Kokuho

Kokuho screens at Harbour Lights Picturehouse on Saturday 11 July, a Japanese drama that's made a bit of a name for itself over there — it's described as the highest-grossing live-action film of all time in Japan.

The story starts in Nagasaki in 1964 with 14-year-old Kikuo. After his father dies, he's taken under the wing of a famous Kabuki actor, and from there he spends years training in the traditional theatre alongside the actor's son, Shunsuke. It's a long-haul story that follows them across decades of scandals, glory, brotherhood and betrayals, until one of them eventually becomes a master of the art. If you've never come across Kabuki before, it's a highly stylised form of traditional Japanese theatre, and the film builds around that world.

Harbour Lights Picturehouse is in Ocean Village, overlooking the harbour, and it's a two-screen cinema and bar. It's dog-friendly, with both indoor and outdoor seating, and it runs a kids' club and Toddler Time alongside its main screenings. The programme there tends to pull from a few different directions: current blockbusters, family favourites, independent gems, cult classics and world cinema, so Kokuho fits right in with the world cinema side of things.

So, if you're in the mood for a Japanese drama that stretches across a couple of generations, you'll find it at Harbour Lights Picturehouse on Saturday 11 July.