Now Showing Oct 23

In life there are times when you play a supporting role, and times when you play the lead. Even if a bright spotlight isn’t directed your way, life can still be overflowing with joy if you simply view it from a different angle. It might sound rude to say so, but Toru Masuoka, a famous supporting actor in the world of Japanese film and theatre, is a man who really epitomises that position just out of the spotlight. Thirty years since his debut as an actor, his role in ‘Wakiyaku Monogatari’ is the first time he has ever played the lead in a feature length film. The film, with a star-studded cast which includes Hiromi Nagasaku, Masahiko Tsugawa and Keiko Matsuzaka, is a romantic and humorous hymn of life aimed at those living in today’s modern world – where the ties which bind people together are weakening and people are increasingly losing sight of their own roles in society.

Actor Hiroshi is divorced and perpetually cast in supporting roles, and it’s not only in his work, but also in his daily life that he seems to be playing a supporting role. When he walks down the street strangers mistake him for other people, like a shop assistant or a security guard, and he even winds up being taken for a kidnapper. At home his father, a famous playwright, treats him as if he is useless. But one day a surprising chance comes to the otherwise luckless Hiroshi. It’s a dream opportunity: he is offered the lead role in the Japanese remake of a Woody Allen film. However, in an unexpected turn of events, he is this time mistaken for the man who is having an affair with the wife of a prominent Member of Parliament, and all talk of the movie evaporates. A depressed Hiroshi then falls for an aspiring actress. Can this new romance possibly have a happy ending? Perhaps the day will come in Hiroshi’s life when he can finally stand in the spotlight.

The creator, writer, producer and director of the film is Atsushi Ogata, who has been based in America and Europe working as a video artist, actor and writer. Ogata used his own experiences of often being mistaken for other people to develop his unusual story of life as a supporting actor and has written it with a light-hearted, easy tempo which reflects his training in Europe and America.

Ogata’s short film ‘Eternally Yours’ was the only Japanese work to be chosen for the ‘New Directors/New Films Festival 2007’ at the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. It also picked up awards at many international film festivals, so Ogata’s feature film debut has been much anticipated by many. It isn’t merely those in the Japanese film world who have been looking forward to his debut either. In fact, financing for ‘Wakiyaku Monogatari’ came from nine different countries. After graduating from Harvard University, Ogata worked for the Japanese company Fujitsu, after which he studied at MIT. The diverse and unusual path that led to Ogata becoming a director, and his extensive experiences abroad, have made him a very interesting filmmaker.

Wakiyaku Monogatari: Cast Me If You Can

Japan, 2010
Opened: Oct 23
Director/Writer/Producer: Atsushi Ogata
Cast: Toru Masuoka, Hiromi Nagasaku, Masahiko Tsugawa, Keiko Matsuzaka, Akira Emoto, Ai Maeda
Distributor: Tokyo Theatres Company
Website: wakiyakuthemovie.com/

Mères et Filles (Hidden Diary)

(c) 2009 Sombrero Films - France 3 Cinema - Filmo

When Audrey visits her hometown in France, she decides to stay in the home of her late grandfather to avoid her mother, who is a doctor, and with whom she has a very strained relationship. It’s there that she finds a diary that has been hidden for many years. It was written by her grandmother Louise, who suddenly left her family 50 years before. Through the pages of the diary the mysteries surrounding Louise’s disappearance are gradually solved. The film is a moving story that looks at the lives of three generations of women, and the different ages they lived in.

France/Canada, 2009
Japanese Title: Kakusareta Nikki Hahatachi, Musumetachi
Opened: Oct 23
Director/Writer/Adaptation: Julie Lopes-Curval
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Marina Hands, Marie-Josée Croze, Michel Duchaussoy, Jean-Philippe Éccofey, Carole Franck, Gérard Watkins
Distributor: Alcine-Terran
Website: www.alcine-terran.com/diary/

Going the Distance

(C) MMX NEW LINE PRODUCTIONS, INC.

Erin wants be a newspaper journalist and comes to New York for an internship at a newspaper. One night, when she is out at a bar, she meets Garrett. The pair hit it off and start dating, but Erin will only be in New York for six weeks as she has to go home to San Francisco when her time at the newspaper ends. When Erin is offered a job at a local paper their relationship looks set to become a long-distance one. It’s a romantic comedy in a very modern setting. The couple, buffeted about by the relationship which stretches from the East Coast to the West, are played by real life on again/off again couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.

USA, 2010
Japanese Title: Enkyoriren Ai Kanojyo no Ketsudan
Opened: Oct 23
Director: Nanette Burstein
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Website: www.enren.jp/

Tobidasu Ehon 3D

(C) ポプラ社 (C) 2010「とびだす絵本3D」製作委員会

This 3D animated film is based on the five most popular books published by children’s picture book publisher Poplar, which started publishing in 1974. It includes favourites like ‘Nezumi-kun no Choki’ (Little Mouse’s Red Vest), ‘Ringo ga Tabetai Nezumi-kun’ (Little Mouse Wants an Apple), ‘Pyon’ and ‘Shiritori’. The term ‘3D animation’ might put you in mind of a series of brilliantly coloured images that leave you feeling a little dizzy, but while this film is 3D, it stays true to the simplicity of the original drawings, and the songs and narration have a lovely relaxed feel to them. It’s a film that will bring a smile to the faces of both children and adults alike.

Japan, 2010
Opened: Oct 23
Director: Masahiro Takata
Narrated by: Mitsuko Horie
Distributor: Lawson Intermedia
Website: www.ehon3d.jp/