Masato Ibu Movies
Japanese anime guru Kazuaki Kiriya ascended to prominence with his sprawling fantasy Casshern (2004), a tale that coupled post-apocalyptic visions with early 21st century design, and shared the success of the manga and anime from which Kiriya and his colleagues adapted it. Kiriya waited five years before emerging with this follow-up, produced by J-horror godfather Takashige Ichise (The Grudge). Described by more than one source in the press as a Japanese equivalent of Robin Hood, it unfurls in the late 16th century. The year is 1582, and the most miserly warlord in Japan, Oda Nobunaga, promptly falls prey to an assassin's blade and is succeeded by his own right-hand-man, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (voiced by Eiji Okuda). Unfortunately, all is far from well on the sociological front: a huge chasm exists between rich and poor, and evening things out is super-thief Goemon (voice of Yosuke Eguchi), who spends his day redistributing wealth to the lower economic classes. Fate takes an intriguing turn when Goemon acquires a small, ornate, handcrafted box of foreign design that he swipes from a merchant and hands to a homeless kid (voice of Arashi Fukasawa). Also after the box is the bugyo (or administrator) of Hideyoshi, who sends a vicious ninja (Kirigakure Saizo) out to take care of Goemon and retrieve the item; Goemon recovers it first, however, while saving the young homeless boy from a bellicose swordsman (voice of Tetsuji Tamayama). In no time at all, Goemon finds himself being pursued by everyone under the sun including Mitsunari, re-encounters a lost love from his past, Cha Cha (voice of Ryoko Hirosue) and realizes that the box will play an integral role in the nation's future. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yosuke Eguchi, Eiji Okuda, (more)
- 2008
A bout of terminal cancer alters the course of a man's life in completely unexpected ways in Walking My Life (AKA Zo No Senaka), Japanese director Satoshi Isaka's thoughtful domestic drama. At age 48, Yukihiro Fujiyama (Koji Yakusho) has virtually everything a man could want - a respectable job as a project chief at a real estate company, a satisfying marriage and two children. When the said diagnosis hits, however, it prompts Yukihiro to both shun conventional treatment and set about righting past wrongs from his life - he visits his undeclared high school love to inform her of his feelings, reestablishes contact with his estranged brother (Ittoku Kishibe) and re-initiates a friendship with his buddy from high school. Problematically, however, Yukihiro finds that he is somehow unable to inform his wife of the impending disease, even as he struggles with an even graver secret of which she is unaware. When she finally learns of the cancer and questions her husband about his reason for concealing the disease, he declares that, however much time he has left, he would much rather live for today than for the future. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Koji Yakusho, Miki Imai, (more)
- 2006
A murder investigation reveals a deep-rooted sibling rivalry in director Miwa Nishikawa's brooding family drama. On the one-year anniversary of his mother's death, Tokyo art and fashion photographer Takeru (Joe Odagiri) returns to his small hometown in order to pay his respects. But all is not well back home, and when Takeru's authoritative father questions his sincerity, the frustrated son strikes back with accusations of violent conduct. Though the situation is initially diffused by Takeru's older brother Moniru (Teruyuki Kagawa), who stayed behind to run the family business, tensions once again start to run high when Tekeru, Moniru, and pretty childhood friend Cheiko (Yoko Maki) decide to celebrate their reunion by taking a hike in the wilderness. Tragedy strikes, however, when Takeru wanders off to photograph the landscape while Minoru and Cheiko get into a heated argument on a suspension bridge. After rejecting Minoru's advances, Cheiko falls to her death. Takeru saw nothing, and though Minoru claims responsibility for Cheiko's death the authorities still launch a full investigation. With the evidence against Minoru mounting, it quickly becomes apparent that the older sibling is deeply resentful of the fact that he was forced to remain at home with his overbearing father as Takeru departed for Tokyo and began living the good life. Cheiko's rejection was simply the last straw for Minoru, who subsequently rejects his brother's help and places himself at the mercy of the powers that be. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jô Odagiri, Teruyuki Kagawa, (more)
- 2003
Yoichi Higashi's Watashi No Gurampa (My Granpa) concerns the relationship between ex-convict Kenzo (Bunta Sugawara) and his 14-year-old granddaughter Tamako (Satomi Ishihara). Kenzo was behind bars for killing a gangster. Upon his release, he goes to live with his son (Mitsuru Hirata), whose marriage is on the rocks. Already a loner, Tamako is ostracized further when it is discovered that her grandfather is a murderer. Kenzo soon helps defend Tamako from bullies at school. When Tamako stands up for herself, she comes to believe that she has inherited some of her grandfather's great strength. Eventually, an associate of the man Kenzo killed comes looking for revenge, along with the dead man's son. My Granpa was screened at the Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bunta Sugawara, Satomi Ishihara, (more)
New monsters and new weapons meet their match in an old adversary, Godzilla, in the Japanese science fiction spectacular. As the Japanese government tries to perfect new sources of energy, they discover that their longtime nemesis Godzilla is once again on the rampage, and new technology is needed to keep him at bay. Scientists respond with a gadget called the Dimension Tide, a device which can create a black hole whenever and wherever needed. However, while this device was intended to help ward off Godzilla, it ends up having an unfortunate side effect: A test of the Dimension Tide introduced to the Earth's ecosystem a strain of gigantic insects, who live in the sewers and emerge to wreck havoc. Can Godzilla help defeat the bizarre creatures brought to this planet through an attempt to finally destroy him? ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Following up on his acclaimed and Cannes Grand Prix-winning Unagi, veteran iconoclast Shohei Imamura directs this gleefully ragged tale about one very dedicated, though defiantly eccentric, doctor during the waning days of the Second World War. Dr. Akagi (Akira Emoto) is a small-town physician who sports a prim white suit and straw hat as he runs at full gallop from one case to the next. His diagnosis is always the same no matter the symptom: hepatitis. Along the way, he enlists the help of a young lass named Sonoko (Kumiko Asou) whose mother is a prostitute. Before she leaves home, mom gives her this kernel of maternal wisdom: give your physical devotion away to only your true love, make everyone else pay. She decides that the lucky recipient will be Dr. Akagi. Unfortunately, he has little interest in anything other than finding a cure for hepatitis. One day he happens upon a bruised and battered Dutch soldier (Jacques Gamblin) who escaped from the local POW camp. Realizing that returning to the camp would spell death for the lanky escapee, the doctor hides him with the aid of drug-addled fellow doctor (Kotsuke Sera) and an alcoholic Buddhist priest (Juro Kara). In gratitude to Dr. Akagi's kind act, the Dutchman, a lens crafter in quieter times, helps to fashion him a microscope so that the doctor may look at the very hepatitis germ itself. This film was intended as Imamura's swansong, but in 2001 he came out of retirement to direct the surrealist romance Akai Hashi Noshitano Nurui Mizu. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Akira Emoto, Kumiko Aso, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
Japan's answer to Don Simpson -- a flamboyant and brash producer drawn to make flamboyant and brash films -- Haruki Kadokawa takes a turn at the director's chair with this sprawling historical epic featuring a massive budget: a record-breaking five billion yen, and thousands of extras comprising most of the student population from the University of Calgary. Set during the Warring States era (1482-1558), the film opens on the real-life rivalry between feuding warlords Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin. The latter (Takaaki Enoki) begins the film as Nagao Kagetora, the younger brother of the lord of Echigo Province. Encouraged by court retainer Usami Tadayuki (Tsunehiko Watase), he challenges his inept brother for the reigns of power and kills him in an ensuing duel. Soon after becoming lord of the province, he faces a new threat with Takeda Harunobu (Masahiko Tsugawa), lord of the neighboring Kai province. Both have grand dreams of uniting their war-torn land and ruling from the imperial capital of Kyoto. Ultimately, this clash of egos, personalities, and ambitions leads to the cataclysmic 1561 battle of Kawanakajima. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Takaaki Enoki, Masahiko Tsugawa, (more)
Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, Empire of the Sun stars Christian Bale as a spoiled young British boy, living with his wealthy family in pre-World War II Shanghai. During the Japanese invasion, Bale is separated from his parents. With the help of soldier-of-fortune John Malkovich, Bale learns to survive without a retinue of servants at his beck and call. By the time Malkovich and Bale are tossed into a Japanese prison camp, the boy has picked up enough street-smarts and developed enough intestinal fortitude to regard his imprisonment as an exciting adventure. The story ends during the 1945 liberation: on the verge of manhood, the 13-year-old Bale will never again be the pampered, privileged brat whom we met in the early scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, John Malkovich, (more)
- 1985
Himatsuri is based on a real life tragedy, in which a Japanese man inexplicably slaughtered his family and then killed himself. Kinya Kitaoji plays the thoroughly self-centered "protagonist," who does what he pleases no matter who he hurts. No one dares question Kitaoji due to his blasting-cap temperament. The only thing Kitaoji holds sacred is the land around him, but he's willing to destroy even that to have his own way. He befouls a lake that is sacred to the Shinto religion, spilling oil into the waters rather than letting them fall into the hands of land speculators. Suddenly experiencing a religious awakening, Kitaoji decides to "atone" -- by murdering his family, then committing suicide. No explanations are offered by director Kenji Nakagami: one takes what one wishes from Himatsuri. The film was released to some English-speaking markets as Fire Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kiwako Taichi, Ryota Nakamoto, (more)
- 1983
This dark comedy is about a wedding that is disrupted, to say the least, when a woman apparently stabs the bride and then blows herself to smithereens. What follows is the long unraveling of the reasons behind the nonfatal stabbing and the supposed killer's death, with good work by most supporting actors, though the lead, Saburo Tokito has received less-than-kind reviews for his part as the husband. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yoshiko Miyazaki, Masato Ibu, (more)
- 1982
When Akira Kanmyo (Masato Ibu) leaves for a trip to the store one weekend, everything seems to either go wrong or to simply shock him -- he comes across a former lover, and in a separate instance, a woman with a definite sexual fixation, and an unstable man brandishing a knife. While he has this cast of characters to handle, his wife gets a phone call from a stranger who says he has kidnapped their son. In reality, there is no kidnapping, the son is just looking for a way to become famous on the television news. The poor mother is at her wit's end (not a long distance) when she opens the door to a salesman, who turns out to be a rapist and a thief. She is raped and sustains partial amnesia as a result. So when three of her acquaintances come to visit, the rapist poses as her husband (apparently her husband has never met these three friends) and no one is any the wiser. There is additional violence at the end, some of which is directed at an already wounded credibility factor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kumiko Akiyoshi, Shigeru Izumiya, (more)
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