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Jordan's 12th Japanese film week:Generations of culture on screen
Israa Radaydeh, Jordan News
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Jordan’s 12th Japanese film week launches today, bringing to
Amman a variety of cinematic choices from different genres, exploring Japan’s
culture through both the modern and the traditional.اضافة اعلان
Screenings start today at Rainbow theater in Jabal Amman and last through Thursday. The event is organized by the Royal Film Commission in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Jordan. Films to be screened are as follows.
Monday: The House of the Lost on the Cape (2021)
This nostalgic fantasy, “Misaki no Mayoiga” in Japanese, is an animated film adaptation of the Noma Children’s Literature Award-winning work by Sachiko Kashiwaba, a popular author who influenced “Spirited Away”.
In a small coastal town destroyed by a tsunami, a mysterious old woman takes a mute little girl and a rebellious teenager into her magical residence, located on a cape overlooking impressive cliffs. Strangers at first, the two children soon become like sisters, guided by this woman who introduces them to an invisible world populated by spirits, both protective and evil. By drawing on the fantastic, the film evokes with a flush emotion and elegant drawings the possible recovery of victims of trauma.
The House of the Lost was produced as part of a project commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Tohoku tsunami. It asks the question: “How should survivors carry on living?”, as each of the characters was singly spared from their families. The answer, the film shows, is to join into community, protect the destitute, respect Japanese and especially Shinto traditions, and persevere in the face of grief. These are the keys to recovery.
As the plot progresses, the story of the two girls conceals constant, silent reminders of the disaster, generating what can only be described as a “gently post-apocalyptic” tone.
Tuesday: It’s a Summer Film! (2020)
This debut film by Soushi Matsumoto tells the story of three high school friends who decide to make one of their dreams come true.
The heroine, nicknamed Barefoot, is part of the high school video club, but unfortunately, everyone else wants to film a romance and her own idea for a film festival entry is rejected.
Barefoot wants to make art, real cinema, a samurai film. And her two friends, Blue Hawaii and Kickboard, are there to help.
And that is where it all starts, where the production begins. Barefoot, with an improbable team in tow, a phone to film with, and a young rebel thrilled with motorcycle flashes for a lighting crew, embarks on the creation of her own samurai film.
After It’s a Summer Film! was shown at various festivals, favorable reviews came in. The concept? We have already seen a lot of it: that high-school environment, the feel-good flavors, the improbable mix of genres, and the satirical jabs at romantic comedies… while inevitably becoming one itself.
The film manages this genre salad with a refreshing ease that is very pleasant to watch. The love of creation, the love of cinema, and in particular, the love of the typically Japanese samurai genre, the “chanbara”, shine through the dialogues and screenplay.
Wednesday: Ora, Ora Be Goin’ Alone (2020)
An energetic and exhilarating action adaptation of the Akutagawa and Bungei Prize-winning debut novel by Chisako Wakatake, Ora, Ora Be Goin’ Alone reflects changing times in Japan and the Japanese way of life.
Yuko Tanaka and Yu Aoi both play the lead character, a woman named Momoko who left her hometown to progress through the stages of marriage, motherhood, then widowhood in Tokyo. Shuichi Okita, who wrote and directed The Woodsman and the Rain (2011) and A Story of Yonosuke (2013), focuses the plot of the life of the elderly. The older Momko’s existence is bolstered by hope, the appreciation of younger generations, contributing to society, bringing wisdom and connections to family roots.
The film explores how older persons adapt to loneliness and impact their surrounding environments.
Thursday: Hell’s Garden (2021)
In this action comedy written by Bakarhythm and starring Mei Nagano, the curtain rises on a fierce battle involving office workers from different companies.
Naoko works in the sales department of a company. She longs for a normal “office lady” (OL) life, but at her workplace, a fierce factional conflict between all the OLs is unfolding.
One day, Ran, a charismatic office worker, is assigned to the sales department as a mid-career hire. With overwhelming strength, Ran conquers the company’s OLs and quickly rises to the top. In the midst of this, a senior office worker in the general affairs department kidnaps Naoko. It is then up to Ran to save her.
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Jordan News
Screenings start today at Rainbow theater in Jabal Amman and last through Thursday. The event is organized by the Royal Film Commission in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Jordan. Films to be screened are as follows.
Monday: The House of the Lost on the Cape (2021)
This nostalgic fantasy, “Misaki no Mayoiga” in Japanese, is an animated film adaptation of the Noma Children’s Literature Award-winning work by Sachiko Kashiwaba, a popular author who influenced “Spirited Away”.
In a small coastal town destroyed by a tsunami, a mysterious old woman takes a mute little girl and a rebellious teenager into her magical residence, located on a cape overlooking impressive cliffs. Strangers at first, the two children soon become like sisters, guided by this woman who introduces them to an invisible world populated by spirits, both protective and evil. By drawing on the fantastic, the film evokes with a flush emotion and elegant drawings the possible recovery of victims of trauma.
The House of the Lost was produced as part of a project commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Tohoku tsunami. It asks the question: “How should survivors carry on living?”, as each of the characters was singly spared from their families. The answer, the film shows, is to join into community, protect the destitute, respect Japanese and especially Shinto traditions, and persevere in the face of grief. These are the keys to recovery.
As the plot progresses, the story of the two girls conceals constant, silent reminders of the disaster, generating what can only be described as a “gently post-apocalyptic” tone.
Tuesday: It’s a Summer Film! (2020)
This debut film by Soushi Matsumoto tells the story of three high school friends who decide to make one of their dreams come true.
The heroine, nicknamed Barefoot, is part of the high school video club, but unfortunately, everyone else wants to film a romance and her own idea for a film festival entry is rejected.
Barefoot wants to make art, real cinema, a samurai film. And her two friends, Blue Hawaii and Kickboard, are there to help.
And that is where it all starts, where the production begins. Barefoot, with an improbable team in tow, a phone to film with, and a young rebel thrilled with motorcycle flashes for a lighting crew, embarks on the creation of her own samurai film.
After It’s a Summer Film! was shown at various festivals, favorable reviews came in. The concept? We have already seen a lot of it: that high-school environment, the feel-good flavors, the improbable mix of genres, and the satirical jabs at romantic comedies… while inevitably becoming one itself.
The film manages this genre salad with a refreshing ease that is very pleasant to watch. The love of creation, the love of cinema, and in particular, the love of the typically Japanese samurai genre, the “chanbara”, shine through the dialogues and screenplay.
Wednesday: Ora, Ora Be Goin’ Alone (2020)
An energetic and exhilarating action adaptation of the Akutagawa and Bungei Prize-winning debut novel by Chisako Wakatake, Ora, Ora Be Goin’ Alone reflects changing times in Japan and the Japanese way of life.
Yuko Tanaka and Yu Aoi both play the lead character, a woman named Momoko who left her hometown to progress through the stages of marriage, motherhood, then widowhood in Tokyo. Shuichi Okita, who wrote and directed The Woodsman and the Rain (2011) and A Story of Yonosuke (2013), focuses the plot of the life of the elderly. The older Momko’s existence is bolstered by hope, the appreciation of younger generations, contributing to society, bringing wisdom and connections to family roots.
The film explores how older persons adapt to loneliness and impact their surrounding environments.
Thursday: Hell’s Garden (2021)
In this action comedy written by Bakarhythm and starring Mei Nagano, the curtain rises on a fierce battle involving office workers from different companies.
Naoko works in the sales department of a company. She longs for a normal “office lady” (OL) life, but at her workplace, a fierce factional conflict between all the OLs is unfolding.
One day, Ran, a charismatic office worker, is assigned to the sales department as a mid-career hire. With overwhelming strength, Ran conquers the company’s OLs and quickly rises to the top. In the midst of this, a senior office worker in the general affairs department kidnaps Naoko. It is then up to Ran to save her.
Read more Entertainment
Jordan News
