My favourite Isao Takahata—a poignant and nostalgia-tinged tribute to memory, time, childhood and love in what could be Studio Ghibli’s finest work.
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Only Yesterday (1991)
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Tag / Japan
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Zatoichi and the Doomed Man (1965)
This easy-going if poor entry doesn’t quite contribute much to Zatoichi’s characterisation, nor does it have an involving premise.
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Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
One of the greatest of all Japanese anime from the master Isao Takahata, this holds enough emotional power to reduce any grownup into a sobering mess.
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Forest of Love, The (2019)
While it is a rather entertaining treatise on the extremes of power abuse, and contains the usual violent, sexual and immoral provocations that have characterised Sion Sono’s output, it ultimately doesn’t cut deep enough to be a rewarding experience.
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Family Romance, LLC (2019)
While it may be rather underwhelming, Herzog’s gentle docu-fiction explores our need to connect with another human being despite the increasing commodification of human experiences in modern societies.
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Zatoichi’s Revenge (1965)
This tenth instalment goes into darker territory with forced prostitution as one of its themes, but Zatoichi is in a serious mood to right wrongs with several well-choreographed fight scenes in store.
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Last Samurai, The (2003)
The best parts of this decent Hollywood-style samurai epic are the heart-to-heart conversations between Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, backed by a lush, emotional score by Hans Zimmer.
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Adventures of Zatoichi (1964)
The theme of the ‘father figure’ dictates the narrative of this decent 9th instalment of the ‘Zatoichi’ series.
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Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (1964)
This 8th instalment is one of the series’ best—and different too—with director Kenji Misumi fashioning a slower-paced tale about Zatoichi’s longing for fatherhood.
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Love Exposure (2008)
Sion Sono’s deranged teenage romance about the perversities of sex and religion is wildly hilarious, controversial and satirical, and might be the briskest 4 hours you can spend in a movie.
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Eternality Tan 