One of the best films of 2014, Pale Moon is also a great specimen of contemporary Japanese cinema. Photos © 2014 Pale Moon Film Partners.A married woman in her forties becomes an unlikely criminal in order to indulge her young lover… Presented with the support of Japan Foundation New York.

With a muted color palate, great soundtrack, and an almost sensual emphasis on the physicality of money, PALE MOON cements Yoshida’s importance in contemporary Japan’s cinematic landscape. Ikematsu is also excellent as the lover who can’t take his eyes off of the mousy but still pretty Umezawa. As her cons get more and more involving and her actions lead her further and further away from “propriety,” the fun is in seeing how far Umezawa will go while the noose slowly tightens around her. JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: HDCAM | 126 MINUTESĭaihachi Yoshida continues to probe at questions of conformity and rebellion with this devilishly delightful tale of young housewife Rika Umezawa (the stunning Rie Miyazawa) who becomes an embezzler to support an affair with a young lover (Sosuke Ikematsu). Colorful and attractive cinematography belie a dark dramatic underbelly, and Yoshida pulls off a brilliant balancing act between a his mean-spirited story and his impeccable comic timing.

Suicide, seduction, prostitution, persecution, and outrageous behavior collide with nonchalant abandon. The eldest daughter (Eriko Sato) is a failed twentysomething actress, arriving late to her own parents’ funeral, her brother (Masatoshi Nagase) is in an abusive relationship with a cheery and much put-upon Web-order bride (Hiromi Nagasaku), and the youngest sister (Aimi Satsukawa) is drawing a manga based on the family’s misfortunes. Stepsiblings are thrown together in death and debt after their parents are killed in a freak road accident trying to save a black cat sitting in the middle of a road. JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 112 MINUTESĭaihachi Yoshida’s debut film towers over a long list of offbeat Japanese comedies that gained popularity in the late 2000s, combining the weird, the whimsical, the wry, and the most warped humor you can imagine, even by Japanese standards.

Pale moon 2014 english subtitles