Tokyo Sonata (2008)

Though it was widely seen and written about on its initial release, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata is so full of forgotten detail that it is more than worth a second or a third look. While it is the story of a salaryman who loses his job and almost loses his family, it is far more …

All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)

For American young people, the junior high years are the most confusing and traumatic years of their lives. All About Lily Chou-Chou demonstrates that this can be said for modern Japanese young people as well. Made in 2001, Shunji Iwai's depiction of this age group had become more sympathetic yet also more fragmentary and violent …