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“Au Revoir l’Été” by Kôji Fukada is a little gem of a movie, simple and yet multilayered and visually enchanting. It is a story of transition to adulthood, the Japanese title “Hotori no Sakuko” can be translated “Sakuko on the edge” and this is exactly it.

“Au Revoir l’Été” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

Sakuko (Fumi Nakaido) is a 18 year old student who has just failed the University entrance exam and is going for a short holiday to a small seaside resort with her aunt Mikie (Mayu Tsuruta). They are both looking to get some quiet and constructive time out of this holiday; Sakuko needs to study and prepare for her next session of exams and Mikie is working on a translation. At the resort, we get to know Ukichi, Mikie’s ex lover, who runs a hotel in town, his student daughter...

Based on the novel “Koshonin” by Takahisa Igarashi, “The Negotiator” (not to be confused with the anime by the same name) is a TV movie that strays much away from the violence and the absurdness usually associated with Miike’s works. In fact, the Japanese master takes full advantage of a multi-leveled story, full of plot twists, in order to present a thriller that thrives on atmosphere and characters, to the point that it could also be described as a psychological drama. Let us take things from the beginning, though.

Three unidentified men rob a convenience store and then proceed on raiding a hospital, where they take the patients hostages. Inspector Ishida, a negotiator, is the one who eventually is tasked with handling the case, although it is soon revealed that his wife is one of the hostages. In one of his first actions, he calls for the support of Captain Tono,...

The story of a nude dude who washes ashore and into the lives of four young documentary filmmakers, Kôji Fukada’s “The Man From the Sea” probably wouldn’t be of much interest beyond Asian audiences if not for the fact that its director earned the Jury Prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard for his previous feature, “Harmonium.” This featherweight follow-up — which feels almost like a live-action manga, more concerned with the romantic entanglements of its central quartet than with the magical stranger referenced in its title — doesn’t necessarily belong on the festival circuit but could attract overseas distribution by virtue of such exposure.

More splish than “Splash,” the movie wants to be a modern-day fairy tale — yet another mer-myth rippling in the wake of “The Shape of Water” — but remains frustratingly ambiguous about the nature of the enigmatic Japanese guy (Dean Fujioka) who stumbles out of the crystal-blue water in the opening scene.

Stars: Masato Sakai, Mitsuki Takahata, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Min Tanaka, Jun Kunimura, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Tomokazu Miura, Sakura Ando, Tamao Nakamura, Koji Ohkura, Mayu Tsuruta | Written and Directed by Takashi Yamazaki

The honeymoon is over for newlyweds Akiko and Masakazu Isshiki, who’ve just moved into his family home in the quiet town of Kamakura. While her husband, an author of fantastic fiction, struggles with writers block, Akiko has to come to terms with the rough spots in a marriage – the misunderstandings, the doubts, her husbands obsessive toy-train hobby. And then there are the peculiarities of Kamakura, which, as Masakazu remarks offhandedly, has been a magnet for mystical energy for millennia. Ghosts, goblins, even a charming local death god amble through its streets, and what’s more, her husband moonlights as a “spectral investigator” for the local police! For such a sleepy little town, there are certainly a lot of strange things going on.

“Au Revoir l’Été” by Kôji Fukada is a little gem of a movie, simple and yet multilayered and visually enchanting. It is a story of transition to adulthood, the Japanese title “Hotori no Sakuko” can be translated “Sakuko on the edge” and this is exactly it.

Sakuko (Fumi Nakaido) is a 18 year old student who has just failed the University entrance exam and is going for a short holiday to a small seaside resort with her aunt Mikie (Mayu Tsuruta). They are both looking to get some quiet and constructive time out of this holiday; Sakuko needs to study and prepare for her next session of exams and Mikie is working on a translation. At the resort, we get to know Ukichi, Mikie’s ex lover, who runs a hotel in town, his student daughter Tetsuko (Kiki Sugino) and his nephew Takashi (Taiga), a runaway survivor...

Criterion adds Jellyfish Eyes to its collection, the directorial debut of prolific Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Known for his multi-faceted platforms of painting, sculpture, and a continual blending of media meant to push the boundaries of what defines notions of art, his 2013 debut is a psychedelic children’s adventure conveying significant messages as concerns social media, the environment, and human interaction. Having had his work featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles during a 2007-2009 retrospective, it’s perhaps no surprise Murakami premiered his film at Lacma (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) in 2013, before it spread to other venues and ultimately a limited theatrical release in the Us in July, 2015. Named by Time magazine in 2008 as one of the one hundred most influential people (the only visual artist to make this particular round) perhaps explains the high expectations and underwhelming critical response to his first cinematic effort.

Iffr: Au revoir l'été (2014) review Plot76% Acting78% Directing77%Light and warm atmosphereInteresting charactersSlow pace might not be for everyone77%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (1 Vote)61%

I know what you are probably thinking: what does a French movie do here on Asian Movie Pulse? Well, it is actually a Japanese movie from which the international title is French. Inspired by French cinema, director Koji Fukada’s newest film takes place during a hot summer vacation with the plot focusing on characters that have to decide about the next step in their lives. Literally translated, Au revoir l’été means “goodbye summer”, which can be explained as the film deals with having to say goodbye to your life as it is at a certain time because of new changes that are waiting.

The story follows quite a few characters, but the main character is a high school girl named Sakuko (Nikaido Fumi) who is...