Author Archives: kevingilvear
Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself / 勝手にしやがれ!!
Katte ni shiyagare!!, 1995-1996 Mention Kiyoshi Kurosawa and films like Cure or Pulse tend to spark conversation; they are the works most often cited when his name comes up, and the point at which he became internationally associated with modern … Continue reading
Posted in Comedy
Tagged Cure, film, Japanese cinema, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Koyo Maeda, movies, Pulse, reviews, Sho Aikawa, V-Cinema, Yakuza Taxi, 勝手にしやがれ!!
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Cursed /「超」怖い話Ａ 闇の鴉
Chô’ kowai hanashi A: yami no karasu, 2004 By the early 2000s, thanks to directors such as Hideo Nakata, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and Takashi Shimizu, Japanese horror had broken through internationally in a way nobody had expected. What set films such … Continue reading
The “Pink New Wave”
When Pink Films ceased shooting on 35mm just a couple of years ago, it appeared as if the pink industry would take a massive hit; these were sure-fire money spinners, financed with relatively low budgets, filmed within a matter of … Continue reading
Posted in Pink Cinema
Tagged film, Hideo Sakaki, horror, Minoru Kunisawa, movies, Pink Eiga, Pink New Wave, review, reviews, Shou Nishino
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Dependence/ふしだらな女 真昼に濡れる
Fushidara na onna mahiru ni nureru, 2006 Chasing one’s dream, finding love under extraordinary circumstances or gaining affirmation throughout adversity, are subjects which have long been part of the cinema going experience, as we often find them serving as crutches … Continue reading
High Noon Ripper/真昼の切り裂き魔
Mahiru no Kirisakima, 1984 Since making his directorial debut in 1981, having graduated from an assistant position under the tutelage of prolific pink film masters such as Mamoru Watanabe and Shinya Yamamoto, Yojiro Takita had spent the better part of … Continue reading
Naked Desire/オナニーシスター たぎる肉壺
Onanie Sister Tagiru Nikutsubo, 2015 With Japan continuing to find itself troubled by increasingly low fertility rates and high life expectancies, its government has scrambled over the years for solutions to its current population crisis. As recently as 2014, it … Continue reading
Sweet Home/スウィートホーム
Suito Homu, 1989 Prior to Kiyoshi Kurosawa achieving international recognition with 1997’s Cure, it’s important to note the transitional period in his career, which saw him go from directing Pink Eiga features during the early part of the 80s, to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged スウィートホーム, 黒沢 清, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Sweet Home, 星野 エミ, 星野 和夫
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Evil Spirits of Japan/日本の悪霊
Nippon no Akuryo, 1970 With a financially burdened Kazuo Kuroki, having finally found a home of sorts with the Art Theatre Guild, Evil Spirits of Japan [Nippon no Akuryo, lit. ‘Demon Spirits of Japan’] marked his directorial debut with the … Continue reading
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Tagged Art Theatre Guild, 黒木和雄, Kazuo Kuroki, Kei Sato, 日本の悪霊, 佐藤 慶
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A Man Vanishes/人間蒸発
Ningen Jōhatsu, 1967 To understand the significance of Shohei Imamura’s A Man Vanishes [Ningen Jōhatsu, 1967], one must first have an understanding of the reason behind its genesis. Perhaps the most consistently alarming aspect of Japanese society today – and … Continue reading
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The Eigakan 