November 3, 2014
Cinematic Underground: November 3, 2014
Beauty and the Beast, Of Horses and Men and Tom at the Farm
By Kevin Mcgue
The 18th-century French novel Beauty and the Beast has been adapted for film several times, with the Disneyfied version being the most widely seen. Now the French have reclaimed the tale with a live action take starring Léa Seydoux and Vincent Cassel that sticks closely to the 1756 source material by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Playing from November 1 at Shinjuku Piccadilly (3-15-15 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku; www.shinjukupiccadilly.com).
Of Horses and Men, the Icelandic film that won the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2012, returns for a run from November 1 at Image Forum in Shibuya (2-10-2 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku; www.imageforum.co.jp). Shot in a scenic, rural part of the country with sparse dialogue, it portrays the close relationship the people have with their horses.
The French-Canadian film Tom at the Farm starts as a drama with a gay man traveling to a small town to attend his lover’s funeral, but soon turns into a psychological thriller when the family forces him into a game of survival. Shortlisted for Best Picture at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in March, it’s playing now at Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (2-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku; www.ht-cinema.com).
