Free Japanese Films, December 9-10

The Japan Foundation and the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto present Japanese Film Screenings in Toronto
"Happy Flight", "Someday" and "Villon's Wife"

Sunday, December 9 and Monday, December 10 at the Bloor Cinema

The Japan Foundation and the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto are proud to present screenings of three critically-acclaimed Japanese films in Toronto.

Location: Bloor HotDocs Cinema

Address: 506 Bloor St. W., Toronto (Bloor and Bathurst)

Phone: 416.637.3123
Admission: Free

No reservations required

Sunday, December 9
3:30 pm
ハッピーフライト (Happy Flight!)
Directed by Shinobu Yaguchi
2008/103 min/PG

Language: In Japanese with English subtitles

Shinobu Yaguchi brought feelings of laughter, tears, and exhilaration to audiences in Japan with his films about boys' synchronized swimming (Waterboys) and girls' high school big band jazz (Swing Girls). The theme of his latest film is "airplanes," of all things! Usually, films featuring airplanes tend to be panic films or focus on just the pilots and flight attendants. But Yaguchi's intent was to create a more realistic, completely new film that depicts all corners of the aviation industry. He interviewed various departments to create his story, to understand just how many people are involved in making a single airplane take off and land.

The setting of the film is an airport and airplanes. A great variety of "aviation professionals" such as pilots, flight attendants, the ground crew, mechanics, dispatchers, controllers, and the bird patrol crew all support a single flight. They have only one mission: to secure the safety of the passengers!

Today was supposed to be any other day on the job, departing on schedule and heading safely to Honolulu, but....

Sunday, December 9
6:30 pm
大鹿村騒動記 (Someday)
Oshika-mura soudouki
Directed by Junji Sakamoto
2011/93 min/PGLanguage: In Japanese with English subtitles

An ensemble comedy that focuses on the mountain village of Oshika in Nagano Prefecture. Inspired by a local tradition of performing Kabuki that has been passed down over the last 300 years, it presents a warm portrayal of the joys and sorrows of the villagers. The project was the brainchild of lead actor Harada Yoshio, 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 (Okusu Michiyo) and his childhood friend Osamu (Kishibe Ittoku) who ran away together eighteen years ago.

Monday, December 10
6:30 pm
ヴィヨンの妻 / ヴィヨンの妻　～桜桃とタンポポ～ (Villon's Wife)
Villon no tsuma
6:30 pm
Directed by Negishi Kichitaro
2009/114 min/14A
Language: In Japanese with English subtitles

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, upstanding, 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. He won the best director award at the 33rd Montreal World Film Festival for this film.
While raising a young son, Sachi (Matsu Takako), the wife of the popular writer Otani (Asano Tadanobu), struggles to contain the damage wrought by her profligate husband. To pay off his debts, she starts working at a pub, where she wins the favor of Okada (Tsumabuki Satoshi), a young fan of Otani’s, and the lawyer Tsuji (Tsutsumi Shinichi), who she had a crush on in the past. But Otani surges with jealousy at the sight of the newly confident and popular Sachi.

http://www.japanfoundationcanada.org/