| | Friday, 2 March 2018
A Distant cry from Spring
1980/124 mins.
Directed by Yoji Yamada | | A young widow, Tamiku , falls in love with Kosaku, a man who comes to work on her farm. He works very hard for her, but eventually he reveals that he killed a man who caused his wife’s suicide. He must serve a four-year prison sentence. Tamiko decides to start a new life and waits until Kosaku is released from prison so that they can be together. | |
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| | Friday, 9 March 2018
FINAL TAKE
1986/117 mins.
Directed by Yoji Yamada | | The stage was set in the early 1930s when silent movies were being replaced with the talkies. Koharu had dreams of becoming an actress. She had a chance to perform in director Ogura’s film but didn’t do it well enough. Anyway, Ogura had patience with her and he let her substitute the main actress in another film. Production went smoothly until the final take, a romantic scene between Koharu and her lover, she was unable to project the depth of performance requited by the director. Ogura patiently postponed the shooting until the following day, and he was delighted most when Koharu finally succeeded. Her improved performance came as a result of her father’s confession as to why he married her mother. | |
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| | Friday, 16 March 2018
My Sons
1991/121 mins.
Directed by Yoji Yamada | | The film focuses on the relationship between a father and his two sons. The elder son went to college and got a good job, while the younger son, Tetsuo, stopped his student at high school and began low-paying manual labor. Tetsuo falls in love with Seiko, who is deaf and mute. On introducing her to his father and elder brother, he announces that they plan to marry. Tetsuo worries that his father will be upset, but instead he accepts and supports his proposal. | |
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| | Friday, 23 March 2018
A Class to Remember
1993/128 mins.
Directed by Yoji Yamada | | Kuroi is a teacher at a night middle school which offers classes to working people , some of whom are not Japanese and who for various reasons have not finished compulsory education. He finds satisfaction working in this “hardship posting” and is happy to meet his former students who always come to visit and recall their experiences. | |
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| | Friday, 30 March 2018
FIFTEEN
2000/120 mins.
Directed by Yoji Yamada | | KAWASHIMA Daisuke, a ninth grader, sets out on a lone journey by hitch-hiking in search of a 7,000-year-old cedar tree on Yakushima Island at the souther tip of Japan. He meets a variety of characters on the way. He learns from them how hard life is and how important a person’s life can be. | |
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