Teruyuki Kagawa Movies

Directors Michel Gondry, Bong Joon-ho, and Leos Carax each direct a segment of this triptych feature about life in 21st century Tokyo. The saga begins with Gondry's segment, entitled "Interior Design," about a young couple who moves in with an old friend while attempting to establish themselves in Tokyo. Hiroko (Ayako Fujitani) and Akira (Ryo Kase) have just arrived in the city. They're eager to launch their careers, but first they'll have to find a place to stay. Though Hiroko's old friend Akemi (Ayumi Ito) opens her doors to the ambitious young couple, her boyfriend isn't exactly thrilled by the new living arrangement. As Akira takes his first steps toward becoming a filmmaker, the neon jungle beckons to Hiroko. Before long, Hiroko begins to experience a startling metamorphosis that instills her with a newfound sense of peace and purpose.

The second chapter, Leos Carax's "Merde," follows the debased exploits of an unsightly subterranean creature (Denis Lavant) who emerges from the Tokyo sewers to taunt and torment the unsuspecting denizens of the city. Stealing cash, pilfering cigarettes, frightening old ladies, and even going so far as to salaciously lick schoolgirls, the gibberish-spewing troublemaker dubbed Merde sparks a media frenzy that sends all of Tokyo into a panic. The situation spirals as Merde discovers an arsenal of hand grenades in his underground lair, and begins throwing them in the streets at will, creating an environment of total urban terror. Later, Merde is apprehended and pompous French magistrate Maître Voland (Jean-François Balmer) arrives to defend the deviant in a Japanese court. The only person capable of speaking his client's unintelligible language, Voland stands at the center of a media circus that soon engulfs all of Japan. When Merde is convicted by the court and sentenced to death, justice takes a turn for the surreal.

The trilogy winds to a close with Bong Joon-ho's "Shaking Tokyo," in which a reclusive pizza addict who hasn't left his apartment in over a decade falls for a pretty delivery girl at the very same moment an earthquake hits Japan. A so-called hikikomori who never dares venture outside, the lonely shut-in (Teruyuki Kagawa) subsists almost solely on pizza delivery. When a beautiful delivery girl shows up at his door and promptly faints when the ground begins to shake, it's love at first sight. Later, the agoraphobic man discovers that the object of his affections has become a hikikomori herself, and boldly ventures out of his apartment in order to declare his love. The moment he sets eyes on her, the ground starts to rumble once again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Bayside Shakedown producer Chihiro Kameyama returns with this crowd-pleasing comedy drama spawned by the hit television series detailing a renegade district attorney's efforts to target political corruption in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. Kohei Kuryu (popular singer Takuya Kimura) is a stereotype-shattering prosecutor who prefers jeans and flannels to the typical suit and tie. Previously exiled to a position in a nearby town, Kohei returns to the Josai branch of the Tokyo's public prosecutor after a six-year absence. While his smitten assistant Maiko initially chides Koei for failing to stay in contact, the truth is that she's thrilled to see him return. Soon enough, Koei is taking on his first new case - an apparently open-and-shut trial involving a security guard who has pleaded guilty for manslaughter after killing a man during a late night argument. The case gets complicated, however, when the accused guard suddenly changes his plea to not guilty. When Koei discovers that the guard is a pivotal figure in the alibi of a former transportation minister (Kazuyoshi Morita) suspected of pocketing a major kickback that very same night, the lawyer and his assistant set out in search of the security guard's missing van - the one piece of evidence that could make or break the entire case. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Animator Goro Miyazaki, son of the infamous Hayao Miyazaki ("The Walt Disney of Japan,") makes his directorial debut with the animated feature Tales from Earthsea (aka Gedo Senki). Miyazaki loosely adapted the work from the third and fourth volumes in bestselling sci-fi author Ursula K. Le Guin's infamous series of cult novels -- all set in Earthsea, a Tolkien-esque fantasy realm. Gedo Senki opens at a point when Earthsea is deteriorating rapidly, and the power of magic is waning -- tendencies signaled by the sudden, frightening reappearance of dragons in the land of humankind. Ged Sparrowhawk was once a lowly goat herder but is now known as Lord Archmage, the most powerful of all wizards. He soon meets Prince Arren of Enlad -- a teenage boy chased by a "shadow," the force that is tipping the world out of balance and driving innumerable people to the point of insanity.

The men team up and journey to Hort Town, the Earthsea capital city, where they find the entire community turned upside down -- craftsmen have abandoned their trades, slavery runs rampant, addicts clamor in the streets. They ultimately find refuge in the Priestess Tenar's palace, also occupied by the scarred orphan girl Therru. While the latter initially avoids Arren in fear of his "dark side," Arren bides his time in the nearby fields, being mentored by Ged on the balance of creation. Therru eventually opens up to Arren, but he grows increasingly disturbed by nightmares about being chased by the shadow, and his daytime fear of it grows absolutely overwhelming. Ged then discovers that the cause of the kingdom-wide "imbalance" is actually his old arch-nemesis, the wizard Cob, who has opened up the gateway between the living and the dead, and hopes to attain eternal life, meanwhile plotting to murder Ged in vengeance for an act he committed long ago.

In fear of his evil self, Arren absconds from Tenar's palace -- actively fleeing from the shadow -- but ultimately faints and turns up at the castle of Cob. The latter's minions give their guest "hazia," which causes him to lose his bearings and tell Cob his real name. Arren thus becomes enslaved to the wizard. Meanwhile, Ged and Therru turn up, and bring Arren back to full awareness. With their assistance, he is able to surmount the temptation of eternal life; he then does an about face, and, with the assistance of an enchanted sword, prepares to do battle with Cob. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

After being stricken with Alzheimer's disease in the prime of his life, a successful young businessman slips slowly away from his loving family in director Yukihiko Tstusumi's poignant family drama. Saeki (Ken Watanabe) is about to launch what promises to be the most successful advertising campaign in his burgeoning career. In addition to his astonishingly fast ascent up the corporate ladder, Saeki's beautiful young daughter is about to be married, and he will soon become a youthful grandfather. Though his long hours on the job always prevented Saeki from truly connecting with his family, Saeki's wife Emiko (Kenji Sakaguchi) remains staunchly committed to both their family and their relationship as husband and wife. With time fast running out for Saeki and the past gradually converging with the present in his rapidly-deteriorating mind, the unconditional love offered by his supportive family offers an intimate look into a disease that, despite it's prominence in virtually every culture, still goes largely misunderstood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Yoichi Sai's prison film Doing Time stars Tsutomu Yamazaki as Hanawa, a man serving a sentence in a minimum-security prison. Life in the jail is rigid and organized, eventually leading all of Hanawa's cellmates to abandon their individuality. Hanawa lasts longer than the others, but a stint in solitary confinement leads him to the same emotional and psychological state as the others. Doing Time was screened at the Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

An aging man in a dying town tries to sort out the loose ends of his life, with tragic results, in this drama. Nobuo (Ken Ogata) is an elderly man living in a remote village on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, known for its punishing winters. While the community was once prosperous thanks to the fishing trade, the harbors no longer yield many fish, and as a result the village has fallen on hard times. Nobuo once earned his living making sake, but most of his customers have moved away, and since the death of his wife, he's stopped working and spends his days walking the wind-swept streets of his town. Nobuo has two sons -- Ryoichi (Teruyuki Kagawa), who has struggled unsuccessfully in the city to make a career as a musician, and Yasu (Yasufumi Hayashi), who watches over his ailing father, much to the consternation of his girlfriend Keiko (Fusako Urabe), who wants to move to a city with better prospects. One of Nobuo's few pleasures in life is visiting a salmon breeding pond, where he likes to talk with Michiko (Sayoko Ishii), an attractive young woman whom Nobuo likes to imagine is infatuated with him. Nobuo tries to bring his two sons together for a family reunion, but both siblings have more than their share of bitterness over the hand life has dealt them, and before the evening is over everyone reveals their secrets. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Former assistant director to Sogo Ishii, Akira Ogata makes his debut with this complex coming of age drama about a pair of orphans obsessed with choir singing. Set during the political tumult of the 1970s, the film focuses on Michio (Atsushi Ito), a stuttering, socially-inept 15-year-old. Michio's quiet childhood is cut short with the death of his father. After clearing out his dad's photography studio, he is sent by his uncle to the militaristic Dokoritsu Orphange for Boys. There he meets and befriends the effeminate-looking Yasuo (Sora Toma), who is the lead soprano of the orphanage's choir. Singing quickly dominates both boys' lives as they prepare for the National Chorus Competition. Yet the political chaos of the times soon comes to their doorstep with the unexpected appearance of Satomi (Ryoko Takizawa), a radical on the run from the law after a couple notorious bombings. Choirmaster Seino (Teruyuki Kagawa), a former revolutionary himself, takes in the fugitive and shelters her for a spell. When she ultimately blows herself up in front of the boys while running from the cops, the two react in decidedly different ways. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

When oddball auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa received an eccentric offer to make two films in two weeks, on a low budget and using the same cast, the result was the cinematic equivalent of fraternal twins. Though both Spider's Gaze and Serpent's Path are gangster films about the desire for revenge, and both films feature a protagonist named Nijima played convincingly by Sho Aikawa, the two movies are completely different in tone and plot. Nonetheless, they seem freakishly interlocked in ways that defy the conventionally linear relationship of a sequel, as each of these enigmatic, absorbing films elucidates our understanding of the other. Unlike the light-hearted tone of Spider's Gaze, Serpent's Path is a grim yakuza film featuring extremes of violence and brutality. Nijima is an astrophysics lecturer who, for some obscure reason, aids a half-crazed mobster named Miyashita in his pursuit of those responsible for the brutal rape and murder of his young daughter. They abduct a series of Miyashita's colleagues, drag them to a remote warehouse, and attempt to extract confessions from them through torture. As the body count rises, it becomes clear that Miyashita and his dwindling gang were involved in the production of snuff movies. When Nijima reveals his motives for helping the gangster, our understanding of both this film and Spider's Gaze are completely altered. This film was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival as part of the Director's Spotlight. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide