How Had I Never Seen... "The Wind Rises"?

by Cláudio Alves

Hayao Miyazaki has been announcing his retirement for over a quarter century, each new project since Princess Mononoke received like a potential swan song. Such is the case of his latest flick, the enigmatic How Do You Live?, retitled The Boy and the Heron for the Anglophone market. After a lead-up to release that saw no promo beyond the poster, the film was finally seen by the Japanese public, enjoying its big opening last week. And yet, few folks are keen on sharing details about the animated project, including the narrative's basic premise. While the rest of the world waits for an opportunity to glimpse Miyazaki's latest "last" picture, it's an excellent time to watch the not-so-final career-capper that came before, which, to my great shame, I had never seen. 

This July, The Wind Rises celebrates its 10th anniversary, something worth celebrating as we prepare to see another auteur's exploration of an inventor whose efforts resulted in mass death during WWII. Not that Miyazaki's biopic of engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose fighter designs defined Japanese air force in the 30s and 40s, is attempting the same IMAX-sized scale as Nolan's Oppenheimer…

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Cannes at Home: Day 2 – Of Mothers and their Children

by Cláudio Alves

The second day of Cannes saw the start of the competition screenings, with Hirokazu Kore-eda and Catherine Corsini leading the pack. Though The Film Experience's writer at the festival, Elisa Giudici, wasn't convinced by the Japanese master's latest effort, Monster has been met with critical support. Nothing comparable to the reception of his Palme d'Or-winning Shoplifters, but still encouraging. As for Corsini, her Homecoming has caused controversy because of a sex scene featuring underage actors, which the director admits she'd approach differently in the future, citing the need for intimacy coaches. A masturbation scene was also eventually cut from the film after it cost production funding from France's National Cinema Centre.

Looking back at these auteur's past works, let's choose to remember less divisive fare. In both cases, familial bonds are at the forefront, tales of mothers and their children lost in dysfunction. They are Kore-eda's Nobody Knows, and Corsini's An Impossible Love…

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The haunting beauty of "Kwaidan"

by Cláudio Alves

This month, in the Criterion Channel, there's a spotlight on Kwaidan, the Masaki Kobayashi classic that became the first significant example of Japanese horror to reach international audiences. You can find critic Grady Hendrix exploring the 1964 anthology on the streaming service, but that's far from the only reason you should check it out. Kwaidan collects four ghost stories that, together, form cinematic poetry of ravishing beauty. No wonder Kobayashi's film has entranced The Film Experience for years. Dancin' Dan once wrote about Kwaidan for the Oscar Horrors series, Nathaniel and Juan Carlos discussed it in podcast form, and I highlighted its costuming for an idealized Oscar ballot. 

Still, it's never a wrong time to re-consider Kwaidan, to get lost anew in its visual splendor...

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"A Man" leads the Japan Academy Film Nominations

by Nathaniel R

"A Man" received 13 nominations from the Japanese Academy.

Last year the Japan Academy Film prizes were had a slightly higher profile on this side of the pond due to the international success of Drive My Car (which was also popular with Oscar voters). This year, there's no Japanese breakout film unless you count popular anime titles but it's still worth sharing what the Japan Academy is loving. With 13 nominations Kei Ishiwaka's A Man (which premiered at Venice) is the film to beat and it's worth noting that it came out after the deadline for the Oscar submissions this year [updated] and also wasn't submitted by Japan in the new Oscar season. The Japanese ceremony was two days before the Oscars this year on March 10th. Here are the nominees and UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE WINNERS AFTER THE JUMP...

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Best International Film Reviews: China, India, and Japan

by Cláudio Alves

For many, this year's Best International Film race will forever be remembered with an added asterisk, a reminder that the outcome would have been different had India submitted RRR instead of Last Film Show. This is not a commentary on artistic quality, merely award prognostication. The action blockbuster keeps racking up honors, while the country's official submission remains under-discussed. If neither succeeds, it will continue a sad Oscar trend. As one of the world's leading film industries, it's notable how little India has factored in these awards' history, indicating AMPAS' biases as well as India's own sometimes surprising submission choices.

While considering India's fate, let's also peruse the titles selected by Asia's other major film-producing nations… 

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