The Berlin Bride (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Michael Bartlett
	Actors: Taylor Baldschun, Michael Bartlett, Brynmor Jones
	Country: USA, D
	Genre: Drama, Thriller, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 02.07.2020, FANTASPOA2020, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: Two oddball Berliners discover the abandoned appendages of a mannequin. Separately, and with grotesque consequence, they come to terms with their disjointed mate.
Review: From the synopsis and the poster of the movie, I was expecting more of a Giallo (or something like Anguish) and didn't get much of it apart from the strange mannequin fetishism and the setting in the 80's. Those are also the two best things in this movie. I am in particular amazed at how the director could recreate the Berlin of 1986 in its exterior scenes, in spite of a probable low budget. It is also remarkable to see this kind of production in Europe and I can only encourage it. Finally another characteristic of the movie is that it is almost without dialogs, apart from a few lines in German or English, which makes it easy to watch for anybody even without sub-titles. The rest of the movie feels sometimes like a psychedelic trip, as we see the mannequin taking a more and more important part in the life of our two protagonists, both weird in their own way. A movie unfortunately not as rich and memorable as I thought it would be.
Rating: 5 /10

First Man (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land)
	Actors: Ryan Gosling (Drive, Blade Runner 2049), Claire Foy, Jason Clarke (Terminator Genisys)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 23.07.2020, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong (Gosling), and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
Review: It is surprising that we had to wait almost 50 years for the first non-documentary movie about the Lunar landing. And indeed I wondered myself: what's the point, the facts are so well documented. It was not the same for Apollo 13, a mission which innate potential catastrophe was more suited for a cinema adaptation as early as 1995. For the movie to be more than a simple well-made recollection of the events, however significant they were, it chose to focus on one man, Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon. Interesting choice, as Armstrong is known to have largely avoided public appearances since his return, while Buzz Aldrin could be seen everywhere. And how could the movie separate the two? Aldrin is shown very little in fact, and usually as a cold-blooded asshole which doesn't get along with the others, but when on the job he is shown as an outstanding professional. Well the separation is done by telling the story of Armstrong since well before 1969, focusing on his lost daughter, his reserved character, the relationship with his wife and his job. In this life story pop here and there crucial events of the Lunar program: the beginning of Gemini, the competition with the USSR, Armstrong's selection for Gemini 8, the death of pilots and astronauts, the doubts of Congress and of the American public, all leading to the most important mission, and the movie ending shortly after. Gosling was a good choice to show a man of few words, and he is accompanied by other excellent actors that I like to see like Jason Clarke (Terminator Genisys), Kyle Chandler (King Kong, Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Corey Stoll (House of Cards, Ant-Man), Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones), Shea Whigham (Joker)... I liked a lot the focus on Armstrong and the acting by Gosling, the political and history bits and the tense missions Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 but also their preparation. Visual effects are very good and immersive all along. And the mix of all this is helped by a great score by Justin Hurwitz, making you hold your breath. A very good movie, too bad I couldn't watch it on a decent screen.
Rating: 8 /10

The Man Standing Next (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Min-ho Woo
	Actors: Byung-hun Lee (I Saw the Devil, G. I. Joe 1-2, Ashfall, A Bittersweet Life), Sung-min Lee, Do-won Kwak
	Country: ROK
	Genre: Drama, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 17.07.2020, VOD, 32" TV-screen
Synopsis: The weeks leading to the assassination of South-Korean dictator Park Chung-hee in 1979.
Review: Interesting to watch this more recent take at the same events as depicted in the acclaimed 2005 satire The President's Last Bang. Both were shown at the Far East Film Festival 2020. This one is more a cold fact-telling story giving more background on the motives for the assassination and cutting short right after it, so in a sense it is complementary to the other which was focusing on the few hours before the event and in the aftermath. The tone is of course totally different and I found that the satirical one of the The President's Last Bang makes a much more interesting movie. The characters are not as likeable or relatable in this one. For example the president is depicted in the other movie as old, lonely and in search for female company, less interested by the state's affairs. In this movie he is depicted more seriously and as you would expected from a ruthless military dictator. There is no doubt that The Man Standing Next is very well shot, including scenes abroad or with foreigners which gives it a larger scope. And it stars the Korean actor most famous outside of Korea: Byung-hun Lee, internationally known since his role as Storm Shadow in G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, as the T1000 in Terminator Genisys or his role in The Magnificent Seven. Asian Film Festival goers would know him since A Bittersweet Life, JSA, Three... Extremes, The Good the Bad the Weird, I Saw the Devil or the recent Ashfall. A movie well done but not very exciting. If you watch only one of the two, it should definitely be The President's Last Bang.
Rating: 5 /10

The Twentieth Century (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Matthew Rankin
	Actors: Dan Beirne, Sarianne Cormier, Catherine St-Laurent
	Country: CDN
	Genre: Drama, Black Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 11.07.2020, NIFFF2020, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: Despite his Oedipus complex and his obsession for second-hand shoes, Mackenzie King (Beirne) will stop at nothing to become the Canadian Prime Minister.
Review: From the story, this movie seems like a historical political drama, but the trailer gives the additional hint of a bizarre visual experiment. The crude and/or colorful sets reminded me of several influences: Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Guy Maddin's movies like Sissy Boy Slap Party, The Saddest Music in the World or The Forbidden Room, and sometimes Wes Anderson (in particular The Grand Budapest Hotel). As I learned afterwards by reading the Wikipedia page of the real-life Mackenzie King that the movie is very loosely inspired by real characters and events, but the dates can be wrong by two decades. Also for some reason the sex of the actor doesn't always match the one of the character they play, for the most bizarre effect. The story of King's ascension to Prime Minister is far from the real one, but it is more an inspiration to support the creation of the experimental movie. Although many depicted events are dramatic, the movie is clearly a Comedy and many scenes are baffling in their non-sense or exaggeration. You have to see for example which kind of challenges the candidates have to face to become Prime Minister, like writing their name by peeing in the snow... The Twentieth Century also has the good idea to last 90 minutes only, which is enough to not get saturated or bored by the experiment. An interesting watch which I am glad the Neuchâtel Film Festival selected.
Rating: 6 /10

Dinner in America (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Adam Rehmeier
	Actors: Kyle Gallner, Emily Skeggs, Mary Anderson
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 10.07.2020, NIFFF2020, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: A punk rocker (Gallner) and a young woman (Skeggs) unexpectedly meet and go on an epic journey together through America's decaying Midwestern suburbs.
Review: This movie is typical of why I love film Festivals, Genre ones in particular like the Neuchâtel Fantastic Film Festival. In the recent years I have often thought that Disney (including Marvel and Star Wars) is ruining the Cinema industry by being over-present and crushing all the other genres, even though I love some of their movies. But only at film Festivals do I get to discover independent movies like Dinner in America which remind me that there are still plenty of creative film-makers around, and they manage to get their projects done. Don't count on Netflix to recommend them to me. It reminds me of the excellent surprises that were Cheap thrills, Red, White and Blue, Cold in July or The Devil's Candy, all seen at Festivals. They all have in common (maybe less the last one) a strong American imagery in the colors and the flags but not in a patriotic way, more in a recognition of the faults of the American way of life. I couldn't find a trailer or even a poster for Dinner in America as it is so recent, but reading that it was a success at all Festivals (including Sundance) made me want to watch it, and I am so glad I did. In my head I usually define Genre movies as ones which can include but are not limited to the historical Drama, Romance and Comedy. Dinner in America is in fact nothing more than those three, it has no Thriller or Horror deviation like often in movies presented at Fantastic Film Festivals. So what is it doing there? Well I guess I will have to enlarge my definition to encompass those movies which merge the classic genres in a fresh and modern way: the comedy is borderline Dark, the Romance real-life and the Drama hidden behind the Comedy. It is in fact very hard to tell why I loved this movie. I could try by saying that it is a punk-rock real-life Dark Comedy with touching characters, but that wouldn't give it justice. It may also not be for everybody, but I know among my friends the ones who would appreciate it. Additional bonuses: the soundtrack is excellent (when the girl starts to sing!) and we get in the cast Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) and the very funny Pat Healy which is accustomed to original independent movies like Cheap Thrills, The Innkeepers or Compliance. Highly recommended.
Rating: 8 /10

Edward (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Thop Nazareno
	Actors: Louise Abuel, Ella Cruz, Dido de la Paz
	Country: RP
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 01.07.2020, FEFF2020, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: A public hospital serves as a witness to a young boy's rite of passage when he is stuck to take care of his ailing father.
Review: This is the kind of movie I would never have seen if it was not for the Far East Film Festival, and what I felt while watching it is strongly attached to my long history with the Festival. Edward is a simple facts-of-life movie which shows you that humans are the same all around the planet: they love, suffer, have to deal with family and friends, go through adolescence... I wrote the same thing about another Filipino movie shown at the FEFF back in 2013: Shift, and I thank deeply the cinema of that country for bringing us such jewels. It is all the more striking when the adventures of the young Edward take place in the foreign setting of a public hospital in the Philippines. Those are not the same health standards as in richer countries (or for richer people): over-crowded rooms, dirtiness, lack of hygiene, relatives sleeping under the beds of the sick... This setting makes the movie look "exotic" to me while it is the daily life for people living there. And in the midst of that, a boy torn between a sick father he barely knows, survival one day at a time (spending money on chips or phone credits?), a bad-influence friend and a potential love interest. I love that the movie packs its story into a sufficient 82 minutes, and that the third act takes you somewhere tragic and unexpected, and doesn't leave you with the same feelings as you have carried since the beginning. A lesson in screenplay writing. The best movie seen at the Online Far East Film Festival 2020.
Rating: 8 /10

Victim(s) (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Layla Zhuqing Ji
	Actors: Lu Huang, Remon Lim, Xianjun Fu, Wilson Hsu, Kahoe Hon
	Country: MAL
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 28.06.2020, FEFF2020, 14" screen.
Synopsis: When high-school student Gangzi (Hon) is killed and his two friends wounded, all suspicions turn to rich kid Chen (Fu) who can't be found.
Review: What starts as a murder mystery turns very quickly to a traumatizing bullying story. I have the feeling this topic is not much tackled in Western cinema, except to show a high-school student as the ultimate asshole. In Asia it is taken very seriously for the life-wrecking drama it can be, as I remember from the Animated Korean The King of Pigs, and shown by the presence of a second bullying movie, Better Days, closing this Far East Film Festival. On a side note, the director of this movie is Chinese (and the original language Mandarin) but she made it in Malaysia to escape censorship in her country. The movie is very good at turning progressively what looks obvious at the beginning (the murderer even confessed) into a much more ambiguous situation, once we see flashbacks of what happened at school. And I can warn you this is not your simple "give me your money" bullying, it goes well beyond to a point where it made me feel ill-at-ease watching the movie. But it cleverly stayed within the boundaries of what I could tolerate. So the whole backstory tells a lot about teenagers, how they treat each other and lie to look better, or not to become the bullied themselves. Bullying and prejudice is everywhere and against everything: money, race, sexual preferences... I sincerly hope this situation is an exaggeration of reality in most schools.  But the aftermath of the murder deals more with how people (adults and teens alike) stupidly react in the face of such situation, in particular by deciding who's fault it is before even a hint of due process. Journalists and random people quickly made up their mind without having knowledge of most of the facts. A behavior I would expect from the teens is in fact shown to be the same in adults. A movie hard to watch, but well-done and successful at delivering its message.
Rating: 7 /10

Labyrinth of Cinema (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi (House)
	Actors: Tadanobu Asano, Takuro Atsuki, Yoshihiko Hosoda
	Country: J
	Genre: Drama, War
	Conditions of visioning: 28.06.2020, FEFF2020, 14" screen.
Synopsis: The last cinema in the coastal town of Onomichi is about to be shut down for good, screening one final marathon of old war films. Three young viewers become so immersed in the action that they find themselves on the other side of the screen, chasing through the annals of war and film.
Review: I missed this movie at the Nippon Connection 2020 Festival, but I had a second chance at the Far East Film Festival. I knew it would be hard to squeeze in my schedule the 3 hours of this experimental movie, but I was attracted by it and didn't regret my choice. I am no expert but the movie seems characteristic of its director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi. It is not your normal average movie by any standard, more like a documentary reflection on Japanese wars and their depiction in the local Cinema. Be warned that it it not linear at all, we keep on jumping back and forth in time, and the movie may be 3 hours long but there are only 2.5 hours of footage in it because of many repetitions. Those elements combined make it possible to follow more or less what is going on in spite of a superficial chaos. It also helps that we follow those three characters: a cinema buff (named Mario Baba, haha), a history buff and a son-of-monk-turned-yakusa-wannabe, maybe the closest to a war-time soldier in modern times? They give different perspectives to the action and provide a common thread for us to hold on. Many other figures also also recurrent through the timeline, in particular a little girl (and her three sisters?) which they keep on trying to save. I don't think I got 20% of the references in the movie, it is so packed with them and you have to be Japanese to get much more. Even then, I don't know if this experimental movie fared well on the island. A few things help: some knowledge of the Japanese culture and its cinema, having been there (in Hiroshima in particular), watching a simplified recap on Japanese History before this movie (that one for example), and not hesitating to fact-search on Google as the movie goes, to not get totally lost (for example about the Sakura-tai Traveling Theater Troupe or the forced mass suicides of Okinawa). We always say that Japanese movies which underline in passing the message "War is bad" do it far too heavily, but this message is the whole purpose of Labyrinth of Cinema, it is a kind of anti-War propaganda film. From what I understood, it focuses especially on the two major events of Japan opening to the rest of the World (and the ensuing conflicts with swords vs. guns) and WWII (the last war of Japan, culminating with the atomic atrocity). So it really is about History and War, but all from the point of view of a cinema audience (this reminds of Joe Dante's Matinee) and many directors and movies are quoted along the way of which I knew none but my attention was caught by The Rickshaw Man directed in 1943 by Hiroshi Inagaki, not its many remakes (note for later viewing). Technically the movie looks cheap and contains tons of quickly-done green screen effects, but it is on purpose, the director didn't want to spend the time or budget to show something realistic while a juxtaposition of images suffices to pass the same message. Also it was shot with a Canon digital camera, and not even the best one. I like the message that you don't need money to express your art, partly contradicting what I remember Kevin Smith saying that Cinema is the most expensive Art form (give me 60 million dollars and Ben Affleck!). Of course Smith started with the cheap Clerks. Even though Nobuhiko Ôbayashi's film was done for little money and looks cheap, it doesn't feel cheap as the man knows what he is doing (like a good photographer is supposed to take great shots even with a smartphone). The 3-hour long movie could have been unwatchable but for some reason it incites watching further, even though you don't get the references. I did it in two parts nonetheless. Not an easy watch but I found it worth it.
Rating: 6 /10

Ashfall (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Byung-seo Kim, Hae-jun Lee
	Actors: Byung-hun Lee (G.I. Joe 1-2, I saw the Devil), Jung-woo Ha, Hye-jin Jeon
	Country: ROK
	Genre: Thriller, Action, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 26.06.2020, FEFF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: In a fictional future where North Korea is about the be freed from nuclear weapons, Mount Baekdu, on the border between Korea and China, is about to erupt triggering a super-quake that will destroy half the peninsula.
Review: The big Action movie that opened the 22nd edition of the Far East Film Festival (even though you could watch it anytime as the Festival was online). I didn't have very high expectations of quality so I was not bothered by the poor special effects, the political winks or the absurdity of some story points. Ashfall copied the model of American blockbuster disaster movies like the recent San Andreas, but even more over-the-top, borderline 2012. In particular it starts with a huge destruction scene the likes of which you will not see in the next 120 minutes. It adds to it its own political context which I didn't know was allowed to be shown: the fratricide relationship with the North, the domination of American culture... The disaster story is boring (volcano with perfect timing, nuclear weapons, all on the shoulders of one guy...) so the best in this movie is in fact those political moments that make it different. It is funny that there is more criticism of the USA than of North Korea in fact, the topic of the latter being in fact carefully handled (no bad politicians or soldiers from the North, just a few people among the big empty cities). As often in Asian productions, the soldiers are dumb and unable to follow orders to the point that you wonder how they got the job (it reminded me of  Starship Troopers 5: Traitor of Mars). Brush all of that aside and what is left is the evolving relationship between the two main characters, a father-to-be which is brave but not a leader, and a spy with no attachments looking for redemption. Pretty watchable if you don't expect too much.
Rating: 4 /10

F is for Future (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Teppei ISOBE
	Actors: Yasuyuki SAKURAI, Hiroki SANO, Chido MATSUMOTO, Kei NAKADO
	Country: J
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 14.06.2020, NCF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: Instead of worrying about his future, Takuya aimlessly spends his time with his high school classmates.
Review: I had planned to use this movie as a filler in the Nippon Connection 2020 online Festival, as it lasts only 60 minutes and promised a nice humorous teenagers story. I managed to squeeze it in my programme and am the more glad about it. I was expecting more comedy, and awaiting the funny moments annoyingly described in the movie synopsis (spoiler, highlight to read: one of the friends die and the others honor a pact they made of hiding his collection of porn material). Reading that synopsis gives a totally wrong expectation of the movie. Instead, it is a little Drama representing with apparently great realism the life of high-schoolers that age. I loved to watch them hang around, tease each other and behave like teens, with no exaggerations. We see how they react to the facts of adult life that hit them: what to do of their Future, how to leave their family, relationships, death, what others think of you. I guess this is called a coming-of-age movie, and that's a darn good one in spite of its short length. For me it was just perfectly cut, especially if you don't read the annoying synopsis before (but I have to admit it is what attracted me to the movie...).
Rating: 7 /10

A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s An Alcoholic (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Kenji Katagiri
	Actors: Tamae Andô, Shogou Hama, Kenta Hamano
	Country: J
	Genre: Drama, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 13.06.2020, NCF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: Saki’s father hasn’t come home sober for years. He prefers to fall asleep in the hallway and she, her mother, and her sister have to drag him into the bedroom. When his friends come to visit and play Mahjong, bottles of whiskey are emptied, while the mother just prays apathetically. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, Saki wonders what’s wrong with this man who seems to care less about his family than he does about the next sip.
Review: The best movie seen at the Nippon Connection 2020 online Festival. We love to see in Japanese movies the characters socializing around food and drinks, be it a a party, a Karaoke or at home. With this movie, everything is in the title. "My Dad’s An Alcoholic" refers to the comedy moments we were expecting from the father, like when he comes home drunk always with the same crackers in his pocket, how he cries "thief" when his family undresses him, how he wobbles his head to fall short of the table (or of any obstacle his two daughters put in between)... I laughed a lot at those moments, emphasized by a nice upbeat little music. "A Life Turned Upside Down" refers to the rest, including big questions like "why does he have to drink so much?", "why does his wife let him do?", or "does he care about his daughters at all?", questions often shown as bubble above the daughter's head, as it probably happens in the head of children facing adults' behaviors they cannot understand. The whole movie is told from the point of view of the oldest daughter, and we can see the destructive impact of her father's lifestyle on her, how she dropped out of school to stay close to him for example. But the magic in this movie is that in spite of everything, he still is her father and her life forever bears his mark (like how she loves to eat the aforementioned crackers to feel at home). The movie also cleverly shows the father as a happy somnolent drunk, he doesn't beat up is family which would have categorized him as a bad guy, instead of maintaining the questions open. A touching but sometimes sad movie about family, with drops of humor at the right moments to relieve the tension. Brilliant.
Rating: 8 /10

Extro (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Naoki MURAHASHI
	Actors: Kozo HAGINOYA, Koji YAMAMOTO, Yuki SAITO
	Country: J
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 14.06.2020, NCF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: The Japanese film studio “Warp Station Edo” serves as an impressive backdrop for numerous historical dramas. 64-year-old dental technician Haginoya is hired as an extra. Not only his own vanity but also demanding directors and the everyday madness on set stand in his way.
Review: In my video review of that movie seen at the Nippon Connection 2020 Online Festival, I was not able to explain the difference between a mockumentary and a docufiction. The Wikipedia page is very helpful with that: "A mockumentary or docucomedy is a type of movie or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictional setting, or to parody the documentary form itself. While mockumentaries are usually comedic, pseudo-documentaries are their dramatic equivalents. However, pseudo-documentary should not be confused with docudrama, a fictional genre in which dramatic techniques are combined with documentary elements to depict real events. Also, docudrama is different from docufiction; a genre in which documentaries are contaminated with fictional elements". At JoRafCinema we love this sub-genre, represented for example by the American This is Spinal Tap which coined the name, or the British more recent Shooting Bigfoot. New Zealand produced Forgotten Silver (by Peter Jackson) and the fantastic What we do in the Shadows. Belgium the dark C'est Arrivé Pres de Chez Vous (Man Bites Dog) and Vampires. But Japan has a special talent for this genre, as we can quote Big Man Japan, and more importantly the memorable Sky Jumping Pairs - The Road to Torino 2006 seen at the Far East Film Festival in 2006. So I couldn't miss this new Japanese mockumentary, and I wasn't disappointed. It contains the typical element that the pseudo-directors of the Documentary get more involved in the events, and end up getting lost in their message. Indeed in Extro we jump from the Haginoya story (paying homage to real-World Extra Kozo HAGINOYA by giving him a role in the mockumentary) to one of cops looking for a drug dealer to a mythical bird, and back to Haginoya. In the process we meet characters which are too natural (and stupid) to be true, but the movie never turns to obvious slapstick comedy. There are so many unexpected turns in the movie that it feels like the directors had several topics they wanted to show and couldn't settle on one, but it just adds humor to the helplessness of the fake directors in controlling their subject. Highly recommended.
Rating: 7 /10

The Journalist (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Michihito Fujii
	Actors: Eun-kyung Shim, Tôri Matsuzaka, Tsubasa Honda
	Country: J
	Genre: Thriller, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 12.06.2020, NCF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: A newspaper journalist receives an anonymous fax with explosive information. As she follows the trail, she comes across questions that also concern the official Sugihara. The two uncover a scandal that reaches up into the highest circles of the Japanese government. But the closer they get to the truth, the more dangerous the situation becomes for both of them
Review: I was disappointed by this political thriller. I was expecting something better soon after watching The Pelican Brief, and thinking about All the President's Men from the same director. The story is a bit confused (to me), the stakes not that high, and neither the journalist nor the government employee very charismatic. The movie is better replaced in the Japanese context, a country where "there is an informal agreement between mainstream media and the government that is hardly ever questioned: Journalists are not too persistent in their criticism, in turn representatives of the government grant direct access to select information through press conferences" (description given on the website of the Nippon Connection 2020 Festival at which the film was shown). The novel from which the movie is adapted apparently made a fuss in Japan, and maybe watching the documentary shot around the movie (i -Documentary Of The Journalist, shown at the same Festival but which we haven't seen) helps under the context even better. But for an outside audience and from a pure cinematographic point of view, the movie is forgettable. It contains all the tropes you would expect from such a movie: the journalist digging old newspapers and bothering victims, the mole, the bad guys and the too-powerful governmental organization... but it doesn't take. At least it didn't for me. You can hear more about this movie in our video review.
Rating: 5 /10

Me & My Brother’s Mistress (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Takashi HAGA, Sho SUZUKI
	Actors: Nanami KASAMATSU, Yui MURATA, Satoshi IWAGO
	Country: J
	Genre: Romance, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 11.06.2020, NCF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: Yoko, a high school student, lives with her brother, Kenji.  Since they lost their parents early, they have been supported each other.  One night, Yoko witnesses Kenji, who is planning to get married, having an affair with Misa.
Review: A Romance/Drama is usually not the kind of movie I watch, in this one I was expecting some Comedy but didn't get much. Nonetheless, I re-adjusted my compass and enjoyed the movie anyway. It could have been a menage-a-trois Romantic Comedy but that is over-done. Our link to the characters is not in the trio but outside with the character of the sister. The mistress barely interacts at first with the main couple. And we get to wonder why does the man stick to the tradition of staying with a woman which agrees to give him a family, rather than with a woman he loves, or at least feels good with. As the movie goes, we also wonder about the motivation of the other characters: why is the mistress content with her position, and what does the bride has to say, her who seems very shy. The sister acts as a catalyst in a situation where the status-quo would have normally remained. I like the approach of showing us real-life couples under the pressure of society, instead of over-the-top romances or melodramas. Nicely done. We have done a video review of this movie seen at the Nippon Connection 2020 Festival, which can be found under this link.
Rating: 7 /10