Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2014

The French semi-autobiographical drama My Little Princess (pictured) is screening at Image Forum in Shibuya (2-10-2 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku; www.imageforum.co.jp) under the Japanese title Violetta. Isabelle Huppert plays a photographer who leaves her 12-year-old daughter in the care of her mother while she seeks success as an artist, only for the two to be thrown together when the grandmother dies. The director based the story on her own mother, Irina Ionesco, whose photography garnered controversy in the 1970s… Cinema Vera (1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku; www.cinemavera.com) will give late director Yoshitaro Nomura a retrospective, with 35mm prints screening May 17-July 13. Nomura is known as one of the major players in Japanese film noir, directing thrillers such as Stakeout (1958), but he also worked in a wide range of genres, including his debut Pigeon (1952), a coming of age drama… If you have been waiting for a Korean film about a baseball-playing gorilla—and who hasn’t?—then Mister Go is the film for you. The CG simian will be batting homeruns in this mass of cinematic silliness at Cinema Rise (13-17 Utagawacho, Shibuya-ku; www.cinemarise.com) from May 24.