The Big 2012 Preview

Film

Berserk | Feb 4
After 20 years of medieval ultra-violence, Kentaro Miura's manga series is finally making the transition to the big screen. Berserk boasts an impressive pedigree (animators Studio 4°C also made Tekkon Kinkreet and Mind Game), though, with three parts promised over the course of 2012, it might be more appealing to hardcore enthusiasts than casual fans. Official website

Beginners | Feb 4
Ewan McGregor delivers his best performance in years in this semi-autobiographical rom-com by Thumbsucker director Mike Mills, playing an illustrator trying to come to terms with the death of his gay father (a sublime Christopher Plummer) while embarking on a new relationship of his own. But trust us: it's the talking dog that steals the show. Official website

The Woodsman and the Rain | Feb 11
Shuichi Okita's ambling comedy about a lumberjack who befriends a young filmmaker trying to shoot a zombie flick charmed audiences at last year's Tokyo International Film Festival, where it won the runner-up Special Jury Prize. It may offer few surprises, but The Woodsman and the Rain is eminently likable, and bolstered by a strong central performance from Koji Yakusho. Time Out review | Official website

Hayabusa | Feb 11
As real-life space stories go, the tale of Japan's historic mission to collect samples from an asteroid isn't exactly Apollo 13. Yet the Hayabusa spacecraft's seven-year journey through space is being treated to two big-screen adaptations this spring – the first of which, starring Ken Watanabe, looks to be the marginally less nauseating. Official website

Isn't Anyone Alive? | Feb 18
It's been a decade since the last feature film from Sogo Ishii, during which time the Electric Dragon 80,000V director has changed his name to Gakuryu. Huh? Isn't Anyone Alive? follows the travails of a group of university students trying to deal with the end of the world, but even the trailer doesn't seem sure what to make of it, asking ‘Is this punk, or just a cheap gag?’ Official website

War Horse | Mar 2
The timing says it all, really. Widely tipped for Oscar success, Steven Spielberg's War Horse is due to hit cinemas here just a few days after the Academy doles out its awards for 2012. But even if it fails to scoop any of the expected prizes, this sweeping tale of one boy and his (war)horse during World War I is guaranteed an easy run at the Japanese box office. Official website

Shame | Mar 10
Steve McQueen's 2008 directorial debut, Hunger, was the kind of film that haunts your nightmares. The Turner Prize-winning artist reunites with Michael Fassbender for the follow-up, in which the increasingly ubiquitous thesp plays a New York executive with a nasty case of sex addiction – a harrowing performance that netted him the best actor gong at last year's Venice Film Festival. Official website

The Artist | Apr 7
You've probably heard by now about Michel Hazanavicius' ode to the era of silent movies, an improbably wonderful comedy that is itself filmed in black and white, sans sound. Infuriatingly, Japan will be one of the last countries in the world to see it, but who knows: maybe The Artist will have time to snag an Oscar or two along the way? Official website