Hotaru no haka / Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Mibugishiden / When The Last Sword Is Drawn (2003)

The Hidden Blade (2004)

The Twilight Samurai (2003)

誰も知らない / Nobody Knows (2004)

Nobody Knows is a moving film about four children left to fend for themselves by their unfit mother. The lead, Yuya Yagira (who plays Akira), was named Best Actor at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, while the movie was nominated as Japan’s Academy Award Foreign Language Film entry. Its a story of survival in their small bubble of a world, with Akira doing the shopping and taking on the father role, introverted Kyoko doing the laundry, Shigera causing trouble, and Yuki being really cute. Its both touching and depressing, interspersing their moments of survival- scraping together enough money for manju, or picking up out-of-date onigiri from the combini, with moments of joy- them playing on the swings, or Akira’s sudden drafting onto a local school baseball team. Its beautiful, depressing, and the young actors who fill the roles are truly impressive, particularly the lead, Yuya Yagira.

Sugar (2008)

Sugar is a well written and directed movie about an immigrant Dominican Republic player who comes to the US to play baseball. His struggles- the upheavel from his girlfriend and family, the geographical isolation of Iowa, and most of all the cultural isolation- not speaking English (although this is not the only reason he struggles, which is seen when his Dominican friend successful bonds with the white ex-Ivy league youngsters), all combine to leave him to flee the farm team and move to New York City. The promises of millions are there is he succeeds, but the hurdles in his way, including the intense competition, prove too much.

The film ends with a brilliant role call of players on an amateur team on which Sugar plays in his spare time in NYC, with them all saying where they played in the minors- its a roster of the Majors teams, all players who came, in some cases, to within a hairs breadth of making it, but now, mostly, work low-paid jobs in NYC on expired visas, sending money back home to their families. Its a poignant and compelling, without anything being laid on heavily- indeed its a slow burner, that makes any points it needs to make through sheer force of narrative, rather than any agenda for a message. Well worth watching.

Return of the Film Challenge

Check out my movie reviews by clicking on the new link at the top of the page! It will index all of the reviews I write when I can get around to writing reviews.

After a sustained haiatus, I’m back on the film trail with three movies-

1. Waltz With Bashir, Israel (long overdue)
2. Cache (Hidden), France (finally got my hands on it)
3. Nobody Knows, Japan (“obscure” recommendation)

I’d also like to get round to watching La Graine Et Le Moulet finally, as well as getting my hands on Park Chan Wook’s newest movie that won the Jury prize in Cannes this year, Thirst.

Watch this space!

Oldboy (Park Chan Wook), Korea

I saw Oldboy last week, a film on my

Star Trek Movie

I saw the new Star Trek movie the other day, and thought it deserved

Film Challenge No.3- Revanche, Austria

After a short hiatus from my foreign film challenge, I jumped back in with Gotz Spielmann’s Revanche, a dramatic love story set in rural Austria.