DVD Review - CEMETERY JUNCTION

CEMETERY JUNCTION is a really lovely heart-warming coming-of-age drama set in 1970s provincial England. It tells the story of three school-friends on the cusp of adulthood, when you're still trying to figure out how to talk to the opposite sex, which sort of a job you want to do, and basically what sort of a life you want to lead. The engine of the plot is that one of the friends, ambitious Freddie (Christian Cooke) gets a white-collar job as an...

10 More Things About Natto Wada

Shunji Iwai’s 2006 documentary The Kon Ichikawa Story (Ichikawa Kon Monogatari) arrived in the post yesterday afternoon. As connoisseurs of Japanese film will know, Japanese DVDs are usually very overpriced compared to prices in other countries. The price for this 2 disc box set is well worth it for the beautifully designed packaging and glorious black and white photographs of the director and his...

Interview with Akino Kondoh

I was delighted to have the opportunity to chat with artist, manga-ka, and animator Akino Kondoh at Shinsedai this year. Her 2004 painting Red Fishes was used as the eye-catching poster art for the festival, and her 2006 animation Ladybirds’ Requiem (Tentou Mushi no Otomurai, 2006) preceded Momoko Ando’s Kakera (2009) at the opening event.Childhood influencesKondoh was born into an artistic family....

The Passing of a Puppet Master: Kihachiro Kawamoto (1925-2010)

Kawamoto Self Portrait (1988)I was devastated to hear the news of Kihachiro Kawamoto’s death today. Although I never met him personally, I have been intensively researching his career for quite some time and have come to admire him greatly. The thing that stands out for me the most about Kawamoto was his dedication to his craft as a puppet artist. His career can be roughly divided into two main...

Ten Things I Know About Takao Saito (斎藤孝雄)

Along with Teruyo Nogami, cinematographer Takao Saitō (斎藤孝雄, b. 1920) is one of the few surviving members of Akira Kurosawa’s core group of regular collaborators. 1.  Toho Studios A native of Kyoto, Saito entered Toho Studios as a camera assistant in 1946. His first film at the studios was Kurosawa’s One Wonderful Sunday.2.  Not a Manga-ka He is sometimes confused with the...