Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2010

Agatha Christie fans have something to look forward to on July 19 when the French film Le Grand Alibi (2008; pictured), based on the novel The Hollow, comes to Bunkamura’s Le Cinema (2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku; www.bunkamura.co.jp). In the past, the estate of the famed mystery writer only allowed film adaptations that were set in England during the period in which Christie worked, but the restrictions were loosened recently, allowing this update to take place in modern-day Paris

Shin-Bungeiza in Ikebukuro (3F, 1-43-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku; www.shin-bungeiza.com) is holding its second all-night marathon of films featuring cult actress Meiko Kaji on July 17. Highlights include Lady Snowblood (1973), the story of a female assassin in Meiji Japan (which inspired Lucy Liu’s character in Kill Bill), and Alleycat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970), about the leader of a girls’ biker gang who gets involved with a psychedelic rock band

Shibuya’s Eurospace (1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku; www.eurospace.co.jp) will screen a retrospective of films by Portuguese director Pedro Costa from July 24-30. Costa, who is known for making films about people living on the margins of Lisbon society, employs an idiosyncratic style that mixes documentary with fiction. His three-hour masterwork, In Vanda’s Room (2000), won the prestigious Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.