Himitsu no hanazono

1997
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

489

YOUR RATING

Comedy Crime

Sakiko, a young bank teller, has an unhealthy obsession with money. Thieves hold up the bank, kidnapping Sakiko in the process, but eventually crash their car, cash falling into a nearby riv... Read allSakiko, a young bank teller, has an unhealthy obsession with money. Thieves hold up the bank, kidnapping Sakiko in the process, but eventually crash their car, cash falling into a nearby river. Sakiko begins a quest to retrieve the money.Sakiko, a young bank teller, has an unhealthy obsession with money. Thieves hold up the bank, kidnapping Sakiko in the process, but eventually crash their car, cash falling into a nearby river. Sakiko begins a quest to retrieve the money.

Director
- Shinobu Yaguchi
Writers
- Takuji Suzuki
- Shinobu Yaguchi
Stars

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IMDb RATING

7.0/10

489

YOUR RATING

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations

Photos7

Naomi Nishida in Himitsu no hanazono (1997)

Kazue Tsunogae, Naomi Nishida, Noriko Tanaka, and Shinobu Tsuruta in Himitsu no hanazono (1997)

Storyline

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User reviews10

Review

Featured review

7/10

Japanese manga...with real-life actors

B-grade Japanese movies of recent years have been influenced quite a bit by manga (Japanese comics) and anime (animation), but I hadn't yet seen a Japanese movie that is, in effect, a live-action manga from beginning to end. Himitsu no Hanazono is one such movie.

The manga aspects mean that everything is over-the-top. Sakiko's single-minded obsession with money, her outlandish and relentless efforts in search of a lost suitcase full of bills, leaving flabbergasted observers in her wake--all are straight out of manga, and retain the light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek humor of that medium (the better manga, anyways). And there is a kind of gradual maturation process thrown in as well, as Sakiko comes to realize that she's not drawn to money itself, so much as to the hunt for it.

Not great cinema by any stretch, but this is one of the best Japanese light comedies I've seen, and I've seen a few. Definitely worth a viewing if you like manga/anime or movies in this genre.

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