A regular person would have 8 or 9 films, on this video you’ll get to see clips for 27 films (though a few of those are just blink and miss them, or just a still). I’ve seen most but 6 films, I think. I’m still looking for 1980, and JUKAI.
Plus, this is the best way to choose what Yu film you wanna watch~ xD
check post tags for movie info. some missing because they’re not on this blog.
by the way, Ikechan looks sooooo weird. I wonder if the movie is any good.
This is my last post for this blogathon, unless I can come up with something on time for tomorrow~
I was reading this post on Japanese Films and Women in Cinema- now, female in cinema is a big BIG subject. I’m not in the position to point out feminists or non-feminists films across the decades or countries. However, I have to admit that looking back at the films I’ve seen the past year, it feels like many (if not most of them) have a female protagonist. In general, I don’t know the reason – if there are more films about women, or if I’m watching them because I’m looking for them. What I do know is that I watched many Japanese films with female leads because I had been on the hunt for Juri Ueno and Yu Aoi projects – so that’s got to be at least 10 films led by a female, right?
So here it is… some~
Japanese Chick-centric Films or with Female Leads~
Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Hula Girls
Swing Girls
Hana to Alice (Hana & Alice)
Gaichu (Harmful Insect)
Kame wa Igai to Hayaku Oyogu (Turtles Swim Faster than Expected)
Kiraware Matsuko no Issho (Memories of Matsuko)
Quiet Room ni Youkoso (Welcome to the Quiet Room)
Linda Linda Linda
Kamikaze Girls
Shinku (The Deep Red)
Love Letter
Sakuran
Sasameyuki (The Makioka Sisters)
Rinne (Reincarnation)
Tenshi no Tamago (Angel’s Egg)
Wool 100%
Hyakuman-en to Nigamushi Onna (One Million Yen Girl)
GuGu Datte Neko de Aru (Gu Gu the Cat)
Kaze no Tani no Naushika (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
Nishi no Majo ga Shinda (The Witch of the West is Dead)
Blood the Last Vampire
Pikunikku (Picnic)
Of course, there’s many animated films asides from the ones I’ve mentioned above like Paprika, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, The Milennium Actress or Perfect Blue. And yes, there are films in my list that are not quite remarkable… and we can also point out that there aren’t many female leads of over 30 or 40 (in some way, Matsuko which chronicles her life, The Makioka Sisters, GuGu, and The Witch of the West – who knew Shirley McLaine’s daughter spoke Japanese?), but then again… that’s a problem that seems to be common in Hollywood too. Does it happen much in Europe? Countries like France or Germany? Are there many films with female leads, or are they as hard to find??
In the end, it was good to see Meryl Streep (Doubt), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Julie Christie (Away from Her), Laura Linney (The Savages), and to some degree Kate Winslet (The Reader) and Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) getting recognition these past two years.
Today a year ago, I was introduced to Yu Aoi’s work on Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou Chou, and the Shunji Iwai-related Rainbow Song. Little did I know that the characters that interested me the most in the films were played by the same actress. Nine days later, I watched Hula Girls, and a month later I was completely hooked with Yu Aoi, and yet another Shunji Iwai film… Hana & Alice.
Watching Welcome to the Quiet Room, and listening to Yu Aoi’s Miki character telling Asuka she doesn’t eat because whatever she eats means that someone else more worthy doesn’t get to eat it, totally left me cold. I wondered what was the situation of eating disorders in Asia, since it’s ‘common knowledge’ that Asians are genetically skinny.
*sighs* I ended up reading quite a few articles dealing with the issue as far back as 1999 until this year. Throughout all of them, there is an emphasis on cases on bi-racial young women, or women living in a bi-cultural environment. Taking the example of Chinese-American or British-Chinese women who weren’t as self-conscious about their weight living on this side of the world, but would get ‘picked on’ back in Asia because they tend to be ‘bigger’.
But I wasn’t too interested in those particular cases, I was trying to find how common are these eating disorder cases in other cultures, particularly Asia. I always thought Asians were thin naturally… always thought they’re skinny and love food. That’s what I’ve always seen in my family. It’s also noted on many of the articles that this value for food comes from the terrible years of starvation they went through in countries like China, India, Cambodia… even Peru where there still exists malnourishment. It is a crime to not eat, when there’s people who have nothing to eat. Yes, that’s why Quiet Room totally freaked me out… it was the first time I had heard that reason~~~ So there are eating disorders much more complicated than the “I want to be thin” one, for bi-cultural people is the “I want to be white”, for others it’s the sense of taking control over their lives…
Something about the film:
Quiet Room ni Youkoso is a 2007 dramedy telling the story of Asuka Sakura, a up-and-coming journalist who is trying to write an 800-character article, but one day wakes up and finds herself strapped inside the room of a psych ward. Inside, they tell her she had OD’ed, even when Asuka tells them it was an accident, they say she must go through mental treatment so she won’t do it again. During that time, she meets a few unique people that will or won’t mark her for the rest of her life…
Genre: Dramedy… mind you, Drama is pretty straight forward, but Comedy is pretty dark.
Starring: Yuki Uchida, Kankuro Kudo, Yu Aoi
Appearances by: Ryo, Shinobu Otake, Yuko Nakamura, Mai Takahashi, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Hideaki Anno, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kami Hiraiwa
Duration: Almost 2hrs
Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned. Really, these spoilers may ruin your watching…
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Watching 
