Jap Films - Recommendations?

[hobbes]

After watching more Japenese films over the last few days than in my entire life i was wondering what other films anyone could suggest to get me more into this genre.
Horror, Action, Drama anything is fine.

I've recently seen:

Battle Royale
Hard Boiled
Brother
Gonin

Also, can anyone reccomend any particular directors or actors?
I quite like Beat Takeshi at the moment. And has anyone seen any films by Takeshi Miike?

Cheers,
Shaun

[rob_w]

watched the audition a while back - bit slow but the end is sooo intense that youre almost biting your hand off!!! well worth renting out........

rob

[museumsteve]

Audition is definately worth a look and if you have the stomach for it then Men Behind the Sun makes interesting viewing..:D

[PoochJD]

Hi Hobbes,

Well, I am a biggish fan of Japanese cinema, so here's my few thoughts on it.

"Men Behind The Sun" is by director T.F. Mous (aka F.T. Mous), and is about Japanese Concentration Camps. Personally, I don't think it's a good film. The effects are okay, but the two "nasty" scenes - the cat being eaten alive, and the man in the pressurisation chamber - really leave you feeling nauseous. It's also very depressing, but also, to a certain degree at least, actually pretty boring. It's not one of the better films made.

"Audition" is okay, but not that good, and the climax isn't as bad or shocking as other films I've seen. Ultimately, in my opinion, the film seemed to go up its own bottom, at the finale. A case of "Let's see how many twist endings we can pile on", and you don't actually get a proper ending at all.

I would however recommend any/all of the following:

- Most films by director Akira Kurosawa, especially "The Seven Samurai", "Yojimbo", "Ran" and "Rashomon". Also check out "A.K. The Making Of 'Ran' " on FilmFour or videotape. An excellent documentary.

- Almost all of "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's movies, especially "Boiling Point", "Violent Cop", "Sonatine", and "Hana-Bi".

- You may also want to look at some of the best examples of Japanese animation. Check out: "Akira" by Katsuhiro Otomo, "Ghost In The Shell" by Mamoru Oshii, "My Neighbour Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Pom Poko", "Only Yesterday", "Whisper Of The Heart" and "Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind" which are all by Hayao Miyazaki.

Hope this lot helps you out. :)

Pooch

[Beek1]

Adding a few more to the mix, I'd also check out the films of:

Shin'ya Tsukamoto (inc. Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer and Tokyo Fist)

Takashi Miike (people have already mentioned the sublime Audition, but I also recommend the rest of his output inc. Chugoku no Tojin, Gokudo Kuro Shakai Rainy Dog, Nihon Kuroshaki, Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha, Salaryman Kintaro, Hyoryuu-gai, Dead or Alive 2: Tobosha and much, much more - if you have trouble tracking any of these down, some - including the Dead or Alive series I believe - are set for a future UK DVD release by Tartan Video)

[Rambo John J]

Men/Man Behind The Sun is actually a Chinese film. It's got a lot in common with Schindlers List except it doesn't pull any punches when it comes to dealing with its subject matter in a graphic fashion. The 3 sequels that followed were pure trash cash-ins that basically retrod the same ground but without having anything to say. They (the sequels) were made by Godfrey Ho, master of the lunatic kung fu movie and a very strange choice to helm them.

As Chinese films they don't actually belong here.

Kurasawa's Kagemusha (is that spelt right?) on the other hand does.

I'm not sure how many of Takeshi Miike's films will get past the BBFC intact though. As with most leftfield Japanese directors he seems to have a penchant for extreme violence and rape, often directed against both women and children, aswell as men.

Mamoru Oshii's Avalon is an amazing piece of cinema aswell. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.