1032 – The Last Samurai (2003)

timespace coordinates: 1876 – 1877 California > JapanThe Last Samurai is a 2003 American period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz. The film stars Tom Cruise, who also co-produced, with Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada, Koyuki, and Shin Koyamada in supporting roles.

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Tom Cruise portrays a United States Captain of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into contact with samurai warriors in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in 19th Century Japan.

1877 — In 1877, nine years after the Meiji Restoratin, a major rebellion in Kyushu concentrated the opposition of conservative elements to the westernization of Japan. The traditional forces, including for example samurai infuriated at no longer being allowed to carry swords, were defeated by the new conscript army. Thousands were executed. Here the brave new officers in their western-style uniforms accept the surrender of un-uniformed rebels. — Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS

The film’s plot was inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, and the westernization of Japan by foreign powers, though in the film the United States is portrayed as the primary force behind the push for westernization. To a lesser extent it is also influenced by the stories of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War and Frederick Townsend Ward, an American mercenary who helped Westernize the Chinese army by forming the Ever Victorious Army. (wiki)

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1019 – Perfect Blue (1997)

timespace coordinates: 90s Japan

Perfect Blue (パーフェクトブルー Pāfekuto Burū) is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological horror film directed by Satoshi Kon (in his directorial debut) and written by Sadayuki Murai. It is based on the novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis (パーフェクト・ブルー　完全変態 Pāfekuto Burū: Kanzen Hentai) by Yoshikazu Takeuchi.

The film follows Mima Kirigoe, the member of a Japanese idol group who retires from music to pursue an acting career. As she becomes a victim of stalking, she starts to lose her perception of reality and fiction. Like much of Kon’s later work, such as Paprika, the film deals with the blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality in contemporary Japan. (wiki)

Perfect Blue is an apocalyptic slasher, the ultimate crystallization of everything we came to fear about the internet before it became synonymous with living. ( Full Review…)

imdb   /   rt   /  Legacy

0989 – Shoplifters (2018)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Tokyo

Shoplifters (Japanese: 万引き家族 Hepburn: Manbiki Kazoku, direct translation Shoplifting Family) is a 2018 Japanese drama film directed, written and edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Starring Lily Franky and Sakura Ando, it is about a family that relies on shoplifting to cope with a life of poverty.

Kore-eda wrote the screenplay contemplating what makes a family, and inspired by reports on poverty and shoplifting in Japan. (wiki)

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0964 – Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

timespace coordinates: 1945  Kobe, Japan

Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓 Hotaru no Haka) is a 1988 Japanese animated war film based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, and animated by Studio Ghibli for the story’s publisher Shinchosha Publishing. The film stars Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara and Akemi Yamaguchi. The film tells the story of two siblings, Seita and Setsuko, and their desperate struggle to survive during the final months of the Second World War.

The Grave of the Fireflies is commonly described as an anti-war film, but this interpretation has been denied by the director. (wiki)

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0923 – Home (2009)

on youtube

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Home is a 2009 French documentary film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth. It shows the diversity of life on Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet. The English version was read by Glenn Close.

The film was financed by Kering, a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands, as part of their public relations strategy. (wiki)

Yann Arthus-Bertrand said in a TED talk that the movie has no copyright.

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922 – A Beautiful Planet (2016 documentary)

A Beautiful Planet is a 2016 American documentary film that explores Earth by showing IMAX footage that was recorded over the course of fifteen months by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The filmmakers who created the movie and the astronauts who filmed it and starred in it intended to help viewers experience the awe and wonder that come from looking down on our planet from space. It is narrated by Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence; she has called A Beautiful Planet “a love letter to Earth.” 

The film also examines some of the daily experiences of the astronauts, who represent the respective space agencies for the United States, Russia, Europe, and Japan. This multinational crew lives and works on the Space Station, an orbiting symbol of cutting edge technology and peaceful international cooperation which is presented as “a truly awesome example of what we can achieve when we work together.” (wiki)

A_Beautiful_Planet#The_big_picture

A_Beautiful_Planet#Spaceship_Earth

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A_Beautiful_Planet#Exoplanet_Kepler-186f

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0890 – Origin: Spirits of the Past (2006)

It is 300 years into the future. Earth’s environment had been devastated by mankind’s own foolish plans and humankind is beleaguered by the sentient forests which they have awoken. The world balance is tipped when a young boy named Agito stumbles across a machine that glowed in a strange blue hue inside a forbidden sanctuary. The machine, which has preserved a beautiful girl named Toola from the past, is activated. Toola has a “mission” that had been entrusted to her by the past …

Origin: Spirits of the Past, known in Japan as Silver-Haired Agito (Japanese: 銀色の髪のアギト Hepburn: Gin’iro no Kami no Agito), is a 2006 Japanese animated science fiction film directed by Keiichi Sugiyama, written by Nana Shiina and Naoko Kakimoto, and produced by Gonzo. (wiki)

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