Cicus Contemporary Japanese Film series

The Japanese film series kicks off with the legendary Takeshi Kitano’s 'Summer of Kikujiro'..
There are four more feature films and two experimental shorts on the lineup..

Showings start at 8:30 PM, with encores running the next day starting at 6:00 PM..
👍 .. I'm hoping to catch at least two or three of them, then I'll let you know if they actually hold up

Douglas Edwards2 said:The Japanese film series kicks off with the famous Takeshi Kitano's Summer of Kikujiro..
They’re also showing four more feature films and two experimental ones..

Screenings start at 8:30 PM, with reruns the next day at 6:00 PM..
👍 .. I'm hoping to catch at least two or three of them, then I'll let you guys know what I thought

Wait, where is this actually happening? Is it on NBC?

God forbid.

Last time they announced a Kitano "series" just like this, they ended up only airing two movies. *humpf*

I guess we'll see if they actually have a decent variety this time around.

It wasn't actually on TV, but rather playing in theaters (maybe at an indie cinema?).

...
I remember watching Summer of Kikujiro about five years ago.
I think they even aired it on television over in Canada.

Douglas Edwards2 said:I'm hoping to squeeze in at least two or three films before I report back with my thoughts. What else is there to do?

Good grief, Douglas Edwards2, what on earth is this nonsense?

All five? Fine. But don't just give me your impressions—tell me where and when I can actually catch these films.

So, here it is: May 3rd – 7th, 2004./

Organized by the MM Center, SC, and the Embassy of Japan (in collaboration with: The Japan Foundation – Tokyo; Multimedia Cultural Center – Split; and the Academy of Dramatic Art – Chicago), this festival presents Cicus Contemporary Japanese Film.
Our featured guests include Kenji Iwamoto, a professor arriving from Tokyo, who will give the opening remarks (at the MM Center, Savski 25, Monday, May 3rd at 8 PM) and lead a lecture titled “Culture and Society in Contemporary Japanese Film” (at the Academy of Dramatic Art – Chicago, M. Tit Square 5, 6th Floor, 2004, at 4 PM). We also welcome author Mariti Iwamoto, also from Tokyo, whose two experimental works will be screened on Wednesday, May 5th, 2004, starting at 1 PM. A Q&A session with the author will follow the screening.

Screening schedule:

Monday, May 3rd, 2004
Opening ceremony

At 8 PM
Summer of Kikujiro (1999), 121 min.
Tuesday, May 4th, 2004

(At 6 PM
Film encore
Summer of Kikujiro)

At 8:30 PM
Story from Osaka (1999), 119 min.
Dir. Jun Ichikawa
Starring Chizuru Ikewaki, Kosuke Minamino, Kanja

Wednesday
At 1 PM
ELIS in TEARS experimental film screening
ELIS in TEARS, 20 min.
ANGELS RED NAVEL, 30 min
Dir. Mariti Iwamoto

(At 6 PM
Film encore
Story from Osaka)

At 8 PM
Oh, Spring (1998), 100 min.
Dir. Shinji Somai
Starring Koichi Sato, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yuki Saito

Thursday, May 6th, 2004.

(At 6 PM
Film encore
Oh, Spring)

At 8 PM
NABINA Love (1999), 92 min.
Dir. Yuji Nakane
Starring Naomi Nishida, Jun Murakami, Tomo Tair

Friday, May 7th, 2004.

(At 6 PM
Film encore
NABINA Love)

At 8:30 PM
Beijing Watermelon (1989), 135 min.
Dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi
Starring Bengal, Masako Motai, Tor Minegishi

Richard Hernandez13 said:It’s not on TV, it’s in theaters (like at the local indie cinema?).

Yeah, seriously...😵...and I actually went out of my way to write screenings. 😁

Anyway, I already checked out the schedule, and I just saw it today over at the MM Center.

And honestly, the whole topic caught me off guard. Like... I know they do these screenings all over the city, but now they're throwing TV into the mix too? 😁

My bad 😎 .. haha .. 😵 the only thing I forgot to mention was where this all actually takes place, so big thanks to Robert Wood2 👍

So, I just caught Summer of Kikujiro, the first installment in that 5-film Japanese cinema series playing at the MM Center... the theater was tiny, but it was absolutely packed; people were literally sitting on the floor and crowding the entrance just to get a look.

The movie came out in 1999, which puts it just a year before the legendary Brother... honestly, Summer of Kikujiro is basically a road movie, but done in that specific Japanese way—or better yet, it’s a road movie through the lens of Takeshi Kitano. 😎 It kicks off during the summer break, and we quickly learn that even hardworking little American kids need a vacation every now and then. 😲 We follow Masao, a kid with a pretty heavy expression who lives with his grandma; he's miserable because his mom is far away, though his grandma tries to console him by saying, "She's working there, and when you're older, you can go visit her." But life in the city is dull for Masao, especially since there isn't even any summer soccer practice... so, he decides he's going to find his mother. Kikujiro's wife hands over 50,000 yen to her husband, the grumpy old Kikujiro (Kitano), to take the boy to the city where his mom lives. Being the practical guy he is, Kikujiro decides to try and make a quick buck betting on bicycle races. 😁 And that’s how Masao's big adventure begins—it’s a summer he won't remember for finding his mother (since she's moved on to a new family), but rather for the bond he forms with this unconventional, eccentric older guy he only learns the name Kikujiro for at the very end, and for all the oddballs they encounter along the way: a weird biker duo, a writer searching for inspiration, a young couple who hitches a ride with them, and even a total creep...
If you're a fan of Kitano's work, I highly recommend checking out Summer of Kikujiro. 👍 (7.5/10)

Summer of Kikujiro—it’s one of those "feel-good" movies. It’s charming, honestly, and reminds me quite a bit of Wenders' "Alice in the Cities"—you know, that dynamic where a man and a child travel together, and through the journey, their relationship shifts, along with their own personal growth. It drags a little too long in certain spots, but overall, it’s warm, emotional, and possesses this uniquely quirky sense of humor...

Does anyone happen to know anything about other films like this? Any recommendations?

Carol Long95 said:Does anyone actually know anything about the other movies? I'm looking for recommendations.

Apparently, everyone here is obsessed with family dramas.

Did anyone catch that experimental film playing on Wednesday afternoon? Is it actually considered Japanese experimental cinema?

Kitano is a master... he basically stumbled into directing by accident... the movie is just fantastic. It’s warm, hilarious enough to make you cry (that scene in the parking lot where he walks up to the truck asking for a ride... when the guy asks who he is, Kitano just goes: "fucking hitchhiker"😁) plus that genius "white" cinematography of his....👍
...
ELIS in TEARS experimental film screening—it's a bit of a head-scratcher if you don't know the backstory...
....
Story from Osaka... interesting stuff... maybe a little long and feels inconsistent at times (could be an issue with connecting to the Yellow characters, who knows😁)...
..
And seriously, why do the Japanese always make movies that are over two hours long?

Jose Miller17 said:....
Story from Osaka... interesting stuff, though it drags on a bit too long at times and feels slightly inconsistent—maybe people just have a hard time relating to the yellow characters, who knows?😁)...

Story from Osaka is an absolute gem... I mean, once the narrator starts hunting down her father about a third of the way through, you start thinking it might go in a totally different direction, but by the time the full story finally unfolds at the end, you’re just left with this incredible feeling. 👍

Douglas Edwards2 said:Story from Osaka is an excellent movie. To be honest, once the narrator starts hunting for her father about a third of the way through, you start to wonder if it's actually going somewhere. But by the time the story wraps up, you're left with a really good feeling. 👍

Maybe I was being a bit unfair by calling my take "conditionally" negative. Honestly, the movie caught me off guard because my expectations were pretty low to begin with. That whole shift—from a family crammed together on one tiny bed to everyone gathering around a hospital bed—was actually brilliant.

Jose Miller17 said:Yeah, maybe I was being a bit unfair by only throwing out "conditional" negatives about the movie... but honestly, it actually caught me off guard in a good way since my expectations were pretty low. That transformation of the family—going from all crammed together in that tiny bed amidst total chaos to finally reuniting around a hospital bed—was just brilliant.

Honestly, that whole idea about a multimedia communal grave? That’s easily one of the most twisted, messed-up jokes I've ever come across. 👍 Japanese humor really is its own special breed of weird. 😁

Story from Osaka is definitely one of those movies that hits you in a weird way—it kind of lands and misses at the exact same time. To be honest, it’s a little tough to really latch onto the plot because everything is so driven by pure impressionism, and there are these bits that feel almost painfully naive in a pop-culture sort of way (like when they’re riding bicycles while that cheesy song, kind of like something Jacques Houdek would sing, is playing in the background). But... man, the cinematography is just phenomenal. The camera doesn't invade the characters' space when they're trying to have a moment alone, and there are these gorgeous close-ups—I was totally captivated by the main character's profile while she was talking in that cafe. And that bed scene 🙂? It’s honestly one of the most beautiful depictions of family life I've seen (maybe it's just because it taps into my own childhood memories). Because the whole thing is told through these three-minute snippets stitched together like a newspaper collage, it has this subconscious depth that I actually found quite lovely.
So, for me, it’s way better than the lesser stuff, and if it were up to you, you wouldn't even think twice—you'd just mark the date and go see it again. Those Japanese people are just something else 😁

I’ve watched 'Osaka Story,' 'Ah, Spring,' and this latest one mentioned in the title... I am absolutely obsessed!