The 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) concluded on Wednesday after 10 days of screenings. A total of 208 movies were shown this year, slightly down from 2023’s figure. Here are our top picks from the films we saw at the festival.
Paul Mescal plays Lucius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.
Gladiator II
The highlight of the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival was unquestionably the Asian premiere of Gladiator II, Ridley Scott’s best film in years. While it doesn’t quite live up to the original, it is a visual extravaganza. The story follows Lucius (Paul Mescal) — who is revealed as the son of Maximus (Russell Crowe in the first movie) — as he enters the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the soldiers of General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal).
Though not as memorable as Crowe’s performance almost a quarter of a century ago, Mescal is excellent as Lucius and is likely to be nominated in the best actor category for next year’s Academy Awards. Pascal could also be a contender for best supporting actor; however, Denzel Washington is the man being tipped to walk away with that award. He is superb as Macrinus, a former slave who plots to control Rome.
11 Rebels
The festival got off to an entertaining and bloody start with 11 Rebels selected as the opening movie. Set in 1868 during the Boshin War, it centers around a motley crew of samurai bandits who are hauled out of prison and tasked with defending a strategically important fortress against the emperor’s troops. They are fighting for the chance to earn their freedom, though effectively, it is a suicide mission.
The script was written in 1964 by Kazuo Kasahara, best known for the Battle Without Honor and Humanity film series. Toei decided to retrieve the screenplay six decades later, with Kazuya Shiraishi (The Blood of Wolves) taking on directing responsibilities and Takayuki Yamada impressing in the lead role as Masa. It’s a film with little character development and, at 2.5 hours, feels longer than it needed to be, but it’s still a fun watch with lots of action.
Teki Cometh
The winner of the 2024 Tokyo Grand Prix — the Tokyo International Film Festival’s top prize — Teki Cometh is a delicately shot black-and-white drama that begins as a languorous character study about Gisuke Watanabe, a retired professor of French literature whose wife died a few years earlier. He is living a seemingly tranquil life in the short time he has left as he prepares his meals meticulously and calculates how long his savings will last.
The movie, which is based on Tsutsui Yasutaka’s 1998 novel, then takes a sinister turn after the protagonist receives a message on his computer screen telling him his enemy is coming. Suddenly, the lines between reality and his dreams become blurred as his wife refuses to remain a ghost. Gisuke is a captivating character played brilliantly by Kyozo Nagatsuka, who deservedly walked away with the festival’s best actor accolade. Daihachi Yoshida was also named best director.
The Unseen Sister
A suspenseful family drama, The Unseen Sister tells the story of two siblings who are reunited after spending 17 years living in different countries. Qiao Yan (Zhao Liying) is the younger of the two and is now a much sought-after yet troubled movie star. Her unnamed pregnant sister, played by Xin Zhilei, has had a more difficult life and is trying to raise funds to bail out her debt-ridden husband, who has been kidnapped.
The film takes a while to get going, but is worth persevering with as director Chao Teh-in — commonly referred to as Midi Z — keeps the audience guessing as to what secret the two sisters are hiding. As with Chao’s 2019 psychological drama, Nina Wu, the movie is led by powerful female characters who men attempt to exploit. He also delves into the dark side of the entertainment industry and the social impact of China’s one-child policy.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958–1989
A remarkable and sobering documentary, Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958–1989 provides an invaluable insight into the long-running conflict in the Middle East that continues to this day. Five years in the making, director Göran Hugo Olsson described it as the “most painful film” he has ever made and “heartbreakingly timely.” The more than three hours of archival footage looks at both sides of the divide over a 31-year period via coverage taken from Sweden’s national public television broadcaster, SVT.
Despite having hardly any editorial commentary, the documentary shows how the media landscape changed in Sweden after the Six-Day War, fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states in June 1967. Up until that point, the coverage is very positive about the Zionist project and fails to even mention Palestine or its citizens. The tone then changes, as the media becomes more aware of the plight of the displaced Palestinian people.
Chain Reactions
A must for fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alexandre O. Philippe’s entertaining documentary examines the impact that Tobe Hooper’s classic slasher movie had on five artists. Included among them is famed Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, who first watched it when he was 15. He’d planned to see Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights that day, but it was full, so he opted for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre instead. It was a decision that would change his life.
The other interviewees in the documentary are renowned author Stephen King, director Karyn Kusama, film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and actor Patton Oswalt, most well known for his role as Spencer in the sitcom The King of Queens. Each person provides a profound analysis of Hooper’s horror masterpiece — which turned 50 last month — as well as their own personal memories watching the film. Philippe’s documentary is a fascinating commentary on a hugely impactful movie that has withstood the test of time.
