Hou Hsiao-Hsien @ 75: The Studio Films (1980-1982)

by Cláudio Alves

His films are poems, lyrical examinations of the mundane that live in the moment but look backward to a past out of reach but still tangible. Master shots are his preference, whether standing still through mnemonic patterns or roving in idyll movement. Form and emotion are synonyms in this cinematic imagination, indissociable ideas that repudiate traditional storytelling norms. Indeed, many of his works are constructed from the transitory passages other filmmakers leave on the cutting room floor.

For these reasons and more, I have long loved the cinema of Hou Hsiao-Hsien. So, to celebrate his 75th birthday, I ask you, dear reader, to join me on a trip down memory lane, a multi-part odyssey through this master of cinema's filmography…

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It's a clean sweep for "Drive My Car" at the Japan Academy Awards

by Nathaniel R

Hidetoshi Nishijima accepting BEST ACTOR for "Drive My Car" 

The 45th annual Japan Academy Awards were held last night (aka hours ago -- time differences are confusing!) in Tokyo. 濱口 竜介's Oscar-nominated Drive My Car was honored in all of its categories. The winners are after the jump... 

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Japanese Academy Awards: 'Drive My Car' up for 9 prizes

by Nathaniel R

March is promising to be a big month for Japanese Best Picture nominee Drive My Car. It just became the second release from Janus Films to make more than one million at the US box office (their biggest hit remains Italy's Oscar winning  The Great Beauty) and despite its steady box office performance, it's moving to streaming on March 2nd on HBOMax. Then, two weeks before the Oscars on March 11th, it is competing at the 45th annual Japan Academy Awards. The nominees for that ceremony are after the jump including a description of the five films up for the big prizes...

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Japan and the Oscars - a History

by Timothy Lyons

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and actress Reika Kirishima at Cannes this past summer with "Drive My Car"

One of the more pleasant surprises of this year’s Academy Award nominations announcement was the shortlisting of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s subtly masterful Drive My Car in Best Picture. In addition to this mention, Hamaguchi himself was nominated for Director and Adapted Screenplay (along with co-writer Takamasa Oe) and the film received an easily predicted nod in International Feature. While there seemed to be enough of a groundswell of support for the film to break into the general field, its inclusion in the top race remains a largely unexpected and refreshingly left-of-center occurrence. Despite now being the very first Japanese film nominated for Best Picture, Drive My Car is not the first to be recognised overall. It is also not the first to find favor beyond the usually ghettoized International Feature category.

Japan’s history with Oscar began in earnest during the 1950s...

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Interview: The Director of 'Lunana' on making the Oscar finals, working with yaks, and meeting Ang Lee

by Nathaniel R

Making movies is never "easy" but some movies achieve the impossible. Pawo Chonyning Dorji's debut feature, the Bhutanese Oscar finalist Lunana A Yak in the Classroom, is one of the latter kind. Its very existence is a miracle, and that's before you even get to the lottery-ticket like good fortune of competing for the Oscar. While Bhutan has a growing local film and television industry, heavily influenced by the films of Bollywood, the pictures are mostly low budget and don't travel outside of the small landlocked country. They definitely don't travel anywhere near the mountainous village where Lunana A Yak in the Classroom takes place, since there is no electricity let alone a movie theater. The charming soulful movie is about a restless young teacher named Ugyen (first time actor Sherab Dorji) who dreams of moving to Australia to pursue a music career. He very reluctantly accepts a final teaching gig to complete his government contract but that assignment is in the most remote part of all Bhutan.

Setting a story there is one thing, filming there without electricity with cast and crew of first timers -- some of whom had never even seen a movie -- is another.  We had the pleasure of talking to the director about his miracle Oscar contender and why he made it and our interview follows after the jump...

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