Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2010

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Shibuya’s Cinema Rise (03-3464-0051; www.cinemarise.com) is running a retrospective of films that surprised the world, changed history, or created a new genre. Through April 30, Jim Jarmusch’s episodic Coffee & Cigarettes (2003) gets a look, along with two films that reinvented the musical: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) and 8 Femmes (2002; pictured). Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together (1997) plays alongside the often-imitated Trainspotting (1996) and Amelie (2001), May 1-21. All screenings are ¥800.

As a warm-up to the upcoming release of Mutant Girls Squad, Shibuya’s Theater N (03-5489-2592; www.theater-n.com) is screening classics from the “pinky violence” genre, which inspired the new film. An influence on directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, pinky violence films were produced by Toei studios between the late-’60s and mid-’80s and featured female yakuza bosses, biker chicks and reform school girls. April 24-May 7.

From April 24-May 1, Shimotakaido Cinema (03-3328-1008; www.shimotakaidocinema.com) is hosting a series of 12 documentaries on people who have triumphed over traumatic experiences. Shigeru Kobayashi’s Chokora! (2008) tells the story of street children in Senegal and Yoju Matsubayashi’s Flowers and Troops (2009) features six Japanese soldiers who were left behind in Thailand and Burma when WWII ended.