Kanako Higuchi Movies

Director and screenwriter Takeshi Kitano charts the strange career arc of a struggling artist in this offbeat comedy-drama. Machisu Kuramochi (Reo Yoshioka) is the son of a successful businessman (Akira Nakao) with a passion for art, and at an early age Machisu decides he wants to make painting his career. When his father commits suicide after the collapse of his business, Machisu's stepmother (Mariko Tsutsui) sends him to live with an aunt and uncle who encourage him to hone his talent. As a teenager, Machisu (now played by Yurei Yanagi) attends art school and finds his traditional style of painting challenged by the more experimental and conceptual work turned in by his classmates. However, Machisu strikes up a friendship with a fellow student, Sachiko (Kumiko Aso), who encourages him to follow his own muse and paint what he loves. Machisu and Sachiko become lifelong friends, and as they enter heir fifties, both are still painting in the style that they established in their youth. However, while Sachiko (played as an adult by Kanako Higuchi) has found an original voice in his work, it's become increasingly obvious with the passage of time that Machisu (Beat Takeshi) has borrowed all he knows from the artists he loves without bringing much of his own personality to the picture. Akires to kame (aka Achilles and the Tortoise) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, 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

Audition writer Ryu Murakami returns to shock and surprise movie lovers with this darkly satirical comedy about an absurd street war between two gangs of violent, karaoke-loving outsiders. The Gakis are a gang of young slackers whose primary passion in life is staging elaborate karaoke recreations of the nostalgic, Showa-era songs (classic hits from the 1940s to the 1980s) they grew up on. The Midoris are a group of thirty-something female divorcees who share a similar passion for classic karaoke hits, yet despite their similar interests these two crews are about to become locked on a cataclysmic collision course. When a Gaki is rejected while trying to pick up a Midori, the humiliation proves too hard to handle and he instinctively kills the woman. The Midoris quickly retaliate, and the war is on. At first both gangs rely on knives and guns to exact their vicious revenge, but before long a simple bullet just won't suffice. As the violence escalates and both gangs up the ante by securing increasingly advanced and destructive weaponry, two generations forgotten by society clash in an explosive frenzy of apocalyptic fury. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Akira Kurosawa's assistant director Takashi Koizumi directs the low-key drama Letter From the Mountain, based on the novel by Keishi Nagi. Highly specialized doctor Michiko (Kanako Higuchi) finds herself seized with panic attacks. She and her partner, Takao (Akira Terao), decide to leave behind their stressful lives in Tokyo for a simpler life in the small farming village of Shinshu. After meeting several sick people in the community, Michiko sets up a medical center and gradually heals herself in the process. However, many of the townspeople refuse medical treatment, preferring to let nature take its course. The conclusion involves an annual celebration suggesting the couple's acceptance in the community. Letter From the Mountain was shown at the 2002 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

African-American actor Michael Wright (Sugar Hill, Money Talks) stars in this softcore pinku eiga melodrama based on a popular novel by Aimi Yamada, which popularized the dating of black men as something of a social cachet in Japan. Wright is a G.I. named Spoon who goes AWOL from his base and falls in love with Kim (Kanako Higuchi), a Japanese nightclub singer. They move in together, but Spoon can't stay faithful, spreading his physical charms to several women including Kim's friend, Maria (Michiyo Okusa). The cultural differences, infidelity, and social pressure make for a very complicated relationship. Before things can come to a head, Spoon is dragged back to his base for a court-martial -- a disappointing non-resolution for a film that could have been the Japanese Jungle Fever. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide