Also, if you can, how do you think others can appreciate it and may be some recommendations to get started with.
I like “old” social or societal Japanese movies.
Why ?
Because they bring other ways of thinking and many issues that are ultimately universal.
They encourage us to meditate on the different associations that push our societies to become what they become, and force us to rethink the other, otherness.
Could recommend many but let’s say for example…
Suicide Club Totally Weird (not for children )
Hana-bi Intense
Okuribito Deep
Nobody Knows sad 😭
It may seem strange to you, but I have learnt a lot from these types of films.
Ouch. Just finished Nobody Knows.
I thought having watched Kotaro Lives Alone had me prepared for a more serious take on the subject, but that only lasted the first 2/3. Once that foreshadowing scene happened, I got a pit in my stomach that just got bigger until it was finally over.
Afterwards, I read the plot summary on Wikipedia, which I normally do with foreign movies to get clued in in cultural things I wouldn’t get otherwise and saw this was based on a specific real life case. Surprisingly, the real story seemed even worse, especially considering the mom got custody back after everything.
Amazingly powerful film. Added the others to my watchlist as well.
Oh, this is awesome!
I’ve gotten exposed to some of these elements of Japanese society through years of anime, manga, and video games, and there’s so many things I’ve done more learning on after finding out about them, but I’ve never thought about looking for movies about them. Ikiru is the only one I can think of that I’ve seen.
All the ones you mentioned sound great, and I’ve just searched for movies about Koreans living in Japan, based on some of the plot points from the Yakuza games that had me interested in their history in Japanese society.
Thank you for opening up a new rabbit hole for me to explore!
