10/1 – Berlinale Day 7

In keeping with tradition, it was about time for my very own J-day to carry this thing one step further. And it turned out one of those –ism days (nationalism, chauvinism, militarism, fascism, Tennoism), filled to the brim with such things it apparently is impossible to escape for very long, and provoking ambivalent sentiments as well as a revitalized need for some research. History formation, forms or rites of public commemoration, their respective political implications – these seem recurring topics in quite a few recent films. Interesting!

58^th Berlinale Competition
“Kabei/Our Mother”, Yamada Yoji (Japan)
An elegiac Showa epic, truthful and touching, our filial duty.

38^th Forum
“Yasukuni”, Ying Li (China/Japan)
Troubled, troubling, troublesome picture of addressing a painful binational past.

(pic©berlinale.de)