Based on two stories by Syugoro Yamamoto, “The Smell of an Unknown Flower” and ”Before the Dew Dries”, the script of “The Sea is Watching” was written by Akira Kurosawa, who did not manage to see it becoming a film, though, as he died in 1998. Kei Kumai eventually directed it, in a rare approach to stories about the pre-Meiji era, as it focuses not on geishas, but prostitutes.
on Imprint Asia by clicking on the image below
The setting is a village that would later become part of Tokyo, circa 1868, in the red-lights district, which is separated from the rest of the area by a river. O-shin is a somewhat naive prostitute who always falls for the people in need, something that the other girls make fun of her, including Kikuno, who has taken upon herself the role of protecting the young girl from herself. However, as the story begins,...
on Imprint Asia by clicking on the image below
The setting is a village that would later become part of Tokyo, circa 1868, in the red-lights district, which is separated from the rest of the area by a river. O-shin is a somewhat naive prostitute who always falls for the people in need, something that the other girls make fun of her, including Kikuno, who has taken upon herself the role of protecting the young girl from herself. However, as the story begins,...
- 5/7/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Via Vision Entertainment is excited to announce its newest media distribution expansion with the launch of Imprint Asia.
Imprint Asia will deliver ongoing releases of contemporary & classic Asian cinema across film festival, multi digital platforms, and physical media including 4K & Blu-ray for Australia and New Zealand.
Already working with some of the biggest Asian licencing partners in the market, the new brand will be launching with a host of key properties including Rui Cui's 2023 box office megahit ‘Lost In The Stars', Larry Yang's 2023 action comedy ‘Ride On' starring Jackie Chan and the 2023 Sci-Fi epic ‘The Wandering Earth II‘ starring Andy Lau.
In addition to the new release slate there will be ongoing classic releases with new restorations and extras produced for physical media collectors including Chen Kaige's ‘The Emperor and The Assassin' (1998) & ‘Farewell My Concubine' (1992), Tsui Hark's ‘The Legend of Zu' (2001), Kei Kumai...
Imprint Asia will deliver ongoing releases of contemporary & classic Asian cinema across film festival, multi digital platforms, and physical media including 4K & Blu-ray for Australia and New Zealand.
Already working with some of the biggest Asian licencing partners in the market, the new brand will be launching with a host of key properties including Rui Cui's 2023 box office megahit ‘Lost In The Stars', Larry Yang's 2023 action comedy ‘Ride On' starring Jackie Chan and the 2023 Sci-Fi epic ‘The Wandering Earth II‘ starring Andy Lau.
In addition to the new release slate there will be ongoing classic releases with new restorations and extras produced for physical media collectors including Chen Kaige's ‘The Emperor and The Assassin' (1998) & ‘Farewell My Concubine' (1992), Tsui Hark's ‘The Legend of Zu' (2001), Kei Kumai...
- 11/1/2023
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
As we have mentioned throughout our tribute to the Art Theatre Guild, the filmmakers whose works it produced, had utter creative freedom, both artistically and contextually, something they took advantage of, in order to portray comments and issues that no one else was referring to. “Apart from Life”, based on the novel by Mitsuharu Inoue, is one of those titles, as it deals with the concept of inter-discrimination among the discriminated victims of the atomic bomb radiation. The film screened in Berlin where it was nominated for the Golden Bear.
The story is set on Sasebo in Kyushu, where a US naval base exists close to Nagasaki, and focuses on a series of individuals, whose lives interconnect. Dr Unami is a middle-aged doctor who, as the film begins, reminisces his years as a soldier, and the affair he had with a Korean-Japanese girl at the beginning of World War II,...
The story is set on Sasebo in Kyushu, where a US naval base exists close to Nagasaki, and focuses on a series of individuals, whose lives interconnect. Dr Unami is a middle-aged doctor who, as the film begins, reminisces his years as a soldier, and the affair he had with a Korean-Japanese girl at the beginning of World War II,...
- 3/22/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Based on the homonymous novel by Shusaku Endo, which tells the story of downed American pilots in World War II who were vivisected by Japanese surgeons in medical experiments, “Sea and Poison” was a great success, winning the Silver Berlin Bear in Berlinale, Best Film and Director from Kinema Junpo and Mainichi, and Best Director from Blue Ribbon, and also an award for editing for Osamu Inoue from the Japanese Academy.
The film begins with an interrogation conducted in a cell by the American MP, headed by a Japanese officer who is quite harsh on the people he asks questions: two former interns, Suguro and Toda, and a nurse, Ueda. Through flashbacks deriving from their confessions, a rather harrowing tale is presented on screen. This story is split in two parts, with the bombings in Kyushu island, where the hospital of the story is based and the subsequent capturing of American pilots,...
The film begins with an interrogation conducted in a cell by the American MP, headed by a Japanese officer who is quite harsh on the people he asks questions: two former interns, Suguro and Toda, and a nurse, Ueda. Through flashbacks deriving from their confessions, a rather harrowing tale is presented on screen. This story is split in two parts, with the bombings in Kyushu island, where the hospital of the story is based and the subsequent capturing of American pilots,...
- 1/8/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
TOKYO -- Award-winning Japanese director Kei Kumai died Wednesday morning in Tokyo at the age of 76.
Best known for his works on social issues, Kumai won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1987 for "Umi to Dokuyaku" and the Silver Lion at the 1989 Venice Film Festival for "Sen no Rikyu" as well as top awards at the Montreal World Film Festival in both 1990 and 1995.
Born in Nagano Prefecture, in northern Japan, Kumai began his filmmaking career in 1954 by joining production company Nikkatsu Corp. He wrote his first screenplay, "Muteki ga Ore o Yondeiru", six years later and directed "Teigin Jiken: Shikeishu" in 1964.
His 1974 film "Sandakan Hachibanshokan Bohkyo" was released overseas under the title "Sandakan 8" and received widespread acclaim for tackling the issue of a woman forced into prostitution in Borneo before the outbreak of World War II.
Other titles that were well received overseas include "Death of a Tea Master" in 1989 and 2001's documentary-style "Darkness in the Light", which was critical of the police and media in their coverage of a man wrongly accused of releasing sarin gas in Nagano in 1994.
Best known for his works on social issues, Kumai won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1987 for "Umi to Dokuyaku" and the Silver Lion at the 1989 Venice Film Festival for "Sen no Rikyu" as well as top awards at the Montreal World Film Festival in both 1990 and 1995.
Born in Nagano Prefecture, in northern Japan, Kumai began his filmmaking career in 1954 by joining production company Nikkatsu Corp. He wrote his first screenplay, "Muteki ga Ore o Yondeiru", six years later and directed "Teigin Jiken: Shikeishu" in 1964.
His 1974 film "Sandakan Hachibanshokan Bohkyo" was released overseas under the title "Sandakan 8" and received widespread acclaim for tackling the issue of a woman forced into prostitution in Borneo before the outbreak of World War II.
Other titles that were well received overseas include "Death of a Tea Master" in 1989 and 2001's documentary-style "Darkness in the Light", which was critical of the police and media in their coverage of a man wrongly accused of releasing sarin gas in Nagano in 1994.
- 5/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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