9th Annual Japanese Film Festival

	Captain Harlock in Arcadia
	Dora Heita
	Geisha House
	Kikujiro
	Nabbie's Love
	Zigeunerweisen

Captain Harlock in Arcadia

(82, Director: Tomoharu Katsumata)
Animation

Captain Harlock has become a prisoner after the planet Earth was totally destroyed by the Illmidus space invaders and is taken to their Earth Occupation Force Headquarters where Commander Zela orders him deported as a dangerous and undesirable character. Harlock is then arrested with a mysterious Japanese named Tochiro after having a fight with some Illmidus military officers and both Harlock and Tochiro are found to be carrying Harlock family documents. This causes them to be put under the Memory Molecular Analyzing Scanner. Images of past Harlock history show that former Phantom F Harlock, Jr met Tochiros father during the WWII. Harlock and Tochiro realize that they are tied together by a strange twist of fate.

This animation is based on a Manga by Reiji Matsumoto (of Galaxy Express 999).

Dora Heita

(00, Kon Ichikawa)
Samurai Action

The town magistrates office in a minor lords domain has been without a magistrate for a while, ever since the three previous officials mysteriously disappeared. The new magistrate, known as Dora Heita (the alley-cat Magistrate) on account of his debauched life style, comes from Edo (Tokyo). Heita plans to rid the domain of three yakuza bosses who run the high-crime area with the tacit approval of the castles highest officials.

As soon as he arrives in town, Heita adopts the disguise of a reprobate and spends all his time gambling and carousing with the yakuza and geisha in this district even though it is strictly out of bounds for the Samurai class. He quickly identifies the power structure, and comes to realize that the three yakuza bosses are in cahoots with the courtiers in the castle. But, a group of young samurais tries to assassinate him for his debasement of the samurai code, and yakuza bosses are also after him.

Geisha House

(99, Kinji Fukasaku)
Drama

On the backside of red lights a young girl observes the world of love and sex. She accepts everything that befalls her, and flies out like a butterfly into the streets of vanity.

In 1950s, Tokiko works as a housemaid in the Fujino-ya geisha house in Kyoto. She dreams of becoming a geisha someday and while working as a maid, she practices singing, dancing and other various things to entertain customers.

Observing the arguments between the house madam and her patron as well as the love tactics of the geishas, Tokiko comes to know incredible strength of these women who face even the most desperate circumstances with determination and grace. Then the day comes when Tokiko finally becomes a geisha and has to undergo a hard step of defloration with a rich patron.

Kikujiro

(99, Takeshi Kitano)
Road movie of a primary school boy

It is summer vacation, but third grader Masao has nothing to look forward to. Masaos father died soon after he was born and his mother, who he has never seen, except in photographs, is working somewhere far away. After his grandmother leaves for work, Masao decides to go on an adventure to Toyohashi, the town where his mother lives.

Kikujiro has never had a serious job in his life. Straight living doesnt suit him. But he needs capital to realize his dream. With no such capital at hand, he lives on what his wife makes. By chance Kikujiro accompanies Masao on his odyssey to find his mother. Soon after their departure, Masao finds himself at the bicycle racetrack where Kikujiro hits the jackpot with Masaos innocent guesses.

Director T Kitano is famous for HANA-Bi which received Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival in 97, and he plays out his delightful story with his unusual creative technique which made Kikujiro one of the best loved films at the Cannes Film Festival in 99.

Nabbie's Love

This year's opening piece

(99, Yuji Nakane)
Tropical love comedy in Okinawa

Nanako quits her job in Tokyo to return to her home island where her grandmother (Nabbie) and grandfather (Keitatsu) still live. The ferry also carries a young tourist from the mainland (Fukunosuke), and an old man (Sun Ra) who seems to have some nostalgic link to the island. Life on the island is slow and content with music seemingly always in the background. One day, Nanako sees Nabbie and SunRa in each other's arms. Nanako decides to keep what she saw, but word leaks out and the illicit love affair shocks the conservative islanders.

Okinawa islands used to be a separate dynasty that prospered with trading in East Asia before it became a part of Japan in 19th century. It was occupied by the US after the WWII until 1972. They have a distinctive language as well as culture and food that are quite popular among the mainlanders (whom they call "Japanese").

Zigeunerweisen

(80, Seijun Suzuki)
Cult-like Drama

A professor of German at a military school (Aochi) visits a small town by the sea and comes across his former colleague (Nakasago) who is now wondering about the country, discharged from school. In the small town the two men meet a geisha named Koine. Six months later, Aochi, hearing his friend Nakasago got married and settled down, visits the newlywed. He finds out, with surprise, that Nakasagos wife Sono has a striking resemblance to Koine. In entertaining Aochi that evening, Nakasago plays Sarasates Zegeunerweisen on phonograph.

This story sets in 1920s when decadance and nihilistic ideas were the sign of the time just as Japan was about to plunge into madness of fascism. Here, love, hatred and suspicion weave an intricate pattern like an elaborate tapestry as two couples and a geisha unfold their bizarre, personal drama. Director S. Suzukis images are sometimes beautifully quiet. They reflect not only the psyche of the people involved but religious philosophy of the Japanese in general, an area of the Japanese mentality which has never been explained in cinema before.