The Letters (2006)
"Tegami" (original title)

Director:

Jirô Shôno

Writers:

Keigo Higashino (novel), Teruo Abe (screenplay),

Stars:

Takayuki Yamada, Erika Sawajiri, Tetsuji Tamayama

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Takayuki Yamada	...	Naotaka Takeshima
Erika Sawajiri	...	Yumiko Shirai
Tetsuji Tamayama	...	Takashi Takeshima
Kazue Fukiishi	...	Asami Nakajo
Hiroyuki Onoue	...	Yusuke Terao
Mitsuru Fukikoshi	...	Tadao Ogata
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mina Hara
Yukijirô Hotaru
Mitsuko Ishii
Morio Kazama	...	Tadao
Susumu Kobayashi
Sachiko Matsuura
Kazuyuki Matsuzawa
Naoki Sugiura	...	Hirano
Toshie Takada

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Aoi Advertising Promotion

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

26 April 2007 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

The Letter

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aoi Promotion, GAGA, Mainichi Shinbunsha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A modern masterpiece

Tegami is about the struggles of Nao (Yamada Takayuki) whose brother (Tamayama Tetsuji) was convicted for murder. In an extremely civilized country like Japan, only people with really twisted minds are considered to be capable of murder. This movie follows the obstacles and challenges Nao faces because he shares his blood with a murderer, with help of a friend Yumiko (Sawajiri Erika) in the span of approximately 10 years. The title "Tegami" (The Letters) comes from the letters Nao and his brother exchange over these years.

Yamada Takayuki and Tamayama Tetsuji's acting were extremely good in this film, Tegami is worth watching just for Tamayama's scene in the very end. This movie is beautifully directed with perfect background music.

Out of about 80 Japanese films I've seen so far, Tegami has the best ending scene of all. I don't expect everyone to cry, but your heart is frozen if it doesn't at least touch you, especially if you understand Japanese. I personally got goosebumps as soon as Oda Kazumasa's timeless masterpiece, "Kotoba ni Dekinai" started playing. This is a movie that deals with contemporary issues and problems in Japan. Definitely a must-watch movie of 2006.