Penny Serenade (愛のアルバム, 1941)

Penny Serenade (George Stevens, 1941) is a classic example of a weepie: a drama, usually romantic in nature, designed to make its audience weep buckets by the time it’s through. Favourites of mine in the genre are the Bette Davis vehicles Dark Victory (Edmund Goulding, 1939) and All This, and Heaven Too (Anatole Litvak, 1940). Although the term ‘weepies’ isn’t used as much these days, they are still...

Seagull Diner (かもめ食堂, 2006)

This low-budget, subtly evoked independent film was the sleeper success story of 2006 in Japan. Mainly through word-of-mouth and other grassroots advertising (I heard about it via a flyer I found at Moomin Café & Bakery in Korakuen) this film enjoyed a quite sizable audience during its limited run in theatres.In December, Kamome shokudo (Seagull Diner) made its appearance in Japanese rental shops....

Yuri Norstein & Francheska Yarbusova Exhibition

The Chihiro Museum is currently running a special exhibition on the renowned Russian animator Yuri Norstein and his wife Francheska Yarbusova until the end of January. This includes screenings of his films on January 8th and January 14th at 11am and 1pm. Highlights of the exhibit include wonderful photographs of Norstein and Yarbusova by Miya Kousei, original prints of their storybooks for children...