary."

Based on a best-selling, award-winning comic by Akimi Yoshida that has been serialized in the Flowers monthly magazine since 2007, the film will depict the lives of four sisters in the title city.

Nagasawa, Ayase and Kaho will play three sisters living together in their grandmother's house in Kamakura when a 13-year-old half-sister, played by Hirose, appears on the scene. The former three are established stars with long lists of credits, while Hirose is a newcomer cast by Kore-eda in an audition.

"Kamakura Diary" is scheduled for a summer 2015 release, with Gaga and Toho jointly distributing.

Given Kore-eda's track record, which includes a jury prize at Cannes last year for his family drama "Like Father, Like Son" (pictured), festival interest is sure to be keen. Also, with "Like Father, Like Son" earning $31 million in Japan, Kore-eda is now viewed by the local biz as a director with BO clout, making a big PR push by co-distributors Gaga and Toho more likely.

I wasn't aware of this Manga before hearing about this adaptation. Should be interesting. I would have expected his next film to follow on from his current style but I'm not sure of this is supposed to be a sort of slice-of-life comedy or not.

N


Interview of Koreeda talking about character perspective, parental growth, his shift in central themes, the use of photographs and lots of other stuff in Like Father Like Son.

Lottery


Lottery

Dude did a 10-part miniseries before Like Father, Like Son. Didn't know about it until today. Not sure if I'll watch it anytime soon but it's up on youtube anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IJtR0QlTKk&list=PLXhlGknuon4Sv94X1mHNcM_cSANXJXkC6

N

Quote from: Lottery on January 06, 2015, 05:49:22 PM
Yup, looks like Koreeda.


I'm pretty excited for this one. I mean I'm always excited to watch Koreeda, but it's exciting when filmmakers are doing manga/anime adaptations. There's good and bad and with film it doesn't have to have so much of the bad and it can still keep a lot of the good. I might even dare to peek at the manga and see what it's like. Gonna take a look at that miniseries now.


Edit: I read the first 60 pages of the manga and I'm officially hyped for this. This is the perfect story for Koreeda.
Looks like he's taking quite a bit from the manga too.


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