Quill (2004)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Yoichi Sai

Writers:

Ryohei Akimoto (novel)
Kengo Ishiguro (novel)

Release Date:

13 March 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

As a Labrador puppy, Quill is sent to live with a couple, Isamu and Mitsuko Nii, who work as volunteers...

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Seeing Eye Dog | Puppy | Japanese | Tearjerker

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Kaoru Kobayashi	...	Mitsuru Watanabe
Kippei Shiina	...	Satoru Tawada
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Isamu Nii
Keiko Toda
Tomoka Kurotani	...	Masumi Kubo
Shinobu Terajima	...	Mitsuko Nii
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenji Mizuhashi
Yûko Natori
Yukika Sakuratani

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Singapore:G

Company:

2004 Quill Film Partners

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Densha otoko" (2005)

Japanese dogs obey their masters' orders more if they are in English.

Before watching this film, I was feeling quite excited as I just had a certain idea of what Sai Yoichi might be as a filmmaker. He started his illustrious career as an assistant for Nagisa Oshima on the highly controversial art film "Empire of the senses". It was the same film for which the famous gangster turned filmmaker Koji Wakamatsu provided funds. In the recent past, I had seen only one film directed by him "Blood and Bones". For me,although it was a very violent film I had ever seen in my life, it enabled me to keenly watch and observe Kitano Takeshi's acting talents. So it was with such pleasant expectations and unknown surprises that I began watching this film with my family. At the end of the film, I was feeling elated as I had discovered an hitherto unknown facet of Japanese culture. To begin with, "Quill" made me catch glimpses of family life in Japan as it was shot in a small town away for the bustling metropolis Tokyo. Watching this film made me realize how much value people from Asian countries especially Koreans, Chinese and Japanese attach to English language and culture. It is true that one should try not to be sentimental about dogs, what pleased me the most was the emotional bond which Yochi Sai depicted by making a blind person aware of his dog's worthiness. There are moments of sadness in the film but all in all they served their purpose well. This is a point which all serious viewers would take away with them when they watch this simple, frank and honest film.