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Old 2009-06-29, 23:48   Link #1
Theowne
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada
Age: 34
Looking for live action films

I'm looking for Japanese films, preferably serious human dramatic films (though I wouldn't pass up an exceptional comedy). I like films that deal with serious topics, such as Ima, Boku Wa (hikkikomori), Tokyo Sonata (breakdown of a family) or All About Lily Chou-Chou (bullying, student suicide). Not so much anything involving violence/gore/that sort of thing. Just mature films about human emotions and interaction. Romance is fine, but no soap-operaish stuff.

Any suggestions?
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Last edited by Theowne; 2009-07-01 at 00:04.
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Old 2009-06-30, 16:29   Link #2
Zu Ra
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Join Date: Feb 2006
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Well as your looking for Live Action Movies which I take are the ones taken from novels/manga ? Seeing that you want serious human drama I would suggest A Liter of Tears . I cant help much drama is not my thing. But another good movie which has romance as its main theme is Lovely Complex .

Though I known some good dramas movies they are not live actions . And the live actions I know are not what you are looking for . Hope this helps : )

A Liter of Tears :
Lovely Complex :
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Old 2009-06-30, 16:40   Link #3
micheut
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Although the title would suggest this movie is destined to be a failure, the Princess Blade was an excellent movie and reminded me a lot of Anime. There is a fair amount of action in the movie, but the Drama side conquers.
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Old 2009-06-30, 23:58   Link #4
Theowne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Geta Boshi View Post
which I take are the ones taken from novels/manga
No, just any live action films. I said live action to distinguish from anime movies.

Also when I say drama I don't mean "J-dramas" as the term is commonly used, I just mean films within the dramatic/emotional genre.
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Old 2009-07-01, 00:05   Link #5
james0246
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Are you fine with older films, or do you only want recent films?
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Old 2009-07-01, 00:29   Link #6
Theowne
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Any age is fine. I liked "Tokyo Story" and "Banshun", as more examples of stuff I enjoyed.
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Old 2009-07-01, 00:29   Link #7
TinyRedLeaf
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For a start, you might want to try last year's Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film: Okuribito (Departures)
Quote:
Departures is about a cellist whose orchestra is disbanded and, desperate for work, becomes a funeral professional.
Quoting myself: "In a way, Departures is a somewhat melodramatic film bordering on sappy sentimentality. But then again, it's also a Japanese film, and few people do sentimentality as sensitively — or as touchingly — as the Japanese.

"The movie deals with other secondary issues too, such as the prejudice against people in the funeral profession, inter-generational tensions between parents and children, and the typical Japanese penchant for romanticising the heartfelt simplicity of rural life."



============

There's also this film by Ken Watanabe about coping and living with dementia: Ashita no kioku (2006) (Memories of Tomorrow). I've read some terrific reviews about it and have been looking for a DVD with English subtitles.


@00:30
"Without noticing it, I started writing this diary.
If the me of yesterday were to disappear completely,
I must take this chance to record what I can still remember.
"
- Masayuki Saeki's memoir

Quote:
Dashing and charismatic, Ken Watanabe is the best-known Japanese actor to have "made it" in Hollywood. Most famous for his role in The Last Samurai, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, Watanabe has taken a change of direction for his most recent film, Memories of Tomorrow.

The film, which Watanabe also produced, is a moving look at the sensitive subject of dementia. Watanabe plays Masayuki Saeki, a white-collar worker diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease when he is just 49. The film follows Saeki and his wife Emiko (Kanako Higuchi) as they deal with the onset of the disease and the inevitable prospect that he will eventually forget everything that is important to him. Famed for her roles in films such as Amida-do Dayori (Letters from the Mountain) and Casshern, Higuchi delivers a gripping performance as the woman who must be strong in the face of grief.

Watanabe, 46, is no stranger to disease, having overcome leukemia in the late 1980s, and now currently fighting hepatitis C. "To have a very difficult illness does not necessarily mean the end of life," Watanabe says. "It simply means that this is a break or a pause, the beginning of a new step and the end of a current phase. It is simply one break in a longer life."

He adds that he hopes the film will deepen understanding of Alzheimer's in Japan, where instances of the disease are on the increase.

- MOGNET
============

Finally, since you liked Shunji Iwai's All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), you might want to try out one of his earlier films: Love Letter (1995). It's actually a romance, albeit a tragic one, but it does deal with the serious issue of moving on from the loss of a loved one.


Quote:
Hiroko Watanabe's fiance, Itsuki, died two years earlier in a mountain climbing accident. While looking through his high school yearbook, Hiroko in a fit of grief decides to write a letter to him using his old school address. Surprisingly she receives a reply, not from the dead Itsuki, but from a woman with the same name whom had known Hiroko's fiance in school. A relationship develops between the two women as they continue to exchange letters and share memories of the dead Itsuki.

- IMDb

Last edited by TinyRedLeaf; 2009-07-01 at 11:25.
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Old 2009-07-01, 16:32   Link #8
Nanoha
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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If you want animes turn into live action major motion picture, there are a lot of companies today in America that turns original anime into live action. Though they aren't always good, they are promising. Such as Dragonball Evolution, now that one isn't good if you're a dragonball fanatic but opinions vary, I guess. There is also the recent release of Blood:The Last Vampire trailer that's coming out mid-July this year.
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Old 2009-07-01, 22:32   Link #9
Theowne
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Thanks for the suggestions, but I'd to repeat what I said earlier, that I'm looking for japanese films that don't have to be related to anime or manga in any way.

Oh, and thanks, TinyRedLeaf, those look like they might interest me, particularly the second one.
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