Midnight Eye. Tetsuro Tamba.

They say Tamba had two quirks as an actor: one for never refusing a role and another for never memorising his lines. As far as the former goes, the figures say it all: the Japanese Movie Database counts 301 films; Tamba's own website chalks up 350, but stops short in mid-2002. When it comes to the lines, the one memory that pops up was seeing him on stage in Tokyo in 2004, playing multiple roles in the Miike-directed adaptation of Kyoka Izumi's novel Demon Pond (Yashagaike). One scene, a lengthy exchange between the female demon and her underwater vassals, saw Tamba installed on a comfortable chair on the far right, with the text of the scene propped up in front of him and in plain sight of the audience. Only Tamba could have gotten away with it, and he did.

Earlier: Tetsuro Tamba, 1922 - 2006. Meanwhile, new reviews:

• Jaspar Sharp heralds the Eureka Video / Masters of Cinema release of Funeral Parade of Roses, hoping it will "hoist its director Toshio Matsumoto's name up to a higher level on the totem pole of internationally visible filmmaking greats than it hitherto has been and lead to more widespread releases of his other films. Because on the evidence of this kaleidoscopic view of Tokyo's vibrant gay countercultural scene of the late 60s, his work represents something of an undiscovered treasure trove for the Western viewer."

• Mes: "Gamera the Brave will strike many seasoned monster fans as a Kaiju 101. They, however, are not the target audience of this new instalment, which is clearly pitched at the under-12s."

• "When Kaze Shindo's debut film Love/Juice arrived on the scene in 2000, people sat up to take notice," writes Mes. The she disappeared; now, she's back with Princess in an Iron Helmut. For Mes, the promise of that debut still remains unfulfilled.

• Mes: "Featuring [Shintaro] Katsu's first ever turn as a blind masseur, it's tempting to look at this film as merely a precursor to the Zatoichi series. This would be selling Secrets of a Court Masseur short by a long mile, however."

Posted by dwhudson at October 2, 2006 10:59 AM