Films This Week 10/22/21
by Gary Palmucci | 22nd October 2021 | Gary's Corner
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to the great Akira) has over the past two decades built a body of work- gradually becoming better known in the US- to rival that of his Japanese contemporary Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose Shoplifters is a New Plaza favorite.
Kurosawa latest, Wife of a Spy is this week’s addition to our Virtual Cinema lineup. Set in 1940 Japan, as the nation’s military aspirations were on the verge of explosive expansion, this tale of a wife gradually drawn into her spouse’s investigation of Japanese atrocities in Manchuria and elsewhere manages to strike a unique balance between wartime suspense and a transformative love story.
In his recent Critic’s Pick review, the NY Times’ Glenn Kenny writes:
“Wife of a Spy is something like linear narrative perfection, with every scene perfectly calibrated. As the couple’s best-laid plans hit increasingly hair-raising and heart-sinking setbacks, the movie’s denunciation of war, and its implicit condemnation of contemporary Japan’s blind-eye attitude toward its wartime crimes, becomes more bracing.”
A younger Japanese director, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, is also getting lots of critical attention for his sharply observed dramas of modern Japanese life. One of them, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is in current cinema release and another, Drive My Car (a Cannes winner this year for its screenplay) opens at Thanksgiving. New Plaza hopes to offer both of them to you in the coming months.
Gary Palmucci, Film Curator
New Plaza Cinema