Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2011

Legendary screen star Ayako Wakao will be honored with a retrospective at Shin-Bungeiza in Ikebukuro (3F, 1-43-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro Toshima-ku; www.shin-bungeiza.com), July 10-15. In the ‘50s and ‘60s Wakao was known for taking sensual roles in controversial films such as Irezumi (1966; pictured) and Manji (1964), one of the first Japanese films to deal with lesbianism. Wakao continues to work in film and television…The French education documentary Just a Beginning (2010) is screening at Shinjuku Musashinokan (3-27-10 Shinjuku; http://shinjuku.musashino-k.jp) from July 9. The film follows the teachers of an elementary school in a racially diverse suburb of Paris as they use philosophy to teach critical thinking to the kids, a methodology developed at New York’s Columbia University in the 1960s. http://tetsugaku-movie.com/… Fans of tense thrillers will be squirming in their seats at the late show at Shibuya’s Theater N (24-4 Sakuragicho, Shibuya-ku ; www.theater-n.com) through July 29. The Spanish flick Kidnapped (2010) tells the story of a wealthy Madrid family who are robbed and taken hostage by a group of bandits, until they turn the tables and exact revenge.

Unless otherwise noted, Japanese films are shown without English subtitles and non-English language films are shown with only Japanese subtitles.