The Latest J-Horror Movies by the Directors of 'Ringu' and 'Ju-On' Lead 2023's Japanese Film Festival Lineup
This year's festival also includes a comedy about bathhouse rituals and a tribute to Takeshi Kitano.
J-horror devotees, rejoice: Australia's Japanese Film Festival is back for 2023, and it boasts a couple of highlights for lovers of scary cinema. If you're a fan of Japan's contribution to frightening flicks, then The Forbidden Play is your first must-see. Behind the lens is Hideo Nakata, the director of 1998's iconic Ringu, aka the movie that helped spark a global obsession (and the American spinoffs, too). This time, the filmmaker tells of a son wanting to bring his mother back to life, so much so that he keeps chanting a resurrection spell that awakens something evil.
This year's JFF isn't just about unsettling titles, but it does also feature Immersion, which hails from Ju-On: The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu (who also helmed the first US remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar). In his latest effort, he's playing with grudges again, as well as traditional Japanese superstitions, virtual reality and a secluded island — which is never a good setting for a horror film.
That's the unnerving contingent for JFF 2023, which is focusing on films that explore connections between the past and the present when it tours the country across spring. Of course, it will also serve another function: letting audiences head to Japan from their cinema seats.
Everyone has a favourite place in the world to visit. If you love travelling vicariously through movies when you can't do the real thing — in-between trips, or when your budget or just life in general doesn't have room for big holidays — then you likely have a favourite country-focused cinema event as well. JFF is one such event, surveying the latest and greatest in the nation's filmography. 2023 marks its 27th year, in fact, complete with a packed program.
Among the delightful aspects of this film festival is its two-pronged approach in most cities, giving both recent and retrospective titles their own time to shine. One part of the event heroes latest releases, the other goes big on classics, and each has their own run of dates. You'll find that setup in Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney from September–November, with Perth the only location solely focusing on new movies.
Officially opening the fest for 2023: We're Broke, My Lord!, a character-driven story about an unexpected inheritance from director Tetsu Maeda (And So the Baton Is Passed). From there, audiences can also look forward to the aforementioned to J-horror pictures; the animated Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom; Citizen Kitano's tribute to actor, comedian and filmmaker Takeshi Kitano (Outrage Coda); and Yokaipedia, which is about three boys on a monster-filled quest.
Fellow standouts include Yudo: The Way of the Bath, a comedy about bathhouse rituals; romance We Made a Beautiful Bouquet; Natchan's Little Secret, where three drag queens head to a funeral; and Single8, with director Kazuya Konaka's paying tribute to filmmaking before the digital era.
And, in the special series — aka the fest's retrospective thread — post-war Japanese cinema figure Kо̄ Nakahira is in the spotlight. JFF will screen 1956's Juvenile Jungle and Milkman Frankie, 1957's Temptation, 1962's Danger's Where The Money Is!, and 1963's Mud Spattered Purity, as well as Flora on the Sand, Only on Mondays and The Hunter's Diary from 1964, plus 1965's The Black Gambler.
JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL 2023 DATES:
Canberra:
Special series: Saturday, September 30–Monday, October 2 at NFSA
Latest releases: Wednesday, October 11–Sunday, October 15 at Palace Electric
Perth:
Latest releases: Monday, October 16–Sunday, October 22 at Palace Raine Square
Brisbane:
Special series: Friday, October 6–Sunday, October 8 and Wednesday, October 11 at QAGOMA
Latest releases: Wednesday, October 18–Sunday, October 22 at Palace Barracks
Melbourne:
Latest releases: Monday, October 23–Sunday, October 29 at The Kino and Palace Balwyn
Special series: Thursday, November 2–Sunday, November 5 at ACMI
Sydney:
Special series: Monday, October 23–Wednesday, October 25 at The Chauvel
Latest releases: Thursday, October 26–Tuesday, October 31 at Palace Central, Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona
The 2023 Japanese Film Festival tours Australia from September–November. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Top images: ©2023 The Forbidden Play Film Partners, © 2023 IMMERSION Production Committee.
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