Metro ni Notte THX - Japanese Movie

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Salesman Shinji (Tsutsumi Shinichi) is at the subway station on his normal daily commute when he receives words that his estranged father has been hospitalized. Shinji's strained relationship with his unscrupulous father goes back many years, and the news awakens some unhappy memories. At that moment, he sees a person resembling his brother, who passed away forty years ago, leaving the platform, and he hurriedly follows. When Shinji steps out of the station, he finds himself in 1964...

Based on Asada Jiro's bestselling novel, Metro ni Notte ("Riding on the Metro") plays with both fantasy and psychological elements, jumping constantly between past and present as the protagonist journeys through time. Director Shinohara Tetsuo (Heaven's Bookstore and Yokubo) uses the time-traveling premise to bring new layers to classic family drama themes of spite and reconciliation. Like the acclaimed Always - Sunset on Third Street, which Tsutsumi Shinichi also appeared in, Metro ni Notte gives viewers a nostalgic glimpse of days gone by, traveling through forty years of time as reflected in the life of Shinji's father, played by popular actor Osawa Takao (Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World). The film also co-stars Tokiwa Takako (The Mamiya Brothers) and Okamoto Aya (Moonlight Jellyfish).

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Hula Girl - Japanese Movie

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From Shall We Dance? to Waterboys to Swing Girls, there's a special place in Japanese cinema for films about underdogs finding their groove. This time our zeroes-to-heroes discover hula dancing in 1960s Japan. Entertaining, dynamic, and bursting with energy, Hula Girl is also a good deal more than a simple youth pop flick. The film is based on the true story about one mining town's inventive decision to save itself through hula. The dated setting and conservative social background bring in extra layers of concerns and complications to the story, and director Lee Sang Il (Scrap Heaven) assuredly weaves the different elements into a coherent, compelling film. Hula Girl won over both critics and moviegoers alike, building a wide audience through strong word of mouth. The film was nominated in 11 categories at the 2007 Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Cinematography. In addition, actresses Matsuyuki Yasuko (Another Heaven), Aoi Yu (Hana and Alice), Sumiko Fuji, and Yamazaki Shizuyo all received acting nominations.

The sleepy mining town of Joban is slowly heading for the hills, so town leader Yoshimoto (Ittoku Kishibe) decides to start a Hawaiian Center amongst the coal mines to attract tourists. As a further gimmick, local girls will give hula performances. He hires dance teacher Madoka (Matsuyuki Yasuko) from Tokyo, and goes about recruiting dancers, but most of the girls balk when they realize hula involves hip shaking and mid-riff baring. The motley bunch that remains consists of sassy Kimiko (Aoi Yu), her star-struck friend Sanae (Tokunaga Eri), mousy Shoko (Ikezu Shoko), and big-boned Sayuri (Yamazaki Shizuyo). None of the girls can dance, Madoka isn't all that interested in teaching, and many of the townspeople are less than happy about this newfangled hula business. The whole idea seems destined for failure, but when Madoka sees the girls' fighting spirit, she becomes determined to teach them how to hula.

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Sugar & Spice Fumi Zekka

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Sawajiri Erika and Yagira Yuya represent the future of Japanese cinema. Since winning the Japan Academy Award's Best New Actor award for her role in Pacchigi!, Sawajiri has starred in a number of films, and emerged as one of the most popular young actresses in Japan. As for Yagira Yuya, though only 16 years old, he has already received world cinema's greatest accolade, becoming the Cannes Film Festival's youngest ever Best Actor winner in 2004 for his quietly arresting performance in Kore-eda Hirokazu's Nobody Knows. Lauded as his first go at an adult role, Sugar & Spice Fumi Zekka is both a coming-of-age film and a testament of Yagira's own coming of age as an actor.

Recently graduated from high school, 17-year-old Shiro (Yagira Yuya) decides to put off college and work at a gas station instead. Shy and introspective, Shiro understands he is at a turning point in his life, but is unsure of what lies ahead. Though his parents disapprove of his decision, he has the support of his flower-child grandmother (Natsuki Mari) who declares that a gas station is a romantic place for life's drifters. Surely enough, soon a new co-worker, college student Noriko (Sawajiri Erika), drifts into Shiro's life. He falls headfirst into a bittersweet first love that ushers him into the world of adulthood.

Based on a popular Amy Yamada novel, Sugar & Spice is director Nakae Isamu's sophomore feature. It has been five years since his last film, the beautifully shot Calmi Cuori Appassionati starring Kelly Chen and Takenouchi Yutaka. While Calmi Cuori Appassionati was set in Florence, Sugar & Spice takes the same lingering sentiments to simpler times and places. Set in a military base town on the outskirts of Tokyo, the film moves at an earnest, unhurried pace, capturing both the sugar and spice of first love and fleeting youth.

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The Youth of Kamiya Etsuko - Japanese Movie

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The late great Kuroki Kazuo's The Youth of Kamiyo Etsuko presents a stirring conclusion to four decades of filmmaking. Director Kuroki passed away in April 2006, months before the release of this critically acclaimed film. Continuing with the themes of Tomorrow, Utsukushii Natsu Kirishima, and Face of Jizo, The Youth of Kamiyo Etsuko delves into the lives of ordinary Japanese people during the closing days of WWII. Based on a play by Matsuda Masataka, the film is strong, simple, and austerely shot, eschewing bells and whistles for a direct, affecting story and realistic, raw emotions. Though wartime worries underlie the story, Kuroki also brings out the humor of banality and futility with an accomplished screenplay that is sentimental, yet surprisingly lighthearted. Stars Nagase Masatoshi (The Hidden Blade), Harada Tomoyo (Until the Lights Come Back), and Matsuoka Shunsuke (Black Kiss) deliver subtle, affecting performances, capturing the lives and perspectives of both ordinary people trying to cope and young soldiers fighting a war they can't win.

Having already lost her parents in an air raid, young Kamiya Etsuko (Harada Tomoyo) lives with her brother and his wife in the rural town of Kagoshima. Air force officers Nagayo (Nagase Masatoshi), whom Etsuko's brother wants to set her up with, and Akashi (Matsuoka Shunsuke), whom she has long admired, come to visit. Unexpectedly, Etsuko's brother is transferred to another town, leaving Etsuko alone to entertain her two visitors and conflicting feelings. Though she is attracted to Nagoya's earnest personality, Etsuko's heart remains with Akashi. But everything changes when Akashi volunteers for a suicide mission.

This edition comes with a Kuroki Kazuo retrospective and trailers.

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