What’s up with the Japanese film magazine Kinema Junpo‘s annual Top 10? It seems to reflect what the Japan Times said about 2010, “[it] was the best of years and the worst of years for Japanese films“.
Good films have been produced, but it’s just not becoming easier. This list features interesting (yes!) studio films at the top, plus some little gems (?) at the bottom, directed by a few struggling indie & veteran filmmakers. Also, no anime films are mentionned here (earlier this year, KJ discovered animation though). And official comments haven’t been published yet, so the top looks unfinished…
Not as conventional as expected, I’m looking forward to discovering most of them!
1. Villain (Lee Sang Il)
2. Confessions (Tetsuya Nakashima)
3. Heaven’s Story (Takahisa Zeze)
4. 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike)
5. Sawako Decides (Yuya Ishii)
6. Caterpillar (Koji Wakamatsu)
7. Sword of Desperation (Hideyuki Hirayama)
8. The Hero Show (Kazuyuki Izutsu)
9. Sketches of Kaitan City (Kazuyoshi Kumakiri)
10. A Night in Nude: Salvation (Takashi Ishii)
Source: Kinema Junpo (thanks TheGoldenRock)
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Sword of Desperation actually looked pretty cool. Made me think about all my favorite jidai-geki/chambara. Great post! Hope some of these make it stateside.
Horrible list of stereotypical Japanese cinema as exposed to the western audiences. Try a little harder to find some off beat Japanese movies, many of which are much better and more mature than self-same drivel like 13 Assassins..
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