Akiko Ooku is a Japanese film director, born in 1968 in Yokohama. She studied political sciences at Meiji University, but soon decided to switch to studying film at Eigabi School. Her movies often depict neurotic women in their 30s and the realities of huge corporations. She achieved her breakthrough in 2017 with “Tremble All You Want”, shown at many international festivals.
On the occasion of “Sweet Grappa Remedies” screening at Five Flavours, we speak with her about grappa, women dating in their 40s, her latest movie, “Wedding High” and many other topics.
My Sweet Grappa Remedies screening at Five Flavours
Do you like sweet grappa? That is why you gave this title to the film?
Of course! The Japanese title is actually more like “Sweet Alcohol” and I was not sure what the specific alcohol could be. However, when I went to Udine during the spring, I tasted grappa, and I felt...
On the occasion of “Sweet Grappa Remedies” screening at Five Flavours, we speak with her about grappa, women dating in their 40s, her latest movie, “Wedding High” and many other topics.
My Sweet Grappa Remedies screening at Five Flavours
Do you like sweet grappa? That is why you gave this title to the film?
Of course! The Japanese title is actually more like “Sweet Alcohol” and I was not sure what the specific alcohol could be. However, when I went to Udine during the spring, I tasted grappa, and I felt...
- 11/22/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Akiko Ooku continues her portrayal of Japanese women in her newest feature “My Sweet Grappa Remedies”. Looking at her filmography, the director seems to be going for a franchise about the different stages of female adulthood. In 2017 she started with “Tremble All You Want” about a 20-year-old girl, which was followed by “Marriage Hunting Beauty” (2019) about the dating jungle of a 30 something woman. This movie focuses on a woman in her 40s.
“My Sweet Grappa Remedies“ is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
Yasuko Matsuyuki (“Fullmetal Alchemist” 2017), prominently known for being the face of many TV ads in the 90s, plays single part-time employee Yoshiko. Although single, Yoshiko is happy with her life, documenting everything in her diary and going out with her co-worker Wakabayashi, who is embodied by Haru Kuroki (“The Antique” 2018). The love interest comes into play with Shimizu Hiroya (“Liverleaf” 2018) as junior colleague Okamoto, who is 24 years younger than Yoshiko.
“My Sweet Grappa Remedies“ is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
Yasuko Matsuyuki (“Fullmetal Alchemist” 2017), prominently known for being the face of many TV ads in the 90s, plays single part-time employee Yoshiko. Although single, Yoshiko is happy with her life, documenting everything in her diary and going out with her co-worker Wakabayashi, who is embodied by Haru Kuroki (“The Antique” 2018). The love interest comes into play with Shimizu Hiroya (“Liverleaf” 2018) as junior colleague Okamoto, who is 24 years younger than Yoshiko.
- 11/22/2022
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
In his late works, Nobuhiko Obayashi became a very keen and critical observer of his home country, its society and politics, posing the question whether they had actually learned anything from the past. “Casting Blossoms to the Sky” is the first movie in what is now considered a trilogy of anti-war features, with “Seven Weeks” (2014) and “Hanagatami” (2017) being the other parts. Following his visual and narrative approach of combining layers of dream, reality and time, Obayashi focuses on several incidents and experiences of a woman traveling to Nagaoka, a city famous for its fireworks tradition, but also a place which may hold the key in understanding the present as well as the possible future of Japan.
“Seven Weeks” Opens Japan Society, NY and Nationwide Virtual Cinemas and Theaters, July 9, courtesy of Kimstim Films
As a newspaper journalist, Reiko Endo (Yasuko Matsuyuki) has always been interested in the history of places,...
“Seven Weeks” Opens Japan Society, NY and Nationwide Virtual Cinemas and Theaters, July 9, courtesy of Kimstim Films
As a newspaper journalist, Reiko Endo (Yasuko Matsuyuki) has always been interested in the history of places,...
- 7/8/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
In the last decade of his long and prolific career, Nobuhiko Obayashi (1938-2020) — best-known in the U.S. as the filmmaker behind the cult hit House (1977) — wrote and directed a trio of deeply personal and formally audacious films that confronted Japan’s wartime past.
Made in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 2011 and informed by Obayashi’s firsthand experience as a child born on the eve of World War II in Hiroshima Prefecture, the staggering films in this trilogy—consisting of Casting Blossoms to the Sky (2012), Seven Weeks (2014) and, Hanagatami (2017)—collectively consider the loss of innocence for an entire generation of Japanese youth raised in the shadow of war and national disaster.
Kimstin is proud to present Nobuhiko Obayashi’s War Trilogy, which opens at Japan Society, NY and nationwide virtual cinemas and theatres on July 9th
Hanagatami
Drama • 2h 51m • 2014
After being diagnosed...
Made in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 2011 and informed by Obayashi’s firsthand experience as a child born on the eve of World War II in Hiroshima Prefecture, the staggering films in this trilogy—consisting of Casting Blossoms to the Sky (2012), Seven Weeks (2014) and, Hanagatami (2017)—collectively consider the loss of innocence for an entire generation of Japanese youth raised in the shadow of war and national disaster.
Kimstin is proud to present Nobuhiko Obayashi’s War Trilogy, which opens at Japan Society, NY and nationwide virtual cinemas and theatres on July 9th
Hanagatami
Drama • 2h 51m • 2014
After being diagnosed...
- 7/6/2021
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Akiko Ooku continues her portrayal of Japanese women in her newest feature “My Sweet Grappa Remedies”. Looking at her filmography, the director seems to be going for a franchise about the different stages of female adulthood. In 2017 she started with “Tremble All You Want” about a 20-year-old girl, which was followed by “Marriage Hunting Beauty” (2019) about the dating jungle of a 30 something woman. This movie focuses on a woman in her 40s.
“My Sweet Grappa Remedies” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2020
Yasuko Matsuyuki (“Fullmetal Alchemist” 2017), prominently known for being the face of many TV ads in the 90s, plays single part-time employee Yoshiko. Although single, Yoshiko is happy with her life, documenting everything in her diary and going out with her co-worker Wakabayashi, who is embodied by Haru Kuroki (“The Antique” 2018). The love interest comes into play with Shimizu Hiroya (“Liverleaf” 2018) as junior colleague Okamoto, who is 24 years younger than Yoshiko.
“My Sweet Grappa Remedies” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2020
Yasuko Matsuyuki (“Fullmetal Alchemist” 2017), prominently known for being the face of many TV ads in the 90s, plays single part-time employee Yoshiko. Although single, Yoshiko is happy with her life, documenting everything in her diary and going out with her co-worker Wakabayashi, who is embodied by Haru Kuroki (“The Antique” 2018). The love interest comes into play with Shimizu Hiroya (“Liverleaf” 2018) as junior colleague Okamoto, who is 24 years younger than Yoshiko.
- 7/2/2020
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
Akiko Ooku continues her portrayal of Japanese women in her newest feature “My Sweet Grappa Remedies”. Looking at her filmography, the director seems to be going for a franchise about the different stages of female adulthood. In 2017 she started with “Tremble All You Want” about a 20-year-old girl, which was followed by “Marriage Hunting Beauty” (2019) about the dating jungle of a 30 something woman. This movie focuses on a woman in her 40s.
“My Sweet Grappa Remedies” screened on Japannual Film Festival in Vienna.
Yasuko Matsuyuki (“Fullmetal Alchemist” 2017), prominently known for being the face of many TV ads in the 90s, plays single part-time employee Yoshiko. Although single, Yoshiko is happy with her life, documenting everything in her diary and going out with her co-worker Wakabayashi, who is embodied by Haru Kuroki (“The Antique” 2018). The love interest comes into play with Shimizu Hiroya (“Liverleaf” 2018) as junior colleague Okamoto, who is 24 years younger than Yoshiko.
“My Sweet Grappa Remedies” screened on Japannual Film Festival in Vienna.
Yasuko Matsuyuki (“Fullmetal Alchemist” 2017), prominently known for being the face of many TV ads in the 90s, plays single part-time employee Yoshiko. Although single, Yoshiko is happy with her life, documenting everything in her diary and going out with her co-worker Wakabayashi, who is embodied by Haru Kuroki (“The Antique” 2018). The love interest comes into play with Shimizu Hiroya (“Liverleaf” 2018) as junior colleague Okamoto, who is 24 years younger than Yoshiko.
- 10/16/2019
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
Let me start by saying that “Fullmetal Alchemist” (and particularly the second edition) is one of my favorite anime series of all time. In that aspect, and considering the growing quality (and budget) of the recent anime adaptations, I was really eager to watch the live adaptation, although the fear of another “Attack on Titan” still lingered in the back on my mind. Let us see, though, how this one fared.
The story takes place in an alternate setting that seems like a medieval Germany in some aspects (the way the characters are presented and the way the army is structured) where technology and magic (alchemy if you prefer) coexist. The protagonists are two brothers, Edward and Alphonse, sons of a State Alchemist who is never home. The two boys also deal with alchemy, but when their mother dies, they indulge in the darker aspects of it,...
The story takes place in an alternate setting that seems like a medieval Germany in some aspects (the way the characters are presented and the way the army is structured) where technology and magic (alchemy if you prefer) coexist. The protagonists are two brothers, Edward and Alphonse, sons of a State Alchemist who is never home. The two boys also deal with alchemy, but when their mother dies, they indulge in the darker aspects of it,...
- 5/16/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Author: Steven Neish
When aspiring alchemists Edward (Ryôsuke Yamada) and Alphonse Elric (Atom Mizuishi) are robbed of their mother at an early age they decide to turn their prodigious talents to the taboo practice of human transmutation in the vein hope of bringing her back. Working against the laws of nature, however, they each pay a heavy price for their transgression when Ed loses an arm and Al loses everything to the powers that be. Sacrificing another limb to bind his brother’s disembodied soul to a nearby suit of armour, Ed vows to track down the only item he believes capable of restoring his brother to his former body: the Philosopher’s Stone.
A live-action adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa’s beloved manga, previously retold as a pair of revered animes currently streaming alongside it on Netflix, Fumihiko Sori’s Fullmetal Alchemist was always going to struggle to extrapolate the...
When aspiring alchemists Edward (Ryôsuke Yamada) and Alphonse Elric (Atom Mizuishi) are robbed of their mother at an early age they decide to turn their prodigious talents to the taboo practice of human transmutation in the vein hope of bringing her back. Working against the laws of nature, however, they each pay a heavy price for their transgression when Ed loses an arm and Al loses everything to the powers that be. Sacrificing another limb to bind his brother’s disembodied soul to a nearby suit of armour, Ed vows to track down the only item he believes capable of restoring his brother to his former body: the Philosopher’s Stone.
A live-action adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa’s beloved manga, previously retold as a pair of revered animes currently streaming alongside it on Netflix, Fumihiko Sori’s Fullmetal Alchemist was always going to struggle to extrapolate the...
- 2/20/2018
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Full Metal Alchemist’s next film adaptation will be live-action, with fans of the extremely popular anime already getting fired up.
The filming will begin this June in Italy, with the release in Japan being scheduled for 2017. The movie will use a combination of real actors and CGI. Fumihiko Sori (“Ping Pong”, “Ashita no Joe”) will direct and the cast revealed is as follows:
Ryosuke Yamada (Asssassination Classroom) as Edward Elric.
Tsubasa Honda (Blue Spring Ride) as Winry Rockbell.
Dean Fujioka (Dance! Dance! Dance!) as Roy Mustang.
Ryuta Sato (Tokyo Tribe) as Captain Maes Hughes.
Yo Oizumi (Kakekomi) as Major Shou Tucker.
Yasuko Matsuyuki (Smuggler) as Lust.
Kanata Hongo (Attack on Titan) as Envy.
Shinji Uchiyama (Gokusen: The Movie) as Gluttony.
The plot for the first half of the upcoming film will faithfully reproduce the story of the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga by Hiromu Arakawa. The film will digress in...
The filming will begin this June in Italy, with the release in Japan being scheduled for 2017. The movie will use a combination of real actors and CGI. Fumihiko Sori (“Ping Pong”, “Ashita no Joe”) will direct and the cast revealed is as follows:
Ryosuke Yamada (Asssassination Classroom) as Edward Elric.
Tsubasa Honda (Blue Spring Ride) as Winry Rockbell.
Dean Fujioka (Dance! Dance! Dance!) as Roy Mustang.
Ryuta Sato (Tokyo Tribe) as Captain Maes Hughes.
Yo Oizumi (Kakekomi) as Major Shou Tucker.
Yasuko Matsuyuki (Smuggler) as Lust.
Kanata Hongo (Attack on Titan) as Envy.
Shinji Uchiyama (Gokusen: The Movie) as Gluttony.
The plot for the first half of the upcoming film will faithfully reproduce the story of the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga by Hiromu Arakawa. The film will digress in...
- 4/4/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Suspect X (Galileo) Movie ReviewStory66%Acting73%2016-01-2970%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (1 Vote)79%
Suspect X is a mystery/drama from Japan, the movie follows police officer Kaoru Utsumi (Kou Shibasaki) as she tries to solve the mystery of who strangled and mangled a man. However, as the mystery spirals out of control, she is forced to enlist the aid of the brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa (Masaharu Fukuyama).
Although he is able to figure out that the actual crime was committed by the brilliant mathematician Tetsuya Ishgami (Shinichi Tsutsumi), figuring out how and why he did it, as well as proving it, becomes the battleground between two men who were once colleagues.
As the plot around the murder deepens, romance blooms very quietly between Kaoru Utsumi and Manabu Yukawa, culminating in a climax that requires all characters to apply their logic and intelligence in order to win the day.
However, this movie...
Suspect X is a mystery/drama from Japan, the movie follows police officer Kaoru Utsumi (Kou Shibasaki) as she tries to solve the mystery of who strangled and mangled a man. However, as the mystery spirals out of control, she is forced to enlist the aid of the brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa (Masaharu Fukuyama).
Although he is able to figure out that the actual crime was committed by the brilliant mathematician Tetsuya Ishgami (Shinichi Tsutsumi), figuring out how and why he did it, as well as proving it, becomes the battleground between two men who were once colleagues.
As the plot around the murder deepens, romance blooms very quietly between Kaoru Utsumi and Manabu Yukawa, culminating in a climax that requires all characters to apply their logic and intelligence in order to win the day.
However, this movie...
- 1/29/2016
- by Tiger33
- AsianMoviePulse
Plot76% Acting77% Directing75%Mysterious story element works well Smooth camerawork and editingCan't avoid becoming melodramatic Is better as a Mystery than a Thriller 76%Overall Score Reader Rating: (1 Vote)59%
The Brain Man (original title Nô Otoko) is a film adaptation of the novel by Shudô Urio with the same title that was published in 2000. Director Tokiyuki Takimoto, mainly known for his film Ikigami (2008), manages to bring Shudô Urio’s story to live for the big screen.
A series of bombings occur in Tokyo and the police, including detective Saya (Yôsuke Eguchi), is thoroughly investigating to find the person responsible for these horrible crimes. When a lead brings them to a deserted warehouse, they encounter a mysterious man (Tôma Ikuta). They take him into custody, thinking he is the culprit. But during interrogation, the man appears to be abnormally intelligent, physically powerful and unable to sense any emotion. Psychiatrist Mariko Mashiya (Yasuko Matsuyuki...
The Brain Man (original title Nô Otoko) is a film adaptation of the novel by Shudô Urio with the same title that was published in 2000. Director Tokiyuki Takimoto, mainly known for his film Ikigami (2008), manages to bring Shudô Urio’s story to live for the big screen.
A series of bombings occur in Tokyo and the police, including detective Saya (Yôsuke Eguchi), is thoroughly investigating to find the person responsible for these horrible crimes. When a lead brings them to a deserted warehouse, they encounter a mysterious man (Tôma Ikuta). They take him into custody, thinking he is the culprit. But during interrogation, the man appears to be abnormally intelligent, physically powerful and unable to sense any emotion. Psychiatrist Mariko Mashiya (Yasuko Matsuyuki...
- 12/6/2013
- by Thor
- AsianMoviePulse
Smuggler aka Sumagurâ: Omae no mirai o hakobe
Written by Katsuhito Ishii, Masatoshi Yamaguchi and Kensuke Yamamoto, based on the manga Sumagurâ by Shôhei Manabe
Directed by Katsuhito Ishii
Japan 2011 Fantasia imdb
The writers and director of Smuggler clearly watched Ichi the Killer a lot – A Lot – as kids. It’s all there: the yakuza setting, the gang war, the eccentric characters, the torture, the weird unsettling pacing, the killer who feels like he infiltrated the film from some other cinematic universe.
The difference is that nothing works as well as Ichi. Every time the film quotes Ichi, we are reminded that this film isn’t quite as good as the original. The eccentricities come across as forced, the pacing feels like a car repeatedly back-firing rather than a dangerous roller-coaster, the killer just seems out of place rather than being transgressive, and the torture becomes irritating rather than unsettling.
Written by Katsuhito Ishii, Masatoshi Yamaguchi and Kensuke Yamamoto, based on the manga Sumagurâ by Shôhei Manabe
Directed by Katsuhito Ishii
Japan 2011 Fantasia imdb
The writers and director of Smuggler clearly watched Ichi the Killer a lot – A Lot – as kids. It’s all there: the yakuza setting, the gang war, the eccentric characters, the torture, the weird unsettling pacing, the killer who feels like he infiltrated the film from some other cinematic universe.
The difference is that nothing works as well as Ichi. Every time the film quotes Ichi, we are reminded that this film isn’t quite as good as the original. The eccentricities come across as forced, the pacing feels like a car repeatedly back-firing rather than a dangerous roller-coaster, the killer just seems out of place rather than being transgressive, and the torture becomes irritating rather than unsettling.
- 8/5/2012
- by Michael Ryan
- SoundOnSight
On Monday it was announced that Toma Ikuta will be starring in a movie adaptation of Urio Shudo’s 2000 Edogawa Rampo Award-winning novel Nou Otoko (literally “Brain Man”).
In his first “dark hero” role, Ikuta will be playing a mysterious unfeeling killing machine named Ichiro Suzuki who commits murders in the name of justice.
His character possesses an unusually high intelligence and prodigious memory, but is also completely incapable of feeling human emotion.
The role will reportedly be physically demanding, involving intense action scenes. Ikuta has been training in various martial arts for about 6 months in preparation for filming, including the Filipino martial art Kali and Bruce Lee’s hybrid system, Jeet Kune Do.
The story is set in a suburban city in the wake of indiscriminate serial bombings. Yosuke Eguchi (44) will play Chaya, a police detective who discovers Suzuki in the hideout of the bomber, a salaryman named Midorikawa.
In his first “dark hero” role, Ikuta will be playing a mysterious unfeeling killing machine named Ichiro Suzuki who commits murders in the name of justice.
His character possesses an unusually high intelligence and prodigious memory, but is also completely incapable of feeling human emotion.
The role will reportedly be physically demanding, involving intense action scenes. Ikuta has been training in various martial arts for about 6 months in preparation for filming, including the Filipino martial art Kali and Bruce Lee’s hybrid system, Jeet Kune Do.
The story is set in a suburban city in the wake of indiscriminate serial bombings. Yosuke Eguchi (44) will play Chaya, a police detective who discovers Suzuki in the hideout of the bomber, a salaryman named Midorikawa.
- 6/11/2012
- Nippon Cinema
The official website for Hiroshi Yoshino’s Hotaru no Hikari movie has been updated with a new full trailer.
“Hotaru no Hikari” was originally a manga by Satoru Hiura which was adapted to a TV drama in 2007. Haruka Ayase played a quirky interior design company employee named Hotaru Amemiya who had no interest in relationships. She instead spent most of her free time laying around her messy rented house, earning herself the title “himono-onna” (dried-up woman). During the course of the series, she falls in love with her boss, Seiichi Takano (Naohito Fujiki) and by the end of the second season in 2010, they were finally preparing to get married.
The film is set two years after the second season. Hotaru and Takano-bucho are taking their first overseas trip together on their honeymoon in Italy. Hotaru meets another “himono-onna” named Rio Saeki (Yasuko Matsuyuki) by chance in Rome and gets caught...
“Hotaru no Hikari” was originally a manga by Satoru Hiura which was adapted to a TV drama in 2007. Haruka Ayase played a quirky interior design company employee named Hotaru Amemiya who had no interest in relationships. She instead spent most of her free time laying around her messy rented house, earning herself the title “himono-onna” (dried-up woman). During the course of the series, she falls in love with her boss, Seiichi Takano (Naohito Fujiki) and by the end of the second season in 2010, they were finally preparing to get married.
The film is set two years after the second season. Hotaru and Takano-bucho are taking their first overseas trip together on their honeymoon in Italy. Hotaru meets another “himono-onna” named Rio Saeki (Yasuko Matsuyuki) by chance in Rome and gets caught...
- 4/14/2012
- Nippon Cinema
Full trailer for the live-action adaptation of Shohei Manabe’s Smuggler manga by The Taste of Tea and Funky Forest director Katsuhito Ishii.
[See full post to watch this video]
Synopsis:
A failed actor named Ryosuke (Satoshi Tsumabuki) takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. After racking up a huge debt, he’s forced to take a smuggling job from a yakuza company chief (Yasuko Matsuyuki) who offers him 50,000 yen per successful delivery.
Unfortunately for Ryosuke, the reason for this big payout is that his new job actually entails disposing of corpses in the middle an escalating gang war, and making even the slightest mistake could prove deadly.
[via Ann & Official Website]...
[See full post to watch this video]
Synopsis:
A failed actor named Ryosuke (Satoshi Tsumabuki) takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. After racking up a huge debt, he’s forced to take a smuggling job from a yakuza company chief (Yasuko Matsuyuki) who offers him 50,000 yen per successful delivery.
Unfortunately for Ryosuke, the reason for this big payout is that his new job actually entails disposing of corpses in the middle an escalating gang war, and making even the slightest mistake could prove deadly.
[via Ann & Official Website]...
- 7/28/2011
- by Ulrik
- Affenheimtheater
While most people may only know the man for his insanely entertaining fever dream House, director Nobuhiko Obayashi is still alive, kicking and making films.
Toronto J Film Pow Wow has revealed (via Tokyograph) that the director will next direct a film entitled Kono Sora no Hana. The film, his 41st, will be set in Nagaoka, during the area’s annual fireworks festival. With the hopes of promoting world piece, the festival has been in existence since 1946. Obayashi’s film will star Yasuko Matsuyuki.
Personally, as a huge fan of House, this is definitely one film that I’d love to see hit stateside or at least through The Criterion Collection on DVD. Obayashi is a director that I’d love to see more of within the Collection, so maybe this could be a part of a time spanning Eclipse set like The Allan King set. I think the premise sounds really intriguing,...
Toronto J Film Pow Wow has revealed (via Tokyograph) that the director will next direct a film entitled Kono Sora no Hana. The film, his 41st, will be set in Nagaoka, during the area’s annual fireworks festival. With the hopes of promoting world piece, the festival has been in existence since 1946. Obayashi’s film will star Yasuko Matsuyuki.
Personally, as a huge fan of House, this is definitely one film that I’d love to see hit stateside or at least through The Criterion Collection on DVD. Obayashi is a director that I’d love to see more of within the Collection, so maybe this could be a part of a time spanning Eclipse set like The Allan King set. I think the premise sounds really intriguing,...
- 7/6/2011
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
The Taste of Tea und Funky Forest director Katsuhito Ishii takes on Shohei Manabe’s 2000 manga Smuggler:
Synopsis:
A failed actor named Ryosuke (Satoshi Tsumabuki) takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. After racking up a huge debt, he’s forced to take a smuggling job from a yakuza company chief (Yasuko Matsuyuki) who offers him 50,000 yen per successful delivery.
Unfortunately for Ryosuke, the reason for this big payout is that his new job actually entails disposing of corpses in the middle an escalating gang war, and making even the slightest mistake could prove deadly.
[via Nippon Cinema & Twitch]...
Synopsis:
A failed actor named Ryosuke (Satoshi Tsumabuki) takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. After racking up a huge debt, he’s forced to take a smuggling job from a yakuza company chief (Yasuko Matsuyuki) who offers him 50,000 yen per successful delivery.
Unfortunately for Ryosuke, the reason for this big payout is that his new job actually entails disposing of corpses in the middle an escalating gang war, and making even the slightest mistake could prove deadly.
[via Nippon Cinema & Twitch]...
- 4/29/2011
- by Ulrik
- Affenheimtheater
The official website for Katsuhito Ishii’s Smuggler has been updated with a 30-second teaser.
The film stars Satoshi Tsumabuki as a failed actor named Ryosuke who takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. After racking up a huge debt, he’s forced to take a smuggling job from a yakuza company chief (Yasuko Matsuyuki) who offers him 50,000 yen per successful delivery.
Unfortunately for Ryosuke, the reason for this big payout is that his new job actually entails disposing of corpses in the middle an escalating gang war, and making even the slightest mistake could prove deadly.
Warner Bros. will be releasing “Smuggler” in Japan on October 22, 2011.
Thanks to logboy for the heads up.
Watch »...
The film stars Satoshi Tsumabuki as a failed actor named Ryosuke who takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. After racking up a huge debt, he’s forced to take a smuggling job from a yakuza company chief (Yasuko Matsuyuki) who offers him 50,000 yen per successful delivery.
Unfortunately for Ryosuke, the reason for this big payout is that his new job actually entails disposing of corpses in the middle an escalating gang war, and making even the slightest mistake could prove deadly.
Warner Bros. will be releasing “Smuggler” in Japan on October 22, 2011.
Thanks to logboy for the heads up.
Watch »...
- 4/28/2011
- Nippon Cinema
Back on October 25th, a live-action film adaptation of Shohei Manabe’s manga Smuggler was announced in Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine. Earlier today, further details were revealed.
The film is being directed by Katsuhito Ishii (Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, The Taste of Tea) and will feature Satoshi Tsumabuki in the lead role. In Tsumabuki’s last film, Akunin, he played a character described as a “vacant youth”, and his this new role would also seem to fit that description. He plays a young man named Ryosuke who, frustrated with fruitlessly chasing his dream of becoming an actor, takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. He soon racks up a massive debt and is forced to take a lucrative smuggling job, which leads to even more trouble.
As it turns out, the smuggling job consists of disposing of corpses to earn 50,000 yen per successful “delivery”. Unfortunately for Ryosuke,...
The film is being directed by Katsuhito Ishii (Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, The Taste of Tea) and will feature Satoshi Tsumabuki in the lead role. In Tsumabuki’s last film, Akunin, he played a character described as a “vacant youth”, and his this new role would also seem to fit that description. He plays a young man named Ryosuke who, frustrated with fruitlessly chasing his dream of becoming an actor, takes a part-time job at a pachinko parlor. He soon racks up a massive debt and is forced to take a lucrative smuggling job, which leads to even more trouble.
As it turns out, the smuggling job consists of disposing of corpses to earn 50,000 yen per successful “delivery”. Unfortunately for Ryosuke,...
- 11/25/2010
- Nippon Cinema
Viz Pictures
NEW YORK -- Demonstrating that the English have no monopoly on heartwarming stories of plucky, downtrodden characters finding uplift via unlikely enterprises (The Full Monty, Calendar Girls, etc.), the Japanese film Hula Girls leaves no cliched stone unturned. This tale of a group of young women in a depressed mining community learning how to become Hawaiian hula dancers found great success in its native country, winning Japanese Academy Awards for picture, director, screenplay and supporting actress as well as being its official entry for the foreign-film Oscar.
Directed by Korean-born, Japan-based director Lee Sang-il, the comedy-drama is set in 1965, when the small town of Joban has entered hard times after its chief coal mine shuts down. The local authorities decide to try to revive their fortunes by converting it into a Hawaiian-themed tourist resort, thus necessitating the need for local young women who can hula dance.
Arriving to whip the mainly awkward recruits into shape is a famous dancer (Yasuko Matsuyuki) from Tokyo whose career has slumped. The hard-drinking, tough-edged instructor garners disapproval from the girls' parents, but, as you might guess, she eventually whips her ragtag group into hula dancing shape.
Freely mixing predictably wacky comedy with predictably melodramatic plot elements (a mining accident, domestic abuse, etc.), the film nonetheless manages to be reasonably entertaining despite, or, depending upon how you look at it, because of, its formulaic elements. Disbelieving skeptics should be advised that it is based on a true story.
NEW YORK -- Demonstrating that the English have no monopoly on heartwarming stories of plucky, downtrodden characters finding uplift via unlikely enterprises (The Full Monty, Calendar Girls, etc.), the Japanese film Hula Girls leaves no cliched stone unturned. This tale of a group of young women in a depressed mining community learning how to become Hawaiian hula dancers found great success in its native country, winning Japanese Academy Awards for picture, director, screenplay and supporting actress as well as being its official entry for the foreign-film Oscar.
Directed by Korean-born, Japan-based director Lee Sang-il, the comedy-drama is set in 1965, when the small town of Joban has entered hard times after its chief coal mine shuts down. The local authorities decide to try to revive their fortunes by converting it into a Hawaiian-themed tourist resort, thus necessitating the need for local young women who can hula dance.
Arriving to whip the mainly awkward recruits into shape is a famous dancer (Yasuko Matsuyuki) from Tokyo whose career has slumped. The hard-drinking, tough-edged instructor garners disapproval from the girls' parents, but, as you might guess, she eventually whips her ragtag group into hula dancing shape.
Freely mixing predictably wacky comedy with predictably melodramatic plot elements (a mining accident, domestic abuse, etc.), the film nonetheless manages to be reasonably entertaining despite, or, depending upon how you look at it, because of, its formulaic elements. Disbelieving skeptics should be advised that it is based on a true story.
- 7/19/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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