Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010

PHOTO ©1993 松竹

Waseda Shochiku cinema (1-5-16 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku; www.wasedashochiku.co.jp) is screening a double feature of early Takeshi Kitano films from June 5-11. In Sonatine (1993; pictured), Kitano plays a Tokyo yakuza who is sent to Okinawa to settle a feud between rival factions, and ends up wondering what his life is all about. Kids Return (1996), the first film the director completed after a near-fatal motorcycle accident, marked his turn toward more somber and autobiographical films.

French singer Serge Gainsbourg’s controversial Je t’aime… moi non plus (1976) will screen in its original version for the first time in Japan at Shinjuku Musashinokan (3F, 3-37-10 Shinjuku; http://shinjuku.musashino-k.jp) from June 5. The film is infamous for its frank look at sexuality, telling the story of a gay man (Joe Dallesandro) who falls in love with a boyish woman (Jane Birkin).

2008 Palme d’Or winner The Class (2008), which is set entirely within a middle school in Paris’ culturally diverse 20th arrondissement, will screen at Iwanami Hall (10F, 2-1 Kanda-Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku; www.iwanami-hall.com) from June 12. The film is based on an autobiographical novel by François Bégaudeau, a former school teacher, who plays a fictionalized version of himself.

Unless noted, Japanese films screen without English subtitles. Non-English language films are shown with Japanese subtitles only.