Garasu no nô (2000)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Hideo Nakata

Writers:

Osamu Tezuka (graphic novel)
Chiaki Konaka (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 January 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

"Wake up! I'm a Prince!" 'Sleeping Bride' or 'Glass Brain' is teenage love-story of a girl who sleeps for 17 years, her only hope, a young boy...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Graphic Novel | Based On Novel

Cast

Risa Goto	...	Yumi Iida
Hiroki Kohara	...	Yuuichi Nagasawa (17 years)
Takaaki Enoki	...	Dr. Hishikawa
Yûko Natori	...	Ritsuko Nagasawa
Masako	...	Masako Iida
Rikiya Otaka	...	Yuuichi Nagasawa (Aged 7)
Toshie Negishi	...	Nurse
Moro Morooka	...	Yumi's father
Yôko Ôshima	...	Yuuchi's mother
Michiko Kawai	...	Mitsu Fukuhara
Tomoka Hayashi	...	Keiko Mizoguchi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tomiyuki Kunihiro
Taro Suwa
Ayako Yoshitani

Also Known As:

Sleeping Bride (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

Japan:100 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

South Korea:15

Company:

Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS)

An interesting look at Hideo's filmography

Well, like probably everyone who is looking at this page, I saw this film as part of the Tartan Film, Ring Trilogy Box Set. From the write up on the case, it claims that Sleeping Bride is "thematically" related to The Ring. That can mean anything really, and because logo on the Disc was of a scary variety, I automatically, assumed this to be a horror film. It wasn't ... at all.

But that doesn't mean that it wasn't a good film, it was. For a while though I though it would it turn dark .. and in a few scenes, I REALLY though it would, but it never did. It is a light and somewhat sentimental film, based on the classic Sleeping Beauty story. It explores some interesting ideas, and brings fantasy into a modern setting.

The relationships and interactions between the characters, especially in school, are particularly pure in parts, and reminded me of some of the animation from Ghibli, though this is probably because the story was based on the work of another animation and comic legend, Osamu Tezuka.

This film suffers mostly from being misrepresented. It has been distributed with 3 horror films, and despite the quirkiness of the concepts, Sleeping Bride is a cute, emotional character study, that poses a few questions, and can make you ponder things a little. Not scary in the slightest .. unless you count dying of of embarrassment for the main character in some scenes! ;P

I am glad I saw this film, but I guess, since I consider it as "free", that lessens the pain a little more, than if I had a 5000 yen hole in my wallet, and only this movie to show for it. For an interesting look at Hideo Nakata's filmography, and for an interesting, and moving story, check out this film, but make sure you get 3 Ring films with it ;P