Shôhei Imamura: The cultural anthropologist

In November, we focus on Japanese master Shôhei Imamura, with reviews of A Man Vanishes, The Ballad of Narayama, Pigs and Battleships and Profound Desires of the Gods, an article on his 1960s heroines and a Reel Sounds column on Black Rain.

Out at the cinema are gleefully gross shocker The Human Centipede 2, much loved French classic Les enfants du paradis, compelling Norwegian junkie tale Oslo, August 31st, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters documentary Magic Trip, twisted Japanese thriller Revenge: A Love Story, British ghost story The Awakening, dark comedy Black Pond, Errol Morris’s Tabloid and Australian serial killer movie Snowtown. We have an interview with Terence Davies about his war-time story of complicated love The Deep Blue Sea and we talk to Michael Shannon about the affecting American tale of personal apocalypse Take Shelter.

In the DVDs, we review Mikl&#243s Jancs&#243’s revolutionary film Red Psalm and we have a feature on Berlin duo Stereo Total and their score for Underwater Love. We have an article on David Lynch’s soundtracks of decay, a piece on Lawrence of Belgravia and the last part of our London Film Festival coverage.

We preview brilliant Japanese cinema festival Zipangu and we have a Comic Strip review on Abraxas, about a Buddhist monk musician. In Alter Ego, Welsh writer Vanessa Gebbie wishes to be Gozzi the gunsmith in Day of the Jackal, and in the Film Jukebox, ex-Baby Birkin Raechel Leigh Carter recommends ten lesser known Klaus Kinski films.

PODCAST:
The Art Theatre Guild of Japan: Julian Ross talks about the summer’s seasons of experimental and independent Japanese cinema of the 1960s and 70s. In the 60s, the Art Theatre Guild of Japan (ATG) in Tokyo became the centre of a vibrant independent filmmaking scene, encouraging bold experiments and innovative collaborations with other artists. The discussion focuses on the ATG, its related space Theatre Scorpio, and the films the ATG helped produce or distribute, including works by Nagisa &#212shima, Kôji Wakamatsu and Shôhei Imamura.

Andrei Tarkovsky: metaphysical landscapes, mystical visions, melancholy longings

To mark the release of a box-set of his films and the Kosmos season of Russian science fiction at the BFI, we celebrate the work of Andrei Tarkovsky, with reviews of Solaris, Stalker, Mirror, Ivan’s Childhood, Andrei Rublev and The Sacrifice. Tarkovsky also inspires an exploration of Immaterial films in our Online Movie column.

Out at the cinema this month are gripping Spanish prison drama Cell 211, fascinating documentary Bobby Fischer against the World, charming Japanese comedy Sawako Decides, Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme and subtle drama Poetry – read our interview with Korean master Lee Chang-dong. We also have articles on Terrence Malick for Tree of Life and on the summer’s programme of experimental Japanese cinema. Romain Gavras (he of M.I.A.’s ‘Born Free’ video controversy) talks about his provocative first feature film, Our Day Will Come.

DVD releases include Shôhei Imamura’s vivid portrait of Japanese society’s underbelly, Pigs and Battleships, Lars von Trier’s ground-breaking series The Kingdom, the surreal Hungarian tale Szindb&#225d, Dario Argento’s Tenebrae and David Hemmings’s supernatural drama The Survivor, while The Twilight Zone is our first animated Comic Strip Review!

In our Alter Ego column, writer Cressida Connelly imagines herself as Dumbo and we have a feature on spy films from the other side of the Iron Curtain. American garage pop combo Crystal Stilts do a visual Film Jukebox and in the Blog, we report on the Edinburgh and Sydney festivals.

PODCAST:
Sounds of the Living Dead: As part of the launch of The End: An Electric Sheep Anthology on Tuesday 7 June, DJ Robin the Fog performed a live rescore of Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated (2009), adding a new experimental electronic / musique concr&#232te soundtrack to the animated version of George Romero’s classic zombie film.