Filmmaker had four features selected for Cannes including ‘Bashing’.
Kobayashi Masahiro, the award-winning director of Bashing and The Rebirth, has died aged 68.
The filmmaker died in Tokyo on August 20 following a five-year battle with cancer, according to reports.
In a career that spanned three decades, Kobayashi had four films play at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Leopard at Locarno with The Rebirth in 2007.
Born in Tokyo, Kobayashi was initially a folk singer before moving into writing scripts for television.
His feature directorial debut came in 1996 with Closing Time, which won the grand prize at Japan’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.
Kobayashi Masahiro, the award-winning director of Bashing and The Rebirth, has died aged 68.
The filmmaker died in Tokyo on August 20 following a five-year battle with cancer, according to reports.
In a career that spanned three decades, Kobayashi had four films play at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Leopard at Locarno with The Rebirth in 2007.
Born in Tokyo, Kobayashi was initially a folk singer before moving into writing scripts for television.
His feature directorial debut came in 1996 with Closing Time, which won the grand prize at Japan’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.
- 9/7/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Retrospective will focus on Japanese independent cinema from the past 15 years and includes Cannes favourite Naomi Kawase.
The San Sebastian Film Festival is to programme a retrospective for its 63rd edition (Sept 18-26) titles New Japanese independent cinema 2000-2015.
Among the titles making up the retrospective from known directors are:
H Story (2001) by Nobuhiro Suwa;A Snake of June (Rokugatsu no hebi, 2002) by Shin’ya Tsukamoto;Bright Future (Akarui mirai, 2003) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa;Vibrator (2003) by Ryuichi Hiroki;Bashing (2005) by Masahiro Kobayashi;Birth/Mother (Tarachime, 2006) by Naomi Kawase;Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008) by Shion Sono.
The works of several new talents to have made their debut since 2000 include:
Hole in the Sky (Sora no ana, 2001) by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri,Border Line (2002) by Sang-il Lee,No One’s Ark (Baka no hakobune, 2003) by Nobuhiro Yamashita, The Soup, One Morning (Aru asa, soup wa, 2005) by Izumi Takahashi,Fourteen (Ju-yon-sai, 2007) by Hiromasa Hirosue,Sex Is Not Laughing Matter (Hito no sekkuso...
The San Sebastian Film Festival is to programme a retrospective for its 63rd edition (Sept 18-26) titles New Japanese independent cinema 2000-2015.
Among the titles making up the retrospective from known directors are:
H Story (2001) by Nobuhiro Suwa;A Snake of June (Rokugatsu no hebi, 2002) by Shin’ya Tsukamoto;Bright Future (Akarui mirai, 2003) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa;Vibrator (2003) by Ryuichi Hiroki;Bashing (2005) by Masahiro Kobayashi;Birth/Mother (Tarachime, 2006) by Naomi Kawase;Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008) by Shion Sono.
The works of several new talents to have made their debut since 2000 include:
Hole in the Sky (Sora no ana, 2001) by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri,Border Line (2002) by Sang-il Lee,No One’s Ark (Baka no hakobune, 2003) by Nobuhiro Yamashita, The Soup, One Morning (Aru asa, soup wa, 2005) by Izumi Takahashi,Fourteen (Ju-yon-sai, 2007) by Hiromasa Hirosue,Sex Is Not Laughing Matter (Hito no sekkuso...
- 5/7/2015
- ScreenDaily
The debut feature from young Brit Paul Wright richly deserves its place in the Critics Week line-up, but Wright needs to beware of cliche and superabundance
This debut feature from young British director Paul Wright concerns a disturbed young man in a remote Scottish fishing village: Aaron, played by George Mackay. He was the only person rescued alive from a craft wrecked by a catastrophic storm; the other five crew-members, including his adored elder brother Michael (Jordan Young), were drowned. It is a study in grief, pain and survivor-guilt - that is, the guilt felt by the survivor, and also that imposed on him by a community who will not forgive him for being alive while their loved ones are dead, and whose anguish gradually metamorphoses into irrational suspicion and rage. In his loneliness and misery, Aaron becomes close to Michael's fiancee (Nichola Burley) - a taboo-infringement which just intensifies the village's anger,...
This debut feature from young British director Paul Wright concerns a disturbed young man in a remote Scottish fishing village: Aaron, played by George Mackay. He was the only person rescued alive from a craft wrecked by a catastrophic storm; the other five crew-members, including his adored elder brother Michael (Jordan Young), were drowned. It is a study in grief, pain and survivor-guilt - that is, the guilt felt by the survivor, and also that imposed on him by a community who will not forgive him for being alive while their loved ones are dead, and whose anguish gradually metamorphoses into irrational suspicion and rage. In his loneliness and misery, Aaron becomes close to Michael's fiancee (Nichola Burley) - a taboo-infringement which just intensifies the village's anger,...
- 5/18/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Facets has just announced that in November they'll be releasing a box set of the four films by Masahiro Kobayashi (Bootleg Film, The Rebirth, Man Walking On Snow and Bashing) under the name Kobayashi Four. We particularly enjoyed Bootleg Film here at 24Fps and definitely recommend checking out the director's work. I think it's safe to say we're all very much looking forward to his Haru To No Tabi with Tatsuya Nakadai later this year. Anyway, the box is due out Nov. 23rd in the Us with a price tag of $56 if you order it through Facets or Amazon.
- 8/31/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
The official website for Masahiro Kobayashi‘s Haru to no Tabi (something like “A Trip with Haru”) was re-launched yesterday, complete with a 2+ minute trailer.
Tatsuya Nakadai stars as Tadao, an ex-fisherman who lives with his 18-year-old granddaughter Haru (Eri Tokunaga) in a small harborside house in Hokkaido. Haru, who dreams of moving to Tokyo, recently lost her job, and Tadao can’t help but be a burden on her due to his injured leg. Unable to afford nursing home care, Tadao’s only option is to turn to his estranged brothers who he’s completely avoided until now due to incidents in the past. As Haru witnesses the conflict between her grandfather and his family first-hand, new emotions begin to build.
As reported by Tokyograph last April, Kobayashi (“Man Walking on Snow”, “Bashing”) began this project with the lofty intention of creating a modern film in a similar vein...
Tatsuya Nakadai stars as Tadao, an ex-fisherman who lives with his 18-year-old granddaughter Haru (Eri Tokunaga) in a small harborside house in Hokkaido. Haru, who dreams of moving to Tokyo, recently lost her job, and Tadao can’t help but be a burden on her due to his injured leg. Unable to afford nursing home care, Tadao’s only option is to turn to his estranged brothers who he’s completely avoided until now due to incidents in the past. As Haru witnesses the conflict between her grandfather and his family first-hand, new emotions begin to build.
As reported by Tokyograph last April, Kobayashi (“Man Walking on Snow”, “Bashing”) began this project with the lofty intention of creating a modern film in a similar vein...
- 3/27/2010
- Nippon Cinema
Iraq is never mentioned in Masahiro Kobayashi's In Competition drama Bashing, but that war-torn nation lurks like an open sore beside his absorbing look at the alienation of a young Japanese woman whose misadventures there cause her to be reviled when she returns home.
Based on an actual event, the film tells of Yuko (Fusako Urabe), who went to the Middle East as a volunteer for a charitable organization but was kidnapped and taken hostage. Returning to Japan upon her release, Yuko finds herself the subject of harassment and abuse from friends and strangers.
Kobayashi has created memorable characters aided greatly by fine acting from the entire cast, but the film falls short of its powerful potential due to a lack of essential information. It might be apt to be opaque about Yuko's hostage experience but a better account of why her release should cause such widespread revulsion in her native land absolutely requires being made clear.
As it is, moviegoers in other lands will remain mystified as the film has too many unanswered questions and will most likely leave audiences dissatisfied.
The title itself needs explaining as Yuko is "bashed" by people for having survived her ordeal. One explains that she would have been a heroine had she been killed but her survival has made her an embarrassment to all of Japan. Why, we never learn.
We first see the elfin but serious-minded Yuko six months back in her homeland working as a hotel cleaner. It's quickly established that her colleagues won't speak to her and before the day is out, she has been fired.
Picking up food from a store near her home, she is assaulted by three young louts who stomp her takeaway meal into the ground. At home with her sympathetic father (Ryuzo Tanaka) and gracious stepmother (Nene Otsuka), Yuko suffers through abusive phone messages, and even her family doesn't know what to say to her.
Difficulties escalate as the young woman's boyfriend (Takayuki Kato) coldly dumps her and the managers at her father's factory complain about damage to the company's reputation.
The film has a generally drab look, and Kobayashi indulges in too many extended scenes marked only by an absence of drama. But he builds an effective element of dread so that merely carrying a food package upstairs in an apartment building becomes suspenseful.
It would be a disappointment, however, if the director merely intends a blanket indictment of Japan as a closed, small-minded and intolerant society. Bashing is a relatively short film, and it would have benefited greatly from a wider perspective.
In the end, the picture impresses thanks to powerful acting from Urabe, Tanaka and Otsuka in particular, as well as some gripping monologs on love and loss, and the rewards to be found in helping the less fortunate far away.
BASHING
Monkey Town Prods.
Credits: Director, screenwriter: Masahiro Kobayashi; Producers: Masahiro Kobayashi, Naoko Okamura; Cinematographer: Koichi Saitoh; Editor: Naoki Kaneko; Music: Hiroshi Hayashi. Cast: Yuko: Fusako Urabe; Her father: Ryuzo Tanaka; Her lover: Takayuki Kato; Father's boss: Kikujiro Honda; Hotel owner: Teruyuki Kagawa; Stepmother: Nene Otsuka.
No MPAA rating, running time: 82 minutes...
Based on an actual event, the film tells of Yuko (Fusako Urabe), who went to the Middle East as a volunteer for a charitable organization but was kidnapped and taken hostage. Returning to Japan upon her release, Yuko finds herself the subject of harassment and abuse from friends and strangers.
Kobayashi has created memorable characters aided greatly by fine acting from the entire cast, but the film falls short of its powerful potential due to a lack of essential information. It might be apt to be opaque about Yuko's hostage experience but a better account of why her release should cause such widespread revulsion in her native land absolutely requires being made clear.
As it is, moviegoers in other lands will remain mystified as the film has too many unanswered questions and will most likely leave audiences dissatisfied.
The title itself needs explaining as Yuko is "bashed" by people for having survived her ordeal. One explains that she would have been a heroine had she been killed but her survival has made her an embarrassment to all of Japan. Why, we never learn.
We first see the elfin but serious-minded Yuko six months back in her homeland working as a hotel cleaner. It's quickly established that her colleagues won't speak to her and before the day is out, she has been fired.
Picking up food from a store near her home, she is assaulted by three young louts who stomp her takeaway meal into the ground. At home with her sympathetic father (Ryuzo Tanaka) and gracious stepmother (Nene Otsuka), Yuko suffers through abusive phone messages, and even her family doesn't know what to say to her.
Difficulties escalate as the young woman's boyfriend (Takayuki Kato) coldly dumps her and the managers at her father's factory complain about damage to the company's reputation.
The film has a generally drab look, and Kobayashi indulges in too many extended scenes marked only by an absence of drama. But he builds an effective element of dread so that merely carrying a food package upstairs in an apartment building becomes suspenseful.
It would be a disappointment, however, if the director merely intends a blanket indictment of Japan as a closed, small-minded and intolerant society. Bashing is a relatively short film, and it would have benefited greatly from a wider perspective.
In the end, the picture impresses thanks to powerful acting from Urabe, Tanaka and Otsuka in particular, as well as some gripping monologs on love and loss, and the rewards to be found in helping the less fortunate far away.
BASHING
Monkey Town Prods.
Credits: Director, screenwriter: Masahiro Kobayashi; Producers: Masahiro Kobayashi, Naoko Okamura; Cinematographer: Koichi Saitoh; Editor: Naoki Kaneko; Music: Hiroshi Hayashi. Cast: Yuko: Fusako Urabe; Her father: Ryuzo Tanaka; Her lover: Takayuki Kato; Father's boss: Kikujiro Honda; Hotel owner: Teruyuki Kagawa; Stepmother: Nene Otsuka.
No MPAA rating, running time: 82 minutes...
- 5/18/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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