Release Date

June, 6th, 2009

Running Time

120 min

Genre

Drama , Science Fiction/Fantasy , Romance , Feature

Color

Color

Screening Format

35mm

Screen Size

American Vista (1:1.85)

Sound Processing

DTS

[ Directed by ]

• YOKOHAMA Satoko

[ Produced by ]

• NAKANO Asako
• TSUCHII Tomoo

[ Cast ]

• MATSUYAMA Kenichi ── MIZUKI Yojin
• ASO Kumiko ── SHINSEN Machiko
• NOZOE Seiji ── TANAKA Futoshi

[ Staff ]

• YOKOHAMA Satoko ── Screenplay
• KONDO Ryuto ── Cinematography
• FUSHIMA Shinichi
• OTOMO Yoshihide ── Music
• SUGIMOTO Ryo ── Art Director

[ Production Company ]

"Bare Essence of Life" Film Partners, Little More, Film-makers

[ Distributor (Japan) ]

Little More

[ Story ]

Yokohama Satoko's 2007 film, German+Rain, was self-produced butenjoyed a nationwide release and won the New Director's Award from the Directors Guild of Japan. This is the major-studio debut from this promising young director, made with a surrealistic touch in the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori, where she was born. The story of a young man with the pure heart of a child who falls in love for the first time is told energetically, without subtitles, in the distinctive Tsugaru dialect of that region. The young man, Yojin (Matsuyama Kenichi), an eccentric known for impulsive behavior, has been tending the family farm since his grandfather's death. One day, at a nursery school where he has gone to sell vegetables, he encounters Machiko (Aso Kumiko), a fragile new teacher, who he immediately falls in love with. Soaring with the first thrill of love, Yojin begins to pursue Machiko aggressively, but she is perplexed by his intensity. In fact, her former boyfriend was beheaded in a traffic accident and she is troubled by the fact that the head has never been found. She has come to Aomori from Tokyo to consult a fortune-teller who people refer to as "God."

[ Official Site ]

http://www.umls.jp/

[ Contact (International) ]

Nikkatsu Corporation
International Sales
3-28-12 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033
Attn: KAWAI Emico, SUNG Tzwei, YAMAMOTO Umi
tel: +81 3 5689 1014
fax: +81 3 5689 1044
E-mail: international@nikkatsu.co.jp
https://intl.nikkatsu.com