Cinema 161
The Invisible Man
By Jeremy Clarke. With a title that seems to proclaim, “look at me, I’ve arrived”, Daiei’s The Invisible Man Appears (1949) is a Japanese manifesto, a statement that they can match American movies. Eiji Tsuburaya‘s effects are as good as anything in Universal’s The Invisible Man (1933) and were almost certainly produced at a fraction […]
Battle Royale
By Tom Wilmot. Of the thousands of films released every year, few are subjected to a high level of controversy, critical acclaim, or commercial success, let alone all three. Yet with Battle Royale, director Kinji Fukasaku was dealt a full house. Even those unfamiliar with Japanese cinema are sure to have at least heard of […]
True Mothers
by Jeremy Clarke. Naomi Kawase’s new film True Mothers deals with the interface between unwanted teen pregnancy and infertility among married couples and was Japan’s entry for this year’s Best International Feature Film at the Oscars. Sadly, its story of an unmarried mum who hands her child over to childless, adoptive parents only to later […]
Ishiro Honda Double Feature
by Jeremy Clarke. Out now on Blu-ray alongside the standalone release of Mothra (1961) comes a double bill of two more Toho science fiction movies, The H Man (1958) and Battle in Outer Space (1959), both also directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The Toho studio is more readily associated with […]
Raya and the Last Dragon
By Andrew Osmond. The newest Disney feature animation, Raya and the Last Dragon, is available on the Disney+ platform. At the moment, it’s the same deal as the live-action Mulan had when it debuted. To see the film, subscribers must pay an extra “Premier Access” fee of £19.99, though you can rewatch Raya as much […]