Fresh from his Netflix success with “Ride or Die”, a film that everyone seems to have seen for different reasons, Ryuichi Hiroki continues his exploration of the concept of crime and punishment in a completely different setting, the closed community of a small fictional island.
Noise is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
The story is adapted from the homonymous manga by Tetsuya Tsutsui and begins with a middle-aged local driving a stranger around the island, before the latter strangles him for no apparent reason. A bit later, the stranger ends up in the property of Keita Izumi, the “star of the island”, since his black figs are about to feature on a TV program that also comes with a big government grant that will help the declining economy of the area. The first interaction ends up without any happenings, but soon Keita’s daughter disappears. The aggravated father seeks...
Noise is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
The story is adapted from the homonymous manga by Tetsuya Tsutsui and begins with a middle-aged local driving a stranger around the island, before the latter strangles him for no apparent reason. A bit later, the stranger ends up in the property of Keita Izumi, the “star of the island”, since his black figs are about to feature on a TV program that also comes with a big government grant that will help the declining economy of the area. The first interaction ends up without any happenings, but soon Keita’s daughter disappears. The aggravated father seeks...
- 9/10/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Fresh from his Netflix success with “Ride or Die”, a film that everyone seems to have seen for different reasons, Ryuichi Hiroki continues his exploration of the concept of crime and punishment in a completely different setting, the closed community of a small fictional island.
“Noise” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival
The story is adapted from the homonymous manga by Tetsuya Tsutsui and begins with a middle-aged local driving a stranger around the island, before the latter strangles him for no apparent reason. A bit later, the stranger ends up in the property of Keita Izumi, the “star of the island”, since his black figs are about to feature on a TV program that also comes with a big government grant that will help the declining economy of the area. The first interaction ends up without any happenings, but soon Keita’s daughter disappears. The aggravated father...
“Noise” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival
The story is adapted from the homonymous manga by Tetsuya Tsutsui and begins with a middle-aged local driving a stranger around the island, before the latter strangles him for no apparent reason. A bit later, the stranger ends up in the property of Keita Izumi, the “star of the island”, since his black figs are about to feature on a TV program that also comes with a big government grant that will help the declining economy of the area. The first interaction ends up without any happenings, but soon Keita’s daughter disappears. The aggravated father...
- 4/25/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Many years before “The Asian Angel” brought Korean and Japanese cast as protagonists in the same before, and even more years before Lee Jung-jae became an international star due to “Squid Game” and Kim Min-hee due to “The Handmaiden” and her collaborations with Hong Sang-soo, there was a film that managed to bring all these elements together, “Asako in Ruby Shoes”.
“Asako in Ruby Shoes” is screening at Florence Korea Film Festival
The story unfolds in two different settings, in S. Korea and Japan. In the first one, E U-in is a rather bored civil servant, who is unfulfilled in both his job and friendless and girlfriendless life. He spends his nights cruising in porn sites, although in 2000, visiting them was an endeavor that demanded money he was not willing to give. His voyeurism does not stop there, however, but extends in his real life, as he frequently peeks on...
“Asako in Ruby Shoes” is screening at Florence Korea Film Festival
The story unfolds in two different settings, in S. Korea and Japan. In the first one, E U-in is a rather bored civil servant, who is unfulfilled in both his job and friendless and girlfriendless life. He spends his nights cruising in porn sites, although in 2000, visiting them was an endeavor that demanded money he was not willing to give. His voyeurism does not stop there, however, but extends in his real life, as he frequently peeks on...
- 4/10/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Epic movies are usually associated with “heroes”, and concepts like war, organized crime, history and fantasy. Izuru Narashima in “Rebirth” however, proves that a family drama can also reach the levels of an epic, in a movie the Japanese Academy honored with 11 awards, essentially declaring it “Movie of the Year” for 2013.
Rebirth is screening at Japan Society
The script is based on the novel “Youkame no Semi” by Mitsuyo Kakuta, and revolves mostly around the story of two women. Kiwako Nonomiya retains an enduring relationship with Takehiro Akiyama, a married man who has promised her that eventually he will leave his wife, Etsuko, and live with her. At some point, Kiwako gets pregnant and he convinces her to have an abortion, and, in a sad twist, the procedure causes her permanent infertility.
Sometime after that, Etsuko learns about her husband’s relationship and the aforementioned incident and confronts the woman,...
Rebirth is screening at Japan Society
The script is based on the novel “Youkame no Semi” by Mitsuyo Kakuta, and revolves mostly around the story of two women. Kiwako Nonomiya retains an enduring relationship with Takehiro Akiyama, a married man who has promised her that eventually he will leave his wife, Etsuko, and live with her. At some point, Kiwako gets pregnant and he convinces her to have an abortion, and, in a sad twist, the procedure causes her permanent infertility.
Sometime after that, Etsuko learns about her husband’s relationship and the aforementioned incident and confronts the woman,...
- 2/8/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Takashi Miike’s second phase of filmmaking, the one mostly dealing with manga adaptations, has been at its best when the Japanese master was able to make films that function as a collage of different ideas. “Ai to Makoto”, the manga by Ikki Kajiwara and Takumi Nagayasu the film is based on, gave Miike a perfect opportunity to produce a movie in that style, as it includes elements of 70s exploitation, musical and anime/manga aesthetics, to name a few. Let us take things from the beginning though.
The anime intro begins in 1961, when a skiing accident introduces the aristocrat Ai to the punk Makoto. 11 years later, and in live-action mode, the two meet again, when Ai, a senior in a prestigious high school, stumbles upon Makoto as he fights the members of a Tokyo gang on his own. Makoto emerges victorious, after the first musical act of the film,...
The anime intro begins in 1961, when a skiing accident introduces the aristocrat Ai to the punk Makoto. 11 years later, and in live-action mode, the two meet again, when Ai, a senior in a prestigious high school, stumbles upon Makoto as he fights the members of a Tokyo gang on his own. Makoto emerges victorious, after the first musical act of the film,...
- 8/5/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Gentle comedy “Enokida Trading Post” is the latest work of Gunma-born director Ken Iizuka who, this time, chooses to go back to the familiar ground of his own hometown and tell the stories of a bunch of people reinventing themselves. It will celebrate its world premiere in the presence of director Iizuka and leading actor Kiyohiko Shibukawa at the Nippon Connection 2018 in Frankfurt.
After few years in Tokyo and a couple of failed marriages, Enokida Yojiro (Shibukawa Kiyohiko) is back to his rural hometown of Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, where he runs a successful thrift and recycling / second hand shop. Enokida’s motto is “Anything but garbage. We take it all” and sometimes it feels like Enokida is not talking only about objects. The shop is in fact a sort of gathering of old friends and curious individuals. There are two regular employees, Kiyoharu (Ryu Morioka) a reserved and good-natured man...
After few years in Tokyo and a couple of failed marriages, Enokida Yojiro (Shibukawa Kiyohiko) is back to his rural hometown of Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, where he runs a successful thrift and recycling / second hand shop. Enokida’s motto is “Anything but garbage. We take it all” and sometimes it feels like Enokida is not talking only about objects. The shop is in fact a sort of gathering of old friends and curious individuals. There are two regular employees, Kiyoharu (Ryu Morioka) a reserved and good-natured man...
- 6/3/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Stars: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi, Akira Emoto, Kengo Kôra, Mikako Ichikawa, Jun Kunimura, Pierre Taki, Kyûsaku Shimada, Ken Mitsuishi, Shingo Tsurumi, Kimiko Yo | Written by Hideaki Anno | Directed by Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi
Godzilla, officially The King of the Monsters, returns to his Japanese roots following the 2014 Gareth Edwards directed Us film in Shin Godzilla. Set in present-day Japan, the film sees an unexplained seismic event occur off the coast of Shinagawa, causing ripple effects all the way to the capital. Ministers scramble to figure out what’s going on but only cabinet secretary Rando Yaguchi knows what the audience already does. That Godzilla has majestically returned and has his fire-breathing, stomping sights on Tokyo once more…
It’s hard to belive that Godzilla, such a symbol of the nuclear fallout of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and (to a lesser extent) the Daigo...
Godzilla, officially The King of the Monsters, returns to his Japanese roots following the 2014 Gareth Edwards directed Us film in Shin Godzilla. Set in present-day Japan, the film sees an unexplained seismic event occur off the coast of Shinagawa, causing ripple effects all the way to the capital. Ministers scramble to figure out what’s going on but only cabinet secretary Rando Yaguchi knows what the audience already does. That Godzilla has majestically returned and has his fire-breathing, stomping sights on Tokyo once more…
It’s hard to belive that Godzilla, such a symbol of the nuclear fallout of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and (to a lesser extent) the Daigo...
- 12/8/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Stars: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi, Akira Emoto, Kengo Kôra, Mikako Ichikawa, Jun Kunimura, Pierre Taki, Kyûsaku Shimada, Ken Mitsuishi, Shingo Tsurumi, Kimiko Yo | Written by Hideaki Anno | Directed by Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi
Godzilla, officially The King of the Monsters, returns to his Japanese roots following the 2014 Gareth Edwards directed Us film in Shin Godzilla. Set in present-day Japan, the film sees an unexplained seismic event occur off the coast of Shinagawa, causing ripple effects all the way to the capital. Ministers scramble to figure out what’s going on but only cabinet secretary Rando Yaguchi knows what the audience already does. That Godzilla has majestically returned and has his fire-breathing, stomping sights on Tokyo once more…
It’s hard to belive that Godzilla, such a symbol of the nuclear fallout of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and (to a lesser extent) the Daigo...
Godzilla, officially The King of the Monsters, returns to his Japanese roots following the 2014 Gareth Edwards directed Us film in Shin Godzilla. Set in present-day Japan, the film sees an unexplained seismic event occur off the coast of Shinagawa, causing ripple effects all the way to the capital. Ministers scramble to figure out what’s going on but only cabinet secretary Rando Yaguchi knows what the audience already does. That Godzilla has majestically returned and has his fire-breathing, stomping sights on Tokyo once more…
It’s hard to belive that Godzilla, such a symbol of the nuclear fallout of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and (to a lesser extent) the Daigo...
- 2/24/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
The 31st film in the franchise is scheduled to be released on July 29, 2016. Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Shinji Huguchi (Attack on Titan) will co-direct, with the former also penning the script.
When the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line mysteriously floods and collapses, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi is convinced that the incident was caused by a living creature. His claims are shrugged off by the Prime Minister who assumes the accident was caused by a natural disaster. However when a long massive tail surfaces from the Bay, the possibility of a giant monster becomes a reality
Hiroki Hasegawa (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Satomi Ishihara (Attack on Titan) and Yutaka Takenouchi(Best Wishes for Tomorrow) will star, while 328 well known actors will appear in supporting and cameo appearances including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito,...
When the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line mysteriously floods and collapses, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi is convinced that the incident was caused by a living creature. His claims are shrugged off by the Prime Minister who assumes the accident was caused by a natural disaster. However when a long massive tail surfaces from the Bay, the possibility of a giant monster becomes a reality
Hiroki Hasegawa (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Satomi Ishihara (Attack on Titan) and Yutaka Takenouchi(Best Wishes for Tomorrow) will star, while 328 well known actors will appear in supporting and cameo appearances including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito,...
- 7/20/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The 31st film in the franchise is scheduled to be released on July 29, 2016. Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Shinji Huguchi (Attack on Titan) will co-direct, with the former also penning the script.
Hiroki Hasegawa (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Satomi Ishihara (Attack on Titan) and Yutaka Takenouchi(Best Wishes for Tomorrow) will star, while 328 well known actors will appear in supporting and cameo appearances including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito, Keisuke Koide, Arata Furuta, and Atsuko Maeda.
Hiroki Hasegawa (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Satomi Ishihara (Attack on Titan) and Yutaka Takenouchi(Best Wishes for Tomorrow) will star, while 328 well known actors will appear in supporting and cameo appearances including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito, Keisuke Koide, Arata Furuta, and Atsuko Maeda.
- 4/15/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The official website for Yasuo Furuhata’s upcoming road movie Dear has been updated with a new 90-second trailer.
In his first movie role in 6 years, Dear stars screen legend Ken Takakura as a prison guidance officer named Eiji Kurashima who drives an Rv from Toyama to Nagasaki to spread his late wife Yoko’s (Yuko Tanaka) ashes in the harbor of her hometown—both to honor her last request and to discover more about her life. Along the way, he meets various characters and reminisces about his time with Yoko.
The movie will be filled with well-known celebrities in small supporting roles, such as Koichi Sato as an ikameshi vendor and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as a pub patron he has a heart-to-heart with. Other supporting roles are filled by Takeshi Kitano, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Mieko Harada, Kimiko Yo, Haruka Ayase, Takahiro Miura, Hideji Otaki, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Okamura.
“Dear” will...
In his first movie role in 6 years, Dear stars screen legend Ken Takakura as a prison guidance officer named Eiji Kurashima who drives an Rv from Toyama to Nagasaki to spread his late wife Yoko’s (Yuko Tanaka) ashes in the harbor of her hometown—both to honor her last request and to discover more about her life. Along the way, he meets various characters and reminisces about his time with Yoko.
The movie will be filled with well-known celebrities in small supporting roles, such as Koichi Sato as an ikameshi vendor and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as a pub patron he has a heart-to-heart with. Other supporting roles are filled by Takeshi Kitano, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Mieko Harada, Kimiko Yo, Haruka Ayase, Takahiro Miura, Hideji Otaki, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Okamura.
“Dear” will...
- 6/8/2012
- Nippon Cinema
Last May, the film Railways was released in Japan and got unprecedented support from men in their 40s and 50s, unexpectedly attracting over 500,000 people to theaters. Today it was announced that Tomokazu Miura will star in Railways 2.
In the original work, Kiichi Nakai starred as a 49-year-old electronics company executive in Shimane Prefecture who suddenly quits his job to follow through on his childhood dream of becoming a train driver. Coincidentally, Miura’s son Takahiro Miura made his debut in that film.
In the sequel, Miura will play Toru Takishima, a man who has spent 42 years working as a train driver for Toyama Chiho Railway and is now 1 month away from the age of retirement. However, he and his wife of many years, Sawako (Kimiko Yo), reach a crossroads after a re-examination of a previously benign tumor changes her outlook on life. Miura and Yo previously played a married couple...
In the original work, Kiichi Nakai starred as a 49-year-old electronics company executive in Shimane Prefecture who suddenly quits his job to follow through on his childhood dream of becoming a train driver. Coincidentally, Miura’s son Takahiro Miura made his debut in that film.
In the sequel, Miura will play Toru Takishima, a man who has spent 42 years working as a train driver for Toyama Chiho Railway and is now 1 month away from the age of retirement. However, he and his wife of many years, Sawako (Kimiko Yo), reach a crossroads after a re-examination of a previously benign tumor changes her outlook on life. Miura and Yo previously played a married couple...
- 4/20/2011
- Nippon Cinema
The official website for Tomoyuki Takimoto‘s Soup Opera has been updated with a new full trailer. The film is based on a book by Sawako Agawa of the same title and stars Maki Sakai (40) in her first lead role since announcing her marriage to 28-year-old photographer Shin Suzuki late last year.
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony (Tatsuya Fuji) and a timid younger man named Kosuke (Takahiro Nishijima of the pop group Aaa). Mariko Kaga, Kimiko Yo, and Masato Hagiwara also star.
Prénom-h will be releasing “Soup Opera” in Japan on October 2, 2010.
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony (Tatsuya Fuji) and a timid younger man named Kosuke (Takahiro Nishijima of the pop group Aaa). Mariko Kaga, Kimiko Yo, and Masato Hagiwara also star.
Prénom-h will be releasing “Soup Opera” in Japan on October 2, 2010.
- 8/11/2010
- Nippon Cinema
The official website for Tomoyuki Takimoto‘s Soup Opera has been updated with a new full trailer. The film is based on a book by Sawako Agawa of the same title and stars Maki Sakai (40) in her first lead role since announcing her marriage to 28-year-old photographer Shin Suzuki late last year.
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony (Tatsuya Fuji) and a timid younger man named Kosuke (Takahiro Nishijima of the pop group Aaa). Mariko Kaga, Kimiko Yo, and Masato Hagiwara also star.
Prénom-h will be releasing “Soup Opera” in Japan on October 2, 2010.
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony (Tatsuya Fuji) and a timid younger man named Kosuke (Takahiro Nishijima of the pop group Aaa). Mariko Kaga, Kimiko Yo, and Masato Hagiwara also star.
Prénom-h will be releasing “Soup Opera” in Japan on October 2, 2010.
- 8/11/2010
- Nippon Cinema
A man on a bicycle finds a discarded white lab coat on the road at night. Then he puts the coat on. Miwa Nishikawa's Dear Doctor makes clear from the get-go what this film is really about. It's not the looks or the credentials that makes one a doctor, it's one's heart.
Adapting from her own novel, Nishikawa, a pupil of Hirokazu Kore-eda (Maboroshi, Nobody Knows), skillfully plays out a story of an imposter. In Kamiwada, a small rural village, the sudden disappearance of their beloved doctor, Dr. Ino (Tsurube Shofukutei), who's been serving them for the last three years, leaves its mostly elderly residents in shock and disbelief. Detectives are soon frustrated with conflicting information given by the villagers with no clear picture of who Ino really is.
The film jumps back and forth between the police investigation in to the disappearance and the happier times with Dr.
Adapting from her own novel, Nishikawa, a pupil of Hirokazu Kore-eda (Maboroshi, Nobody Knows), skillfully plays out a story of an imposter. In Kamiwada, a small rural village, the sudden disappearance of their beloved doctor, Dr. Ino (Tsurube Shofukutei), who's been serving them for the last three years, leaves its mostly elderly residents in shock and disbelief. Detectives are soon frustrated with conflicting information given by the villagers with no clear picture of who Ino really is.
The film jumps back and forth between the police investigation in to the disappearance and the happier times with Dr.
- 7/2/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Some details and a teaser trailer were finally released today for Tomoyuki Takimoto‘s Soup Opera, months after its official site was first launched. The film is based on a book by Sawako Agawa of the same title and stars Maki Sakai (40) in her first lead role since announcing her marriage to 28-year-old photographer Shin Suzuki late last year.
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony (Tatsuya Fuji) and a timid younger man named Kosuke (Takahiro Nishijima of the pop group Aaa). Mariko Kaga, Kimiko Yo, and Masato Hagiwara also star.
Prénom-h will be releasing “Soup Opera” in Japan sometime this fall.
Sources: Cinema Today, Official website...
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony (Tatsuya Fuji) and a timid younger man named Kosuke (Takahiro Nishijima of the pop group Aaa). Mariko Kaga, Kimiko Yo, and Masato Hagiwara also star.
Prénom-h will be releasing “Soup Opera” in Japan sometime this fall.
Sources: Cinema Today, Official website...
- 5/22/2010
- Nippon Cinema
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
Osamu Ino (Tsurube Shôfukutei), a small town doctor in rural Japan, has gone missing. Except for a white lab coat found in a nearby field there is no sign of the much loved physician. Police begin to investigate his disappearance, but very quickly they discover that the details of Dr. Ino's life just doesn't add up. First off the locals, mostly senior citizens, people who normally know everyone's business in town, can't agree on what exactly Dr. Ino's background is. Some are certain that his father was a factory owner from Osaka, others say Ino comes from a family of woodworkers in Kyoto. There's also the sense that his colleagues at the local medical clinic, nurse Akemi Otake (Kimiko Yo), young medical intern Keiskue Soma (Eita), as well as phramaceutical rep Saimon (Teruyuki Kagawa), weren't entirely convinced of Dr Ino's skills despite their deep admiration of him. They aren't the...
Osamu Ino (Tsurube Shôfukutei), a small town doctor in rural Japan, has gone missing. Except for a white lab coat found in a nearby field there is no sign of the much loved physician. Police begin to investigate his disappearance, but very quickly they discover that the details of Dr. Ino's life just doesn't add up. First off the locals, mostly senior citizens, people who normally know everyone's business in town, can't agree on what exactly Dr. Ino's background is. Some are certain that his father was a factory owner from Osaka, others say Ino comes from a family of woodworkers in Kyoto. There's also the sense that his colleagues at the local medical clinic, nurse Akemi Otake (Kimiko Yo), young medical intern Keiskue Soma (Eita), as well as phramaceutical rep Saimon (Teruyuki Kagawa), weren't entirely convinced of Dr Ino's skills despite their deep admiration of him. They aren't the...
- 4/15/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Release Date: May 29 (limited)Director: Yojiro Takita
Writer: Kundo Koyama
Cinematographer: Takeshi Hamada
Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo Studio/Run Time: Regent Releasing, 130 mins.
Affable but unfocused hit from Japan
On its face, the odd, clunky Japanese dramedy Departures pitches itself as a classic story of reinvention and renewal. It follows a young cellist (Masahiro Motoki) who is let go and lacks the talent to move to a different orchestra. He answers a newspaper ad and finds a job with a peculiar old man who prepares corpses for burial, a sticky profession he hides from his wife but quietly grows to like.
Writer: Kundo Koyama
Cinematographer: Takeshi Hamada
Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo Studio/Run Time: Regent Releasing, 130 mins.
Affable but unfocused hit from Japan
On its face, the odd, clunky Japanese dramedy Departures pitches itself as a classic story of reinvention and renewal. It follows a young cellist (Masahiro Motoki) who is let go and lacks the talent to move to a different orchestra. He answers a newspaper ad and finds a job with a peculiar old man who prepares corpses for burial, a sticky profession he hides from his wife but quietly grows to like.
- 6/1/2009
- Pastemagazine.com
See eight clips as well as the trailer in various formats for the Regent Releasing Academy Award®-winning drama "Departures," starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo and Takashi Sasano. The film opens in limited areas on May 29th. See the gallery here. Trailers in other formats What's "Departures" all about? Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. “Departures” follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to...
- 4/9/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
See eight clips as well as the trailer in various formats for the Regent Releasing Academy Award®-winning drama "Departures," starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo and Takashi Sasano. The film opens in limited areas on May 29th. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. “Departures” follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over...
- 4/9/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
See eight clips as well as the trailer in various formats for the Regent Releasing Academy Award®-winning drama "Departures," starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo and Takashi Sasano. The film opens in limited areas on May 29th. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. “Departures” follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over...
- 4/9/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Japanese drama Departures dominated the 2009 Japan Academy Awards, taking home 10 prizes - a day before the movie became a surprise Oscar winner.
The film, about a young man who gets a job in a mortuary, also scooped a Best Actor honour for Masahiro Motoki and Best Actress trophy for Kimiko Yo at the 32nd annual ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
Immediately after the prizegiving, filmmaker Yojiro Takita and stars Motoki and Ryoko Hirosue flew to Los Angeles to compete at Sunday's Oscars, where Departures beat hotly-tipped Israeli movie Waltz With Bashir to land the Best Foreign Language Film title.
The movie has scooped more than 60 statuettes during Japan's current award season and taken more than $33 million (£22.6 million) at the domestic box office.
The film, about a young man who gets a job in a mortuary, also scooped a Best Actor honour for Masahiro Motoki and Best Actress trophy for Kimiko Yo at the 32nd annual ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
Immediately after the prizegiving, filmmaker Yojiro Takita and stars Motoki and Ryoko Hirosue flew to Los Angeles to compete at Sunday's Oscars, where Departures beat hotly-tipped Israeli movie Waltz With Bashir to land the Best Foreign Language Film title.
The movie has scooped more than 60 statuettes during Japan's current award season and taken more than $33 million (£22.6 million) at the domestic box office.
- 2/23/2009
- WENN
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.