Japanese Cinema

James picks his favorite (and least favorite) Japanese film over at The American Scene. I think his choice of Battle Royale is a great one, though you can’t go wrong with Kurosawa’s classics (Rashomon or The Seven Samurai in particular). When I was a little younger I went through an Anime phase, but never really got past the classics (Akira still kind of blows me away).

I would say, however, that I’m a bigger fan of Asian cinema in general than Japanese cinema in particular. This AV Club list (provocatively titled “‘I’m trying to rape the viewer into independence’: 17 Notorious Living, Working Cinematic Provocateurs”) reminded me of just how much I loved Chan-wook Park’s vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and Oldboy). As far as Korean directors go, he’s the bee’s knees. I never really got into the Hong Kong scene, but I will give Infernal Affairs credit for inspiring new greatness from Scorsese.

Just for fun: The English language trailer for Oldboy. Of course, if you actually watch the English language track when you get it from Netflix (and you should put it in your queue right now), you’re a cretin. Subtitles are what the cool kids use; dubbing is for losers.