The 42nd Montreal World Film Festival will be held from August 23rd to September 3rd 2018. So far there is only seven eight Japanese films listed in the line-up. We will add more details as they are available.

Of course, the festival has had financial troubles for sometime and run on a very minimal staff, so we shouldn’t expect a smooth operation. It will certainly not be better than last year. But the most important part of the festival is that there is movies to watch. This year it will be the nineteenth year that we are covering this movie festival and we hope that it will recover from this difficult period and prosper for many years to come.

The schedule for the Cinema Imperial (CI) is now available (2018/08/22). And the schedule for the Cinéma Quartier Latin (QL) is now also available (2018/08/23). As for previous years, the closing film will be a mystery title to be screened for free at the Cinema Imperial Monday September 3rd at 18:30. 

The FFM just announced the awards for the 42nd Montreal’s World Film Festival and for the 49th Student Film Festival (2018/09/03).

Two Japanese movies won an award: Samurai’s Promise by Daisaku Kimura won for the Special Grand Prix of the Jury (Ex-aequo) and Hiroshi Tachi won the Best Actor award for his role in Life in overtime by Hideo Nakata.

Please, read our comments on the festival:

• FFM 2018 Day 1: Red carpet & opening ceremony
• Samurai’s Promise
• Zone Out
• Life in overtime
• Think Again, Junpei
• The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan 
• FFM 2018: Wrap-up

 

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Here is the Japanese movies line-up (after the jump) :

World Competition

Life in Overtime (終わった人 / Owatta Hito / lit. “A finished man”): Japan, 2018, 125 mins; Dir.: Hideo Nakata; Scr.: Nonji Remoto (Based on the novel by Makiko Uchidate); Phot.: Koichi Saito; Prod.: Masatake Kondo; Cast: Hiroshi Tachi (Sosuke), Hitomi Kuroki (Chigusa), Ryoko Hirosue (Kuri), Asami Usuda (Michiko), Tomorowo Taguchi (Toshihiko), Tsubasa Imai. 

Sosuke Tashiro has a successful career in a large bank until he is transferred – or rather relegated – to a subsidiary until retirement. After decades of dedication to his work, he is lost and idle. He then decides to resume a professional activity, but realizes that the challenge is daunting. Over the course of two meetings, at the gym and at the adult education center, his life is on the move again. (FFM)

Schedule : Cinema Imperial — Sun. 08/26 at 11:30 and 21:30. Read our comment !

Hiroshi Tachi (who played Sosuke Tashiro) won the Best Actor award.

[ AsianWiki / IMDb / Toei / Youtube ]

 

Samurai’s Promise (散り椿 / Chiri Tsubaki / lit. “Falling Camellia”): Japan, 2018, 111 mins; Dir./Phot.: Daisaku Kimura; Scr.: Takashi Koizumi (based on the novel by Rin Hamuro); Ed.: Tomoni Kikuchi; Mus.: Takashi Kako; Prod.: Yoshihiro Sato. Cast: Jun’ichi Okada, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Haru Kuroki, Hirofumi Arai, Kyôko Yoshine, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kumido Aso, Naoto Ogata.

Shinbei is exiled from his clan for investigating its activities too closely. Eight years later, when Shinbei’s dying wife pleads with him to go to help his former best friend, Umeme, he returns to the clan. Infighting has produced turmoil within the clan, allowing Shinbei to discover the truth behind incidents involving his wife and his friend. Confronting Umeme, he understands the reason for his wife’s last wish. (FFM)

Samurai’s Promise will be presented as opening movie at the Cinema Imperial on Thursday August 23, 2018 at 19:00. And screened again on Sat. 08/24 at 14:00. Read our comment.

Awarded the Special Grand Prix of the Jury (Ex-aequo).

[ AsianWiki / IMDb /  Official  / Youtube ]

 

Documentaries of the World

The Reality Behind What We See: The Poet, Yoshimasu Gozo, in Kyoto / Le poète Yoshimasu Gozo à Kyoto (幻を見るひと / Maboroshi wo Miru Hito / lit. “People who see vision”): Japan, 2018, 107 mins; Dir./Scr./Ed./Mus.: Haruo Inoue; Phot: Koichi Yasuda, Sumio Ohki; Prod: Shuri Kido, Haruo Inoue.

78-year-old Gozo Yoshimasu is Japan’s most reknowned poet. Yoshimasu began composing in his twenties and has since been on the cutting edge of contemporary poetry for the past sixty years. (…) Yoshimasu, who witnessed the devastation caused by the massive tsunami of the Great Earthquake of 2011, was at a loss for words upon seeing the impact of “water” strip everything away. After the earthquake, and as if dismantling his own “framework of the mind,” Yoshimasu began to cut out words, ruled lines, and notes of all sizes and shapes he kept in his “diary.” (…) This was his new “poetry.” (IMDb)

Schedule : Quartier Latin 12 — Fri. 8/24 at 16:15.  Extra show: QL 13 — Mon. 9/03 at 11:30.

[  IMDb / Official / Vimeo ]

 

World Greats (Out of Competition)

Think Again, Junpei (純平、考え直せ / Junpei, Kangae Naose): Japan, 2018, 95 mins; Dir.: Toshiyuki  Morioka; Scr.: Rumi Kakuta, Teru Kimura, Nami Kikkawa (based on a novel by Hideo Okuda); Phot: Shinji Kugimiya; Ed.: Naoki Watanabe; Prod.: Yukihiko Yamaguchi, Haruo Umekawa; Cast: Kisetsu Fujiwara, Shuhei Nomura, Yurina Yanagi, Reiko Kataoka, Manaka Kinoshita, Katsuya Maiguma, Suzuka Morita.

Junpei, 21, is a lower-ranking yakuza. One day, his boss assigns him the mission to kill a high-ranking yakuza of a rival group. Junpei, who wants to be recognized by his clan, agrees. Junpei meets OL Kana and they spend the night together. He evokes with her the task that awaits her, and she is both worried and excited. She stays with him for three days until he carries out his mission. (FFM)

Schedule : Cinema Imperial — Wed. 8/29 at 16:30 and Thu. 8/30 at 16:30.

[ AsianWiki / IMDb /  Official  / Youtube ]

Zone Out / Regarder dans le vide (アウトゾーン / Out Zone): Japan, 2017, 115 mins; Dir.: Hiroshi Kanno; Scr.: Mari Takanashi; Phot.: Makoto Hayashi; Ed.: Aya Mitsuoka; Light.: Sousuke Yoshikado; Sound: Kazuyuki Tutiya; Mus.: Magumi Masui; Cast: Minami Matsunaka (Chinatsu), Masato Oki (Yuichi Akino), Kyoko Toyama (Kyoko), Gen Kuwayama (Naoto), Yusuke Ueda (Akamatsu), Yusuke Sugiyama (Yuichi Kagawa), Ben Hori (Hisashi Aoyama).

Kindergarten teacher, Chinatsu is always in a state of stress. And it is at this moment that a pupil of her class is murdered. Totally distraught, Chinatsu begins to sink into a world of illusion that she can not control. (FFM)

Schedule : Cinema Imperial — Sat. 8/25 at 16:30. Read our comment !

[  IMDb  ]

 

Focus on World Cinema

The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan (泣き虫しょったんの奇跡 / Nakimushi Shottan no Kiseki): Japan, 2018, 127 mins; Dir./Scr.: Toshiaki Toyoda (based on the autobiographical novel of Shoji Segawa); Phot.: Norimichi Kasamatsu, Kôji Naoi; Ed.: Masaki Murakami; Prod.: Ryo Otaki, Kyôichi Mori; Cast: Ryûhei Matsuda, Yôjirô Noda, Shota Sometani, Kento Nagayama, Satoshi Tsumabuki.

Based on the true story of Shoji “Crybaby” Segawa, a talented player of shogi, a Japanese variant of chess. After rising quickly in a shore-kai, an organization that supervises professional shogi status, Shoji fails to fulfill the ironclad requirement of reaching the 4th rank by age 26. With the encouragement of his friends, he sets out to achieve the impossible: to be the first amateur to become a shogi professional. (FFM)

Schedule : Quartier Latin 13 — Thu. 8/30 at 21:30.

[ AsianWiki / IMDb /  Official  / Youtube ]

The Second Security Unit (第二警備隊 / Dai 2 Keibitai): Japan, 2017, 112 mins; Dir./Scr.: Yuji Kakizaki; Phot.: Kazuto Sato; Ed.: Yuji Kakizaki, Yasutake Torii; Mus.: Shingo Nishimura; Prod.: Yuji Kakizaki, Kenichi Furuya, Kouji Saito; Cast: Toshio Kakei, Masayuki Deai, Yuka Takeshima, Nobuyoshi Hisamatsu.

In the summer of 1999, the Daionji temple needs protection from relentless harrassment by Defense Country First, a yakuza-backed political group wanting to take it over. A security firm is sent to guard the temple, the priest and his family, the staff, and the parishioners. When one of their colleagues is murdered, the security guards continue their heroic struggle to the end. (FFM)

Schedule : Quartier Latin 13 — Fri. 8/24 at 11:30.

[ IMDb /  Official  / Youtube ]

Ghost Mask: Scar (ゴーストマスク -傷- / Gôsuto masuku: kizu): South Korea/Japan, 2018, 81 mins; Dir./Phot./Ed.: Takeshi Sone; Scr.: Etsuo Hiratani; Sound: Sasaki Tomonori; Prod.: Jo Hoe-on; Cast: Akane Yurika, Lee Yuha, Hirosawa Sou, Yurisa, Choi Yona, Sakimoto Miya, Katayama Ryo, Kim Jerok, Ahn Sori, Sumi Kokoro, Seo Jin-won, Seo Donhoon, Kang Da-heh, Lee Yoongi, Park soo-jong, Lee Eun-woo.

Miyu moves to Seoul to study, but also to search for her sister, who vanished two years ago. She becomes friends with Hana, a young cosmetic surgeon who lives with her same-sex partner, Hyoshin. Miyu sees traits of her missing sister in Hana, who is increasingly attracted to Miyu. Hyoshin’s jealousy triggers horrific events that reveal the secrets of the past. (FFM)

Schedule : Quartier Latin 13 — Fri. 8/24 at 21:30.

[ IMDb /  Official  / Youtube ]

 

Press review:

• • Coverage from La Presse, Le Devoir, The Gazette, Google
  • Bring down the curtain on Serge Losique’s film festival (The Gazette, July 19th)
  • La programmation du FFM est en ligne (La Presse, 17 août)
  • Gazette Time Machine: Scenes from Festival des films du monde (The Gazette, August 17th)
  • Festival des films du monde has filmmakers hoping for a happy ending (The Gazette, August 17th)
  • Le mystère Serge Losique (La Presse, 20 août)
  • Course contre la montre au Festival des films du monde (Le Devoir, 21 août)
  • Le 42e FFM est presque sur les rails (Le Devoir, 23 août)
  • Le 42e FFM commence… ce soir! (La Presse, 23 août)
  • Sujets rares, cinéastes débutants au FFM (Le Devoir, 24 août)
  • FFM: la persistance du samouraï (La Presse, 24 août)
  • Silvio Caiozzi: à l’abri des influences (La Presse, 27 août)
  • Des voix à la défense du FFM (Le Devoir, 28 août)
  • Montreal World Film Festival 2018: Hard to die (Montreal Times, August 30)
  • Nils Oliveto: de bobeur à réalisateur  (La Presse, 31 août)
  • Le Grand Prix des Amériques à Curtiz (La Presse, 3 septembre)
  • FFM 2018: Cinq témoins japonais de la condition humaine (Shomingeki)

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Updated : 8/17 (some details), 8/19 (more details), 8/21 (extra movie), 8/22 (schedule CI, more synopses), 8/23 (schedule QL), 8/25 (details on staff & cast of Zone Out), 8/27 (more staff & cast, synopses and links), 8/28 (a few details & links), 9/2 (extra show & closing film), 9/03 (more links, awards’ winners), 9/13 (Shomingeki link).