Seeing 'The Ghost of Yotsuya' in 35mm!

The National Film Archive of Japan's film program honoring movie figures who died in the last two years. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The Nagisa Oshima retrospective isn't the only thing happening these days at the National Film Archive of Japan. Also taking place is a film program entitled In Memory of Film Figures We Lost in 2021-2022. The first half of the program runs from July 4 through September 3, and the second half will take place from October 10 through the 22nd. 

Recognize any of the faces here? Photo by Brett Homenick.

To be honest, most of the selected films don't appeal to me all that much, but one title in particular intrigued me -- Nobuo Nakagawa's The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959). Composer Chumei Watanabe passed away last year, so this film was chosen to honor his memory.

A poster for Nikkastu's Two for Ginza (1967), starring the lovely Masako Izumi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Not only was The Ghost of Yotsuya shown in 35mm, but it was actually shown with English subtitles! Suffice it to say, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, especially since (believe it or not) I'd never seen it before.

A poster for Princess from the Moon (1987), celebrating the career of the late SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano. Photo by Brett Homenick.

As expected, I enjoyed the film. It was effectively creepy with many great visuals. This film proves just how great a director Nobuo Nakagawa was at horror, a genre he truly excelled at. The print was in excellent shape, and the subtitles were well written and easy to read. 

It was a great afternoon at the movies. I'm not sure I will check out any of the other films on offer, but, if I do, it will be tough -- to say the least -- to top today's offering.

Nagisa Oshima Feted at the National Film Archive of Japan!

Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier today (that's Wednesday, July 19), I stopped by the National Film Archive of Japan and had the chance to check out its exhibit on the acclaimed director Nagisa Oshima. The exhibit's name in English is simply Film Director Nagisa Oshima, and it looks back on the director's decades-long career 10 years after his passing. In the West, Oshima is probably best known for directing David Bowie in the World War II drama Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983).

Signage for the Film Director Nagisa Oshima exhibit. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The exhibit itself was well done, but my lack of familiarity (and, if I'm being completely honest, interest) in the works of Oshima left me a bit cold. I just didn't know that much about the works on display to be intrigued all that much. Interestingly, photography was mostly allowed in the exhibit, but the posters for Oshima's various films were, for the most part, off-limits. (Given some of the rare pictures and memorabilia on hand that visitors were allowed to photograph, you'd think it would have been the opposite situation.)

Nagisa Oshima's script for an unmade film called "Friday the 13th." Photo by Brett Homenick.

One thing that did capture my attention was this Oshima script for an unmade movie called "Friday the 13th." The 1959 screenplay was apparently supposed to be a black comedy, but no word on whether it would have featured a machete-wielding maniac. 

Afterward, I watched some trailers for some of Oshima's films that were being shown just outside the exhibit, most notably Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1969), starring Rie Yokoyama. I can't argue with his filmmaking abilities, but the risque subject matter of his films simply doesn't appeal to me. Oh, well. Maybe one day.

Feeling the Wrath of 'Gorath' in 35mm!

The National Film Archive of Japan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today (Sunday, March 12), I had the distinct privilege of seeing the Toho classic Gorath (1962) in 35mm on the big screen for the first time. It was screened as part of the National Film Archive of Japan's Women Who Made Japanese Cinema [Part 1]: From the Silent Era to the 1960s program. 

Which women in Japanese cinema does this screening honor? In particular, the pamphlet singles out Reiko Kaneko, who edited many of Ishiro Honda's films from the late 1950s through the '60s, as well as Kiyoko Ishii, who specialized in editing tokusatsu for the Tsuburaya group. Also noted in the pamphlet are SFX scripter Keiko Hisamatsu, costume designer Etsuko Yagyu, and costume staff member Setsuko Asaki. 

The screening was actually a double feature. The first movie screened was Female Detective Story: Woman S.O.S. (1958). This is a 58-minute, black-and-white comedy directed by Hisanobu Marubayashi, starring Yumi Shirakawa, Kenji Sahara, Yoshio Tsuchiya, and Akihiko Hirata. This movie marks another pairing of Shirakawa and Sahara, but, unlike their previous outings together, this is truly Shirakawa's movie, and Sahara is basically her sidekick.

As the title would suggest, the story centers around a female detective played by Shirakawa. While she was often cast as an Audrey Hepburn-style leading lady around this time, here she gets to show her acting range, playing a plucky, resourceful investigator named Nobue Ogawa of the Imperial Secret Detective Agency. In fact, her role sort of reminded me of the ones Yuriko Hoshi played in Godzilla vs. the Thing (1964) and Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (1964). She isn't even afraid to dole out a few slaps when getting some sass from a young female she's trying to help.

Shirakawa is asked by a prominent family to look into the background of the man their daughter Midori wants to marry. The daughter's suitor seems to be the character played by Akihiko Hirata, who also goes against type in this film, playing a crude and somewhat slovenly louse. In one scene, Hirata uses a child's dart gun to shoot a dart at the rear end of a female co-worker. However, in a surprising twist, it turns out that it's playboy Yoshio Tsuchiya who's the real villain of the film.

And what a villain he is. The film pulls no punches in showing what a cad he is with women. I won't go into details, but let's just say that Harvey Weinstein probably saw this movie and took notes. Shirakawa is hot on his trail, though, and even gets an assist from her partner, Tsuyoshi Kinoshita (played by Kenji Sahara) in her pursuit. Sahara plays a character who is good-hearted but bumbling and jealous, hardly the stuff of the leading-man roles he usually got around this time.  

Today's movies screened at the National Film Archive. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The film ends when Shirakawa and Tsuchiya enter a hotel room together with a hidden recording device planted there to record Tsuchiya's misdeeds. Sahara is monitoring the encounter in an adjoining room, but his aforementioned jealousy often crops up when listening to their rendezvous. The movie gets a little dark during the climax, as Tsuchiya tries to "MeToo" Shirakawa. Sahara comes to the rescue, and a big brawl ensues. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, it's not handled quite that seriously and ends with Tsuchiya's jilted lover breaking a vase over his head to comedic effect. 

What an unusual movie! I'm really glad I saw this one, as I got to see all four leads playing against type. It was also fun seeing Shirakawa play a character who drove the story but was still able to maintain her femininity and sensuality. Very well done.

Almost immediately after the movie ended, Gorath started. I should point out that both films were screened in 35mm, and both films looked fantastic. I hardly noticed a flaw. They almost looked like 4K digital remasters, but they were advertised as 35mm, so I'm going to take their word for it.

I hadn't seen Gorath in many years -- maybe more than 20. I watched it quite a few times in the 1990s, and I guess you lose the impulse to watch a movie when you know it like the back of your hand. I still think the movie is quite good, but I did find that it was just a bit too talky with a few too many bland characters (played by Ryo Ikebe, Ken Uehara, and even Takashi Shimura) taking up too much screen time. I also found Magma's death scene surprisingly sad. I'm not sure how the filmmakers wanted me to feel seeing the bloody carcass of a creature that was hardly a monster lying dead after getting killed by laser beams, but it sure wasn't good. 

Overall, though, I did enjoy it. I just don't find it as successful as The Mysterians (1957) or even Battle in Outer Space (1959). It's got a great cast, and Akira Kubo really shines in it, but it gets a bit bogged down too often in talkiness to be considered one of the greats, in my humble opinion.

Oh, and while I was checking out the National Film Archives' horror movie poster gallery, I saw this sign posted as I was buying my ticket. It's for this kaiju-themed letterpress card collection. I didn't buy it, but I thought it was worth sharing.

Seeing 'An American Werewolf in London' in 35mm in Tokyo!

The National Film Archive of Japan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The National Film Archive of Japan hosted a screening of the horror classic An American Werewolf in London (1981) as part of its program highlighting Academy Award-winning films (Film Treasures from the Academy Film Archive). Suffice it to say, American Werewolf was one of the few horror movies featured -- in fact, it was probably the only one. (I guess I should have checked to see if it was!)

A 35mm film print was screened, and I was a bit surprised to find that it was a film print from the time it screened in Japan back in the day. The actual movie is preceded by the movie's Japanese title card (with the katakana spelling of "American" in Old Glory-style red, white, and blue with stars, almost making it seem like a straight-up comedy). This version also blurs out David Naughton's naughty bits, although the female nudity was left largely intact.

Despite the print's age, it was in good shape. There were scratches and splotches all over the place, but few jumps or other flaws that would have been too distracting. 

The theater was almost sold out, and the audience laughed heartily at the movie's humor. They also laughed in a couple of inappropriate places during which the film was clearly going in a scarier direction. Not sure if they figured the whole flick was supposed to be a joke, or if they found Rick Baker's makeup effects a bit too dated, but it did surprise me, especially for a Japanese audience.

This is my favorite werewolf movie of all time, though I have to say that I don't dig a whole lot of other ones, even the Lon Chaney, Jr., ones from Universal Pictures. I do think The Howling (1981) has superior werewolf transformations and designs -- seriously, Rob Bottin was the best at what he did -- but American Werewolf simply works much better as an overall film. 

I actually watched American Werewolf about a year and a half ago on DVD -- yes, I said DVD, not Blu-ray -- but, had I known I'd get to see John Landis' horror classic on the big screen in 35mm in the near future, I would have just waited for today's screening. It was still a lot of fun to see, as it was my first time to see it this way. 

January continues to be a heck of a busy month for film screenings. And there's still one more to go!

Attending a Screening of 'Evil of Dracula' at the National Film Archive of Japan!

A poster for Evil of Dracula on display at the National Film Archive of Japan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

This afternoon (Wednesday, December 14), I took in a screening of the Toho horror classic Evil of Dracula (1974), one of my favorite horror films. The screening was part of the Film Archive's program called "The 90th Anniversary of Toho: A Film History of Modernization and Innovation [Part 2]," which ends on December 25. This will be the only film of this program that I'll see, but what a film it is to see!

This wasn't the first time for me to see it theatrically in 35mm, and hopefully it won't be the last. It's incredibly atmospheric with a great performance by Shin Kishida as the titular vampire. The late actress Mio Ota (a.k.a. Izuhi Higashioka) also gave an excellent performance as student-turned-vampire Yukiko Mitamura, and I especially enjoyed seeing her work on the big screen. I was privileged to meet her about a year before her sudden passing, and she was as big a sweetheart as I've ever met. 

The film has some minor flaws, but they aren't really worth mentioning, as they don't affect the overall quality of the film. I wish Toho made more gothic horror movies like this one, but we'll just have to cherish the ones we have. 

I was particularly pleased to discover that more sci-fi/horror screenings will be happening early next year, which is the perfect way to kick off the New Year. I can't wait to attend those screenings, too, which I will post about here when they happen.

SPECIAL EXHIBIT AT THE NATIONAL FILM ARCHIVE OF JAPAN: 'History in Posters Part 4: Horror Films'!

The National Film Archive of Japan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

 Earlier today (Wednesday, December 14), I visited the National Film Archive of Japan and took in its special exhibit, "History in Posters Part 4: Horror Films." The gallery featured posters and other memorabilia (shooting scripts, promotional pamphlets, etc.) from horror films from all over the world. The horror movies went as far back as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and covered the much more recent J-horror films of the late 1990s and beyond. Shooting scripts for Japanese classics like The Invisible Man (1949) and Portrait of Hell (1969) were on display, as were assorted posters and press sheets for a variety of other great titles. I wish I could have photographed it all, but photography was limited to a specific corner of the gallery. Anyhow, here's just a taste of what I saw. Enjoy!

The Lost World of Rashomon!

Signage outside the National Film Archive of Japan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I took in a screening of the Toho fantasy actioner The Lost World of Sinbad (1963) at the National Film Archive of Japan, which was shown as part of its current "Toshiro Mifune Retrospective at His Centenary" film program. I hadn't seen the film since the early 2000s, which is when I wrote a fanzine article on it. The Lost World of Sinbad has never been my favorite tokusatsu film, and I think writing that article made me permanently sick of it. Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say.

A replica of the flag from Seven Samurai. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I give the movie credit for its lavish production values and all-star cast, but it otherwise feels flat and uninspired. Still, it looked glorious in 35mm, and hearing Masaru Sato's masterful score was a treat.

 After watching the film, I visited the NFAJ's "Rashomon at the 70th Anniversary" exhibit, which had  a lot of interesting memorabilia from the film, including the scripts used by Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, and script supervisor Teruyo Nogami on display. I found this exhibit much more interesting than the Shochiku one I visited a couple of months ago. It was certainly a fascinating morning and afternoon spent with the works of Toshiro Mifune.

Seeing Terror of Mechagodzilla in 35mm!

A poster for Terror of Mechagodzilla as seen in the National Film Archive of Japan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I attended a screening of a 35mm print of Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) at the National Film Archive of Japan in Kyobashi. The film print was virtually flawless, and I think it's safe to say that the film will never look any better than it did today.

Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) also played today, but I had to miss the screening. Well, you can't win them all.

A Woman's Gamble

The poster for today's feature, Daiei's A Woman's Gamble (1966). Photo by Brett Homenick. 

After Super Festival, I attended a screening of A Woman's Gamble (1966) at the National Film Archive of Japan. The screening was a part of its program honoring notable figures in the Japanese film industry whom we lost in 2017 and 2018.

A poster for the Nikkatsu film Yoi-machi-gusa (1974). Photo by Brett Homenick. 

A Woman's Gamble is the first in the long-running Woman Gambler series at Daiei. Starring Kyoko Enami and directed by Shigeo Tanaka, the movie is quite different, to say the least, from their previous collaboration, Gamera vs. Barugon (1966). Although I was interested in seeing the film, I must admit that it moved a bit too slowly for my tastes.

A poster for Toho's Sun Above, Death Below (1968). Photo by Brett Homenick.

Outside the theater, I took some photos of other films I've seen over the years, such as Yoi-machi-gusa (1974) with Yoko Takahashi and Sun Above, Death Below (1968) with Yuzo Kayama. 

SCI-FI FILM HISTORY IN POSTERS! Godzilla and Other Kaiju Hang Around Tokyo's National Film Center!

Today, I stopped by the National Film Center, situated right next to Kyobashi Station, to take in the exhibit called "Film History in Posters Part 3: Science Fiction and Monster Films." The first part of the exhibit focuses on international sci-fi films, such as Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, John Carpenter's The Thing, Stalker,  Videodrome, among many others. Of particular note was a vintage Star Wars poster that had been signed by a large number of the cast and crew of the original film.

The other half of the exhibit focused on domestic sci-fi films. On display were two enormous posters for Mothra (1961) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), which I'd never seen before, and were full of interesting details. There was also a large poster for Battle in Outer Space (1959) that, while not quite as huge as the two others, was just as mouthwatering. It was great to see Blue Christmas (1978) and the little-known Frankie the Spaceman (1957) represented among the more famous kaiju titles. Even War of the Insects (1968) got its due here. Suffice it to say, I was quite impressed with the variety of the exhibit.

"Film History in Posters Part 3: Science Fiction and Monster Films" runs until March 25, so if you have a chance to see it for yourself, do so!

100 YEARS OF JAPANESE ANIMATION! Classic Japanese Cartoons Now in English!

Doraemon is a little too new-school for Japanese Anime Film Classics. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Japanese animation (or anime) isn't really my bag, but here's a Web site that ought to appeal to connoisseurs of both Japanese history and pop culture. The National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, has just launched an English-language site called Japanese Animated Film Classics on which you can watch some of the earliest cartoons from Japan.

The best part of the Web site? The cartoons are subtitled in English!

It's all part of the 100th anniversary of animation in Japan, which (near as historians can tell) likely began in 1917. 

Better hurry, though, as the site will likely cease operation by the end of the year. Don't miss your chance to check these rarely-seen classics out for yourself!