Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Tokyo Sonata) takes a detour outside of Japan in this film starring former J-Pop idol Atsuko Maeda (of AKB48) as Yoko, a television reporter filming a travel show in Uzbekistan. Between wading around a lake fishing with a grumpy, misogynist fisherman, repeatedly riding a nausea-inducing carnival ride, and pretending to enjoy a plate of uncooked rice at the behest of her sadistic director, Yoko explores the cities of Samarkand and Tashkent on her own, revealing a complex character beneath her chipper TV personality act. Along the way there are comic set pieces, a chase scene, the liberation of a captive goat, musical numbers, and a wonderfully satisfying ending. No wonder film critic Mark Schilling described it in the Japan Times as “a uniquely Kurosawa mix of showbiz comedy, woman-in-jeopardy thriller and romantic drama with Maeda’s lonely-but-intrepid heroine serving as the strong connecting thread.”
- Year2019
- Runtime120 minutes
- LanguageJapanese
- CountryJapan
- DirectorKiyoshi Kurosawa
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Tokyo Sonata) takes a detour outside of Japan in this film starring former J-Pop idol Atsuko Maeda (of AKB48) as Yoko, a television reporter filming a travel show in Uzbekistan. Between wading around a lake fishing with a grumpy, misogynist fisherman, repeatedly riding a nausea-inducing carnival ride, and pretending to enjoy a plate of uncooked rice at the behest of her sadistic director, Yoko explores the cities of Samarkand and Tashkent on her own, revealing a complex character beneath her chipper TV personality act. Along the way there are comic set pieces, a chase scene, the liberation of a captive goat, musical numbers, and a wonderfully satisfying ending. No wonder film critic Mark Schilling described it in the Japan Times as “a uniquely Kurosawa mix of showbiz comedy, woman-in-jeopardy thriller and romantic drama with Maeda’s lonely-but-intrepid heroine serving as the strong connecting thread.”
- Year2019
- Runtime120 minutes
- LanguageJapanese
- CountryJapan
- DirectorKiyoshi Kurosawa