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Japanese star Koji Yakusho makes directing debut
Jason Gray in Tokyo
19 June 2008
Japanese actor Koji Yakusho, who starred in 1996 hit Shall We Dance?, is making his directorial debut with drama Gama No Abura (Toad Oil), in which he also stars.Based on an original idea by Yakusho, the film tells the story of a father (Yakusho) whose son is seriously injured in a car accident, his relationship with the son's unknowing girlfriend and the son's juvenile delinquent friend whom the family takes in.
The film also features dream-like flashbacks to Yakusho's childhood, with a character who sells the titular toad oil, once a popular ointment in Japan.
The cast, hand-picked by Yakusho, includes Eita (Dororo) as the son, Satomi Kobayashi (Megane) as Yakusho's wife, and the screen debut of professional fighter Jun'ichi Sawayashiki. Principal photography began on May 18 with filming set to wrap on June 30.
Producer-distributor Phantom Film has slated for the film for a 2009 release and is aiming for a slot at next year's Cannes Film Festival. "There was a lot of interest from both the festival and buyers when we introduced the project in Cannes this year," stated producer Keisuke Konishi. Yakusho previously starred in 1997 Palme d'Or winner The Eel and is a well-known figure on the Croisette.
Yakusho is perhaps best known for his role in Shall We Dance?, which grossed almost $10m in the US as one of the most successful foreign-language releases ever. His credits also include high profile foreign titles Memoirs Of A Geisha, Babel and Silk. He's also been a long-time collaborator of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, appearing in eight of his films.
5 comments:
...I wonder what his style will turn out like?...
potentially one of the most interesting 2009 projects i
know of, so far.
Basically toad oil is sold by travelling hawkers/yakuza called Tekiya(if you know Yamada Yoji film character Tora-San,he is it)and proclaimed to be work for all kind of cuts and burns,but also is the metaphor of tall tale.
"Gama No Abura"is also the title of Akira Kurosawa's autobiography(English title is "Something Like A Autobiography" )
Yakusho must be very ambitious with this project.
Aceface
That's interesting about the Kurosawa biog -- never noticed that. I guess katakana separates the movie from the book (and is a hell of a lot easier to write).
I suppose the western equivalent would be "snake oil" salesmen. Yakusho's character pretends he's the son when the son's girlfriend calls after the accident. Strange.
And there was some confusion about the screenplay credit, as mentioned in today's entry on Yakusho's blog. Why does he just credit「うらら」as the writer? Will have make a change to the piece.
Thanks for the article, Jason!
Googled.
There's うらら・さとこ,the lesbian filmmaker who also writes screenplay.
and there's,はらら・よしか,the play writer.I knew her blog.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/hararadearara/
Aceface
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