"Confessions" (告白) really caught my interest and I was wondering if anyone of you could recommend as thrilling movies to me.
I am also happy to get recommendations for Takeshi Kitano movies 
keikei
Member
Registered: 2010-12-08
Posts: 63
Japanese movie directors are much better at producing conventional dramas & quirky/strange stuff. Confessions is an exception, you won't find anything like that in japanese i'm afraid, at least no revenge movies of similar quality.
If you're open for Korean movies: 'Oldboy' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/) is probably even better. 'A Bittersweet Life' is amazing too. South-Korean thrillers & revenge movies are pretty exciting in general. So many masterpieces... like The Chaser, I saw the Devil, The Man From Nowhere (all available on Blu-ray) and many more.
You know, I actually got into Korean cinema because of Confessions - when I was desperately looking for similar movies 
Last edited by keikei (2013 May 05, 8:31 pm)
tashippy
Member
From: New York
Registered: 2011-06-18
Posts: 566
Indeed those movies aren't exactly about character development, but for something that drags on an on, how about a 45 minute fight scene in 13 Assassins. Admittedly it was more epic than laborious.
I really thought 蛇のピアス was cheesy. It's about a regular girl who looks beyond the outer trappings of her rebel boy's piercings. barf.
I think Sabu's films are enjoyable. His movies have a clever structure and parody the yakuza genre in which Sabu himself was often typecast as an extra before becoming a director.
I've never watched Gantz or similar stuff. Does anyone like the Gantz live movie or could recommend a similar alternative? I know Tori-kun said he doesn't like anime to live-action stuff.
On that note, is there anything along the lines of The Matrix or Blade Runner or Gattaca that anyone can recommend? Some interesting future movies which I guess naturally means also dystopian. I enjoyed the anime No. 6, although I know some people think it's corny.
The featured J-torrent on asiatorrents right now, Summer Time Machine Blues, was pretty entertaining too, but it's a comedy about time travel with Eita and Ueno Juri.
kurohachi
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2013-03-14
Posts: 94
I can only suggest some Takeshi Kitano movies, since honestly I'm indifferent about both Confessions and Oldboy (saw both movies once, thought both were overhyped IMO. That being said, Takako Matsu was fantastic in it). Toshiaki Toyoda's "9 Souls" has some angst to a similar vein of Confessions, but not a thriller more like a "Dirty Dozen" type of film.
For revenge/action (yakuza movies) - Outrage and Outrage Beyond. Other great ones are Brother, Sonatine, and Hanabi (my alltime favorite movie ever). I'd even recommend some old ones like Kinji Fukasaku's "Jingi Naki Tatakai" series (if you have the time to invest in it).
Co-sign on Love Exposure, 13 Assassins, Audition, and Cure, all are great films.
I wish I could more Sabu films (like Postman Blues and Monday), I really enjoyed "Drive" though none of his films are ever released here in the States sigh.
I love Japanese films (old and new), so I could recommend more, but most fall in the comedy (Koki Mitani), drama, or yakuza categories.
Stansfield123
Member
From: Europe
Registered: 2011-04-17
Posts: 799
tashippy wrote:
On that note, is there anything along the lines of The Matrix or Blade Runner or Gattaca that anyone can recommend?
Those are very different kinds of movies (on the one side, The Matrix and Blade Runner are pretty much a sequence of special effects/ fight scenes in a futuristic setting; Gattaca is a superbly made film centered on the current and yet still timeless philosophical issues it sets out to draw attention to).
If you're looking for scifi action, check out AppleSeed (and the sequel). They're significantly more entertaining than Gantz (except for a couple of scenes in Gantz, like the train fight scene - I think it's from the second movie, but I'm not sure).
If you're looking for ideas and beautiful film-making, check out Ghost in The Shell and Innocence (somewhat of a sequel), both by Mamoru Oshii (these last two are anime).
Smelliot
New member
Registered: 2012-07-09
Posts: 6
tashippy wrote:
I was wondering about the opening monologue from "Confessions". The teacher says that a child under 14 years old in Japan can do anything and not be punished by the law. To what extent is that true and is she referring to a certain law or amendment?
Article 41 of the Japanese Penal Code says:
十四歳に満たない者の行為は、罰しない。
So yeah, seems to be true. It's not that unusual from a global perspective. Many European countries set the age of criminal responsibility about that high.
Last edited by Smelliot (2013 May 25, 12:28 pm)
