"All you need to know about the cutting edge of the new Japanese film genre - animated, inventive and imaginative, violent and cool ... a cinema that has reinvented itself."
- Donald Richie
The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film
Leading filmmakers as diverse as Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie), Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) and Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) acknowledge its influence; Hollywood churns out remakes (The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water) and imports its filmmakers in the hopes of recreating its magic - Japanese cinema today is a force to be reckoned with, whose influence can be felt on a global scale.
Now, The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film offers a groundbreaking and gap-filling insight into the inner workings of the industry and the leading creative minds that have made Japan such a cinematic talking point. From the exuberant excesses of Takashi Miike, via the gangster cool of Takeshi Kitano and the atmospheric horror of Hideo Nakata, to the restrained humanism of Hirokazu Kore-eda, this brand new book shines a revealing light on the many fascinating aspects of Japanese film.
Written by MidnightEye.com's editors Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp, and created with the collaboration of the filmmakers themselves, this is an indispensable guide to one of the most exciting film industries in the world today.
The book includes:
- In-depth and revealing profiles of the twenty most important and influential directors working today, including Takeshi Kitano (Zatoichi), Takashi Miike (Audition), Hideo Nakata (The Ring), Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man), Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure), and others.
- Reviews of more than 100 essential films that helped change the face of Japanese cinema.
- Detailed information about DVD availability of all films covered.
- An exclusive foreword by Hideo Nakata, director of Ring.
- 378 pages and more than 150 illustrations.
Published by Stone Bridge Press, The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film will be available at bookstores from mid December and can be ordered from good online retailers now!
Latest news:
September 11, 2006 - Firecracker features a side-by-side review of Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto ("an immensely readable survey of Tsukamoto's distinctive approach and oeuvre") and The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film ("Mes and Sharp's superb tome").
May 26, 2006 - The May issue of the French Asian film magazine Kumite calls the Midnight Eye Guide "an effective way to build yourself a solid basis of knowledge in contemporary Japanese film."
[ More news and reviews... ]
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