Talking the Pictures

All his life, Shuntaro has dreamed of becoming a famous katsudō benshi (narrator at screenings of silent films). One day, he is given the opportunity to demonstrate his skills at a small cinema. There, he has to deal with a jealous colleague, a rival cinema, a thief who claims Shuntaro still owes him money, and a cinephile police officer who is after him. A charming and comical ode to an art form that was extremely popular in Japan a hundred years ago.

Shuntaro droomt er al zijn hele leven van om een beroemde katsudō benshi (verteller bij de vertoning van stille films) te worden. Op een dag krijgt hij zijn kans in een kleine bioscoop, maar dan moet hij wel zien af te rekenen met een jaloerse collega, een rivaliserend filmtheater, een dief die beweert dat Shuntaro hem nog geld schuldig is en een cinefiele politieagent die hem op de hielen zit. Charmante en komische ode aan een kunstvorm die honderd jaar geleden in Japan razend populair was.

 

About the Director

SUO Masayuki (周防 正行) started his directing career in the pink film industry where he was assistant director on KUROSAWA Kiyoshi’s pink film Kandagawa Pervert Wars (1983). SUO’s directorial debut, and his only pink film, was a film called Abnormal Family: Older Brother’s Bride (1984), which he made as both a tribute and satire of OZU Yasujiro’s Tokyo Story. Abnormal Family has since been praised as an early masterpiece, showing true craftsmanship as he mimics and honours OZU’s stylistic film techniques. Shall We Dance? (1994) is undoubtedly SUO’s most critically acclaimed film. It won fourteen awards at the Japanese Academy Awards – including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Film – and performed strongly in U.S. theaters as well.

2019 – Talking the Pictures カツベン!
2014 – Lady Mako 舞妓はレディ
2012 – A Terminal Trust 終の信託
2006 – I Just Didn’t Do It それでもボクはやってない
1996 – Shall We Dance? Shall We ダンス
1992 – Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t シコふんじゃった (CJ 2006)
1989 – Fancy Danceファンシイダンス
1984 – Abnormal Family: Older Brother’s Bride 変態家族 兄貴の嫁さん (CJ 2010)