#784 – Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, 1985, Paul Schrader
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima told in four parts. The first three parts relate events in three of his novels: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko’s House, and Runaway Horses. The last part depicts the events of 25th November 1970.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#792 – Memories of Matsuko, (嫌われ松子の一生), 2006, Tetsuya Nakashima
While combing through the belongings of his recently deceased aunt, Matsuko, nephew Sho pieces together the crucial events that sank Matsuko’s life into a despairing tragedy.
#796 – House, (ハウス), 1977, Nobuhiko Ōbayashi
Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip to the country to visit her aunt at their ancestral house. She invites her six friends, Prof, Melody, Mac, Fantasy, Kung Fu, and Sweet, to join her. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.
#802 – Russian Ark, (Русский ковчег), 2002, Aleksandr Sokurov
A French marquis wanders through a vast labyrinth of corridors, theaters and ballrooms at a reception for a Persian ambassador.
#821 – After Life, (ワンダフルライフ), 1998, Hirokazu Kore-eda
After death, people have just one week to choose only a memory to keep for eternity.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#835 – Ghost in the Shell, 1995, Mamoru Oshii
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as ‘The Puppetmaster’ begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
#849 – The Man Who Stole the Sun, (太陽を盗んだ男), 1979, Kazuhiko Hasegawa
A high-school teacher builds an atomic bomb to hold Tokyo hostage, then cannot decide what he wants.
#851 – The Castle of Sand, (砂の器), 1974, Yoshitaro Nomura
Yoshitaro Nomura’s 1974 film of Seicho Matsumoto’s immensely popular detective story tells the tale of two detectives, Imanishi and Yoshimura, tasked with tracking down the murderer of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a rail yard.
#855 – Fall Guy, (蒲田行進曲), 1982, Kinji Fukasaku
Ginshiro, threatened by poor repute and upcoming star Tachibana, forces his friend Yasu to marry Konatsu, Ginshiro’s pregnant mistress; Yasu becomes a stuntman to make ends meet.
#856 – The Family Game, (家族ゲーム), 1983, Yoshimitsu Morita
A sendup of the stereo-typical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife; the older son is a moderate academic success; but the younger son is a rebellious goof-off for whom a tutor must be hired. The tutor, played by the prototypical bad-boy actor Matsuda Yusaku, proceeds to blow the entire family apart.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 