Tokyo Oasis released last weekend in Tokyo is another film made by the same production team of Kamome Diner, Megane, Pool and Mother Water (but not the same director who directed Kamome Diner). In the previous works it was all filmed somewhere other than Tokyo: Helsinki, Yoron Island, Changmai and Kyoto, but this time as you can all probably guess it was filmed in Tokyo. It's about lives and the relationships with other people of the Tokyoites which anyone who lives in this city may be able to relate themselves to. I still haven't seen it so there is not much more I can say here now but hope it's good!
The movie Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no Mori), yes the movie based on Haruki Murakami's novel has finally been released in Japan and yes I've seen it. As a fan of both Haruki Murakami and the Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung, I had waited for so long to see it since hearing about this movie having started to be filmed. It.was.beautiful. It is a kind of movie that is best seen at the theatre screen. I guess you could enjoy it even without having read the novel, but you'd enjoy it a lot more if you've read it (and if you've read it again before seeing the movie). So do start reading it again if you think you will go see the film!!
You might have thought what a funny title for a blog post, but it is actually the title of a new movie that came out last week in Tokyo which I went to see with Hello Sandwich in Ginza yesterday. TOILET is a new film directed by Naoko Ogino after Kamome Shokudo (Kamome Diner) and Megane -via make it easy- (Glasses).
It was witty, funny, yummy (yes, like the other 2 movies), cute, heart-warming and charming! TOILET was filmed in Toronto, Canada (though the story is set in somewhere in the US) and all the dialogue is in English so many of you should be able to enjoy it without having have to read subtitles :)
Here is the trailer of the movie, I think you like it!
Wim Wenders is one of my favourite film directors. He's German and apparently he loves Japan, he loves Yasujiro Ozu. "Journey to Onomichi" was the title of a photography exhibition Wenders had in Tokyo back in 2006 showing what he and his wife photographed in and around Onomichi in 2005.
Onomichi is a small fishing town in west Japan where "Tokyo Story" was filmed - a masterpiece of Ozu from 1953. (Yes if you've seen the film, that is where the parents lived.) Ozu admirer Wenders took a journey from Tokyo to Onomichi and took all the photographs while staying there for one week. And this book "Journey to Onomichi" just came out recently and it's super! You feel a little bit of Ozu and quite bit of Wenders' world in this whole book I never seem to get bored looking at it over and over!
Now this makes me want to see "Tokyo Story" again (I first saw it when I was about 21 and my friends made faces, he's not pupular among young Japanese people I think he's more appreciated outside Japan), must find where I put the dvd. Also do check out "Tokyo-Ga" filmed by Wenders in 1985 as a tribute to Ozu if you're interested.
If you are a fan of Haruki Murakami, Tony Takitani is a must-see film. It's one of a very rare films that is based on Murakami's story. (I actually don't know any other ones except the coming Norwegian Wood by Tran Anh Hung.) And it's one of my favourite Japanese films!
Though Tony Takitani doesn't have such a big recognition even in Japan, it was shown at film festivals all over the world and it received many awards. It is really beautiful and the mood it has is airy and dreamy with the music by Ryuichi Sakamoto working perfectly well. More than anything, it is so well made that the feel of the original Murakami's story/his world is right there in the entire film as the moving images. It is amazing! Apparenty Tony Takitani is in Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman in the English version book. So read the story (it's a short story, easy to read!) and then see the film is my recommendation.
If you have been to Tokyo, many of you probably have visited Ginza. Ginza is known as a classy shopping district with many department stores and exclusive shops of designer labels. I'm not really the type who shop in Ginza but I've always been so attracted to this town. I enjoy walking around the small streets away from the busiest streets where all the in-expensive historical shops are around. It has kind of an unique atmosphere and is also very pretty walking around at night time.
There also is one of my favourite cinemas "Cine Switch", it happened to be the last day of showing "Sagan" so I went in to watch it. What a life she had! Apparently Françoise Sagan is said to be the typical image of French woman most Japanese had in the 50s and 60s. Bonjour Tristesse, is my all-time favourite.
"Kamome Shokudo" is a Japanese movie from 2006 all filmed in Finland. "Kamome" means seagull and "Shokudo" means diner (so it's "Seagull Diner" in English and "Ruokala Lokki" in Finnish). The story is all about this little diner in Helsinki run by a Japanese lady, and it's about a life surrounding Kamome Diner.
In this film you see A LOT of iittala tableware, alvar aalto furniture, and marimekko clothing so it's perfect for a Finland design lover like me :) And of course it's a lot about food so is really an enjoyable film just by that! But the story itself is quite charming too, with little giggles here and there it's very sweet. It makes me really want to go to Finland more everytime I see it (and makes me want to have really good coffee and onigiri which I always do after seeing it!).
Finland seems reallly far away from Japan but apparently it's the closest European country to us! I had been a secret finland lover for a loooong time because I'm a huge fun of Aki Kaurismäki. The impression of Helsinki in Kamome Diner is VERY different from Helsinki seen in Kaurismaki's films though! But I'm pretty sure it's a really charming city just how it's seen in "Kamome Diner" :)
Another film casting those two main actresses from Kamome Diner is coming soon, it's called "the pool" プール and is filmed in Thailand. I can't wait till September!
www.tokyo-oasis-movie.com
