Shinji Takeda Movies

The filmmaking collective Trees of Life (aka t.o.L.) created this stylish and offbeat anime adventure, which follows an interstellar, time-tripping kitty as she battles the forces of evil. In 2032, Tamala, a cute and cheerfully foul-mouthed cat, has been having terrible nightmares about a mechanical avenger named Tatla, who appears to be somehow linked to Catty and Company, an all-powerful corporation which has an economic stranglehold on much of the universe. Determined to track down Tatla, Tamala decides to hop into her spacecraft and travel to Orion, the planet of her birth. However, the fates intercede and Tamala finds herself stuck on Planet Q, a world populated primarily by dogs. As one might expect, Tamala is hardly welcomed on Planet Q, though she does find herself drawn to Michelangelo, a fellow member of the planet's persecuted feline minority, and with her new boyfriend, Tamala struggles to get to the bottom of the corruption and violence that surround her. Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space was honored at the 2003 FanTasia Film Festival, where it was named Best Animated Film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

As one of the most cutting-edge Japanese filmmakers, Kiyoshi Kurosawa once again wraps a lowbrow, much-maligned genre -- in this case horror flicks (which were the rage in Japan at the time of this release) -- around some decidedly highbrow philosophical concepts. At the film's outset, Michi (Kumiko Aso) and her cohorts at a rooftop nursery cannot get ahold of their co-worker, Taguchi (Kenji Mizuhashi), who has an important floppy disk. When she ventures over to his apartment, she finds him pale, listless, and unusually quiet -- that is until he suddenly hangs himself. While the suicide is disconcerting, what really freaks Michi out is that Taguchi's body seems to dissolve into the wall, leaving a sickly black stain. Meanwhile, college slacker Ryosuke Kawashima (Haruhiko Kato) logs onto the Internet for the first time even though he is not particularly fond of computers. Instead of stumbling into a porn site or a chat room, he finds himself in a most peculiar site -- he just sees ghostly images of other people going about their everyday life. Then the computer prompts him, asking, "Would you like to meet ghosts?" Even though he eventually pulls the plug, the machine still on occasion springs to life. He eventually consults a comely computer maven named Harue (Koyuki), who is also utterly baffled. As more and more Internet users seal themselves into their rooms with red duct tape and melt into black splotches, Kawashima and Michi independently come to discover that the Internet has become portal for an increasingly crowded afterlife. As Tokyo becomes increasingly depopulated, Kawashima and Michi cross paths. This film -- which also features cameos by Kurosawa regulars Koji Yakusho, Jun Fubuki, and Sho Aikawa -- was screened at the 2001 Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Maverick Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa creates a surreal yet laconic love story set in the dystopic near future as Tokyo is gripped by mysterious and virulent pollen. The story focuses on Haru, a thoroughly bored music producer who justifiably fears that he might literally disappear into thin air; and Michi, an employee at an international mail carrier, who likes to decorate her apartment with stolen items and fantasizes about going to foreign lands. Listless and prone to violent fantasies -- his of gang war, hers of suicide -- the couple volunteers to be test subjects for a new experimental drug designed to combat the effects of the pollen, even though the side effects render them sterile. Within this vague and insecure world, the two try to maintain their love but find themselves drifting apart. Every half-thought attempt at salvaging their relationship only results in further alienation. Haru buys a dog but eventually he gives it away, putting further strain on the two. The couple attempts to flee their everyday existence and visit the sea, when they happen upon a washed-up skeleton. The emotional fallout finally results in the relationship's breaking up. Later, they meet again in a most surprising fashion. Kurosawa's film, told largely with long takes and a minimum of dialog, reads like an ironic reworking of alienated youth dramas. These characters are so internally inert and emotionally cut off that they seem to verge on the darkly comic; yet their love for one another keeps them from sliding into the abyss. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

In this French-Japanese drama, Tokyo cop Roy (Tetta Sugimoto) is on the "Four Eyes" case, searching for punk K (Shinji Takeda), who goes about shooting at various people in positions of authority. K's thick-lensed glasses have caused him to be nicknamed "Four Eyes" in newspaper articles. Roy's sister, 17-year-old Hinano (Hinano Yoshikawa) spots Four Eyes one day, follows and befriends him, and even after seeing him shoot at people, she remains attracted to him. The film features a cameo by Takeshi Kitano. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi