Movies by Haruhiko Arai

Haruhiko Arai is a master of intimate, emotionally resonant Japanese cinema. With a focus on ordinary lives and human relationships, his films capture the quiet beauty and complexity of the human experience. Arai's distinctive style is characterized by meditative pacing, naturalistic performances, and a keen eye for the subtle nuances of everyday life. One of Arai's most acclaimed works, "This Country's Sky" (2015), is a poignant exploration of family, memory, and the passage of time. Through lyrical camerawork and understated drama, the film paints a poetic portrait of a rural community grappling with change. Arai's ability to find the extraordinary within the mundane is also on full display in "Body and Soul" (1997), a quietly powerful study of human loneliness and the search for connection. As both a respected screenwriter and the editor of the influential film journal Eiga Geijutsu, Arai has played a vital role in shaping the landscape of Japanese cinema. His latest works, such as the critically acclaimed "A Spoiling Rain" (2023) and the dreamlike "The Stars and the Moon are Holes in the Sky" (2025), further cement his reputation as a filmmaker of remarkable depth and sensitivity, always attuned to the subtle rhythms of the human experience.