Rokko Toura Movies
- 1989
American parents would be glad if their children's desire to join rock and roll bands could have the kind of outcome the boys in So What opt for. Even though they really enjoy their band, these boys are so concerned about their schoolwork that they have a difficult time allotting any time to practice. In addition, their peers have a difficult time allotting any time to listen to them - they are equally worried about their schoolwork. When they finally arrange one public concert at school, they have the power cut before they can play even one song. Oddly, this doesn't dishearten them. They were looking for an honorable way to excuse letting their beloved music slide into the background. Except for one fellow, who bravely heads off to an unknown future, all the rest are happy to buckle down to their studies. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was the first English-language project of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses). In tune with his previous filmic essays on racism and brutality, Merry Christmas concentrates on a war of wills between rebellious POW David Bowie and camp commandant Ryuichi Sakomoto. Assuming that his other prisoners' unwillingness to protest their cruel treatment is a sign of weakness, Sakomoto is most impressed by Bowie's enigmatic defiance. While Bowie and Sakomoto seem to be operating on a high spiritual and intellectual plane, bilingual prisoner Tom Conti (the "Mr. Lawrence" of the title) engages in a more standard adversarial relationship with sadistic sergeant Takeshi Kitano. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Bowie, Tom Conti, (more)
- 1972
Dear Summer Sister (alternate English title: Summer Sister), released in the US in 1985, was completed in 1972 by Japanese director Nagisa Oshima. Hardly the most important work of this prolific filmmaker, it probably earned a non-Japanese release on the strength of Oshima's 1983 critical success Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Summer Sister, like many of Oshima's films, is an experimental exploration of moral corruption, partly based on a true story. Its uncompromising viewpoint was evidently not widely appreciated by Japanese filmgoers of the period, inasmuch as Oshima was forced shortly afterward to relinquish his independent-filmmaker status. Dear Summer Sister was originally titled Natsu no imoto. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Set in feudal Japan, this atmospheric and violent ghost story (whose title literally translates as The Black Cat in the Bush) begins with the brutal murder of two women by a band of mercenary samurai, whose leader is subsequently tracked down, seduced, and murdered by a young woman possessed by the shape-shifting specter of his victim. Called upon to avenge the warrior's death is none other than the woman's former husband, who has been ordered by his superiors to assassinate the guilty party. Plot twists abound as the older, vengeful spirit seeks to exact poetic justice despite the younger ghost's reluctance to destroy the man who once loved her. Though not on the epic level of Kwaidan or Onibaba, this adaptation of an ancient folk tale benefits from the same cultural richness, as well as a touch of social allegory. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, (more)
This star-studded and relatively lavishly produced fact-based war drama, set in 1945 Japan during WW II, chronicles the attempts of Japan's War Minister, (played by Toshiro Mifune), to prevent Emperor Hirohito from publicly broadcasting the declaration of surrender. The War Minister rallies those officers around him who also want to keep the war going. The conspirators murder the leader of the Imperial Guards and storm the palace. Fortunately they are stopped by the palace guard. On learning of this failure, the War Minister commits suicide. At least one Western reviewer of this 1967 film (for Variety) still bore very harsh memories of the war and attributed all sorts of face-saving propagandistic intent by the Japanese to this relatively innocuous movie. He was particularly distressed that the aura of sanctity surrounding the Emperor remained intact and was even enhanced by this film; even so, he praised it as expertly acted and entertaining in its own right, despite being an apparently "official" film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toshiro Mifune, So Yamamura, (more)
