Sad Vacation

There are two new movies playing at Viz Cinemas this month for those of you lucky enough to live in San Francisco.

Sad Vacation (seen beside) will be playing from the 6th to the 19th of the month.

Award-winning director Shinji Aoyama, known for Eureka(2000), completes his cinematic trilogy set in his hometown of Kitakyushu with a powerful tale of family karma. Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) makes his living coordinating smuggling from China and carries the pain of his father’s suicide and being abandoned by his mother while still a child. He is surprised to re-encounter her during a smuggling run and wants revenge. Although initially angry, the pair eventually begins living together and Kenji is gradually impressed by the strength of his mother’s love. Noted as, “a work of pristine beauty in which every shot counts in the emotive and structural development of the Japanese auteur’s humane vision.” (The Hollywood Reporter)

The second title screening from the 20th to the 26th is Happily Ever After, which just so happens to star one of my favourite Japanese actors, Hiroshi Abe.

In this heart-warming film based on a smash hit manga comic, devoted wife Yukie (Miki Nakatani) works hard at a noodle shop and struggles to make ends meet, while her husband Isao (Hiroshi Abe) hangs around all day gambling and getting into trouble. Everyone advises Yukie to leave Isao, but her love for him is unconditional because he was the one who initially saved her from misery with his unconditional love. Miki Nakatani won the 31st Japanese Academy Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Yukie.

Wrapping up the month is an encore showing of Fine, Totally Fine, showing November 27th until Dec 3rd.

Fine, Totally Fine is a well-crafted comedy about a love triangle between three oddball characters. Teruo, the eldest son of a used bookstore owner, has a dream to build the world’s scariest haunted house. But his dreams take a back seat to his immaturity and unglamorous part-time job as a tree trimmer. Teruo’s friend, Hisanobu, works at a hospital and hesitantly goes along with his longtime pal’s strange hobby, and things get complicated when an attractive but hopelessly clumsy painter named Akari enters best friends’ lives. As the two men each become romantically interested in Akari, their quirky personalities, rivalries, and romantic ineptitude sets the stage for all sorts of hilarious scenarios that are complemented by an equally eccentric cast of supporting characters.

For show times and more information, please visit the official New People website.