The papers and other sites are reporting the results of the Kinema Junpo poll of critics of the best ten films of 2010.
1. Villain
2. Confessions
4. 13 Assassins
6. Caterpillar
10. A Night in Nude: Salvation
11. Abacus and Sword
Here are the individual awards:
Best Director: Lee Sang Il (Villain)
Best Screenplay: Lee Sang Il, Yoshida Shuichi (Villain)
Best Actress: Terajima Shinobu (Caterpillar)
Best Actor: Toyokawa Etsushi (Sword of Desperation, A Good Husband)
Best Supporting Actress: Ando Sakura (A Crowd of Three, etc.)
Best Supporting Actor: Emoto Akira (Villain)
Best New Actress: Sakuraba Nanami (Last Ronin, etc.)
Best New Actor: Ikuta Toma (No Longer Human, etc.)
The KineJun Best Ten list is the oldest and in general the most respected film award in Japan. It tends to be rather middle-of-the-road, however, since it is chosen by established and in general older and more conservative film critics. The Eiga geijutsu Best Ten, which I used to help select, tends to be more radical (note their results for 2010), and the Japan Academy Prize very suspect, since it is structurally biased towards the major studios. This year's KineJun list, however, has some surprises, especially Zeze Takahisa's very long and very independent film Heaven's Story.