Shining Boy & Little Randy (2005)
"Hoshi ni natta shônen" (original title)

Director:

Shunsaku Kawake

Writers:

Sayuri Sakamoto (novel), Sumio Ohmori (screenplay)

Stars:

Yûya Yagira, Takako Tokiwa, Katsumi Takahashi

Cast

Credited cast:
Yûya Yagira	...	Tetsumu Ogawa
Takako Tokiwa	...	Sario Ogawa
Katsumi Takahashi	...	Kosuke Ogawa
Yû Aoi	...	Emi Murakami
Mitsuko Baishô	...	Asako Fujisawa
Sayoko Oho
Kazuyuki Aijima
Tetsuya Takeda
Burazâ Tomu
Takehiko Ono
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Seishirô Katô	...	Takao ogawa
Natsuki Okamoto
Jaran 'See Tao' Petcharoen	...	Mahout

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Thai

Release Date:

16 July 2005 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Shining Boy and Little Randy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuji Television Network, Toho Company, S.D.P.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A boy who became a star...

This is a true story of Japan's first ever mahout named Sakamoto Tetsumu. As a teenager, Tetsumu had a tough relationship with his friends and family. Until he met an elephant named "Randy," Tetsumu realized that he had a talent and could get along well with elephant. He then decided to come to Thailand and trained himself to be a mahout

• the first ever Japanese to do so.

Yuya Yagira, a boy who won best actor at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival from his debut movie "Nobody Knows," is starring as Tetsumu Sakamoto. This might be a strong point for advertising the film as everyone would still remember him. The boy is certainly a good actor but as the film was mainly shot in northern part of Thailand and Thai language is extensively used in film, Yuya's Thai accent is annoying. This might not be a problem if you don't know any Thai words. However, as a Thai, I felt distracted every time he tries to speak Thai.

The story itself is touching and true to life. Comedy elements are added in the movie to soften the main dramatic theme. Watch out the last scene when you might get carried away and cry your eyes out. If you are animal lovers, especially elephant, I am sure you would love this movie. At least, you would see a lot of scenes showing off intelligent Thai elephants. I am sure Tourism Authority of Thailand would love to see this movie promoting Thai elephants.