Japanese Film Festival “Eiga Sai” 2012 Again!


I joined Eiga Sai 2010 last year and I was blown away! The 1st movie I watched aside from Japanese Anime  was TOKYO TOWER Mom & Me, and Sometimes Dad (2007 movie) which I can totally relate to my life..and of course got teary eyed T_______T it was that AWESOME! I missed watching last year's 2011 Eiga Sai - Film Fest, so I just helped promote it to friends! Now we are in that time of the year again!


See below for the details of the movies to be shown with their summaries:


"VILLAIN"
A gritty social critique, this drama is directed by Lee Sang-il, director of the multi-award winning Hula
Girls. Eri Fukatsu, who won the Best Actress Award at the Montreal World Film Festival for her role,
takes on challenging and heated love scenes, playing a woman (Mitsuyo) on the run with a murderer.
Yuichi (Satoshi Tsumabuki) runs away after killing a woman (Hikari Mitsushima) he met on a dating
website. He then meets Mitsuyo, a sales clerk. While the families of the victim and the assailant are left
in agony, Mitsuyo becomes increasingly entangled in her relationship with Yuichi.

"PEAK-THE RESCUERS"
Based on the popular comics by Shinichi Ishizuka, this drama spotlight is on mountain rescue
operations. Oguri was a big fan of the original story, and he attempts ice wall climbing and rappelling
in snow-covered mountains. His genuine performance gets across the severity and wonder of the
mountains. Sanpo (Oguri), who volunteers as a mountain rescuer in the Northern Alps, has climbed the
world’s famous peaks. His flaw is that he can be too easygoing, but, novice Kumi (Masami Nagasawa)
from the Nagano Prefecture mountain rescue squad observes the way he works and learns that he is
someone she can count on.

"RAILWAYS"
Known for its previous production, ALWAYS-Sunset on Third Street- (Always San-chome no Yuhi) and
the sequel, ROBOT Communications presents another heartwarming tale on the turning point of an
elite business man in his fifties and a local train that has been running since 1911. Hajime (Kiichi Nakai)
is next in line as head of a prominent electronics company. He works hard and barely has time for
his family. But one day, his mother in Shimane was ill, and his best friend dies in an accident. Griefstricken, Hajime returns home—where memories of his childhood came back. He had always wanted
to be a train conductor and drive the local “bataden” Ichibata Electric Railway.

"HAPPY FLIGHT"
A hit maker Shinobu Yaguchi of Waterboys and Swing Girls unfolds his favorite entertaining group
drama in this latest movie—Happy Flight which cannot be bundled in a usual category of aviation
movies characterized as panic movies.
The story deals with flight No.1980 bound for Honolulu from Japan. For Kazuhiro Suzuki (Seiichi
Tanabe), the co-pilot, this is the final test to become a captain. For Etsuko Saito (Haruka Ayase), a
newly recruited cabin attendant, it is a memorable debut on an international flight. However, the
aircraft hits a bird after takeoff and is forced to turn back. Faced with yet another challenge - difficult
landing conditions due to an approaching typhoon; finally, they managed to overcome with the help
of the operation control center. The young crew in aviation-related occupations grew in experience
after this bittersweet but fulfilling flight.

"TOMORROW'S JOE"
A live-action adaptation of Takamori Asao and Chiba Tetsuya’s eponymous comic, regarded as a
brilliant achievement in Japanese manga history. Two boxing rivals engage in a fierce battle that
will determine of their fate. The director is Fumihiko Sori, who helmed the sports manga adaptation
Ping Pong. In the late 1960s, a slum-dwelling delinquent named Joe Yabuki (Tomohisa Yamashita) is
scouted by former boxer Danpei Tange (Teruyuki Kagawa) for his exceptional pugilistic ability, but
he gets into trouble and is sent to a juvenile reformatory where he meets professional fighter Toru
Rikiishi (Yusuke Iseya).

"IN HIS CHART"
Medical drama based on the debut novel by practicing physician Sosuke Natsukawa. It is a penetrating
look at healthcare in Japan’s provinces through the personal growth of an honest young doctor. It is
acclaimed as the film soundtrack debut for the blind pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii. Ichito (Sho Sakurai) is an
internist at a small hospital in Shinshu that needs physicians, and handles his heavy workload with
support from his photographer wife Haruna (Aoi Miyazaki). One day he encounters Azumi (Mariko
Kaga), who has terminal cancer, and he starts questioning the very existence of medicine

"COLORFUL"
Directed by Keiichi Hara, highly regarded for Crayon Shin-chan Arashi o Yobu Moretsu Otona Teikoku
no Gyakushu. His realistic style as seen in Summer Days with Coo (Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi) is
taken one step further, and creates a unique world where the backdrop is so real you would think it
might have been shot live. Someone has just died, but his soul is put into the body of Makoto Kobayashi
(voice: Kazato Tomizawa), a boy in junior high school who has just committed suicide. Regaining life,
the soul inhabits the boy’s body and soon finds the true reason behind his suicide.

"ABACUS AND SWORD"
A film adaptation of the book by Michifumi Isoda, in which he paints a picture of life in the final
days of the Tokugawa shogunate, based on his painstaking analysis of the household accounts left
behind by a low ranking samurai. Director Yoshimitsu Morita, portrays the inner workings of a samurai
household fighting to tighten finances. The Inoyama family has been in the service of Kaga clan as
expert accountants and reckoners. The 8th head of the Inoyama family, Naoyuki (Masato Sakai), is
so phenomenally gifted in numbers that he was called “abacus maniac.” To cope with the increasing
expenses that come with trying to move up, he works together with his wife Koma (Yukie Nakama)
and family to do all they can to economize.

"PERMANENT NOBARA"
This is based on popular manga artist Rieko Saibara’s manga series. As in his FUNUKE Show Some Love,
You Losers! (Funukedomo, Kanashimi no Ai wo Misero), director Daihachi Yoshida’s films have all sorts
of lovable, quirky characters. In this love story for grown-ups, woman’s pursuit for love never dies and
Yoshida portrays such feminine strength and compassion with humor. Naoko (Miho Kanno) returns
home with her young daughter, where her mother Masako (Mari Natsuki) runs the only beauty parlor
in town—meeting place for lamenting bad luck with men and laughing over dirty jokes. Unbeknownst
to them, Naoko has been secretly seeing her former teacher, Kashima (Yosuke Eguchi).

"NINJA KIDS"
A live-action adaptation of Soubei Amako’s cute ninja action manga. A popular animated
television series, it presents the comical slapstick antics of a group of boys training to be
elite ninjas. Director Takashi Miike works in a diverse array of genres, from violent works
to family films. Rantaro (Seishiro Kato), a first grader at Ninja Academy, spends his days
with his fellow students Shinbee (Futa Kimura) and Kirimaru (Roi Hayashi) making all sorts
of blunders. One day, an assassin turns up at the home of fourth grader Takamaru (Takuya
Mizoguchi).


Schedule for Japanese Film Festival “Eiga Sai” 2012:

August 7, 2012 Tuesday 7PM
Peak – The Rescuers

August 8, 2012 Wednesday 7PM
Abacus and Sword

August 9, 2012 Thursday 7PM
Railways

August 10, 2012 Friday 7PM
Tomorrow’s Joe

August 11, 2012 Saturday
1:30PM Ninja Kids
4:30PM In His Chart
7PM Villain

August 12, 2012 Sunday
1:30PM Colorful
4:30PM Happy Flight
7PM Permanent Nobara

About Eiga Sai:
It is a Japanese Film Festival which is in Celebration of Philippines - Japan Friendship Month! Japan Foundation once again opens its doors for the Philippine-Japan Friendship Month with a series of cultural events. Kicking off the month-long festivity is the much-awaited Eiga Sai. “Eiga Sai”, which literally means ‘film festival.’ EIGASAI is an annual event where we are welcome to watch several of Japan’s best movies for free. It’s an entire week of film screening at your nearest sponsor mall. All films will be shown in 35mm format with English subtitles. Screening venues will be at Ayala Center Cinema 4, Cebu City (August 7 to 12).
Japanese Film Festival “Eiga Sai” 2012 Again! Japanese Film Festival “Eiga Sai” 2012 Again! Reviewed by Vernon Joseph Go on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 Rating: 5

2 comments

  1. eiga sai can't wait for this upcoming event! thx for sharing! www.cebutechjobs.com

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  2. the best things in life are free ^.^ thanks for this info!

    ReplyDelete