Suwingu gâruzu (2004)

Director:

Shinobu Yaguchi

Writers:

Shinobu Yaguchi (written by)
Junko Yaguchi (contributing writer)

Release Date:

11 September 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy | Music

Tagline:

Girls meet Jazz!!!

Plot:

A tale of delinquent and lazy school girls. In their efforts to cut remedial summer math class, they end up poisoning and replacing the schools brass band. |

Plot Keywords:

Summer School | Self Motivation | High School Band | Musical Contest | Mushrooming

Awards:

11 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Juri Ueno	...	Tomoko Suzuki
Yûta Hiraoka	...	Takuo Nakamura
Shihori Kanjiya	...	Yoshie Saito
Yuika Motokariya	...	Kaori Sekiguchi
Yukari Toyoshima	...	Naomi Tanaka
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nagisa Abe	...	Reiko Shimoda
Noriko Eguchi	...	Shop Assistant at Muscial Instruments Shop
Hana Kino	...	Manager at supermarket
Fumiyo Kohinata	...	Yasumi Suzuki
Fumiko Mizuta	...	Yuka Yamamoto
Naomi Nishida	...	Masumi - student at music school
Mutsuko Sakura	...	Suzuki Mie (Tomoko's Grandmother)
Miho Shiraishi	...	Yayoi Itami
Issei Takahashi	...	Band Leader
Masaaki Takarai	...	Kubota-sensei
Naoto Takenaka	...	Tadahiko Ozawa (math teacher)
Yôji Tanaka	...	Manager of Pinball Parlour
Kei Tani	...	Morishita
Eri Watanabe	...	Sanae Suzuki (as Eriko Watanabe)
Asuka Yamaguchi	...	Chika Kubo

Also Known As:

Swing Girls (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:105 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:12 (re-rating) | South Korea:15 (original rating) | Hong Kong:I | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Yamagata, Japan

Company:

Altamira Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

Many of the actresses had never played an instrument before. They took intensive music lesson at Yamaha Music School for several months before the shooting began.

Quotes:

Nakamura, Yuta: [after being told by Sekiguchi that she used to collect matsutake mushrooms in grandpa's woods] Amazing, does your family own this whole forest?
Sekiguchi, Kaori: Nope.
Nakamura, Yuta: How far can we pick?
Sekiguchi, Kaori: How far?
Nakamura, Yuta: Don't these woods belong to your grandpa?
Sekiguchi, Kaori: No, they belong to my mother's friend's cousin's grandpa.
Nakamura, Yuta: So this grandpa isn't your grandpa?
Tanaka, Naomi: Japanese language can be so vague.

Soundtrack:

L. O. V. E.

A Nutshell Review: Swing Girls

From the director of Waterboys comes a new drama-comedy Swing Girls, and I'm a happy camper. I mean, what can go wrong with combining Japanese Schoolgirls (drool?) and Jazz? Absolutely nothing! The premise and narrative is formulaic for this kind of "feel good carpe diem" shows - a bunch of misfits are thrown together by circumstance, to escape the dread of make up Math lessons during the holidays, they enroll (not voluntarily at first) to form a Big Band, face the great uphill task of getting funds for instruments, rehearsing and getting their act together, before ending it all with a cheery big bang.

But as always, it's the delivery that matters. And this show delivers at all fronts. From the many comedic and zany moments, to preaching "never give ups", the story is breezy and the pacing comfortable. The main leads are rock solid good lookers, while the supporting casts consists of quirky characters, like the rocker chicks (huh? in a jazz band?! watch to find out!), gangster-ish mechanic wimps, and a teacher-maestro wannabe, brings much laughter even though at times their characters might seem one dimensional.

What works is definitely the chemistry amongst the cast. It seems, from the out takes, that they had tremendous fun in making this film, and it shows in the end product.

One gripe you may have about this film is that the band, when they finally get their act together, always seem to play the same old piece, when you're craving for more. Well, that's what made the finale work, by building the expectation, then surpassing it - it's 15 minutes of pure musical splendor, and it really made me wanna stand up from my seat and swing along. Too bad I didn't do that, cos I know the entire audience might just join along with me! So if you're feeling down, and somewhat bored, give this movie a go, and I'd guarantee, you'll be swinging and jazzing along when you emerge from the theatre, craving for more.