Shinji Somai has driven many movie fans and filmmakers crazy. All 13 of his films, including "Sailor Suit and Machine Gun" and "Typhoon Club," are currently being screened at Yokohama Cinemarin to rave reviews.

©︎ KADOKAWA 1981

Do you know a film director named Shinji Somai?

Fierce, sensitive, beautiful, profound. All of these words are often used to describe him and his films. His best-known films are "Sailor Suit and Machine Gun" (1981), "Typhoon Club" (1985), and "Wind Flower" (2001).

Shinji Somai passed away on September 9, 2001, leaving behind 13 films. It was only after his death that he began to receive worldwide recognition, with a series of retrospectives at the Nantes Film Festival (France), the Edinburgh Film Festival (UK), and the Paris Cinematheque (France) in 2012, and the Frankfurt Film Festival (Germany) in 2015.

Twenty years later, why is Shinji Somai still with us? What is it about him that stirs us? There is only one way to find out.

The "MOVIE TOWN" will be held at a movie theater in Yokohama for 14 days from June 26 (Sat.) to July 9 (Fri.), 2012.cinemalinA special screening will be held at A total of 13 films directed by Shinji Somai will be shown all at once. Let's take a look at them one by one.

The Flying Couple (1980)

ⒸTOHO CO., LTD.

Cast: Shingo Tsurumi, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Toshinori Omi, Mariko Ishihara

Shinji Somai's debut feature depicts two high school students who end up living under one roof. The unique long takes, famous words and scenes leave a strong impression. The film being screened this time is the .

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981)

©︎ KADOKAWA 1981

Cast: Yakushimaru Hiroko, Watase Tsunehiko, Kazamatsuri Yuki, Daimon Masaaki, Hayashiya Shinpei, Sakai Toshiya

It is also the assistant directorial debut of film director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It tells the story of a high school girl who suddenly becomes a yakuza boss. The film became one of the biggest hits in Somai's filmography with its many superb performances that transcended the framework of an idol film, such as being hung by a crane. The film being screened this time is the of the first release.

Shonben Ryder (1983)

　

©︎ 1983 kittyfilm

Cast: Tatsuya Fuji, Michiko Kawai, Masatoshi Nagase, Yoshikazu Suzuki, Shinobu Sakaue

Screenplay adaptation of Leonard Schrader's original idea. They steered the film in a more excessive direction after the box-office success of "Sailor Suit." The spectacular lumberyard scene is famous.

A School of Fish Shadows (1983)

　

©︎ 1983 Shochiku Co.

Cast: Ken Ogata, Masako Natsume, Yukiyo Juju, Koichi Sato

A film adaptation of Akira Yoshimura's novel of the same title. Somai, who has portrayed boys and girls before, took on the challenge of making a "grown-up" film. A veteran fisherman, his daughter, and a young man who has feelings for her. The beauty of Masako Natsume leaves a lasting impression.

Love Hotel (1985)

　

©︎ Nikkatsu

Cast: Noriko Hayami, Nozomi Terada, Kiriko Shimizu

Somai's long-cherished dream of making a "Nikkatsu Roman Porno" film, about a man who is reunited with a hotel girl he met two years earlier. Songs such as Yamaguchi Momoe's "Yoruhe" and Monta & Brothers' "Akai Umbrella" provide a vivid image.

Typhoon Club (1985)

　

©︎ Director's Company

Cast: Yuichi Mikami, Shigeru Benrin, Toshiyuki Matsunaga, Yuki Kudo, Yuka Onishi, Tomoko Kanazawa, Tomokazu Miura

Tokyo International Film Festival Young Cinema Grand Prix film. The film was highly praised by the President of the Jury, Bernardo Bertolucci. A boy and a girl are trapped in a school building on a typhoon day in this poignant coming-of-age film.

The Snow Break -Passion- (1985)

　ⒸTOHO CO., LTD.

Cast: Yuki Saito, Takaaki Enoki, Mai Okamoto, Leonardo Kumar, Masanori Sera

This is the first film adaptation of Marumi Sasaki's "Orphans Quartet". It is also Saito Yuki's film debut. It is the story of a wandering orphan and the man who sheltered her, 10 years later. The long scene at the beginning of the film is unimaginably long and amazing, even among Aime's long films.

Glowing Woman (1987)

　

©︎ 1987 Young Cinema '85 Joint Venture/Kadokawa Pictures

Cast: Keiji Mutoh, Narumi Yasuda, Mitsuru Akiyoshi, Hide Demon, Sumakei

Film adaptation of Hiroshi Kohiyama's novel of the same title. The story is about a wild young man who comes to Tokyo from Hokkaido and meets a woman who is an opera singer. This is a film that shows a new direction by Somai, who later went on to direct operas.

Welcome to the sky over Tokyo (1990)

　

©︎ 1990 Yale Twenty One / Bandai Visual / Shochiku

Cast: Kiichi Nakai, Riho Makise, Tsurube Shofukutei, Yuko Mariya

Riho Makise's debut feature film tells the story of a girl who is chosen to be a campaign girl for a commercial campaign and dies in an accident, but returns to the earth by persuading the god of death, played by Tsurube Shofukutei. The refrain of "The Two Who Cannot Return" and a musical scene towards the end of the film will bring tears to your eyes.

Moving (1993)

　

©︎ 1993 Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation

Cast: Kiichi Nakai, Junko Sakurata, Tomoko Tabata

A film adaptation of Hiko Tanaka's children's literature of the same title. It is also the debut novel of Tomoko Tabata. The film depicts the subtleties of a young girl's gradual maturation into adulthood after being separated from her unstable parents. It is a work that has gained a high reputation in Japan, and can be said to be the culmination of her career.

Summer Garden The Friends (1994)

　

©︎ 1994 Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation

Cast: Rentaro Mikuni, Naoki Sakata, Taiki Oh, Kenichi Makino, Naho Toda

A film adaptation of the novel of the same title by Kakumi Yumoto. The story is about three soccer boys who want to witness death and start observing an old man. This is a taste of a new phase in Somai's career.

Ah, Spring (1998)

©︎ 1998 Tram/Shochiku/Satellite Theater

Cast: Koichi Sato, Yuki Saito, Junko Tomiji, Shiho Fujimura, Tsutomu Yamazaki

Takehiro Nakajima adapted Masahiko Murakami's original story "Nice Ball" into a screenplay. The story is about a father who appears and comes to live with the family after being told that he had been bereaved a long time ago. Starring the Somai All-Stars, the film won first place in the Kinema Season and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.

flurry of snow in a clear sky

Cast: Kyoko Koizumi, Tadanobu Asano, Toshinori Omi, Shingo Tsurumi, Akira Emoto, Tsurube Shofukutei

A film adaptation of the novel of the same title by Akira Narumi. It is the story of a young bureaucrat and a pinsaro girl who meet and go on a trip to Hokkaido, the woman's hometown. Somai passed away on September 9 after the film's release, making it his last work.

————————————————————————-

There is another reason for this feature, besides the 20th anniversary of his death.

The shock flowed in 2005 when the film was screened at the Jeonju Film Festival (South Korea) in a retrospective of Shinji Somai's work. Then, coinciding with the revivals of "Parasite: A Family Halfway Under the Ground" (2019), "Hachidori" (2020), and Edward Yang's "The Guling Street Boy Murders," the eyes of the world's film fans turned their attention to Asia.

Now, what is it that only Asian cinema possesses? The roughness, the ferocity, and the fragility that lurks within. When I think about this, the auteur who comes to mind is Japan's own Shinji Somai. In other words, if we trace the context of Asian cinema, which is currently in the limelight, back to the past, we will find that it is Somai Shinji who comes to mind.

I have written a lot of formal things about Shinji Somai's films, but they also have a pop quality that allows you to watch them without hesitation. During the screening period, there will be online talks with Asian directors and talk shows by people who know Somai.

There has probably never been, nor will there ever be, an opportunity to pursue Shinji Somai in such a multifaceted way. Whether you are a first-time viewer or a fan, please visit Yokohama's Cinemarin.