K2 SHIMOKITA EKIMAE CINEMA OPENING

A New Arthouse Cinema Launches with a Commitment to Subtitled Screenings

Venue(s): Cinema K2 Shimokitazawa
From January 20, 2022
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Official website: k2-cinema.com/
Theater website: k2-cinema.com/event
Theater website: k2-cinema.com/access

Advance tickets: https://k2-cinema.com/en/purchase.pdf
Talk event: NA

Title: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, The Fishmans Movie

The new year is opening with exciting news for arthouse fans: Just steps from the train station in trendy Shimokitazawa, K2 Shimokita Ekimae Cinema is slated to launch with three English-subtitled films from January 20, including Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s brilliant Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. The theater is planning a diverse lineup of (often subbed) titles, and considering that the fate of Japan’s so-called “mini-theaters” has been hanging in the balance for the past 2 Covid-impacted years, this is indeed news to celebrate.

With the backing of Odakyu Railways, which is “upgrading” the Shimokita station area, the beautiful new Nansei Plus building has incorporated Cinema K2 into its efforts to create a cultural "commons.” The theater’s launch team brings impressive backgrounds in film production, distribution and curation, and is clearly committed to providing a space not only for watching film, but for lounging in the comfort of the spacious, gracious lobby over a drink or treat.

Theater co-manager Go Kitahara notes that the team wanted to create “a place where everyone, regardless of age, can be together, mix and feel solidarity and empathy without needing any more reason than just being together. I believe that movie theaters have a kind of public nature, and that they have the power to accept and connect people regardless of their age or favorite genre.”

With co-manager Takeshi Otaka, founder and president of the Motion Gallery crowdfunding site that Japan’s indie filmmakers rely on, and Aiko Masubuchi, a US-educated film curator and producer, the K2 launch team is lining up an eclectic range of titles and talk sessions, so keep your eyes glued to the website.

For those who are already fans of the nearby Tollywood mini-theater, be assured that the new kid on the block won’t be muscling them out. Says Otaka, "I've been friends with Takahiro Otsuki (director of Tollywood) for many years. I personally think it would be more interesting to work together than to segregate ourselves. I hope we can loosely collaborate, sending customers to each other through interlocking programs and working together to boost the film culture of Shimokitazawa.”

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy 偶然と想像
Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
2021 121 min.

As you’ve no doubt heard, Ryusuke Hamaguchi is the new director to watch from Japan. After receiving overseas acclaim in 2020 for the Wife of a Spy script, which he cowrote with his former teacher and the film’s director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy played at the Berlin International Film Festival in early 2021 and received the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. Less than 2 months later, Hamaguchi was in Cannes with another new film, Drive My Car, which snagged the Best Screenplay award and is now in the frontrunner position on the Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature (or perhaps, Parasite-style, Best Film).

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy comprises 3 short films about chance and yearning (the Japanese title means "coincidence and imagination"), each with female protagonists, but none directly related. A master of minimalism and minute detail, Hamaguchi’s finely crafted stories are always very talky, and the conversations always brutally frank.

Magic (or something less assuring)

In this work, he starts with two women in a taxi discussing a new love interest. Episode one is titled Magic (or something less assuring), and model Meiko (Kotone Furukawa) listens with a sinking heart as her friend Tsugumi (Hyunri) describes the best date of her life. When she decides she must do something about it, nothing about the ensuing confrontation is predictable.In episode two, Door Wide Open, a woman (Katsuki Mori) helps her college-student lover take revenge on his pompous professor (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) for failing him. The professor may have just won a prestigious literary price, but he is almost hilariously scrupulous about avoiding any hint of teacher-student interaction — which reduces the woman’s chances of seducing and humiliating him as planned.

Door Wide Open

In the final episode, Once Again, Natsuko (Fusako Urabe) is leaving her 20th high school reunion when she bumps into an old classmate, Aya (Aoba Kawai), who invites her home for tea. While it doesn’t seem to matter, this chapter takes place after a computer virus has wiped out the internet, thus underscoring the importance of the women’s shared memories, sans Facebook, about school and mutual friends… until they begin to realize something’s amiss.Working with his Happy Hour producer, Satoshi Takada, Hamaguchi makes each story a masterclass in how to sustain interest even in mundane settings, how to provoke laughter and empathy when most needed, and how to produce a jolt of surprise each time you least anticipate it. It’s a must see, even if — or especially if — you’ve already watched Drive My Car.

Once Again

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes　ドロステのはてで僕ら
Dir. Junta Yamaguchi
2020, 70 min.

This loopy, superbly executed, no-budget time-travel trip is the first original feature film of the Europa Kikaku theater troupe. Shot at a cafe in Nijo, Kyoto, their home ground, and using no compositing at all, the entire 70-minute film was shot in one, rather miraculous, take.

The story runs like this: After a typical day of work at his café, Kato hears his computer screen talking to him, and discovers another version of himself, but from 2 minutes in the future, who tells him to check the TV in his café, where he finds himself replicating the exact actions he just saw the “other Kato” doing. When his friends discover his newfound ability to foresee the future, they hilariously attempt to use it for their own gain, and the anti-chronologies continue apace and chaos ensues.

If nothing else, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes reminds us, pace Ueda Shinichiro’s One Cut of the Dead, that creative execution is possible on a shoestring, when inspiration strikes like this.

The Fishmans Movie

The Fishmans Movie  映画：フィッシュマンズ
Dir. Yuki Teshima
2021, 172 min.

This music documentary celebrates the 30th anniversary of the debut of Fishmans, a group formed in 1987 that survived the 1999 death of its vocalist Shinji Sato, who wrote lyrics and music for almost all of the band's songs, and has continued to influence the music scene today.

The film captures a rehearsal for the Fighting Spirit 2019 event, which took place in the clubroom of the Song Lights music circle at Meiji Gakuin University, where the band was formed. It also includes footage shot at Shibuya La Mama, Shibuya Club Quattro, Sangenjaya Crossroad Studio, Vivid Sound Studio, and Hibiya Open Air Music Hall. It includes interviews with current and former members, as well as unreleased footage digitized from more than 100 VHS and other archival materials.

Cinema K2: Shimokita Ekimae Cinema