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Hirokazu Kore-eda (1962 - )



"When I make a film, I always think of one person who I want to show this film to. Sometimes it's a very specific individual, an actual face that I can conjure up, and sometimes it's a little bit less specific."

Filmography

Features (* = Documentary)
Shikashi Fukushi kirisute no jidainni / However...* (1991)
Mou hitotsu no kyouiku - Ina shogakkou haru gumi no kiroku / Lessons from a Calf* (1991)
Kare no inai hachigatsu ga / August Without Him* (1994)
Maboroshi no hikari / Maborosi (1995)
Without Memory* (1996)
Wandafuru raifu / After Life (1998)
Distance (2001)
Dare mo shiranai / Nobody Knows (2004)
Hana yori mo naho / Even More Than Flowers (2006)
Aruitemo aruitemo / Even If You Walk and Walk / Still Walking (2008)
Daijôbu de aruyô ni: Cocco owaranai tabi* (2008)
Kûki ningyô / Air Doll (2009)
Kiseki / I Wish (2011)
Soshite Chichi ni Naru/ Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Umimachi Diary/ Our Little Sister (2015)
Umi yori mo Mada Fukaku/ After the Storm (2016)
Sandome no Satsujin/ The Third Murder (2017)
Manbiki Kazoku/ Shoplifters (2018)
The Truth (2019)
Broker (2022)

Television
Ayashiki bungô kaidan / Kaidan Horror Classics – Nochi no hi / The Days After (2010)
Going My Home [10-episode miniseries] (2012)

Books
Hirokazu Koreeda, by Alexander Jacoby (2017)

Web Resources
Documentarists of Japan # 12 / Koreeda Hirokazu - interview, Aaron Gerow and Tanaka Junko, Documentary Box
The Films of Hirokazu Koreeda - Career overview, Harvard Film Archive, Jan/Feb, 2005
Hirokazu Kore-Eda Remembers "Afterlife" - interview, Maya Churi, indieWIRE, May 12, 1999
Midnight Eye - interview, Kuriko Sato, June 28, 2004
Talking to Hirokazu Kore-eda - interview by Cleo Cacoulidis, Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 47, February 2005
2009 interview with David Jenkins, Time Out
2009 interview with Sam Adams, The AV Club
2013 interview with Jessica Kiang, Indiewire
2014 interview with Noel Murray, The Dissolve
2015 interview with Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
"The World According to Koreeda", 2016 video essay by :: kogonada, Sight and Sound
2017 interview with Steve McFarlane, Slant Magazine
2019 interview with Motoko Rich, The New York Times

Forum Discussion
The Best of Japanese Cinema
Hirokazu Kore-eda Box Set
Family Values: Three Films by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Maboroshi no hikari
Hana yori mo naho / Even More Than Flowers
554 Still Walking
Like Father, Like Son
The Third Murder
Shoplifters (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018)
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(posted in the wrong place)

Aaron Gerow and Tanaka Junko's fabulous 20-page Kore'eda interview can be had at docbox 13. Covers everything up to and including After Life with focus on the documentary work.

[PS. The link to the Harvard Film Archive, above, doesn't work for me.]

yoshimori wrote:Aaron Gerow and Tanaka Junko's fabulous 20-page Kore'eda interview can be had at docbox 13. Covers everything up to and including After Life with focus on the documentary work.

[PS. The link to the Harvard Film Archive, above, doesn't work for me.]

Thanks Yoshimori. The Harvard link is fixed, and the "Documentary Box" article added to the links section.

Does anyone know which version is Kore-eda's preferred cut (if there is indeed a difference between the Japanese version and Hong Kong version that Yes Asia has)?:

Japanese Version - Hong Kong Version

Sorry, please delete this post if it doesn't belong here.

Mise En Scene wrote:Does anyone know which version is Kore-eda's preferred cut (if there is indeed a difference between the Japanese version and Hong Kong version that Yes Asia has)?:

Japanese Version - Hong Kong Version

Not aware that of anything that would suggest that these are different versions of the film, rather than just different DVD releases.

Thanks. By the way, MK, is there a DVD of Distance you recommend?

Mise En Scene wrote:Thanks. By the way, MK, is there a DVD of Distance you recommend?

I have the Japanese DVD -- and it is subtitled and very good. I'm not certain how any other Asian releases compare -- as I always get the Japanese version of his films as soon as they come out (knowing that other releases will take a while to appear).

The HK DVD of Distance seems to use the same or similar source materials as the R2J, but it crams the entire film on a DVD5 and suffers from heavy pixellation. But the movie is very grainy to begin with so this is perhaps less damaging than it might've otherwise been. The R2J is clearly superior, but if you're budget-minded or unsure you'll like the film (I love it, but it's probably Koreeda's least ingratiating feature), the Panorama disc isn't a terrible option.

So I take it the documentary box set discussed in this thread never came out?

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:The HK DVD of Distance seems to use the same or similar source materials as the R2J, but it crams the entire film on a DVD5 and suffers from heavy pixellation. But the movie is very grainy to begin with so this is perhaps less damaging than it might've otherwise been. The R2J is clearly superior, but if you're budget-minded or unsure you'll like the film (I love it, but it's probably Koreeda's least ingratiating feature), the Panorama disc isn't a terrible option.

This is the one I got, simply because I was curious about the film and it was really cheap from yesasia. If you're at all interested in Koreeda's work, this is a must-see. As noted, it's less immediately accessible than the films before and after it, but it might be my favourite so far (only 'might' because I haven't seen Maborosi since it first came out).

Unless the Korean version of Maborosi matches the Japanese one, the Japanese version is a must-have. Incomparably better looking than other releases -- and nice (but unsubbed) extras, including a re-visit by Makiko Esumi (10 years after the film was shot) to the Noto peninsula, locale of the film. (Spoiler -- lots of little old market ladies still remember her).

TFN, zedz, MK, much appreciated!

This weekend, until Sept. 1, BAMcinematek is running a series on Kore-eda's work, beginning with Still Walking. It and the screening of Nobody Knows will include a Q&A with Koreeda himself. I, of course, have to leave town this weekend, but maybe other New Yorkers here will want to see?

I just saw After Life and Hana for the first time today, and I think they're fantastic. I hope to check out some of the documentaries, and maybe Maborosi (since I've only seen it on the awful NYer disc several years ago).

So far, the only documentary I've seen is Lessons From a Calf -- which i enjoyed watching. All the documentaries were shown in Boston (or wza it Cambridge) once upon a time -- but (for some reason which I now forget) I could not make _any_ of the screenings.

I hope that they are showing a new restored print of Maborosi -- the previous print in circulation is essentially identical to the New Yorker DVD (which was purely the fault of the Japanese rights holders).

Sadly I was out of town for the BamCinematek retrospective as well

But I just got back and saw Still Walking. I should probably wait to think about it more, and rewatch it, but I daresay it's his best since Maboroshi (haven't seen Hana yet, though), even if I didn't care much for the guitar soundtrack.

I wonder what Kore-eda and Hou think of each others' work—they seem to be heading in somewhat similar directions.

Jun-Dai wrote:I wonder what Kore-eda and Hou think of each others' work—they seem to be heading in somewhat similar directions.

My (somewhat vague) recollection is that Kore'eda once said that HHH was more of an influence on him than Ozu.

Michael Kerpan wrote:My (somewhat vague) recollection is that Kore'eda once said that HHH was more of an influence on him than Ozu.

That would make a lot of sense. While Still Walking seems like an intentional nod towards Ozu in a lot of ways (focus on family relations, importance of dialogue and character over story, and the presence of a lot of very Ozu-like camerawork), this and his other films do seem more closely linked to HHH in general. Something to do with the acting, and the tendency to focus on the characters being spoken to rather than the speaking characters, I think.

From a recent (August 12, 2009) NYT interview:

“I think my parents would have been more comfortable if they were more like characters in an Ozu film,” Mr. Kore-eda said. A more relevant Japanese master, “in terms of a worldview I feel much closer to,” he added, is Mikio Naruse, whose characters are usually more openly anguished: “His movies really understand that humans are flawed creatures, and he makes no judgment against them.”

If the ja wikipedia entry is correct, and my youtube skills are up to par, then he directed this music video. It's mostly just a slideshow, though.

Watched "I Wish" today (on a double-bill with "Super 8", 2 kid-centered movies), and it definitely isn't Koreeda's best, but it is a wonderful film filled with great moments. Not as depressing as "Nobody Knows", it is a lot more lighthearted and uplifting in many ways. Hilarious too as the 2 little brothers, are real-life brothers, and are both actually accomplished comedians (Yes, they are both elementary school kids, but are on a level with their adult peers) so their performances are quite good and believable. Gives you a definite smile on the face by the end. On par in emotional level with Kitano's "Kikujiro" to an extent.

I can't wait to see I Wish -- but I guess I will to wait (for quite a while) all the same. ;~}

Thanks for your first-hand advance report.

I'll blind-buy the first English-friendly Asian Blu-Ray of this (if the Japanese don't bother, then hopefully Hongkong or Korea will step in). God knows how long it may take for the film to appear in the West.

I Wish (Kiseki)

Japanese blu-ray Nov/9/2011 with English subtitles.

Japanese limited edition DVD with English subtitles as well.

The listing says the limited edition DVD will include a 4 page booklet, Making-of, Interviews, Trailers, and TV Commercials.

The BD will include trailers and tv commercials only. Why? I dunno.