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dda1996a wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2019 3:28 pm 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

The reaction on To the Wonder was certainly more mixed compared to Tree of Life, but there are many (myself included) who think it is among Malick’s very best.

That's interesting as The Wind Will Carry Us is probably held in higher esteem than Taste of Cherry by many (myself included).

As I said, I sadly haven't seen either but word is Wind Will Carry Us is a great film (it is indeed a brilliant poem)

Glowingwabbit wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2019 3:52 pm That's interesting as The Wind Will Carry Us is probably held in higher esteem than Taste of Cherry by many (myself included).

Seconded. My favorite Kiarostami film.

I'll guess Kore'eda and his team know what they are doing with his newest film.

If any of you are Midwesterners, from September 17-29 the Webster University Film Series in St. Louis, Missouri is running a nine-film retrospective of Kore-eda's films. Highlights include two screenings of Distance (has that ever shown theatrically in the U.S. before?), one screening of Air Doll, and After Life from a 35mm print. The screenings of Maborosi, After Life, Distance, and Nobody Knows will be introduced by and with a post-film Q&A by Linda Ehrlich, who has published extensively on Kore-eda and recorded the audio commentary on Milestone's release of Maborosi.

I think Distance may have shown up in a retrospective before. Hope you get a chance to see everything you can.

In addition to A Hidden Life, I caught Kore-eda's La vérité (The Truth) at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Unfortunately, a power surge took out the DCP server in the last act, disrupting the experience for about fifteen minutes.

Thematically, this first film of Kore-eda's with Western actors and set outside of Japan was very much in his thematic wheelhouse, observing a contentious mother-daughter relationship as Juliette Binoche's Lumir comes home to France from New York to "celebrate" publication of her mother Fabienne's (Catherine DeNeuve) memoir -- though really to get a first-hand look at what fictions were being spun and to call her mother out on it. Fabienne is imperious, callous, destructive, and dismissive in an attempt to convince herself of her own importance -- a trait she seems to have nurtured all her life. As truth and fiction get teased apart in the course of events, other characters uncover their own self-deceptions. It is also a film about memory -- how it shapes us and how we shape it -- another of Kore-eda's favorite themes. It was interesting to watch Kore-eda work in a different cultural setting, though I'm not sure it provided him with as solid a creative foundation as his Japanese films. It reminded me a bit of the playful interrogations of Olivier Assayas.

DeprongMori wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:20 pm In addition to A Hidden Life, I caught Kore-eda's La vérité (The Truth) at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Unfortunately, a power surge took out the DCP server in the last act, disrupting the experience for about fifteen minutes.

Thematically, this first film of Kore-eda's with Western actors and set outside of Japan was very much in his thematic wheelhouse, observing a contentious mother-daughter relationship as Juliette Binoche's Lumir comes home to France from New York to "celebrate" publication of her mother Fabienne's (Catherine DeNeuve) memoir -- though really to get a first-hand look at what fictions were being spun and to call her mother out on it. Fabienne is imperious, callous, destructive, and dismissive in an attempt to convince herself of her own importance -- a trait she seems to have nurtured all her life. As truth and fiction get teased apart in the course of events, other characters uncover their own self-deceptions. It is also a film about memory -- how it shapes us and how we shape it -- another of Kore-eda's favorite themes. It was interesting to watch Kore-eda work in a different cultural setting, though I'm not sure it provided him with as solid a creative foundation as his Japanese films. It reminded me a bit of the playful interrogations of Olivier Assayas.

I caught this earlier today and also thought of Assayas, but with Kore-eda’s naked eye for meditations on the beautiful in the banality of everyday practices. Few filmmakers are not only willing to take the extra time to detail the process of cooking each part of a meal, but to capture a moment like this with attentive energy that makes it more interesting than most classic action. The film is complicated as are all accurate explorations of family dynamics, but this one seems to be particularly interested in the roles we play and how one uses a simple defining “quality,” as Deneuve says, to escape from one's other responsibilities due to the fear of what a complex identity means. Whether the escape places oneself into a role as a careerist, a victim, a mother or a daughter, it doesn’t matter, but the diffusion of self to protect one’s self-image does; and Kore-eda is careful not to play this for irony (despite the movie being very funny), but compassionately as human nature. The real shining light amidst the familiar French sardonic interplay is a surprisingly sublime performance by child actor Clémentine Grenier as the young daughter who provides a much needed juxtaposition from the pathos at work. She embodies the freedom absent from the rigidly defined roles of the adults, playfully exploring her own terrain and providing an exceedingly bright ray of hope of escaping such a solemn fate.

Thanks for the reviews of Kore'eda's latest. Very much looking forward to (eventually) seeing this myself.

According to Amazon.co.uk, Air Doll is getting a Blu-ray release in the UK next month from Matchbox, even though that label hasn't updated their website or Twitter in over a year and the DVD options on the same page are for an Italian film named Francesca, so...

Despite having read for decades that he makes great films, it took me till Shoplifters till I watched one of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s films and even with that one, I was a year late. It was the discussion around Parasite which reminded me that I was going to watch this. Shoplifters instantly became one of my favourite films of the last few years. Now I got the BFI box set of his early films and I watched Maborosi last night. If you start with a later film, then move on to the early work, you often have to make allowances that a filmmaker had to find their voice or learn their craft. Not here, this is a masterpiece out of the gate. This film stayed with me and haunted me all day. I got three more films to go with the BFI set and then I’ll get my hands on everything he’s made. What joy !

And that's my least favorite of the four films in that box (though still a good movie), so just wait til you get to the rest!

Maborosi was my first Kore'eda film -- seen on video (which really did not capture anything like the full visual beauty of the film) and I was completely captivated. I have been a devoted fan ever since. It is really hard for me to pick favorites -- as I have loved each film so far in turn.

BTW -- Please do watch the extra about Makiko Esumi's return visit to Maborosi's Noto Peninsula locations (assuming it is included in the set).

It is

I had dreamed of taking the little train to Wajima -- and this extra made me sad that I would never be able to do this. Nothing but an infrequent bus (or rental car) can get one to Wajima now. Nonetheless, I still want to get to Wajima ... one of these days. (I think Zero Focus was also shot in and around there).

Ah, so that area gets hit very hard by snow in the Winter then? That's mostly what I remember about Zero Focus as it has been a few years since I saw it.

I saw all of Kore-eta's films in the order that they were made and in real time (meaning not all that long after they were each made) so its been an interesting 20+ year ride going with the mainly highs and some lesser works along the way, most recently The Truth.

Maborosi is a Top-5 favorite Japanese film for me, ranking either No. 3 or No. 4. The other films on this Top-5 list are Ozu and Naruse films. So, to me this is quite an accomplishment by Kore-eda. I first saw it on the Region 1 DVD that had a 4:3 image and less than optimized colors and it did not do much for me. Then I saw it again on the Japanese DVD and I have been mesmerized since then.

I also recall being stunned by just how beautiful the Japanese DVD of Maborosi looked. Kore'eda's (and his cinematographer's) remarkable use of light (and darkeness) was not obvious at all in its previous video and DVD incarnations. Even so, Maborosi became one of my favorite Japanese films even when first seen in its compromised form. And After LIfe... ditto.

Michael, If you ever get to Wajima, post some pictures for us to see. Among the things that Kore-eda did in Maborosi that I love is the incorporation of the reginal localities and landscapes. One sequence in the film which I am particularly fond of is when the second husband took his new wife to meet their neighbor lady at the Morning Market which enabled him to incorporate this aspect of the local life (selling things at the Market) and one of the local attractions (the Morning Market). The dialogue between the new couple and their neighbor lady at the Market is endearing.

The extra feature has Esumi returning to that market -- and the market ladies greet her almost as if she was a long-lost niece returning to the old hometown.

Not sure I'll ever get to Wajima, but I can dream...

I agree that Maborosi looks splendid on the Japanese and U.K. Blu-ray editions and it's a fantastic film . I'm still hoping that Distance and Hana will get a UK release at some point, I have a soft spot for both of those, the Japanese Blu-rays are great but too expensive for many people. A U.K. ( or U.S. ) release would give them some more exposure.

Hana has never gotten much respect -- and I'm not really sure why. It certainly is a bit different from most other Kore'eda films (a bit more like Yoji Yamada, I guess). But it is intelligent, often funny and sweet-natured (with a fine cast). Distance is great, but really requires a lot of dedication and attention, more so than HK's other films. I had to watch it twice in a row (on two consecutive days) before feeling I was beginning to understand it.

After Life was always my favorite Kore-eda, using fantasy to meditate on life, loss, and gratitude by recognizing the ability of memory to transform impermanence into unique personalized meaning to possess and cherish. Like Father, Like Son is my odd pick though, as a fascinating portrait of nature/nurture testing and how asserting a framework or one's will doesn't necessarily help or change a situation that has taken on its own organic process. Nobody Knows was easily the best discovery of the BFI set, issuing a narrative I expected to drag and turning it into one of the more striking depictions of desperation and the communal power of resilience, while acknowledging the need to emerge as individuals as meet those needs too.

therewillbeblus wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 2:52 pm After Life was always my favorite Kore-eda, using fantasy to meditate on life, loss, and gratitude by recognizing the ability of memory to transform impermanence into unique personalized meaning to possess and cherish.

This has always been my favorite of his by a large margin for similar reasons. I also like thinking about the ways memories are recreated in the film as a reflection on cinema itself.