IMDb >
Akarui mirai (2003)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsAkarui mirai (2003) More at IMDbPro »
| Videos (see all 6 NEW) |
Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
3 December 2003 (France) morePlot:
Two young guys work in a plant that manufactures oshibori (those moist hand-towels found in some Japanese restaurants)... more | add synopsisPlot Keywords:
moreAwards:
5 wins & 1 nomination moreNewsDesk:
(7 articles)
The New York Times On Hair's Bright Future (From BroadwayWorld.com. 14 April 2009, 2:50 PM, PDT)
Tokyo Sonata review
(From Spout. 12 March 2009, 6:30 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Time past, life wasted more (19 total)Cast
(Credited cast)| Jô Odagiri | ... | Yûji Nimura | |
| Tadanobu Asano | ... | Mamoru Arita | |
| Tatsuya Fuji | ... | Shin'ichirô Arita | |
| Takashi Sasano | ... | Mr. Fujiwara | |
| Marumi Shiraishi | ... | Mrs. Fujiwara | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Hanawa | ... | Ken Takagi | |
| Hideyuki Kasahara | ... | Shin | |
| Ryo Kase | ... | Fuyuki Arita | |
| Miyako Kawahara | |||
| Chiaki Kominami | ... | Kaori Fujiwara | |
| Ken'ichi Matsuyama | ... | Jun | |
| Yoshiyuki Morishita | ... | Mori | |
| Sayuri Oyamada | ... | Miho Nimura | |
| Ryô | ... | Lawyer | |
| Sakichi Satô | ... | Manager of Recycle Shop | |
| Tetsu Sawaki | ... | Kei | |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
France:92 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Japan:115 min | USA:92 min | South Korea:115 min (DVD version) | UK:88 minCountry:
JapanLanguage:
JapaneseColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
DTS-StereoFun Stuff
Trivia:
The large group of jellyfish in the Tokyo River was filmed in an aquarium and digitally added to the film. moreQuotes:
Yûji Nimura: I've always had lots of dreams when I sleep. The dreams have always been about the future. The future in my dreams was always bright. A future brimming with hope and peace. So I've always loved to sleep. That is, until just recently... moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (19 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Akarui mirai (2003) moreRecommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Tôkyô monogatari | Kaidan | The Ring | Lost in Translation | Bes vakit |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb Japan section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |






Bright Future, another recent dark film from the great Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, focuses on working class folks whose future is anything but bright. The irony of the title is pounded home in scene after scene. Yuji and Mamoru, friends in their 20s who work at the same boring job in the same dull warehouse, are both frustrated with their lives. But there is a big difference.
While Mamoru looks around carefully and gives Yuji knowing glances, and tells Yuji when to Wait and when to Go Ahead (capital letters used on purpose), Yuji is content to live in his dreams in which, he says in a voice-over, he sees himself as having a bright future. Mamoru has a pet poisonous jellyfish, which he bequeaths to Yuji when something terrible happens and Mamoru lands in prison.
Their boss, a man of 55, is just as frustrated with his boring existence as his two workers, and Mamoru's father is, as well, a man who labors at a thankless job that keeps him confined to a small space; he fixes broken appliances in a salvage shop.
When the jellyfish escapes from Yuji, he panics, then relaxes when he realizes that it is, in essence, following him wherever he goes. Kurosawa always fuses fantasy with reality in his films and this one is no exception. Although an obvious symbol for escape from a humdrum existence, the jellyfish turns out to be something more than that as well. This is brought home later in the film when we see a flotilla of the things moving out to sea in the Tokyo canal...
KK, as I like to call him--to distinguish him from Akira Kurosawa--makes films like no one else today. It's easy and at the same time intriguing to read into his films more than what we see and chances are that the added meanings we find are right. I think we know this because his films resonate long after leaving the theater; the layers of meaning we find in them continue to make themselves apparent without much effort at all.
Bright Future is a film about significantly more than people who spend their time, their lives in futile activity. It's about whether or not we think about how to live our lives, about whether we value the time that we have, or how we value it, if we do at all. It's about how we try to move beyond what we have and how that usually fails. It's a sad film but one that upon reflection makes us think that maybe there is, after all, a chance for a bright future. Or maybe not.