Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi • Drama • With Bengal, Masako Motai • 1989 • 135 minutes
Shunzo (Bengal) and his wife Michi (Masako Motai) run a beloved greengrocer on the outskirts of Tokyo. When Lee, a struggling exchange student from China, visits the shop but is unable to afford the produce, an uneasy relationship sprouts. Begrudgingly, Shunzo agrees to lower his prices. Soon, Lee’s classmates begin frequenting the shop. As Shunzo’s generosity sneaks up on him and strains his family’s welfare, he confronts his role as surrogate father to his newfound Chinese friends.
A delicate elegy to the Chinese students of its time, Beijing Watermelon finds Obayashi at his most modern, channeling the style of Yasujiro Ozu, while his experimental flourishes provide the perfect disruption, inviting viewers to fill in the blanks of history.
Up Next in Films from Japan
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Hanagatami (Nobuhiko Ōbayashi)
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In 2016, Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of the cult Japanese film HAUSU was diagnosed with lung cancer and given only a few months to live. Despite not much time left, for what was supposed to be hi...
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Inflatable Sex Doll Of The Wastelands
Directed by Atsushi Yamatoya • Drama • With Yûichi Minato, Miki Watari • 1967 • 87 minutes
Japanese director Atsushi Yamatoya's eerie, seedy and dreamlike film noir about a hitman seeking revenge for the death of his girlfriend, with fractured, time-bending overtones of John Boorman's POINT BLAN...
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Maborosi (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda • Drama • With Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano • 1995 • 110 minutes
One of the finest films of Japanese cinema, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s first feature film Maborosi is a story of love, loss, and ultimately, regeneration.
Haunted by the mysterious loss of her grandmother m...
