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We received the new Blu-Ray -- and re-watched the film promptly. No momentous discoveries on re-watching this -- but I can say that (as for me) it not only holds up well but actually seemed even stronger than I first felt it to be. The Blu-Ray looks and sounds fine -- and has a 1 hour long "making of" (which we haven't had time to watch yet). I would also note that, even in translation, this has a wonderful script. Finally, I really do think the casting/performances in this are as close to perfect as I can imagine (Ozu level perfect -- which is my highest possible accolade).

I agree with you Michael ,the performances from Abe and Kirin are simply wonderful, and the rest of the cast fill in nicely too. Kore-eda using the same actors in multiple films really seems to pay off ( in the same way as it did with Ozu ). I was also lucky enough to catch this on the big screen in London and then couldn't wait for the UK Blu-ray release so sourced a DVD from somewhere in Asia that had subs. It really does stand multiple viewings because there are a lot of subtleties in the two leads performances.
The housing complex used in the film is where Kore-eda's mother actually lived and I read in an interview that this was a sort of follow up to Still Walking which I think is his masterpiece though he now suggests he would have not used the postscript ending .
His latest film looks like a major change in direction so that will be very interesting to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plr3V4TYBQE
There is a trailer for his latest film , apparently called " The Third Murder" for the English Title ?
it seems quite a change of style

Looks like the English title is pretty much a straight translation of the Japanese one.

longstone wrote:It seems quite a change of style

I don't know - a Kore-eda film about the legal system and what sounds potentially like someone performing an murder in revenge for an assisted suicide(?) seems like it would be in keeping with previous 'big issue' topics of stepfamilies, adoption issues and the end of life. Very excited to see Koji Yakusho, though it immediately makes me think about Shinji Aoyama's magnificent film about trauma and murder Eureka, which might be an unfair comparison! There's also the actress who played the youngest sister in Our Little Sister in there, and the actor who played the 'uptight' father in Like Father, Like Son. And I wouldn't have noticed this if I had not watched Shin Godzilla just two days ago but the lady briefly shown holding the piece of paper in the courtroom is the actress who played the character constantly on her laptop throughout the whole of that film!

Distance and Hana yori mo naho also involved legal(ish) big topics.

Can someone let me know whether the subtitles on the US Blu-ray of After the Storm can be turned off? I don't want to buy it if the subtitles are fixed. Thank you in advance.

As per andyli in the Milestone thread, all Kore'eda movies from Maboroshi to Air Doll are coming to blu-ray in Japan (with English subs) in May.

Kore'eda listings at cdjapan

Kore'eda's Third Murder scores lots of wins at the Japan Academy Awards:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... ds-1090166

The Third Murder is also getting a UK cinema release this month via Arrow so I assume there will be a future Blu-ray release?
https://www.easternkicks.com/news/the-t ... uk-cinemas

in addition he's already working on his next film
https://thefilmstage.com/news/first-loo ... rd-murder/

DarkImbecile wrote: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:52 pm THR: Japan's Prime Minister Snubs Cannes Palme D'Or-Winning Director

Perhaps being snubbed by Abe constitutes a back-handed compliment...

Michael Kerpan wrote: Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:12 pm Juliette Binoche and Catherine Deneuve to Star in New Hirokazu Kore-eda Drama

The Truth — also starring Ethan Hawke — has been picked up by IFC, which is promising for its physical release prospects.

Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive has just announced a program In Focus: Hirokazu Kore-eda (Lecture/Screening Series) from March 13 through April 24. They’ll be screening most of the usual suspects, and not including some lesser-known films like Distance (2001) or Hana (2006) that I’m still hoping to see, though they are including After Life.

They’ll be screening After Life (1999), Still Walking (2008), Like Father, Like Son (2013), Our Little Sister (2015), The Third Murder (2017), Shoplifters (2018), or Maborosi (1995).

Kore-eda profiled in The New York Times:

“I don’t portray people or make movies where viewers can easily find hope,” said Mr. Kore-eda, during an interview in his studio in the Shibuya neighborhood of Tokyo. “Some people want to see characters who grow and become stronger over the course of a film. But I don’t want to make such a movie.”

“It’s such a lie,” he added. “And I don’t want to tell a lie.”

Well, that's one way to look at life, but yikes

But, in many of his movies characters do change and "grow" and become better in some fashion ....

I'd say his characters don't easily find hope, and I think what he means in grow stronger is different from realize things about yourself or find your place. Characters in Shoplifters and Afterlife don't become stronger, but more content in their situation. But maybe I'm wrong, who knows

Koreeda's characters don't necessarily become stronger by the end of their films, but there's this sense of maturity and acceptance the leads achieve in the end. Even if their lives continue a sort of status quo (Still Walking, After the Storm, Maborosi, etc), they gain a new sense of confidence that allows them to exist in healthier ways. Though stylistically, Koreeda seems to be following in the path set forth by the Taiwanese New Wave directors of the 80s, this sort of ethos feels particularly Japanese, especially when compared to something like the violent finales in the films of Edward Yang. Films like A Woman Ascend the Stairs or Streets of Shame have these endings where the characters are often in the same place as they were in the start and are caught in a cycle, but even if it's hopeless, they bring some new wisdom or feeling to it that allows them to reevaluate their lives in a way that feels similar to Koreeda.

I think many of Hou's films show (or hint at, at least) the same sort of character maturation one often sees in Kore'eda's films. Yang seems to be a very different story.

Was the film not ready in time for Cannes? Has a Palme d'Or winner premiered his following film not in Cannes before?

The official line from Cannes is that it wasn't ready, but I also saw claims that the festival and the film's representatives disagreed over where it would go in the program. In any case it's not at all unusual for Palme winners to bring their next film to another festival: for example, The Portrait of a Lady, Black Cat, White Cat, The Wind Will Carry Us, Return to Ithaca, To the Wonder, Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno, and The Sisters Brothers all went to Venice as well. I think the thing here is that the film is set in France and features two French screen legends in leading roles, so everyone assumed it was a shoo-in for Cannes with or without the Palme for Shoplifters.

That list is full of rather failures though, ain't it? I'm sure some have their fans (and I haven't seen all of them), but Black Cat, White Cat is the only good film out of that list (Sisters Brothers is ok and better than Dheepan, I haven't seen Wind Will Carry but I'd heard only good things about it). To answer my original question, seems a lot of Palme winners take a Gambit and fall with their follow ups