Koufuku no Kane
The Blessing Bell
- Release Date
- November, 22nd, 2003
- Running Time
- 87 min
- Genre
- Feature
- Color
- Color
- Screening Format
- 35mm
[ Directed by ]
[ Produced by ]
[ Cast ]
- TERAJIMA Susumu ── Igarashi Satoru
- NISHIDA Naomi ── Igarashi Aiko
- SUZUKI Seijun ── Yokoi Chosuke
[ Staff ]
- SABU ── Screenplay
- NAKABORI Masao (J.S.C.) ── Cinematography
- MURASE Yasuhisa ── Music
[ Production Company ]
IMJ Entertainment, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, GENEON ENTERTAINMENT, OGURA JIMUSYO
[ Story ]
At a lonely, closed-down factory area, a recently laid off worker named Igarashi Satoru (Terajima Susumu) walks aimlessly in his uniform. Along the way, he gets wrapped up in various events, including the death of a yakuza in front of him; an apartment blaze; a night in jail; and a hit-and-run accident that puts him in the hospital. There he meets an old man who asks him to check on his wife at home. Igarashi does the favour, but finds the wife dead, grasping a winning lottery ticket for one hundred million yen. The ticket is later stolen by the lady he had helped at the scene of the fire. Igarashi keeps walking and walking and ends up falling into a hole. Above his head the sky is filled with stars. The following day he retraces his steps, back to the familiar setting of the factory, which he runs to in exhaustion.
In a departure from his usual manic storytelling pace, director Sabu's simple yet effective depiction won the film the NETPAC award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
[ Contact (International) ]
HAKUHODO DY MUSIC & PICTURES (SHOWGATE INC.)
Akasaka Biz Tower, 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6321
Attn: International Sales Group
E-mail: isales@hakuhodody-map.jp
http://www.hakuhodody-map.jp
