Recent Japanese Cinema

[lohitchc@indiana.edu]

Just as a pitch for a director I don't think I've seen mentioned yet - as 
uneven as his work can be, Harada Masato is definitely someone worth giving a 
look, and most of his more recent stuff is available either in Japan or 
HK/Korea on subtitled DVD/VCD (although with the caveat that the subtitles on 
the Korean DVD of Bounce ko Gals that I have are not very good - the HK VCD 
subs are much better, and, being an Edko release, the VCD quality is also 
better than the norm).  Bounce ko Gals and Kamikaze Taxi are the ones that 
seem to have put him on the critical map, but even something more staid like 
Jubaku (A Business Panic) has its interesting moments, particularly in its 
almost parenthetical depiction of contemporary family life.  Inugami is 
available on a region 3 HK DVD with decent subs, and it's also kind of typical 
of Harada - long on style, clearly wants to say *something*, but he doesn't 
seem to be entirely sure what that something is.

The only one I'd outright pan is Totsunyu seyo - Asama-sanso jiken (The Choice 
of Hercules), but even there his indescribably bizarre use of Takeda Shinji is 
worth seeing.

Another has been mentioned, but Sabu's films are also a must-see.  Postman 
Blues and Monday are both especially good, and he has enough of a cult 
following in the US that bootleg DVDs with good fansubs are available on Ebay 
(Postman Blues is also available through Edko on HK VCD, and I think on Korean 
DVD as well).  Unfortunately, few of his films (only the most recent?) are 
available on Japanese DVD with subtitles.