ASK! about  Performing Arts

There’s a lot of hype now about Japanese anime, like D-Grey Man, Hellgirl and so on. You can probably rattle off a longer list than me, but what about Japanese films? Do you still remember the horror hit of 1998, The Ring by Hideo Nakata, and scenes of the creepy long haired woman crawling out of the tube? Simply hair-rising experience of many of the movie-goers then.

Besides The Ring, there are several other Japanese films that cover diverse themes, such as:

Tokyo Godfathers by Satoshi Kon (2003)
Call No.: Other 791.433 TOK
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

Three homeless friends find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and try to locate her parents.

Hana & Alice by Shunji Iwai (2004)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 HAN
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

Hana and Alice are inseparable friends until Mark, a cute boy they spot at a train station, comes between them. Tricking Mark into believing that he is suffering from amnesia, Hana claims that she is his girlfriend. A baffled Mark struggles to regain his memories as he is drawn to the prettier Alice. When their bond deepens, the girls’ lifelong relationship begins to fray, propelling them apart.

Bushi no Ichibun / Love and Honor by Yoji Yamada (2006)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 BUS
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Takuya Kimura) and his wife (Rei Dan), who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband’s honour.

Onna ga Kaidan wo Agaru Toki / When a Woman Ascends the Stairs by Mikio Naruse (1960)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 ONN
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

The widowed Keiko manages a hostess bar in Tokyo’s Ginza district. She remains faithful to the memory of her husband and supports her mother, brother and his son. The smiling mask she wears allows her to make a living, but the pressure to sell herself is unrelenting. Her business is failing and she must decide whether to raise the money to buy her own bar, or marry one of the admiring affluent patrons.

To celebrate Japanese films (and reward you for squeezing your scholarly juices), the library@esplanade has partnered with the Embassy of Japan and the Singapore Film Society to give aways tickets to the Japanese Film Festival 2008 (22 - 31 August). For more information, see here.

Contributed by Goh Peck Keong, Librarian, Adult & Young People’s Services

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