Our mark is 銀幕, ginmaku — the silver screen, and the same two characters in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

I came to Tokyo at twenty-three for a summer job at a Shibuya mini-theatre and the job never quite ended. Fifteen years of festivals later I still think the only review that counts is the one the room gives you: where the laugh lands, the moment three hundred people stop moving at once, whether anybody stays for the credits.

Cinepuuulse follows Asian cinema — Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand — across about a hundred and twenty sources. A good number of them are Spanish, French and Portuguese, because those countries programme this work seriously and write about it better than most of the English-language trade. Genre and art-house get the same seat here. I am not ranking them, and nothing is scored out of ten.

Each story is a headline, a short excerpt, one still and a link to the outlet that did the reporting. We never republish the piece, and the still belongs to its studio or its photographer. A Korean trade paper appears in Korean, a French review in French. We point at the work; we do not put words in anyone's mouth.

— Daren Wise, Tokyo

← Cinepuuulse Archive

The Japan TimesJapan

‘Numb’ builds a bleak vision of a troubled boyhood

September 26

Inspired by director Takuya Uchiyama's own experiences, "Numb" is an unflinching look at childhood neglect transmuted into adult sorrow.

CULTURE

Read at The Japan Times ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

‘Numb’ builds a bleak vision of a troubled boyhood

More from The Japan Times on Cinepuuulse

JapanA trumpet-led finale brings new spark to Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival The Japan Times

JapanWoe is marriage: ‘Until the T-Shirt Dries’ is a meandering take on middle-class ennui The Japan Times

JapanMoons, mazes, mountains: Japan’s art scene this fall will tickle your fancy The Japan Times

JapanMore Chinese films fill TIFF theaters as Canada-China ties warm The Japan Times

Japan‘Nagi Notes’: An intimate portrayal of rural rhythms and realities The Japan Times

Japan‘Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?’: A passionate but uneven anti-war biopic The Japan Times