Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2011

Italian director Luchino Visconti gets the deluxe treatment as Ginza Theatre Cinema (1-11-2 Ginza, Chuo-ku; 03-3535-6000; www.ttcg.jp) screens remastered prints of his best-known works from September 24. Visconti began his career during Mussolini’s strict control over cinema in Italy, but came into his own in the ‘60s and ‘70s, with films such as Rocco and his Brothers (1960), Death in Venice (1971; pictured) and Ludwig (1972), all of which are included in the retrospective…Sci-fi fans will want to head to Shin-Bungeiza in Ikebukuro (3F, 1-43-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro Toshima-ku; www.shin-bungeiza.com) on October 1 for a late night tribute to apocalyptic scribe Sakyo Komatsu, who passed away in July at the age of 80. Komatsu was known for his disaster novels Japan Sinks (1973), Virus (1980) and Sayonara Jupiter (1982), which were all turned into the blockbuster films included in the all-night screening. Komatsu saw parallels between Japan Sinks, which was made into a film again in 2006, and the March 11 disasters, and expressed hope that Japan would be able to rebuild itself shortly before his death… French actor Mathieu Amalric has turned to directing with Tournée (2010) a comedy about a producer guiding an American burlesque troupe through a tour of France, screening at Ginza’s Cine Switch (4-4-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku; www.cineswitch.com) from September 24.

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