Himizu (2011)

Two teenagers living a dystopian existence in post-tsunami Japan embark on a campaign of violence against evil wrong doers.

Director:

Shion Sono

Writers:

Minoru Furuya (manga), Shion Sono (screenplay)

Stars:

Shôta Sometani, Fumi Nikaidô, Tetsu Watanabe

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Shôta Sometani	...	Yuichi
Fumi Nikaidô	...	Keiko
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Shozo
Mitsuru Fukikoshi	...	Keita tamura
Megumi Kagurazaka	...	Keiko tamura
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Sumida's father
Makiko Watanabe	...	Sumida's mother
Asuka Kurosawa
Denden	...	Kaneko
Jun Murakami	...	Tanimura
Yôsuke Kubozuka	...	Teruhiko
Yuriko Yoshitaka	...	Miki
Takahiro Nishijima	...	You
Anne Suzuki	...	Waitress
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yûko Genkaku

Storyline

Sumida and his schoolmate Keiko are 14 year old school kids living a dystopian existence where each of their parents' hopes and encourages them to die. Set in tsunami-hit areas of Japan about May 2011, which is used as a backdrop, the story follows roughly that of the manga of the same name wherein Sumida fights frequently with his father, is abandoned by his mother and tends to reject friendly advances of others. Eventually, he kills his father and then, assuming his life is ruined, attempts to improve society by killing "bad" people. Although not immediately obvious, what instead happens is that he attacks psychotic and violent characters, while he instead learns from Keiko and the Yakuza and people who befriended him that he himself has become "sick", eventually breaking free of the cycle of violence, but without a complete resolution of the issues raised during the movie before its end.

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Plot Keywords:

father | japan | yakuza | 14 year old | school | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

14 January 2012 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Krtica

Company Credits

Production Co:

GAGA, Kodansha, Studio Three Co. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original comic of "Himizu" did not have any elements of the earthquake disaster of March 11th 2011. A script was already written in early 2011, but the director decided to add the earthquake disaster into the story, making it the first film released that directly dealt with the subject.

User Reviews

Shows it doesn't have to be exactly like the manga in order to be good

Okay so this is another Japanese movie based on a Japanese manga. But this movie adds it's own flare to it, instead of trying to be exactly like the manga. Now this might disappoint some hardcore fans of the manga. But personally I liked the direction this movie took, it just went with the more emotional style instead of constant awkward Japanese humor that is in the manga. Not saying this movie is better than the manga or visa versa. It just has a different tone and style going for it. Sure the characters in this are very awkward and does things that doesn't make much sense. But those elements actually work for this movie, sometimes in Japanese movies the awkwardness can go all over the place without being consistent. This movie is actually consistent for the most part. Plus just about all the actors in this did a great job while also bringing out good amount of emotion. And just about all the character are likable for the most part even if what they do doesn't make much sense sometimes. Even some of the effects doesn't make much sense like the music for instance that constantly play classical music, especially from Mozart. But these effects that doesn't make much sense comes together in a consistent package overall. This movie shows that sometimes you can't judge people just by your perception alone but need to be in their shoes to understand since we all come from different background. It also has other messages but that one stood out the most. This is a fine manga adaptation that shows that not everything has to be word for word or frame by frame.

7.5/10