Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2011

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To commemorate the opening of the exhibition Vermeer: The Geographer and Flanders at the Bunkamura museum (2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku; www.bunkamura.co.jp), the Vermeer biopic Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003; pictured) will be screening upstairs at Le Cinema. Colin Firth plays the Dutch painter and Scarlett Johansson is the peasant servant girl who becomes his assistant and the model of one of his most famous works.

Shin-Bungeiza in Ikebukuro (3F, 1-43-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku; www.shin-bungeiza.com) is paying tribute to late actress Hideko Takamine, who passed away in December, with a retrospective through March 16. Takamine, who began her career in 1929 at the age of 4, was known as “the Japanese Shirley Temple,” but transitioned to adult roles in films such as Immortal Love (1961).

Also at Shin-Bungeiza, four films by modern master Kiyoshi Kurosawa (b. 1955) will be part of an all-night screening March 12. Kurosawa (no relation to Akira) is known for his contributions to the psychological horror genre with films such as Kairo (2001), Doppelganger (2003) and Retribution (2006), all of which feature in the lineup.

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