#663 – 3-Iron, (빈집), 2004, Kim Ki-duk
A young man, whose only possession is a motorcycle, spends his time riding around the city looking for empty apartments. After finding one, he hangs out for a while, fixing himself something to eat, washing laundry or making small repairs in return. He always tries to leave before the owners get back but in one ostensibly empty mansion he meets the abused wife of a rich man and she escapes with him…
#668 – Muddy River, (泥の河), 1981, Kôhei Oguri
Two boys, whose parents ply their trade by the mouth of a muddy river in Osaka, become close friends.
#684 – Late Autumn, (秋日和), 1960, Yasujirō Ozu
The great actress and Ozu regular Setsuko Hara plays a mother gently trying to persuade her daughter to marry in this glowing portrait of family love and conflict—a reworking of Ozu’s 1949 masterpiece Late Spring.
#685 – The Insect Woman, (にっぽん昆虫記), 1963, Shōhei Imamura
A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
#688 – Audition, (オーディション), 1999, Takashi Miike
Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#690 – Pastoral: To Die in the Country, (田園に死す), 1974, Shūji Terayama
A young boys’ coming of age tale set in a strange, carnivalesque village becomes the recreation of a memory that the director has twenty years later.
#693 – Kagemusha, (影武者), 1980, Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa’s lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.
#701 – La Ciénaga, 2001, Lucrecia Martel
Chekhov in contemporary Argentina. Mecha and Gregorio are at their rundown country place near La Ciénaga with their teen children. It’s hot. The adults drink constantly; Mecha cuts herself, engendering a trip to the hospital and a visit from her son José. A cousin, Tali, brings her children. The kids are on their own, sunbathing by the filthy pool, dancing in town, running in the hills with shotguns, driving cars without licenses. One of the teen girls loves Isabel, a family servant constantly accused of stealing. Mother and son, son and sisters, teen and Isabel are in each other’s beds and bathrooms with a creepy intimacy. With no adults paying attention, who’s at risk?
#703 – Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion, (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 THE END OF EVANGELION), 1997, Kazuya Tsurumaki & Hideaki Anno
The second of two theatrically released follow-ups to the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. Comprising of two alternate episodes which were first intended to take the place of episodes 25 and 26, this finale answers many of the questions surrounding the series, while also opening up some new possibilities.
#705 – She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum, (野菊の如き君なりき), 1955, Keisuke Kinoshita
Now an old man, Masao returns to his childhood home and begins to recall his upbringing in this abandoned sector of Japan.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 