January 26-February 5, 2011
Sabu. Photo courtesy of Sabu.
If you're looking for high speed, high style, hard luck, and the quirky lusts and lunacies of post-Bubble Japan, Sabu's your man.
Born Hiroyuki Tanaka (1964), Sabu is the cult auteur of "punk n' roll," alternative comedies, often imitated, never equaled, and far too rarely shown in the U.S. since his 1996 feature debut, Non-Stop a.k.a DANGAN Runner (included in our line-up). In a world of hazards and happenstance, Sabu zeroes in on blue and white collar everymen tossed into dangerously absurd situations from which they desperately try to run. As things speed along, Sabu brings a fresh and frantic twist to traditional film genres (the yakuza film, the thriller, etc.), giving their lean and clean-cropped premises the electroshock treatment and über edgy music scores. The Japanese filmmaker has drawn comparisons with Buster Keaton, Johnnie To and Doug Liman, but his satirical jamborees, more than just friendly black comedies, are truly unlike anything else on the silver screen: they are stamina tests, survival riffs, victory rolls.
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MondayWednesday, January 26, 7:30 PMOpening screening followed by an afterparty. Introduction and Q&A with director Sabu. |
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Postman Blues
ポストマン・ブルース |
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Non-Stop
弾丸ランナー |
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Drive
Wednesday, February 2, 7:30 PM |
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The Blessing Bell
幸福の鐘 |
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Troubleman
トラブルマン |
Run, Salaryman, Run! A Retrospective of Sabu's Film Works is co-presented with The Japan Foundation.
Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines.
Japan Society’s 2010-2011 Film Programs are generously supported by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund.
Additional support is provided by The Globus Family, Yoshiko and Tim Schilt, David S. Howe, Dr. Tatsuji Namba, Elaine Sheng and Samuel Jamier, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 counties.
Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines.
Japan Society’s 2010-2011 Film Programs are generously supported by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund.
Additional support is provided by The Globus Family, Yoshiko and Tim Schilt, David S. Howe, Dr. Tatsuji Namba, Elaine Sheng and Samuel Jamier, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 counties.
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