Japanese Movies: June 23 & 25 2008

SBS is being kind to us lately (except for that horrible Casshern), with two flicks on this week. One is a WWI anime from Hayao Miyazaki, Porco Rosso, the other an Oscar-nominated samurai film with a gentler side, The Twilight Samurai.

Porco Rosso

SBS, Monday 23 June 2008 from 10:55pm, in English

Porco Rosso is set in Italy in the early 1930s where air pirates, bounty hunters and high flyers of all sorts rule the skies. The most cunning and skilled of these pilots is Porco Rosso, a man cursed with the head of a pig after watching the spirits of the pilots rise to the heavens after they were killed in the last air battle he fought in. He now makes a living taking jobs, such as rescuing those kidnapped by air pirates.

Donald Curtis, Porco’s rival in the air and in catching the affections of women, provides a constant challenge to the hero, culminating in a hilarious, action packed finale.

The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei)

SBS, Thursday 26 June (late Wed night) from 12:20am, subtitled

The Twilight Samurai is a 2002 Japanese film directed by Yoji Yamada. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. Poor, but not destitute, he still manages to lead a content and happy life with his daughters and senile mother. Sadly, through an unfortunate turn of events, the turbulent times conspire against him.

The film is different from many other samurai-themed films in that it concentrates on showing the main character’s everyday struggles, instead of focusing on action-oriented battles. Thus, the film carries only two fight scenes.

The Twilight Samurai was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, losing to the Canadian film Les Invasions Barbares. Twilight Samurai also won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.