Japanese director Sion Sono has been accused by two women of sexual assault in a new report from Shukan Josei Prime.
Sono is known for provocative indie films like 2008’s “Love Exposure,” which screened at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival and won two awards. The almost four-hour film follows the erotic adventures of a peeping tom photographer.
An unnamed actress told entertainment magazine Shukan Josei Prime that Sono told her that women have had sex with him for years to gain parts in his films, and that he is to thank for their success in the industry. She said that after Sono offered her a role, he attempted to force her to have sex with him (via Variety). After she refused, the director allegedly called another actress he had previously worked with and proceeded to engage in sexual acts in front of her. An assistant director then allegedly led her outside...
Sono is known for provocative indie films like 2008’s “Love Exposure,” which screened at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival and won two awards. The almost four-hour film follows the erotic adventures of a peeping tom photographer.
An unnamed actress told entertainment magazine Shukan Josei Prime that Sono told her that women have had sex with him for years to gain parts in his films, and that he is to thank for their success in the industry. She said that after Sono offered her a role, he attempted to force her to have sex with him (via Variety). After she refused, the director allegedly called another actress he had previously worked with and proceeded to engage in sexual acts in front of her. An assistant director then allegedly led her outside...
- 4/5/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Over the last decade, Asian horror cinema has become a major cultural export that has breached the international markets, as more exposure than ever before has shown off the immense talent making genre films over the years. Getting a chance to see the work of many different individuals in this part of the world has highlighted the work of Yeon Sang-ho, Joko Anwar, Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto and Yoshihiro Nishimura, to name just a few, from out of the shadows of their home countries to the world at large.
Several trends emerged throughout the decade as time rolled on. The first is the South Korean onslaught of talent that emerged where the country ascended to the top of the genre market, and international acclaim and awards followed. They proved time and again that they were developing a core of talented and creative technicians that churned out some of the most...
Several trends emerged throughout the decade as time rolled on. The first is the South Korean onslaught of talent that emerged where the country ascended to the top of the genre market, and international acclaim and awards followed. They proved time and again that they were developing a core of talented and creative technicians that churned out some of the most...
- 2/2/2021
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Sion Sono had one of his most prolific years in 2015, eventually managing to shoot six films, including this particular one that stands apart due to its minimalism, a concept almost unknown to one of the most maximalist filmmakers of the world.
“The Whispering Star” screened at Art Film Fest Kosice
80% of the universe is populated by androids. The few humans left have chosen to live in silence, enforcing a law that forbids any sound over 30db. A female humanoid robot named Yoko lives in a spaceship shaped like a traditional Japanese house, while delivering packages to humans all over the galaxy. In the vast intervals between the deliveries, Yoko cleans and makes tea, in one of Sono’s favorite practices, who seems to relish shooting his real-life wife (Megumi Kagurazaka who plays Yoko) doing domestic chores. Her sole company is a robot attached to the spaceship’s control panel, who...
“The Whispering Star” screened at Art Film Fest Kosice
80% of the universe is populated by androids. The few humans left have chosen to live in silence, enforcing a law that forbids any sound over 30db. A female humanoid robot named Yoko lives in a spaceship shaped like a traditional Japanese house, while delivering packages to humans all over the galaxy. In the vast intervals between the deliveries, Yoko cleans and makes tea, in one of Sono’s favorite practices, who seems to relish shooting his real-life wife (Megumi Kagurazaka who plays Yoko) doing domestic chores. Her sole company is a robot attached to the spaceship’s control panel, who...
- 6/7/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Film festival favorite Sion Sono, 57, is in a hospital in Tokyo after undergoing emergency surgery on Thursday following a heart attack.
The cult Japanese director reportedly called an ambulance on Thursday afternoon when he began experiencing chest pains at his home in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.
His agency confirmed that Sono had suffered a heart attack, saying: "He now requires time to recuperate." Sono's wife, Megumi Kagurazaka, who has appeared in seven of his films, gave birth to their first child last week.
Sono debuted in 1990 with Bicycle Sighs (Jitensha Toiki) and has built a ...
The cult Japanese director reportedly called an ambulance on Thursday afternoon when he began experiencing chest pains at his home in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.
His agency confirmed that Sono had suffered a heart attack, saying: "He now requires time to recuperate." Sono's wife, Megumi Kagurazaka, who has appeared in seven of his films, gave birth to their first child last week.
Sono debuted in 1990 with Bicycle Sighs (Jitensha Toiki) and has built a ...
Film festival favorite Sion Sono, 57, is in a hospital in Tokyo after undergoing emergency surgery on Thursday following a heart attack.
The cult Japanese director reportedly called an ambulance on Thursday afternoon when he began experiencing chest pains at his home in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.
His agency confirmed that Sono had suffered a heart attack, saying: "He now requires time to recuperate." Sono's wife, Megumi Kagurazaka, who has appeared in seven of his films, gave birth to their first child last week.
Sono debuted in 1990 with Bicycle Sighs (Jitensha Toiki) and has built a ...
The cult Japanese director reportedly called an ambulance on Thursday afternoon when he began experiencing chest pains at his home in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.
His agency confirmed that Sono had suffered a heart attack, saying: "He now requires time to recuperate." Sono's wife, Megumi Kagurazaka, who has appeared in seven of his films, gave birth to their first child last week.
Sono debuted in 1990 with Bicycle Sighs (Jitensha Toiki) and has built a ...
Loosely based on the Saitama serial murders of dog lovers, a case of a married couple who owned a pet shop and murdered at least four people, “Cold Fish” gave Sono the opportunity to present his version of how a serial killer film ought to be like.
Buy This Title
Syamoto is a humble and guileless exotic fish shop owner who is taken advantage of by both his spoiled daughter, Mitsuko and his second wife, Taeko. His daughter is an underage delinquent who spends her time flirting and sometimes beating her stepmother. One night, a grocery shop attendant catches her stealing; however, a peculiarly friendly man, Murata, manages to convince the clerk not to call the police. Furthermore, he is also an exotic fish shop owner and offers to hire Mitsuko in his establishment, which is far larger than Syamoto’s. Moreover, when Murata, who has become a friend of Syamoto,...
Buy This Title
Syamoto is a humble and guileless exotic fish shop owner who is taken advantage of by both his spoiled daughter, Mitsuko and his second wife, Taeko. His daughter is an underage delinquent who spends her time flirting and sometimes beating her stepmother. One night, a grocery shop attendant catches her stealing; however, a peculiarly friendly man, Murata, manages to convince the clerk not to call the police. Furthermore, he is also an exotic fish shop owner and offers to hire Mitsuko in his establishment, which is far larger than Syamoto’s. Moreover, when Murata, who has become a friend of Syamoto,...
- 12/31/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
In 2017, Sion Sono shot a 9-episode series for Amazon Prime Japan, “Tokyo Vampire Hotel.” This film is the festival/movie edition of the production, and a return to his gory, absurd past as much as a tribute to a number of his previous films.
Tokyo Vampire Hotel is screening at Five Flavours, that will be on in Warsaw November 15-22.
The story, which is actually based on a historic episode in which King Matthias Corvinus imprisoned Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula), has the latter transformed into a whole tribe of the original vampires named Draculas, who are imprisoned by another tribe of vampires, the Corvinus. The Corvinus have some awful plans that involve destroying the whole of humanity and keeping just a number of them in a hotel of theirs (the titular one), in order to serve as their food.
However, the Draculas are on the rise from the bottoms...
Tokyo Vampire Hotel is screening at Five Flavours, that will be on in Warsaw November 15-22.
The story, which is actually based on a historic episode in which King Matthias Corvinus imprisoned Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula), has the latter transformed into a whole tribe of the original vampires named Draculas, who are imprisoned by another tribe of vampires, the Corvinus. The Corvinus have some awful plans that involve destroying the whole of humanity and keeping just a number of them in a hotel of theirs (the titular one), in order to serve as their food.
However, the Draculas are on the rise from the bottoms...
- 11/21/2017
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Nine-episode series to star Kaho in first full action role.
Amazon Prime Video Japan is working with maverick Japanese director Sion Sono on original series Tokyo Vampire Hotel, which is scheduled to stream from June 16.
Sion Sono’s first drama based on an original screenplay, the series revolves around a battle to save mankind from a vampire tribe. The cast includes actress Kaho, in her first full-scale action role, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ami Tomite, Yumi Adachi and Megumi Kagurazaka.
The nine-episode series was produced with Nikkatsu Corporation and written by Jun Tsugita and Manabu Ikarimoto. Tomohiro Kubo and Daisuke Matsuo serve as directors and writers of two episodes. Filming took place on three soundstages at Nikkatsu Studios and on location in Transylvania, Romania.
“Our focus is to work with content creators to be innovative and deliver a content experience only available on Amazon. With his unique voice and baroque style, Sono puts his mark on any genre,” said...
Amazon Prime Video Japan is working with maverick Japanese director Sion Sono on original series Tokyo Vampire Hotel, which is scheduled to stream from June 16.
Sion Sono’s first drama based on an original screenplay, the series revolves around a battle to save mankind from a vampire tribe. The cast includes actress Kaho, in her first full-scale action role, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ami Tomite, Yumi Adachi and Megumi Kagurazaka.
The nine-episode series was produced with Nikkatsu Corporation and written by Jun Tsugita and Manabu Ikarimoto. Tomohiro Kubo and Daisuke Matsuo serve as directors and writers of two episodes. Filming took place on three soundstages at Nikkatsu Studios and on location in Transylvania, Romania.
“Our focus is to work with content creators to be innovative and deliver a content experience only available on Amazon. With his unique voice and baroque style, Sono puts his mark on any genre,” said...
- 4/24/2017
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Nine-episode series to star Kaho in first full action role.
Amazon Prime Video Japan is working with maverick Japanese director Sion Sono on original series Tokyo Vampire Hotel, which is scheduled to stream from June 16.
Sion Sono’s first drama based on an original screenplay, the series revolves around a battle to save mankind from a vampire tribe. The cast includes actress Kaho, in her first full-scale action role, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ami Tomite, Yumi Adachi and Megumi Kagurazaka.
The nine-episode series was produced with Nikkatsu Corporation and written by Jun Tsugita and Manabu Ikarimoto. Tomohiro Kubo and Daisuke Matsuo serve as directors and writers of two episodes. Filming took place on three soundstages at Nikkatsu Studios and on location in Transylvania, Romania.
“Our focus is to work with content creators to be innovative and deliver a content experience only available on Amazon. With his unique voice and baroque style, Sono puts his mark on any genre,” said...
Amazon Prime Video Japan is working with maverick Japanese director Sion Sono on original series Tokyo Vampire Hotel, which is scheduled to stream from June 16.
Sion Sono’s first drama based on an original screenplay, the series revolves around a battle to save mankind from a vampire tribe. The cast includes actress Kaho, in her first full-scale action role, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ami Tomite, Yumi Adachi and Megumi Kagurazaka.
The nine-episode series was produced with Nikkatsu Corporation and written by Jun Tsugita and Manabu Ikarimoto. Tomohiro Kubo and Daisuke Matsuo serve as directors and writers of two episodes. Filming took place on three soundstages at Nikkatsu Studios and on location in Transylvania, Romania.
“Our focus is to work with content creators to be innovative and deliver a content experience only available on Amazon. With his unique voice and baroque style, Sono puts his mark on any genre,” said...
- 4/24/2017
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Sion Sono has inked a prime deal. The provocative Japanese auteur responsible for such controversial, must-see films as “Love Exposure” and “Tokyo Tribe” is creating the original series “Tokyo Vampire Hotel” for Amazon. The show will consist of nine episodes, all of which will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Japan beginning June 16.
Read More: ‘Anti-Porno’ Trailer: Japanese Director Sion Sono Returns with a Feminist Take on Sexuality
Telling the tried-and-true story of humanity fighting for its very survival against the mythical bloodsuckers, the series stars Kaho, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ami Tomite, Yumi Adachi and Megumi Kagurazaka, who happens to be Sono’s wife. Jun Tsugita and Manabu Ikarimoto penned the screenplay; Tomohiro Kubo have Daisuke Matsuo have written and directed two episodes.
Read More: ‘Shinjuku Swan II’ Trailer: Sion Sono Returns With Sequel To Live Action Manga Series Adaptation
“Our focus is to work with the content creators to...
Read More: ‘Anti-Porno’ Trailer: Japanese Director Sion Sono Returns with a Feminist Take on Sexuality
Telling the tried-and-true story of humanity fighting for its very survival against the mythical bloodsuckers, the series stars Kaho, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ami Tomite, Yumi Adachi and Megumi Kagurazaka, who happens to be Sono’s wife. Jun Tsugita and Manabu Ikarimoto penned the screenplay; Tomohiro Kubo have Daisuke Matsuo have written and directed two episodes.
Read More: ‘Shinjuku Swan II’ Trailer: Sion Sono Returns With Sequel To Live Action Manga Series Adaptation
“Our focus is to work with the content creators to...
- 4/23/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Sion Sono had one of his most prolific years in 2015, eventually managing to shoot six films, including this particular one that stands apart due to its minimalism, a concept almost unknown to one of the most maximalist filmmakers of the world.
An original concept
80% of the universe is populated by androids. The few humans left have chosen to live in silence, enforcing a law that forbids any sound over 30db.
A female humanoid robot named Yoko lives in a spaceship shaped like a traditional Japanese house, while delivering packages to humans all over the galaxy. In the vast intervals between the deliveries, Yoko cleans and makes tea, in one of Sono’s favorite practices, who seems to relish shooting his real-life wife (Megumi Kagurazaka who plays Yoko) doing domestic chores. Her sole company is a robot attached to the spaceship’s control panel, who seems to have a character of its own.
An original concept
80% of the universe is populated by androids. The few humans left have chosen to live in silence, enforcing a law that forbids any sound over 30db.
A female humanoid robot named Yoko lives in a spaceship shaped like a traditional Japanese house, while delivering packages to humans all over the galaxy. In the vast intervals between the deliveries, Yoko cleans and makes tea, in one of Sono’s favorite practices, who seems to relish shooting his real-life wife (Megumi Kagurazaka who plays Yoko) doing domestic chores. Her sole company is a robot attached to the spaceship’s control panel, who seems to have a character of its own.
- 11/19/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
“Guilty of Romance” was the film that established Sion Sono as the foremost representative of the genre, surpassing the previous master, Takashi Miike.
Two axes
The film unfolds in two axes, although without the usual use of flashbacks. The first one, which is loosely based on the 1997 murder of Yasuko Watanabe, takes place in the present. Detective Yoshida investigates a murder incident in Maruyama-cho, a love district in Tokyo, where a dismembered body has been found in an abandoned building. The missing parts have been replaced with the matching ones from a plastic doll.
The second axis, which takes place before the first, focuses on Izumi, a dedicated spouse and housewife, who is married to a famous erotic novelist, Yukio Kikuchi. He spends most of his day outside his home, trying to find inspiration for his books, while she tries to brew the perfect tea for him and to place his slippers the appropriate way.
Two axes
The film unfolds in two axes, although without the usual use of flashbacks. The first one, which is loosely based on the 1997 murder of Yasuko Watanabe, takes place in the present. Detective Yoshida investigates a murder incident in Maruyama-cho, a love district in Tokyo, where a dismembered body has been found in an abandoned building. The missing parts have been replaced with the matching ones from a plastic doll.
The second axis, which takes place before the first, focuses on Izumi, a dedicated spouse and housewife, who is married to a famous erotic novelist, Yukio Kikuchi. He spends most of his day outside his home, trying to find inspiration for his books, while she tries to brew the perfect tea for him and to place his slippers the appropriate way.
- 10/30/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
For 10 years, Five Flavours Film Festival has been presenting the best cinema from Asia, its meanings and contexts. Initially, the Festival focused solely on Vietnamese films, but it evolved to become a yearly review of the cinema of East and Southeast Asia, the only such event in the country.
The 10th edition is held in Warsaw, on November 16-23 (Muranów and Kinoteka cinemas), and in Wrocław on November 18-24 (New Horizons Cinema).
This year’s edition of Five Flavours is the biggest in history – it presents over 40 productions. The program combines artistic and commercial cinema, allowing the audience to experience the best Asian films have to offer. On the one hand, there are the intimate stories with a social angle, on the other – fresh, innovative blockbusters, filled with the sheer joy of cinematic creation, attracting millions of viewers in their homelands.
Three
This diversity is already visible in the choice...
The 10th edition is held in Warsaw, on November 16-23 (Muranów and Kinoteka cinemas), and in Wrocław on November 18-24 (New Horizons Cinema).
This year’s edition of Five Flavours is the biggest in history – it presents over 40 productions. The program combines artistic and commercial cinema, allowing the audience to experience the best Asian films have to offer. On the one hand, there are the intimate stories with a social angle, on the other – fresh, innovative blockbusters, filled with the sheer joy of cinematic creation, attracting millions of viewers in their homelands.
Three
This diversity is already visible in the choice...
- 10/28/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
‘The Land of Hope’ is a simple and honest movie about fear, hope and freedom when the unexpected and unavoidable comes our way. In this case, a nuclear meltdown, no less. It’s not a singular tale, in that it’s not a survival-against-the-odds story, nor an especially ‘heroic’ one, but it is the kind of experience that any family could have had in a Fukushima-like aftermath.
The devastated Nagashima in ‘The Land of Hope’.
Sion doesn’t overreach for the unique, but rather keeps the focus on realism, indulging in magic lyrical moments only on a couple of occasions. The result is a fairly empathetic experience, even when the story wanders, visiting sub-themes such as peer-pressure or mistrust of the government.
Samuel Goldwyn said that a movie ‘should start with an earthquake and build to a climax’. Sion Sono, the director of ‘The Land of Hope’, obviously took notice,...
The devastated Nagashima in ‘The Land of Hope’.
Sion doesn’t overreach for the unique, but rather keeps the focus on realism, indulging in magic lyrical moments only on a couple of occasions. The result is a fairly empathetic experience, even when the story wanders, visiting sub-themes such as peer-pressure or mistrust of the government.
Samuel Goldwyn said that a movie ‘should start with an earthquake and build to a climax’. Sion Sono, the director of ‘The Land of Hope’, obviously took notice,...
- 9/18/2016
- by Miguel Angel Aijon
- AsianMoviePulse
Love & PeaceIn celebration of the 10th anniversary of the festival Japan Cuts, the biggest North American festival of Japanese film, Mubi has selected three films that have been part of the lineup of recent editions: 0.5mm (Momoko Andô) and The Horses of Fukushima (Yoju Matsubayashi) from the 2014 festival and Sanchu Uprising: Voices at Dawn (Juichiro Yamasaki), which was last year’s closing film.The festival runs from the 14th to the 24th of July at the Japan Society in New York. Coincidently, among the films that’ll play in this milestone event, three are related to the magnificent, strange and eclectic director Sion Sono, but they’re also related to the three films that Mubi will showcase in the United States during and after the festival.Love & Peace might go down, in the near future, as Sion Sono’s masterpiece, the film that most represents the personal style as well...
- 7/15/2016
- MUBI
North America’s largest festival of new Japanese cinema, and pound-for-pound one of the most consistently rewarding film festivals on the planet, Japan Cuts grows more vital with every passing year. In part, that’s because Manhattan’s Japan Society has done a stellar job of cultivating a local audience, pouring resources into the annual celebration, and programming their slates in a way that appeals equally to cinephiles, otaku, and people who just want to see a movie about a guy who falls in love with his goldfish.
Unfortunately, Japan Cuts also grows more vital with every passing year because the domestic market for foreign film is withering away at a terrible rate, lowering the odds that you’ll ever get a second chance at seeing any of these exhilarating dispatches from the Land of the Rising Sun on the big screen.
This year’s fest, which runs from July...
Unfortunately, Japan Cuts also grows more vital with every passing year because the domestic market for foreign film is withering away at a terrible rate, lowering the odds that you’ll ever get a second chance at seeing any of these exhilarating dispatches from the Land of the Rising Sun on the big screen.
This year’s fest, which runs from July...
- 7/14/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Ten Asian films will be screen during the Istanbul Film Festival here is more information about them.
The 35th Istanbul Film Festival (Iksv) will take place from April 7th to the 17th in Istanbul (Turkey). Sadly this year there will be no Asian movie present at the International Competition. Two Asian movies will be screen at the “Human Rights in Cinema” section, one in the “From the World of Festivals” section, one in the “Young Masters” section, five in the “Mined Zone” section and one in the “Hidden Gems” section.
Human Rights in Cinema
This section is dedicated to raises public consciousness and sensitivity to human rights related issues.
Behemoth (Bei xi mo shou) by Zhao Liang – China | 2015 – 90 mim
In the Old Testament, the mountains are the domain of a monster named Behemoth; in modern times the vast mining industry has taken the monster’s place. With a violent roar,...
The 35th Istanbul Film Festival (Iksv) will take place from April 7th to the 17th in Istanbul (Turkey). Sadly this year there will be no Asian movie present at the International Competition. Two Asian movies will be screen at the “Human Rights in Cinema” section, one in the “From the World of Festivals” section, one in the “Young Masters” section, five in the “Mined Zone” section and one in the “Hidden Gems” section.
Human Rights in Cinema
This section is dedicated to raises public consciousness and sensitivity to human rights related issues.
Behemoth (Bei xi mo shou) by Zhao Liang – China | 2015 – 90 mim
In the Old Testament, the mountains are the domain of a monster named Behemoth; in modern times the vast mining industry has taken the monster’s place. With a violent roar,...
- 3/30/2016
- by Sebastian Nadilo
- AsianMoviePulse
The Whispering Star Movie Trailer and Poster. Sion Sono‘s The Whispering Star (2016) movie trailer stars Kenji Endo, Yûto Ikeda and Megumi Kagurazaka. The Whispering Star‘s plot synopsis: “A feminine android delivers packages to the scattered humans in the galaxy. With years to spare the android and us have time to contemplate what it is to be human.” According to […]...
- 1/14/2016
- by Marco Margaritoff
- Film-Book
"I'm making these recordings for the amusement of those who rent this ship in the future." I totally want to see this. A trailer has debuted online for one of the latest Sion Sono films, titled The Whispering Star. It already played at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and Rome Film Festival, but has no release date yet. The film is about a female android that delivers packages to people around the galaxy on a floating Japanese house. Sono's wife, actress Megumi Kagurazaka, stars as Yoko, the robot deliverywoman who starts to wonder what it means to be human. I like the desaturated look and simple designs of the sets. I'm curious. Here's the first official trailer for Sion Sono's The Whispering Star, found on YouTube via Live for Films: A spaceship shaped like a Japanese bungalow careens through the galaxy. It carries a humanoid robot named Yoko (Megumi Kagurazaka...
- 1/13/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
If you know the work of Sion Sono even a little bit, you won’t be at all surprised to know his new feature (or one of several new features), The Whispering Star, concerns “a humanoid robot that performs distributions [and] reflects on human nature while delivering packages around the galaxy.” Making that logline all the more exciting is the slate of (mostly) positive reviews which can’t agree on whether this movie is a “minimalist” rendition of his usual oddities or a work that “may very well prove to be the most oddball, the most niche entry in the director’s lengthy canon.”
Taking inspiration from the likes of Tarkovsky and Kubrick, Sono’s made a picture that uses black-and-white photography and the landscapes of Fukushima (as well as some inhabitants) to create a dystopian alien planet — and yet it looks rather fun, at least with what’s been put on display here.
Taking inspiration from the likes of Tarkovsky and Kubrick, Sono’s made a picture that uses black-and-white photography and the landscapes of Fukushima (as well as some inhabitants) to create a dystopian alien planet — and yet it looks rather fun, at least with what’s been put on display here.
- 1/12/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Two Asian films were awarded during the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff).
The second place for the Audience Award was for “Angry Indian Goddesses” by Pan Nalin, director of the excellent movie “Samsara” (2001).
Freida (Sarah Jane Dias) invites her close group of friends to the city Goa where she tells them that she will marry soon but they are in for a surprise she don’t tell them who is the betrothed. The news shock so much the group that soon everyone starts to play different strategies to find out the truth. Dialogues touches very different topics such as career, sex life, genre issues and sexism. With this movie Nalin shows a snapshot of modern Indian society.
The other film awarded was “The Whispering Star” who got the Netpac Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere.
The movie directed by Sion Sono tells the story of Yoko (Megumi Kagurazaka...
The second place for the Audience Award was for “Angry Indian Goddesses” by Pan Nalin, director of the excellent movie “Samsara” (2001).
Freida (Sarah Jane Dias) invites her close group of friends to the city Goa where she tells them that she will marry soon but they are in for a surprise she don’t tell them who is the betrothed. The news shock so much the group that soon everyone starts to play different strategies to find out the truth. Dialogues touches very different topics such as career, sex life, genre issues and sexism. With this movie Nalin shows a snapshot of modern Indian society.
The other film awarded was “The Whispering Star” who got the Netpac Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere.
The movie directed by Sion Sono tells the story of Yoko (Megumi Kagurazaka...
- 9/26/2015
- by Sebastian Nadilo
- AsianMoviePulse
"In a career positively littered with oddball entries, Shion Sono's The Whispering Star may very well prove to be the most oddball," begins Todd Brown at Twitch. "And, surprisingly, this is because he chooses the path of restraint rather than his usual excess. Megumi Kagurazaka stars as Suzuki Yoko, a humanoid robot traveling the universe in a bungalow shaped space ship delivering packages to the dwindling remnants of humanity now scattered throughout the stars." We're collecting more reviews of the third of six features Sono's shot this year—and we've got the trailer, too. » - David Hudson...
- 9/24/2015
- Keyframe
"In a career positively littered with oddball entries, Shion Sono's The Whispering Star may very well prove to be the most oddball," begins Todd Brown at Twitch. "And, surprisingly, this is because he chooses the path of restraint rather than his usual excess. Megumi Kagurazaka stars as Suzuki Yoko, a humanoid robot traveling the universe in a bungalow shaped space ship delivering packages to the dwindling remnants of humanity now scattered throughout the stars." We're collecting more reviews of the third of six features Sono's shot this year—and we've got the trailer, too. » - David Hudson...
- 9/24/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Suffer the Children: Sono’s Social Dystopia a Melancholy Landscape
It appears that 2014 will be a year that sees a flood of Sion Sono’s back catalogue finally hitting Us theaters. A pair of 2011 titles will be released concurrently from Olive films, the cap of his hate trilogy, Guilty of Romance, and the more substantially impressive, Himizu, a manga adaptation updated to reflect the devastation of post-tsunami Japan. The flood continues with the release of one of Sono’s most restrained films ever with The Land of Hope, which closely examines a family in a fictionalized district directly affected by nuclear radiation. While Hope plays sort of like an update of Shohei Imamura’s Black Rain (1988), it’s a far cry from the desperate rage imploding the societal core clearly on display here. And while, by Sono’s standards, it seems just conservative enough with its violence to convey a...
It appears that 2014 will be a year that sees a flood of Sion Sono’s back catalogue finally hitting Us theaters. A pair of 2011 titles will be released concurrently from Olive films, the cap of his hate trilogy, Guilty of Romance, and the more substantially impressive, Himizu, a manga adaptation updated to reflect the devastation of post-tsunami Japan. The flood continues with the release of one of Sono’s most restrained films ever with The Land of Hope, which closely examines a family in a fictionalized district directly affected by nuclear radiation. While Hope plays sort of like an update of Shohei Imamura’s Black Rain (1988), it’s a far cry from the desperate rage imploding the societal core clearly on display here. And while, by Sono’s standards, it seems just conservative enough with its violence to convey a...
- 3/14/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Cold Fish
Directed by Sion Sono
Starring Mitsuru Fukkoshi, Hikari Kajiwara, Denden, Megumi Kagurazaka, Asuka Kurosawa
Written by Sion Sono
2010, Japan
Fans of transgressive cinema were overjoyed to see Sion Sono’s latest atrocity appear on the London Film Festival schedule. The Japanese malcontent is almost as prolific as his countryman Miike Takashi, both of them delivering bold and challenging freshly wrought movies year in, year out. After satirizing emerging fads and consumerism in Suicide Club and taking a skewed look at teen romance, religion and the Japanese nuclear family in Love Exposure, he injects a further dysfunctional analysis throughout Cold Fish, a serial killer-themed tale on the surface that obscures a lurking lampoon on present notions of masculinity, progeny and the contemporary status of morality in Japanese society. Based on a true story which one sincerely prays has been amplified through Sono’s warped vision, Cold Fish is telegraphed...
Directed by Sion Sono
Starring Mitsuru Fukkoshi, Hikari Kajiwara, Denden, Megumi Kagurazaka, Asuka Kurosawa
Written by Sion Sono
2010, Japan
Fans of transgressive cinema were overjoyed to see Sion Sono’s latest atrocity appear on the London Film Festival schedule. The Japanese malcontent is almost as prolific as his countryman Miike Takashi, both of them delivering bold and challenging freshly wrought movies year in, year out. After satirizing emerging fads and consumerism in Suicide Club and taking a skewed look at teen romance, religion and the Japanese nuclear family in Love Exposure, he injects a further dysfunctional analysis throughout Cold Fish, a serial killer-themed tale on the surface that obscures a lurking lampoon on present notions of masculinity, progeny and the contemporary status of morality in Japanese society. Based on a true story which one sincerely prays has been amplified through Sono’s warped vision, Cold Fish is telegraphed...
- 3/14/2014
- by John
- SoundOnSight
If you find yourself sitting through any of three loosely connected films referred to as a "Hate Trilogy," you should adjust your philosophical expectations accordingly.
Guilty of Romance, the third and final entry in Sion Sono's expectedly disagreeable triptych, is difficult to sit through for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the torment suffered by our protagonist, the lovely Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka).
Izumi's marriage to a successful romance novelist (Kanji Tsuda) is a clinical and loveless arrangement (irony!). As a result, she reluctantly seeks distraction in a manner the Internet has taught us is common to more people than we would have guessed: nude modeling. This is quickly followed by casual sexual encounters in public restrooms and, final...
Guilty of Romance, the third and final entry in Sion Sono's expectedly disagreeable triptych, is difficult to sit through for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the torment suffered by our protagonist, the lovely Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka).
Izumi's marriage to a successful romance novelist (Kanji Tsuda) is a clinical and loveless arrangement (irony!). As a result, she reluctantly seeks distraction in a manner the Internet has taught us is common to more people than we would have guessed: nude modeling. This is quickly followed by casual sexual encounters in public restrooms and, final...
- 3/12/2014
- Village Voice
★★★☆☆ The Land of Hope (2012) is a delicately-paced drama, centring on the lives of a rural farming family who are affected by a nearby environmental catastrophe, set a few years after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. Sion Sono intended to create a film that captured how a tragedy like this affects the everyday lives of people, and he does this with an air of haunting beauty. Sono tells the story of a family divided by the disaster, torn two ways in an attempt to save themselves. Yoichi (Jun Murakami) and his wife Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka) face each and every day with the fear of radiation affecting their unborn child.
Kagurazaka is particularly adept at portraying the desperate lengths Izumi will go to in order to protect her child, illustrating her radiophobia with a sensitivity that could have easily been overdone, whilst Murakumi displays a desperate husband trying to do his best with earnest.
Kagurazaka is particularly adept at portraying the desperate lengths Izumi will go to in order to protect her child, illustrating her radiophobia with a sensitivity that could have easily been overdone, whilst Murakumi displays a desperate husband trying to do his best with earnest.
- 8/27/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
We always look forward to news of a new Sion Sono release, so colour us happy that Third Window Films has announced the arrival of The Land of Hope on U.K. shores. Prolific director Sion Sono (Love Exposure, Himizu) departs from his usual style for this movingly restrained drama of a rural family's struggle to survive in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and the resulting nuclear crisis. Starring Isao Natsuyagi (My Way) and Naoko Otani (Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters), special features include an entertaining 70 minute 'Making of' documentary. The Land of Hope arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray August 26th, 2013. We'll be reviewing it very shortly... Synopsis: In the fictional Nagashima prefecture, Yoichi Ono (Jun Murakami) lives a peaceful life with his wife Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), and his parents Yasuhiko (Isao Natsuyagi) and Chieko (Nakok Otani), on the family's small farm. One day, an earthquake disrupts the calm,...
- 8/21/2013
- 24framespersecond.net
Finally the English language trailer for the new flick The Incredible Truth, which opened in Singapore on May 16th, has arrived. Check it out, and look for more on this one soon. Including the eventual remake as soon as Hollywood catches wind of it.
The film is directed by Sam Leong and stars Christy Chung, Liu Yana, and Megumi Kagurazaka.
Synopsis
While sightseeing around Japan, a young couple, Jiajia and Wei Ling, have their excursion cut short after they check into the nefarious Hotel Shimizu. The haunted structure holds many murderous secrets, some of which pertain directly to the tourists, who end up getting caught in a web of mystery and bloodshed.
Will they survive the night, or will they be the next to fall victim to The Incredible Truth?
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Be set free in the comments section below!
The film is directed by Sam Leong and stars Christy Chung, Liu Yana, and Megumi Kagurazaka.
Synopsis
While sightseeing around Japan, a young couple, Jiajia and Wei Ling, have their excursion cut short after they check into the nefarious Hotel Shimizu. The haunted structure holds many murderous secrets, some of which pertain directly to the tourists, who end up getting caught in a web of mystery and bloodshed.
Will they survive the night, or will they be the next to fall victim to The Incredible Truth?
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Be set free in the comments section below!
- 5/21/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Quite some time ago the iconic John Lennon plead for some honesty in his song "Gimme Some Truth." If he could watch the trailer for the new flick The Incredible Truth, he might want to retract that statement.
The film is directed by Sam Leong and stars Christy Chung, Liu Yana, and Megumi Kagurazaka. Check out the disturbing new international trailer below, and look for more soon.
Synopsis
While sightseeing around Japan, a young couple, Jiajia and Wei Ling, have their excursion cut short after they check into the nefarious Hotel Shimizu. The haunted structure holds many murderous secrets, some of which pertain directly to the tourists, who end up getting caught in a web of mystery and bloodshed. Will they survive the night, or will they be the next to fall victim to The Incredible Truth?
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Be set...
The film is directed by Sam Leong and stars Christy Chung, Liu Yana, and Megumi Kagurazaka. Check out the disturbing new international trailer below, and look for more soon.
Synopsis
While sightseeing around Japan, a young couple, Jiajia and Wei Ling, have their excursion cut short after they check into the nefarious Hotel Shimizu. The haunted structure holds many murderous secrets, some of which pertain directly to the tourists, who end up getting caught in a web of mystery and bloodshed. Will they survive the night, or will they be the next to fall victim to The Incredible Truth?
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Be set...
- 4/30/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
In this warped chiller, tropicial fish store owner Shamoto (Mitsuru Kukikoshi) lives with his bolshie teenage daughter Mitsuko (Hikari Kajiwara) who, in turn, loathes her slatternly stepmother Taeko (Megumi Kagurazaka). One night, Mitsuko is caught shoplifting but another customer, Murata (Denden), coincidentally the owner of a bigger fish store, talks the shop out of pressing charges by offering the girl a job and a place to stay. However, he's not got her best interests at heart as he's Japan's answer to Fred West.
- 11/8/2012
- Sky Movies
In this warped conclusion to Shion Sono's Hate trilogy, meek'n'mild housewife Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka) lands a job as a model little suspecting that it's basically a front for hardcore pornography. Ignoring her arrogant husband, she's soon checking into Tokyo love hotels with a variety of underworld nasties that may be linked to a murder in the city. Garish thriller.
- 9/24/2012
- Sky Movies
The Japan Syndrome: Sono Puts Human Face to Tsunami Tragedy
The prolific and insanely busy Sion Sono returns with another tale centered on the aftermath of Japan’s devastating tsunami, The Land of Hope. While his last film, Himizu focused on two teenagers eking out a dystopic existence in their post-tsunami world, this latest is based on a family’s true story of survival in the aftermath of the nuclear reactor explosion. At times a tad overly sentimental, especially in the context of Sono’s own dark and challenging oeuvre, this is a mostly winning experience, perhaps best as a document of the ravaged landscape that still has yet to be revitalized even a year later, when this was filmed.
Sono gives us a fictional location, the Nagashima prefecture, a small town butted up against a nuclear power plant. Yoichi Ono (Jun Murakami) and his wife Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka) lead...
The prolific and insanely busy Sion Sono returns with another tale centered on the aftermath of Japan’s devastating tsunami, The Land of Hope. While his last film, Himizu focused on two teenagers eking out a dystopic existence in their post-tsunami world, this latest is based on a family’s true story of survival in the aftermath of the nuclear reactor explosion. At times a tad overly sentimental, especially in the context of Sono’s own dark and challenging oeuvre, this is a mostly winning experience, perhaps best as a document of the ravaged landscape that still has yet to be revitalized even a year later, when this was filmed.
Sono gives us a fictional location, the Nagashima prefecture, a small town butted up against a nuclear power plant. Yoichi Ono (Jun Murakami) and his wife Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka) lead...
- 9/17/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
First impressions count, and in the case of the teaser trailer for director Sam Leong’s chiller/thriller The Incredible Truth, its all good so far. The whole thing watches with an almost ‘Twins Peaks’ esk, creepy, surreal feel and has the added big plus bonus in the fact the cast includes; Christy Chung, Liu Yana and Megumi Kagurazaka. The movies still in post so no word yet on a release date. Creepiness, murder, mystery and supernatural goings-on, at the link. Synopsis: An artist named Jiajia promised to show her boyfriend, Wei Ling, around Japan but eventually fails to show up for no reason. After Wei Ling goes and gets accommodated in a family-run host spring hotel of Shimizu, Jiajia’s Japanese boyfriend, she brings her endless weird experience as if she’s haunted, and the hotel even sinks into a series of horrible homicides, in which the victims are...
- 8/4/2012
- 24framespersecond.net
First impressions count, and in the case of the teaser trailer for director Sam Leong’s chiller/thriller The Incredible Truth, its all good so far. The whole thing watches with an almost ‘Twins Peaks’ esk, creepy, surreal feel and has the added big plus bonus in the fact the cast includes; Christy Chung, Liu Yana and Megumi Kagurazaka. The movies still in post so no word yet on a release date. Creepiness, murder, mystery and supernatural goings-on, at the link. Synopsis: An artist named Jiajia promised to show her boyfriend, Wei Ling, around Japan but eventually fails to show up for no reason. After Wei Ling goes and gets accommodated in a family-run host spring hotel of Shimizu, Jiajia’s Japanese boyfriend, she brings her endless weird experience as if she’s haunted, and the hotel even sinks into a series of horrible homicides, in which the victims are...
- 8/4/2012
- 24framespersecond.net
A 30-second teaser for Shion Sono’s upcoming film The Land of Hope has been uploaded to the official YouTube channel of its distributor, Bitters End.
It’s set in the Japanese countryside and revolves around a couple, Yoichi (Jun Murakami) and Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), who are living in a village as humble dairy farmers with Yoichi’s parents Yasuhiko (Isao Natsuyagi) and Chieko (Naoko Otani).
One day, a huge earthquake strikes and an evacuation begins, but Yoichi is hesitant to leave their lifetime home behind. When he discovers his wife is pregnant, he must do whatever it takes to protect her and their unborn child. Meanwhile, their neighbors (Yutaka Shimizu, Hikari Kajiwara, Denden, and Mariko Tsutsui). have to make their own choice about evacuation.
“The Land of Hope” is scheduled for an autumn release in Japan. A quick UK release is also likely due to Third Window Films being one of the co-producers.
It’s set in the Japanese countryside and revolves around a couple, Yoichi (Jun Murakami) and Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), who are living in a village as humble dairy farmers with Yoichi’s parents Yasuhiko (Isao Natsuyagi) and Chieko (Naoko Otani).
One day, a huge earthquake strikes and an evacuation begins, but Yoichi is hesitant to leave their lifetime home behind. When he discovers his wife is pregnant, he must do whatever it takes to protect her and their unborn child. Meanwhile, their neighbors (Yutaka Shimizu, Hikari Kajiwara, Denden, and Mariko Tsutsui). have to make their own choice about evacuation.
“The Land of Hope” is scheduled for an autumn release in Japan. A quick UK release is also likely due to Third Window Films being one of the co-producers.
- 5/11/2012
- Nippon Cinema
Last year, director Shion Sono chose to film his live-action adaptation of Himizu in an area devastated by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, incorporating the effects of disaster into the story. With his next film, The Land of Hope, he’s going a step further by making a human drama about a family living within the evacuation radius of a damaged nuclear power plant during the disaster.
It was previously known that the story would focus on three primary couples played by Isao Natsuyagi, Naoko Otani, Jun Murakami, Megumi Kagurazaka, Yutaka Shimizu, and Hikari Kajiwara—with Denden playing someone with important ties to the main family. Today it was revealed that Daikichi Sugawara, Takashi Yamanaka, and Kenzo Kawarazaki would also star.
Additionally, the film will boast a fairly large cast of established actors in smaller supporting roles including Yusuke Iseya, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Fusako Urabe, Gitan Ohtsuru, Satoshi Matsuo, Shiro Namiki,...
It was previously known that the story would focus on three primary couples played by Isao Natsuyagi, Naoko Otani, Jun Murakami, Megumi Kagurazaka, Yutaka Shimizu, and Hikari Kajiwara—with Denden playing someone with important ties to the main family. Today it was revealed that Daikichi Sugawara, Takashi Yamanaka, and Kenzo Kawarazaki would also star.
Additionally, the film will boast a fairly large cast of established actors in smaller supporting roles including Yusuke Iseya, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Fusako Urabe, Gitan Ohtsuru, Satoshi Matsuo, Shiro Namiki,...
- 4/4/2012
- Nippon Cinema
Cold Fish and Suicide Club helmer Sono Sion incorporated elements of March’s tragic Tōhoku tsunami into his acclaimed Himizu, a film that hit about only six months after the occurrence. With that film complete, THR tells us that he’s now centering his next project, Land of Hope, around the ensuing panic of an event similar to the Fukushima nuclear plant incident.
But this is the real deal. Doing some online-based research for a historical topic is the norm among filmmakers these days, yet Sion claims to have snuck “into the nuclear exclusion zone around Fukushima to research the film,” while also “trying to find a way to shoot in the area.” Dedication, fellow artists. Take note.
He began production on Land of Hope just last week; the film follows “an elderly couple (Isao Natsuyagi and Naoko Otani) whose son (Jun Murakami) and his pregnant wife (Megumi Kagurazaka) have...
But this is the real deal. Doing some online-based research for a historical topic is the norm among filmmakers these days, yet Sion claims to have snuck “into the nuclear exclusion zone around Fukushima to research the film,” while also “trying to find a way to shoot in the area.” Dedication, fellow artists. Take note.
He began production on Land of Hope just last week; the film follows “an elderly couple (Isao Natsuyagi and Naoko Otani) whose son (Jun Murakami) and his pregnant wife (Megumi Kagurazaka) have...
- 1/20/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Director: Sono Sion. Review: Adam Wing. Completing Sono Sion’s famed ‘Hate Trilogy’, Guilty of Romance walks the same path as serial killer shocker Cold Fish and Love Exposure. Megumi Kagurazaka’s outstanding talents team up with the famed director once again, along with Makoto Togashi (Memories of Matsuko), Miki Mizuno (Hard Revenge Milly) and Kanji Tsuda (Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl). The story revolves around a bored housewife who awakens her sexual identity by thrusting herself into a world of prostitution. This being a Sono Sion film, there’s also time for a little degradation and murder. This being a Sono Sion film, a significantly longer cut played out to a packed house at Cannes, but the UK version comes in at just under 112 minutes, with less emphasis on the crime investigation and more time put aside for boobies. Guilty of Romance is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.
- 12/12/2011
- 24framespersecond.net
The Film
The third in Shion Sono’s thematically linked ‘Hate Trilogy’ (following Love Exposure and Cold Fish), Guilty of Romance centres on a female protagonist, Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), who goes on an intense journey of liberation and destruction through sexual transgression.
Izumi’s transformative adventure is set against the backdrop of a criminal investigation into the murder of beautiful woman who has been mutilated, a number of her body parts swapped with those of a doll and others (including her clitoris) removed completely. Sono’s certainly not a master of subtlety but he does know how to explore a fascinating topic in a provocative and compelling manner.
Stifled by her marriage to a popular writer (played with restraint and poise by Kanj Tsuda), and bored with her monotonous and dull day to day life, Izumi gets one part time job handing out sausage samples and another posing for photos.
The third in Shion Sono’s thematically linked ‘Hate Trilogy’ (following Love Exposure and Cold Fish), Guilty of Romance centres on a female protagonist, Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), who goes on an intense journey of liberation and destruction through sexual transgression.
Izumi’s transformative adventure is set against the backdrop of a criminal investigation into the murder of beautiful woman who has been mutilated, a number of her body parts swapped with those of a doll and others (including her clitoris) removed completely. Sono’s certainly not a master of subtlety but he does know how to explore a fascinating topic in a provocative and compelling manner.
Stifled by her marriage to a popular writer (played with restraint and poise by Kanj Tsuda), and bored with her monotonous and dull day to day life, Izumi gets one part time job handing out sausage samples and another posing for photos.
- 11/28/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Japan is here to supply your daily does of strange with the first trailer for Suzune: Genesis x Evolution.Adapted from a popular manga by Aruki, Suzune stars Rei Yoshii as a doctor - you can tell because she wears a lab coat over her bondage gear - fighting against an invasion of parasites that invade the human body, increasing their strength and the strength of their sexual desires. Cold Fish and Guilty Of Romance star Megumi Kagurazaka plays the villain with Ryu Kaneda directing. I'm not sure what the point of the frog is.It's high class all the way here, folks. Check the trailer below....
- 11/15/2011
- Screen Anarchy
by Steve Dollar
One of the attractions of a film festival is the chance to join a vital, engaged audience that can't wait to debate the merits of a movie seconds after the credits roll. As the day or week passes, you keep running into other fans and industry folks with strong opinions, often sharply opposed to your own, which only makes it more fun to argue about—even when things get a tad explosive.
One of my favorites at the 44th annual Sitges Film Festival was Japanese provocateur Sion Sono's Guilty of Romance. Along with Cold Fish and Love Exposure, it completes his so-called "Hate Trilogy," and shares with both films characters who are maniacally obsessive, oppressed by their circumstances, and capable of dangerous extremes of behavior. Purportedly based on a true story, Romance is framed by a police investigation of a grisly discovery at a love hotel. The...
One of the attractions of a film festival is the chance to join a vital, engaged audience that can't wait to debate the merits of a movie seconds after the credits roll. As the day or week passes, you keep running into other fans and industry folks with strong opinions, often sharply opposed to your own, which only makes it more fun to argue about—even when things get a tad explosive.
One of my favorites at the 44th annual Sitges Film Festival was Japanese provocateur Sion Sono's Guilty of Romance. Along with Cold Fish and Love Exposure, it completes his so-called "Hate Trilogy," and shares with both films characters who are maniacally obsessive, oppressed by their circumstances, and capable of dangerous extremes of behavior. Purportedly based on a true story, Romance is framed by a police investigation of a grisly discovery at a love hotel. The...
- 10/25/2011
- GreenCine Daily
by Steve Dollar
One of the attractions of a film festival is the chance to join a vital, engaged audience that can't wait to debate the merits of a movie seconds after the credits roll. As the day or week passes, you keep running into other fans and industry folks with strong opinions, often sharply opposed to your own, which only makes it more fun to argue about—even when things get a tad explosive.
One of my favorites at the 44th annual Sitges Film Festival was Japanese provocateur Sion Sono's Guilty of Romance. Along with Cold Fish and Love Exposure, it completes his so-called "Hate Trilogy," and shares with both films characters who are maniacally obsessive, oppressed by their circumstances, and capable of dangerous extremes of behavior. Purportedly based on a true story, Romance is framed by a police investigation of a grisly discovery at a love hotel. The...
One of the attractions of a film festival is the chance to join a vital, engaged audience that can't wait to debate the merits of a movie seconds after the credits roll. As the day or week passes, you keep running into other fans and industry folks with strong opinions, often sharply opposed to your own, which only makes it more fun to argue about—even when things get a tad explosive.
One of my favorites at the 44th annual Sitges Film Festival was Japanese provocateur Sion Sono's Guilty of Romance. Along with Cold Fish and Love Exposure, it completes his so-called "Hate Trilogy," and shares with both films characters who are maniacally obsessive, oppressed by their circumstances, and capable of dangerous extremes of behavior. Purportedly based on a true story, Romance is framed by a police investigation of a grisly discovery at a love hotel. The...
- 10/25/2011
- GreenCine Daily
“Tsumetai Nettaigyo” is Sion Sono’s and Yoshiki Takahashi’s latest screenplay directed by Sono himself. I’ve always really liked the way Sono films his scenes. It often feels as if we, the audience, see what his characters see; kind of like seeing directly through their eyes, standing where they stand, etc. He manages to put you in the scene with his actors. Amazing technique.
“Cold Fish” is apparently based on a true story and it starts like this: Nobuyuki Shamoto, a tropical fish store owner (Mitsuru Fukikoshi); Taeko, his new wife (Megumi Kagurazaka); and his daughter Mitsuko (Hikari Kajiwara) line up for a cozy little supper. The daughter then goes out to meet her Pontiac-Firebird-driving boyfriend, the wife turns down her husband when he tries to get frisky and well, the poor guy goes out in secret to puke in his bathroom.
“Drring! Drring!” The phone rings, Nobuyuki...
“Cold Fish” is apparently based on a true story and it starts like this: Nobuyuki Shamoto, a tropical fish store owner (Mitsuru Fukikoshi); Taeko, his new wife (Megumi Kagurazaka); and his daughter Mitsuko (Hikari Kajiwara) line up for a cozy little supper. The daughter then goes out to meet her Pontiac-Firebird-driving boyfriend, the wife turns down her husband when he tries to get frisky and well, the poor guy goes out in secret to puke in his bathroom.
“Drring! Drring!” The phone rings, Nobuyuki...
- 10/24/2011
- by The0racle
- AsianMoviePulse
Japanese auteur and explorer of the darker recesses of human behaviour Sono Sion follows up his off the wall serial killer shocker “Cold Fish” with more true crime psycho drama in “Guilty of Romance”. The film again reunites the director with gravure idol turned actress Megumi Kagurazaka, with whom he worked with on “Cold Fish”, and who also features in his upcoming “Himizu”, starring here alongside Makoto Togashi (“Memories of Matsuko”), Miki Mizuno (“Hard Revenge, Milly”) and Kanji Tsuda (“Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl”) in a tale of a bored housewife falling into depravity as she explores her sexual identity. Having played in a significantly longer 144 minute form to a packed house at Cannes, the film has now been released in a director approved international version, edited to 112 minutes, presumably to more specifically focus on its themes and main protagonists. The film is framed by a murder investigation carried out...
- 10/4/2011
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
Breaking out around the time where Nyff is on its last legs, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (October 12 to 23) kicks in with about four times the size in volume, and obviously more of an eclectic range. This year is the festival's big 40 - and for the occasion they've commissioned some of the names who've been a part of the festival to each contribute a short film in the context of what is being called the "Cartes Blanches" series. Denis Côté, Deco Dawson, Sophie Deraspe, Rodrigue Jean, Zacharias Kunuk, Marie Losier, Catherine Martin, Bruce McDonald, Théodore Ushev and Denis Villeneuve will each submit a four minute short. For their opening and closing festival items they've got the distinction of showing off Foreign Film Oscar selected items in Philippe Falardeau's Monsieur Lazhar and selected as the opener well before it was announced as France's submission for Oscar is Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli.
- 9/27/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Today, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (Fnc), which will take place between October 12 to 23. Here's the complete line-up of feature films according to the press release we received.
Opening and closing
The 40th edition of the Fnc kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.
Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death.
Opening and closing
The 40th edition of the Fnc kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.
Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death.
- 9/27/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
I will soon post a list of films I have already seen that I highly recommend as well as a list of my most anticipated films screening at this year’s Festival du Nouveau Cinema. For now here is the press release from the festival. Make sure you read carefully because there are a ton of great films to check out.
Montreal, Tuesday September 27, 2011– Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma will be celebrating its 40th edition from October 12 to 23. For the past 40 years, Canada’s oldest film festival has offered film buffs a selection of the year’s most exciting new films — a bold lineup with plenty of whimsical and surprising elements, but one that also turns its lens on social realities and the evolution of film and new technologies. Over the course of this year’s 11-day Festival, audiences of all ages can take in features and shorts, fiction films and documentaries,...
Montreal, Tuesday September 27, 2011– Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma will be celebrating its 40th edition from October 12 to 23. For the past 40 years, Canada’s oldest film festival has offered film buffs a selection of the year’s most exciting new films — a bold lineup with plenty of whimsical and surprising elements, but one that also turns its lens on social realities and the evolution of film and new technologies. Over the course of this year’s 11-day Festival, audiences of all ages can take in features and shorts, fiction films and documentaries,...
- 9/27/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The third in Shion Sono’s thematically linked ‘Hate Trilogy’ (following Love Exposure and Cold Fish), Guilty of Romance centres on on a female protagonist, Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), who goes on an intense journey of liberation and destruction through sexual transgression.
Izumi’s transformative adventure is set against the backdrop of a criminal investigation into the murder of beautiful woman who has been mutilated, a number of her body parts swapped with those of a doll and others (including her clitoris) removed completely. Sono’s certainly not a master of subtlety but he does know how to explore a fascinating topic in a provocative and compelling manner.
Stifled by her marriage to a popular writer (played with restraint and poise by Kanj Tsuda), and bored with her monotonous and dull day to day life, Izumi gets one part time job handing out sausage samples and another posing for photos. The...
Izumi’s transformative adventure is set against the backdrop of a criminal investigation into the murder of beautiful woman who has been mutilated, a number of her body parts swapped with those of a doll and others (including her clitoris) removed completely. Sono’s certainly not a master of subtlety but he does know how to explore a fascinating topic in a provocative and compelling manner.
Stifled by her marriage to a popular writer (played with restraint and poise by Kanj Tsuda), and bored with her monotonous and dull day to day life, Izumi gets one part time job handing out sausage samples and another posing for photos. The...
- 9/27/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Film:
I honestly can say I have never seen a serial killer film like Cold Fish before, and can’t imagine I will again. This film can lay claim to being one of the most bizarre viewing experiences I’ve had this year. This was my first film of Sono’s, I had wanted to see his other films having heard mixed things, I just had not had the chance to yet. The film is loosely based on the ‘Saitama serial murders of dog lovers’ (a couple who murdered and dismembered four people in 1993). I had not heard of this case, and upon further research I can clearly see that Sono and Takahashi have taken the basic idea and done their own thing with it.
The film has a very odd start, we meet the Shamoto family, consisting of the head of the family Nobuyuki (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), his young...
I honestly can say I have never seen a serial killer film like Cold Fish before, and can’t imagine I will again. This film can lay claim to being one of the most bizarre viewing experiences I’ve had this year. This was my first film of Sono’s, I had wanted to see his other films having heard mixed things, I just had not had the chance to yet. The film is loosely based on the ‘Saitama serial murders of dog lovers’ (a couple who murdered and dismembered four people in 1993). I had not heard of this case, and upon further research I can clearly see that Sono and Takahashi have taken the basic idea and done their own thing with it.
The film has a very odd start, we meet the Shamoto family, consisting of the head of the family Nobuyuki (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), his young...
- 9/27/2011
- by Marcella Papandrea
- Killer Films
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