Jasper Sharp 48
Books: Chinese Movie Mags
By Jasper Sharp. In these days of cosplay conventions and K-drama and Chinese sci-fi blockbusters on Netflix, it is easy to forget how little access to – and, let’s face it, interest in – Asian popular culture the West had for the vast bulk of the twentieth century. Not so in the other direction, however, […]
Nobuhiko Obayashi & Hanagatami
By Jasper Sharp. Hanagatami (2017) has to be among the most important Japanese films of the last 20 years. This sweeping, emotive and flamboyant tale of love and friendship among a group of six college-age teenagers whose lives are about to be changed irrevocably by WW2 is an undisputable masterpiece for Nobuhiko Obayashi, a filmmaker […]
Kwaidan
By Jasper Sharp. Kwaidan, Masaki Kobayashi’s classic compendium of ghostly Japanese folktales has just been given the Blu-ray treatment for UK audiences, with a bumper new package released on Eureka’s Masters of Cinema label, following Criterion’s high-definition US release in 2015.
Books: Kore-eda’s Elemental Cinema
By Jasper Sharp. Ask anyone about the state of contemporary Japanese cinema and the one name that is sure to come up is that of the subject of Linda Ehrlich’s The Films of Kore-eda Hirokazu: An Elemental Cinema, surprisingly the first book-length focus on the director. For well over two decades, Kore-eda has enjoyed widespread […]
Books: Cinema is a Cat
By Jasper Sharp. Cinema is a Cat: A Cat-Lover’s Introduction to Film Studies, as its subtitle highlights, is less a scholarly survey of cats in the movies than a cat-led guide as to how to conduct cinematic analysis. Yes, you read that right. This is a book that casts a curious cat’s eye across a […]