10 “Must-See” Japanese Films

This list excludes anime, and, to ensure variety, includes only two films from any one director. I. Tokyo Story [1953] Tokyo Story is one of the greatest films of all time. Director Yasujirō Ozu’s trade-mark subtlety in rendering a picture so quietly powerful is seen here as in no other film as a story is told…

The 6 Films 6 Decades Blogathon

As some of you already know, today is the National Classic Movie Day, and I am participating in the 6 Films 6 Decades Blogathon hosted over at Classic Film & TV Cafe. The aim is to list 6 favourite films from 6 different decades, and my choices are: Truthfully, I cannot be too original in…

“Departures” Review

Departures [2008] – ★★★★1/2 Departures is the Japanese winner of the 2009 Academy Award in the category of the Best Foreign Language Picture. Loosely based on a memoir by Shinmon Aoki titled Coffinman: The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician, it tells the story of Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), an ex-cellist who comes to his home…