Japanese Film Screenings in Toronto

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Japanese Film Screenings in Toronto
Happy Flight!, Someday, and Villon’s Wife
Sunday, Dec. 9 and Monday, Dec. 10 at the Bloor HotDocs Cinema
The Japan Foundation and the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto are proud to present three screenings of critically-acclaimed Japanese films in Toronto.
Location: Bloor HotDocs Cinema
Address: 506 Bloor St. W., Toronto
Phone: (416) 637-3123
Admission: Free
No reservations required (doors open 30 minutes before screening)
Language: In Japanese with English subtitles
Inquiries: Contact Kate Scullin at (416) 966-1600 x223 or kscullin@jftor.org
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Happy Flight!

Sunday, December 9, 3:30 pm
Dir. Shinobu Yaguchi
2008/103 min/PG

Shinobu Yaguchi, director of Waterboys and Swing Girls, turns to the world of aviation for his latest film. Films featuring airplanes tend to be panic films or focus only on the pilots and flight attendants, but Yaguchi aims to create a more realistic film by including the ground crew, mechanics, dispatchers, controllers, and the even the bird patrol crew.
The film centres on two rookies, a co-pilot and flight attendant, who embark on what turns out to be a turbulent flight to Hawaii. “Marbled with drama and comedy, [Happy Flight] navigates a huge cast and multiple subplots with consummate ease and not a second of downtime,” says Variety.
IMAGE © 2008 FUJITELEVISION / ALTAMIRA PICTURES / TOHO / DENTSU
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Someday

Sunday, December 9, 6:30 pm
Dir. Junji Sakamoto
2011/93 min/PG

Inspired by a local tradition of performing Kabuki theatre that has been passed down over the last 300 years, Someday presents a warm portrayal of the joys and sorrows of the villagers of Oshika-mura, Nagano. The project was the brainchild of lead actor Yoshio Harada (Still Walking), who passed away in July of 2011 soon after the film was released in Japan. Zen (Harada), who runs an eatery serving venison dishes in Oshika Village at the foot of the Southern Alps, is also a top-billed star in the local tradition of performing Kabuki. However, one day in autumn as the villagers are preparing to put on a show, Zen is thrown for a loop when he is visited by his wife Takako and his childhood friend Osamu, who ran away together eighteen years ago.
Winner: Best Actor, Japanese Academy Awards + 7 nominations
IMAGE © SOMEDAY Film Partners
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Villon's Wife

Monday, December 10, 6:30 pm
Dir. Negishi Kichitaro
2009/114 min/14A

An all-star cast enacts a story distilled from seven of Dazai Osamu’s works, in a literary drama released on the 100th anniversary of the birth of the novelist. The relationship between a hard-drinking, promiscuous writer and his beautiful and devoted wife brings the various forms of love between men and women into relief. Director Negishi Kishitaro (Dog in a Sidecar) skillfully depicts the energy of people living in the chaos of the early postwar period.
While raising a young son, Sachi (TakakoMatsu), the wife of the popular writer Otani (Tadanobu Asano), struggles to contain the damage wrought by her profligate husband. To pay off his debts, she starts working at a pub, where her charm and beauty win her the admiration of her customers, in turn stirring her unstable husband’s jealousy.
Winner: Best Director, Montreal World Film Festival; Winner: Best Actress and Best Art Direction + 8 other nominations, Japanese Academy Awards
IMAGE © 2009 FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK, PAPADO, SHINCHOSHA PUBLISHING, NIHON EIGA SATELLITE BROADCASTING CORPORATION