WARNING: May contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot’s elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.
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There was five japanese short films presented at the 2014 Montreal World Film Festival. I’ve seen most of them and here are a few thoughts about them.

Kemukujara

“Keblujara depicts the cycle of bullying. The weak beat the weaker and they, document.write(“”); in turn, beat those weaker than them. This chain is finally broken by the very weakest, who turns into a beast and proceeds to fulfill his destiny.” (Text from the Festival’s program)

“Fruit d’une première collaboration entre l’artiste visuel Nonowe Akihito et le compositeur Isao Sano, ce film d’animation dessiné et peint à la main raconte quatre courtes histoires issues d’un pays appelé le Keblujara.” (Extrait du programme)

This experimental stop motion animation has no dialogue and is the first part of the Keblujara series. It is the only Japanese shorts films that was in competition this year and the only one that I couldn’t manage to see. However, I heard very good comments about it. For more information I refer you to the excellent commentary written by Claude R. Blouin (in French).

Kemukujara: Japan/Australia, 2014, 13 min.; Dir./Scr.: Akihito Nonowe; Phot.: Isao Sano, Konoka Takashiro; Ed. : Keblujara Productions; Mus.: Isao Sano. Presented at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 27th (CI at 9h00 & 19h00) and 28th (CI at 14h00).

For more information you can visit the following websites:

All he knows right

“In Keblujara, a mad artist lives in a box on his own back.” (Text from the Festival’s program)

“Animation dessinée et peinte à la main qui raconte une histoire d’un pays fictif appelé le Keblujara, fruit d’une collaboration entre l’artiste visuel Nonowe Akihito et le compositeur Isao Sano.” (Extrait du programme)

This experimental stop motion animation has no dialogue and is the second part of the Keblujara series. I am not a big fan of stop motion animation, particularly this “artsy-fartsy” type which always have nebulous stories that can often be opened to interpretation. In this case, an artist is living in a box on his own back. It reminds me a little of weird Czech animations like The Fantastic Planet.

However, this film is technically quite interesting as it mixes techniques like stop motion and standard animation. I particularly liked the effect created by mixing real fire and stop motion animation which was well done and must have been quite difficult (as well as lengthy and complicated) to achieve.

I missed the screening of the longer first part of this series but I was told that this shorter segment was much better, easier to understand and more balanced. I had the opportunity to participate to a nice “chat” with the production team (I could follow some part of the conversation, but Mr. Blouin kindly translated most of it).

All He Knows Right: Japan/Australia, 2014, 5 min.; Dir./Scr.: Akihito Nonowe; Phot.: Isao Sano, Konoka Takashiro; Ed. : Keblujara Productions; Mus.: Isao Sano.
For more information you can visit the following websites:

Suicide Volunteers

“The film is based on a true story of the flight school instructor who sacrificed his life in the suicide attacks at the end of World War II.” (Text from the Festival’s program)

“Le commandant Fujii, un instructeur de l’école de pilotage, a sacrifié sa vie dans des attentats-suicides à la fin de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Adaptation d’une histoire véridique.” (Extrait du programme)

A man who trains Japanese airplane pilots for the their suicide mission feels he is not doing his patriotic duty and requests to join his recruits on their mission. His superior deny his plea because his position as trainer is essential and he has a wife and children. He eloquently convinces the few students who question the validity of their mission as a waste. After his wife kills herself and the children, he is finally allowed to go on a mission.

It is a beautiful treatment for the most stupid part of Japanese history. The movie seems strangely neutral about this subject, as it neither condone or condemn the use of kamikaze. It’s a good period drama considering the limitation of a short film. I particularly like the effects giving the pictures an old WW2 look and feel.

Suicide volunteers (???? / Tokko Shigan): Japan, 2013, 25 min.; Dir./Scr./Ed.: Kenshow Onodera; Phot.: Shigeo Kobayashi; Mus.: Shiro Mashiba; Cast: Mitsuki Koga, Yuka Takeshima, Yuji Shikano, Yuji Kakizaki.
For more information you can visit the following websites:

The Free man

“Jay is an ex-con who tries to turn over a new leaf by working at a laundry store [where he] shares duties with Kit, a young woman with physical disability who is the boss’ niece.” (Text from the Festival’s program)

“Jay, un ex-détenu, tente de tourner une nouvelle page en travaillant dans une blanchisserie. Il y rencontre Kit, une jeune femme avec un handicap physique, nièce du propriétaire.” (Extrait du programme)

This is the only non-japanese movie in this bundle of shorts. It’s a gritty reality type of movie. An ex-convict work in a laundry shop and likes the handicapped niece of the owner. However, he soon realize that his boss is abusing her, but he hesitate doing anything because he really needs the job and fear going back to prison. At some point it is just too much for him… The dark photography emphasize well the oppressive feeling, but for the rest it’s an average violent chinese movie.

Unfortunately, the english subtitles were out of frame for the ENTIRE movie (only the chinese subtitles were visible) so I couldn’t tell the details of the story and only guess. The dumb-ass projectionist was probably sleeping on the job or, worse, simply didn’t care to reframe the screen (even if several people got up to notify the theatre’s staff). It’s not the first time that such problem occur at this theatre. They seem to take the cinephiles for cash cows and don’t give a damn about them. A real shame!

The Free man: Taiwan, 2014, 30 min.; Dir./Ed.: Sam Quah; Scr.: Yu-Li Chen; Phot.: Xin Hua Feng; Mus.: Wu Xin-Ying; Cast: Ming-Shuai Shi, Xing-Xing Rao.
For more information you can visit the following websites:

No return on perishables

“Short story about a miraculous phenomenon: that desiring another’s happiness can lead to happiness for oneself.” (Text from the Festival’s program)

“Une histoire courte qui illustre un phénomène miraculeux : désirez le bonheur de quelqu’un d’autre peut apporter le bonheur pour soi-même.” (Extrait du programme)

This is a nice and cute romantic comedy.

An insurance salesman meets lots of people for his job. He helps a man who wanted to commit suicide and convince him to live (at least a few more years). He also encounter a woman on a pilgrimage to help her daughter find a nice young man she could marry and bring back her missing husband. The salesman was going to the temple to pray that the flower-shop girl he secretly loves notices him and says yes to his proposal, but instead, after having met the woman, he wishes that she finds her husband and a nice son-in-law. A little later, he purchases flowers at the flower-shop and then comes back to gives them to the girl (she thinks he wants a refund, so she tells him “No return on perishables”!). But then he realizes that the mother of the flower-shop girl is the woman he met earlier on a pilgrimage and that her missing husband is back (and its the man he saved from killing himself)!

It’s a funny story but I felt that the overall quality of the production was a little below professional standard. Also they used a filter on the picture to saturate the colours (to boost them out a little). At first I thought it was due to a bad print or (worse) to a bad cinematography, but after reflection it was probably deliberate to add a dreamy feeling to this moralistic fantasy.

No return on perishables (???????????? / Koi ha kangaeruna, ai ha kanjiro / lit. “Do not think of love, must feel love”): Japan, 2013, 18 min.; Dir./Scr./Ed.: Takatsugu Naito; Phot.: Akiyuki Michikawa; Cast : Ryo Yoshiki, Hiromi Hakogi, Nozomi Tanaka.
For more information you can visit the following websites:

When the sun falls

“A wealthy elite guard of the shogunate is under house arrest for dereliction of duty for allowing an unauthorized person into Edo castle. His fate is unknowned.” (Text from the Festival’s program)

“En 1802, un garde d’élite bien nanti du shogunat est en résidence surveillée pour avoir manqué à son devoir en permettant l’accès au château d’Edo à une personne non autorisée. Son sort est pour l’instant incertain.” (Extrait du programme)

This is a beautiful Jidaigeki movie (period drama). A samurai who was careless in his duty must wait while his fate is decided. He is finally asked to commit seppuku.

This movie offers an interesting reflection on family, duty and how to live one’s life. It is very well made and probably equals any feature-length movie of the same style (samurai costume drama). It is quite powerful for a short movie.

When the sun falls (????? / Hi-wa-ochiru): Japan, 2014, 39 min.; Dir./Scr.: Yuji Kakizaki; Phot.: Yoshinobu Furukawa; Mus.: Shingo Nishimura; Cast : Masayuki Deai, Yuka Takeshima, Go Ibuki, Motoya Izumi, Ikuya Enokizono, Hyuma Ishida.
For more information you can visit the following websites:
This bundle of five Japanese & Taiwanese shorts was screened at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 26th, 2014 (Cinema Quartier Latin 13, 21h40 – there was a little more than a dozen people on the room, which was filled only at twenty or twenty-five percent of its capacity!) as part of the “Focus on World Cinema” (Regular) segment.

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WARNING: May contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot’s elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.
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“Erika’s life fall aparts when her boyfriend leaves scars on both her heart and her face. The manager of the family restaurant where she works part time refuses to let her work with a scarred face, document.write(“”); and she has no way to pay for an abortion. She resolves never again to be at the mercy of sentiment. She decides to become a hostess at the Elleseine nightclub in Tokyo’s notorious Kabukichio entertainment and red-light district. Before long she has risen to the top, becoming the club’s number one hostess. But material fortune doesn’t always translate into personal happiness. Can she have her cake and eat it?” (Text from the Festival’s program)

This movie is based on Kurumi Tachibana’s two-part semi-autobiographical novel (Judas: Top and Judas: Bottom, bestsellers but not yet translated in english). It tells of the lightning ascension and downfall of the legendary club hostess in Tokyo’s Kabukich? district.

Erika is an insecure high school student in Saitama prefecture. Betrayed by her boyfriend, she finds herself pregnant, scarred and has consequently lost her job. A chance encounter with the manager of a hostess club from the entertainment district of Omiya will give her an opportunity to earn the money she needs for an abortion and provide her some sense of purpose. Within a year, under the professional name of Hitomi, she becomes the number one hostess of the club Elleseine. A hostess is basically a modern geisha: she flirts, provides drinks, attention, and entertainment to the salarymen that mostly constitute the clientele. It generally never involves sex. She manipulates men, creates a desire and fill their sense of affective emptiness with her glamorous act that indulge their greed, lust and illusion of power. Ultimately, she simply tricks them into spending money at the club and on lavish gifts for her.

However, she still doesn’t feel fulfilled. She has lost faith in true love and has therefore forsaken having any real relationships. She is troubled by her loneliness and the fear of being overcome again by weakness. But who could fill her own emptiness? She hides behind the armour of her make-up and all she can do is abandon herself to an insatiable ambition for more power and money. [Left: the real Kurumi Tachibana]

She changes her name to Kurumi and moves to Eden, a top-class hostess club in Kabukicho. The competition is fierce amongst the hostesses. However, despite being bullied by top-hostess Mimi, she reaches the number two position in just two months. But that’s still not enough. She succeeds climbing to the top by using betrayal, which earns her the nickname “Judas”. One day, Mimi is sick and shows some weakness by trusting into Kurumi’s hand her most important customer and lover: Saeki. She woos him and steel him from Mimi. She becomes the most desirable hostess but also the most ruthless: she abandoned Saeki when he’s bankrupted and drove one of her first and most faithful customers, Nawa (nicknamed “Beethoven”), to the brink of financial ruin.

One day, she meets a young finance tycoon named Ohno and she slowly falls for him. She does her best to resist the attraction and battle her own weakness. She moved to the ultra luxurious nightclub Dulcinea and, as she feel being at the top, her entire world comes down on her. When Ohno suddenly disappears, she discovers that he is a fraudster and loan-shark wanted by the police! Can she find a way to bounce back?

Evidently she has. After spending eight years in the extreme world of hostess clubs, Kurumi Tachibana is now a popular writer, actress and TV personality.

Judas is a movie about growth: the main character lacks confidence but go through many experiences that will change her and eventually make her better. Unfortunately, the movie is lacking something. It feels like the Readers’ Digest version of Tachibana’s biography as her life’s main events unfold before our eyes on fast-forward. We just can’t feel the emotions.

However, it is still a good, entertaining movie. It provides a women point of view on the world, which is rare in the Japanese movie industry. It is a movie about women, produced by a staff almost entirely made of women. It also give us an interesting insight into the world of hostess clubs and offers a fascinating portrayal of human emotional distress. Despite its flaws, it is an intriguing movie, worth watching. Unfortunately, the Dvd release is so far available only in Japanese (amazon.jp, Yesasia).
Judas ( ?? / Yuda ): Japan, 2013, 109 min.; Dir.: Izumi Ohtomi; Scr. Izumi Ohtomi & Kurumi Tachibana (based on her autobiography); Phot.: Natsuha Nakamura; Ed.: Masaki Murayama; Mus.: Masataka Kitaura; Prod.: Harumi Hoshino; Cast: Ayame Misaki, Sho Aoyagi, Kenji Mizuhashi, Noriko Aoyama, Ryohei Suzuki, NorA, Yusei Tajima, Itsuji Itao; Distrib.: Pony Canyon Intl. Film screened at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 30th, 2013 (Cinema Quartier Latin 9, 16h50–the theatre was less than a quarter full, with about 75 people) as part of the “Focus on World Cinema” segment.
For more information you can visit the following websites:
Judas © 2011 movie “Judas” Production Committee. All Rights Reserved.

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