Nobuhiro Suwa Movies
- 2006
Japanese director Nobuhiro Suwa helms this poignant and heart-rending short subject, which represents his contribution to the omnibus film Paris, je t'aime. The episode concerns a Parisian mother (Juliette Binoche) devastated by the loss of her young son, who receives an unusual form of consolation from a cowboy on horseback (Willem Dafoe). Other directors who contributed to Paris, je t'aime include Olivier Assayas and Vincenzo Natali. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, (more)
Twenty acclaimed filmmakers from around the world look at love in the City of Lights in this omnibus feature. Paris, Je T'Aime features 18 short stories, each set in a different part of Paris and each featuring a different cast and director (two segments were produced by two filmmakers in collaboration). In "Faubourg Saint-Denis," Tom Tykwer directs Natalie Portman as an American actress who is the object of affection for a blind student (Melchior Belson). Christopher Doyle's "Porte de Choisy" follows a salesman (Barbet Schroeder) as he tries to pitch beauty aids in Chinatown. Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier are father and daughter in "Parc Monceau" from Alfonso Cuarón. Animator Sylvain Chomet turns his eye to a pair of living, breathing mimes in "Tour Eiffel." An interracial romance in France is offered by Gurinder Chadha in "Quais de Seine." In "Le Marais" from Gus Van Sant, a man (Gaspard Ulliel) finds himself falling for a handsome gent (Elias McConnell) who works in a print shop. Isabel Coixet tells the tale of a man (Sergio Castellitto) who is making his final choice between his wife (Miranda Richardson) and his lover (Leonor Watling) in "Bastille." Juliette Binoche plays a grieving mother in Nobuhiro Suwa's "Place des Victoires," in which she's greeted by a spectral cowboy (Willem Dafoe). Richard LaGravanese's "Pigalle" finds a long-married man (Bob Hoskins) turning to a prostitute for advice on pleasing his wife (Fanny Ardant). Gérard Depardieu and Frédéric Auburtin direct Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara as longtime marrieds meeting for one final pre-divorce encounter in "Quartier Latin." Steve Buscemi learns a lesson about local etiquette in the Paris Metro in "Tuileries" from Joel and Ethan Coen. In "Loin du 16ème" by Walter Salles, a housekeeper (Catalina Sandino Moreno) longs for her own child as she tends to the infant of her wealthy employer. Elijah Wood stars in "Quartier de la Madeleine," a vampire tale from Vincenzo Natali. Wes Craven presents another fantasy in "Père-Lachaise," in which an engaged young man (Rufus Sewell) receives romantic advice from the spirit of Oscar Wilde (Alex Payne). A postal worker from Colorado (Margo Martindale) shares her thoughts on her visit to Paris in mangled French in Alexander Payne's witty "14th Arrondissement." Other segments include "Place des Fêtes" from Oliver Schmitz, Bruno Podalydès' "Montmartre," and "Quartier des Enfants Rouges" by Olivier Assayas, which stars Maggie Gyllenhaal. Paris, Je T'Aime received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Jeonjaeng (After War) is a compilation film featuring three short movies. A Letter From Hiroshima, directed by Nobuhiro Suwa is a documentary in which the director abandons a woman in a hotel room so that she learns about his hometown. Survival Game, directed by Moon Seung-wook, is a fictional film about a businessman who has the tables turned on him during a game of paint-ball. The New Year is a documentary from Wang Xiaoshuai about a dying man whose daughter finally arrives to be with him after she has experienced bureaucratic troubles in America. After War was screened at the Locarno Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Ho-jeong, Nobuhiro Suwa, (more)
- 2001
Following up on his masterful dissection of a relationship gone awry in M/Other, Nobuhiro Suwa directs this postmodern adaptation of Alain Renais' classic Hiroshima, Mon Amour. Suwa plays himself as a director who is seeking to remake the 1959 masterwork and who has cast French actress Beatrice Dalle as the lead in the role originally played by Emmanuelle Riva. Using Suwa's trademark John Cassavetes-like directing style, we see Suwa, his interpreter, Dalle, and writer Kou Machida interact in a manner that seems entirely improvised. This film was screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Béatrice Dalle, Ko Machida, (more)
- 2000
A man about to become a father ponders the notion of leaving his wife behind in this drama. Ryuki (Ryuki Tenmaya) and his wife Kaori (Naori Nakata) live in Sagi, a small island off the coast of Japan near Hiroshima. Kaori is soon to have a baby, and Ryuki is unhappy with his life -- he feels tied down by marriage and imminent fatherhood, and wishes he'd followed his youthful dreams of becoming an actor. When a group of tourists visit Sagi, Ryuki finds himself strongly attracted to a reporter (Hinako Atsumi) who is following them; he decides to pursue her, though the writer is more amused than intrigued. Winter Oranges was shot on a three-day schedule by American independent director Rob Nilsson, with the cast improvising most of their dialogue. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1999
- NR
The second film by Nobuhiro Suwa further explores the improvisational style that he developed in his highly praised debut, 2/Duo (1997). Starting from a three-page treatment, Suwa worked with actors Makiko Watanabe and Tomokazu Miura to fill out the plot and shade in the subtleties of their characters. The story focuses on Tetsuro (Miura), a divorced restaurateur whose business is beginning to fail, and his younger live-in girlfriend, Aki (Watanabe). They live in an open relationship that avoids questions of commitment. Aki is not interested in marriage, choosing to focus on her career at a successful graphic design company. This comfortable dynamic is upset when Tetsuro's ex-wife is involved in a serious car accident, and he is forced to take custody of his 8-year-old son, Shun. Though she is charmed by the boy, Aki is less than enthusiastic about this new arrangement. Aki and Tetsuro experience identity crises as Shun's presence reshapes their lives; their formerly free-form relationship quickly develops the contours of a traditional family. Almost in spite of herself, Aki takes on the bulk of the domestic responsibilities, while Tetsuro is forced to behave like a traditional father and role model. Watanabe gives a brilliantly subtle performance as she deftly reveals Aki's conflicting emotions: affection toward Shun, love tempered with repressed annoyance at Tetsuro, and frustration with herself for not living up to the traditional ideal. As the boy's stay draws to an end, the two are forced to rethink their relationship and their respective futures. Though the dialogue has the same fresh, spontaneous feel that marked Suwa's first film, M/Other is more deliberately paced and rigorously formal. In several scenes, the static camera runs for five or ten minutes, as the actors walk in and out of frame. This film was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomokazu Miura, Makiko Watanabe, (more)
- 1997
In preparing for this film, director Nobuhiro Suwa wrote an detailed script and then threw it away at the last moment. Instead, in a manner reminscient of Mike Leigh and John Cassavetes, he worked intensively with the actors to develop their characters and allowed the script to develop from there. Though the film appears to be a standard work of fiction depicting the slow collapse of a relationship between an out-of-work actor (Nishijima Hidetoshi) and his girlfriend (Yu Eri), the dialogue seems fresh and real, filled with sentences that trail off and the Japanese equivalent of "ums" and "ahs." At one point, the director breaks in and barks questions to the actors off-camera, throwing the film into that fuzzy zone between fiction and documentary. This impression is underscored by the handheld camerawork of Masaki Tamura, the cinematographer for legendary documentarist Shinsuke Ogawa. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hidetoshi Nishijima, Eri Yu, (more)
