Marutai no onna (1997)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Juzo Itami

Writer:

Juzo Itami (writer)

Release Date:

27 September 1997 (Japan)

Awards:

6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Nobuko Miyamoto	...	Isono Biwako
Masahiko Nishimura	...	Detective Tachibana
Yuji Murata	...	Detective Chikamatsu
Kazuya Takahashi	...	Oki Tamayo
Masahiko Tsugawa	...	Shingyoji temple chief clerk
Toru Emori	...	Nihonmatsu, Defence lawyer
Akira Nagoya	...	Hatano, Older detective with glasses
Taro Yamamoto	...	Nakamura
Houka Kinoshita	...	Eiji
Daisuke Ryu	...	Religious cult leader
Yoshimasa Kondo	...	Koshimizu Maneja
Aki Takejo	...	Assistant Miwa
Noboru Mitani	...	Theatre Producer
Toru Masuoka	...	Prosecutor
Akira Takarada	...	Police commissioner

Also Known As:

Woman in Witness Protection (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:131 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Itami Productions

Marutai: Drama, Comedy, Violence & the Triumph of Loyalty

In this made-in-Japan drama/comedy/gangster movie from director Juzo Itami a star actress, Biwako (played by Nobuko Miyamoto), is the sole witness to a grizzly murder. The cops persuade Biwako to play the bait to catch the killers. Two veteran detectives are assigned to protect her at all times, and as the film progresses the guardians have no choice but to deal with the overly dramatic, hilarious, and sometimes harrowing ups-and-downs of Biwako's life. Beautifully shot and dynamically structured in a way that only the Japanese are capable of, Marutai reminds us that sometimes the most loyal friendships are formed under the darkest circumstances.