Shinji Aoyama

[DarkImbecile]

Shinji Aoyama (1964 - )



Filmography

Features
Helpless (1996)
Chinpira AKA Chinpira: Two Punks (1996)
Wild Life (1997)
Tsumetai chi AKA An Obsession (1997)
Sheidi gurovu AKA Shady Grove (1999)
EM Enbāmingu AKA EM Embalming (1999)
Yuriika AKA Eureka (2000)
Tsuki no Sabaku AKA Desert Moon (2001)
Roji e: Nakagami Kenji no nokoshita firumu AKA To the Backstreet: The Films Kenji Nakagami Left Out [documentary] (2001)
Ajima no uta: Uehara Tomoko, tenjo no utagoe [documentary] (2003)
Reikusaido mada kesu AKA Lakeside Murder Case (2004)
Eri Eri rema sabakutani? AKA My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? (2005)
AA [documentary] (2005)
Kōrogi AKA Crickets (2006)
Saddo Vakeishon AKA Sad Vacation (2007)
Tōkyō Kōen AKA Tokyo Park (2011)
Tomogui AKA The Backwater (2013)

Shorts/Videos/TV
Kyokasho ni nai! AKA It's Not in the Textbook! (1995)
Waga mune ni kyoki ari AKA A Weapon in My Heart (1996)
"1/5" [documentary] (1996)
June 12, 1998 AKA At the Edge of Chaos (1999)
"To the Alley" [documentary] (2000)
So As Not to Say Everything About Her Already Aged Self (2001)
The Jesus of the Ruins (2001)
Shiritsu Tantei Hama Maiku Namae no Nai More AKA Mike Yokohama: A Forest with No Name (2002)
"Song of Ajima" [documentary] (2003)
"Days in the Shade" (2003)
"The Detective Who Can Say No" (2003)
"Like A Desperado Under the Eaves" (2003)
"Trunk" (2003)
"La Petit Chaperon Rouge" (2008)
"Down" [documentary] (2010)
"Untitled" [segment from 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero] (2011)
"Spiders Now" - S01E01 - D x Town (2012)
4 for Flowers (2013)
Shokuzai no Sonata [miniseries] (2015)

Books

Novels
Eureka (2000)
Tsuki no Sabaku (2002)
Helpless (2002)
Hotel Chronicles (2005)
Shi no Tani '95 (2005)
Ugetsu Monogatari (2006)
Sad Vacation (2006)
Entertainment! (2006)
Chikyu no Ue de Visa mo Naku (2009)
Kaerimichi ga Kieta (2010)
Strange Face (2010)

Criticism
Lost in America (2000)
Wim Wenders (2000)
Ware Eiga o Hakken Seri (2001)
Aoyama Shinji to Abe Kazushige to Nakahara Masaya no Cine-con! (2004)
Cinema 21 (2010)
Eiga Nagabanashi (2011)

Forum Discussion
Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani? (Shinji Aoyama, 2005)

Web Resources
"Nouvelle Vague Manifesto; or, How I Became a Disciple of Philippe Garrel" by Shinji Aoyama, Cahiers du Cinema Japon (1997)
"Eureka" by Tom Mes (April 3, 2001)
"Beautiful Devastation: Eureka" by Fred Camper, Chicago Reader (2001)
2005 interview with Nicholas Rucka, Midnight Eye
"Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani?" by Tom Mes, Midnight Eye (2005)
2010 interview with Rowena Aquino, Asia Pacific Arts
"Eureka" by Mohamed Sultan, The Asian Cinema Blog (2010)
"Aoyama Looks to the 1980s Without Nostalgia" by Mark Schilling, Japan Times (2013)
"Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Shinji Aoyama on Japanese Film and Why 'Oblivion' Should Be in the Art House" by Laya Maheshwari, IndieWire (2013)

[yoshimori]

Sad Vacation is scheduled for a 2-disc r2jp release on 2/27. No subs listed, which is a bit unusual for an Aoyama release. I saw the film in Tokyo in October and thought it was his best work. Crisp, assured rhythm; beautiful, light images; mature.

[PimpPanda]

[blank]

[feihong]

Haven't been able to see Sad Vacation yet, but when I think of the Aoyama I have seen (Wild Life, An Obsession, Eureka, Desert Moon, Eli, Eli) it doesn't seem as though psychological realism ever enters the picture. Even though Eureka gives us long, static scenes to convey the time it takes the main characters to heal their psychological wounds (and we might say that film is Aoyama's closest to psychological realism), I don't ever feel as if we understand the characters from a psychological perspective. In fact, the more I think of it, Aoyama seems hardly concerned with psychological realism, and more preoccupied with the nearly mythical imperatives that drive his characters to migrate, to move, to wander.

[yoshimori]

fyi, Aoyama's doc - Roji e: Nakagami Kenji no nokoshita film (2001) - is available and, according to yesasia it has english subs.

[Michael Kerpan]

I finally got to see Sad Vacation -- and would agree it is largely a disappointing mess.

;~{

[PimpPanda]

Hopefully he'll get back on track for whatever his next film will be.

[Michael Kerpan]

Has anyone here seen his 2006 Korogi (Crickets)? This is one I know nothing about.

[yoshimori]

Hopefully he'll get back on track for whatever his next film will be.

I wonder what track that is, since none of his post-Eureka films (or his pre-Eureka films for that matter) is anything like Eureka. Desert Moon, Lakeside Murder Case, Eli eli, and Sad Vacation all seem of a piece. One may not care for Aoyama's new path - I do - but I wouldn't hold out much hope he's going to fall back into Eureka mode. Possible, but I rather doubt it.

[Michael Kerpan]

I think it safe to assume that Eureka is the outlier in Aoyama's career.

What is Lakeside Murder Case like (still no subbed version, I presume)?

[Michael Kerpan]

David Bordwell seems to have liked Sad Vacation more than I did -- in his latest blog entry.

[James]

Is Artificial Eye's Eureka unwatchable? Is the movie going to get released by anyone else any time soon, if so (the other, superior, DVD went out-of-print, I guess)?

[colinr0380]

Its not unwatchable - its the only way that I've seen the film so far - but judging by the Beaver captures and Michael's description the colour is somewhat off, so it is by no means perfect! I suppose at least it is in the right aspect ratio (as far as I'm aware)!

[Michael Kerpan]

There was a lower-priced re-release of the Japanese Eureka DVD not too long ago. Not sure if this version is still available, however.

[knives]

The bev's a bit vauge on this, but is the AE Eureka R2 or 0?

[colinr0380]

It says Region 2 on the back cover.

[knives]

Blast, I hope that Blu I'm about to get actually is SD all region than. Of course in that case I'd probably just go with the Japanese disc.

[feihong]

No action on the Aoyama thread in a million years. I wonder what Aoyama is doing these days?

A quick scan of the net answers my own questions. It looks like a new film of his will debut in Japan in early September. "The Backwater" looks like a story of sexual obsession, a little reminiscent of "Body Heat."

http://www.nipponcinema.com/movie/tomogui" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I like the billowing clouds in the trailer, and the presence of some of those loose Aoyama traveling shots.



One day I hope to see Eureka on blu ray. That's a deep dream for me, and it's one of my favorite films. But I'm also drawn to the earlier back catalog of Aoyama, especially Wild Life.

Does anyone here own the Japanese DVD of Wild Life? I wondered because if you've seen the Artsmagic dvd, you know that the print is...not unwatchable, but very hard to show to somebody else, who's not as invested in discovering the filmmaker that is Shinji Aoyama. I wonder if the Japanese DVD of that and An Obsession are superior to the Artsmagic discs.

[feihong]

So are the U.S. rights to Eureka still in some kind of limbo? And the Artsmagic titles are where?

Since the Koreans have started releasing their classic 90s movies on blu-ray, I've really got a hankering to see Aoyama films in hi-definition. It seems to me that Aoyama would be a great addition to the Criterion line. I'd really like to be able to see Eureka and Wild Life, especially, in real clarity one day.

[Michael Kerpan]

Aoyama's Tokyo Koen is an absolutely lovely movie. Too bad it didn't get a subtitled release.