Go (2001)

Sugihara, born in Japan but with North Korean parents, falls in love with a Japanese girl after changing from a North Korean school to a Japanese school. His boxer dad teaches him boxing - skills used a lot.

Director:

Isao Yukisada

Writers:

Kazuki Kaneshiro (novel), Kankurô Kudô (screenplay)

Stars:

Yôsuke Kubozuka, Ko Shibasaki, Shinobu Ôtake

41 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yôsuke Kubozuka	...	Sugihara
Ko Shibasaki	...	Sakurai Tsubaki (as Kô Shibasaki)
Shinobu Ôtake	...	Michiko (mother of Sugihara)
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Hideyoshi (father of Sugihara)
Hirofumi Arai	...	Won-su
Mitsu Murata	...	Katô
Takahito Hosoyamada	...	Jeong-il (as Takato Hosoyamada)
Min Kim	...	Naomi
Gye-nam Myeong	...	Staff member of South Korean embassy
Tarô Yamamoto	...	Tawake
Ren Osugi	...	Taxi driver (as Ren Ôsugi)
Sansei Shiomi	...	Mr. Kim
Masato Hagiwara	...	Policeman
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anri Ban	...	Kaori
Guin Poon Chaw	...	Sakurai's mother (as Ginpuncho)

Storyline

Sugihara, born in Japan but with North Korean parents, falls in love with a Japanese girl after changing from a North Korean school to a Japanese school. His boxer dad teaches him boxing - skills used a lot.

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Plot Keywords:

prejudice | racist | based on a novel | japanese | japanese girl | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Japan for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.

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Goofs

When Sugihara and Tsubaki visits the schoolyard the second time Sugihara jumps the fence. He grabs the bar to the right of the post. In the next shot his hands are to the left.

User Reviews

sweet movie with a good message

I liked this movie, although I didn't love it. The film centers on the prejudice experienced by a Korean teenager living in Japan; he doesn't fit in with Koreans or the Japanese. But he utters many times in the film, "This is my love story," and while he does have a love interest, it is a rather small part. I liked how this film looked at the different tensions of race, life, and love.

The acting was pretty great. The lead actor was very convincing as the teenager who is conflicted between two identities. He overacted the last scene, but there is this one very beautiful scene where he just sits and talks to a police officer. It's pretty awesome: very simple and beautiful. Kou Shibasaki as his love interest is pretty good as well, and she won the Japanese equivalent of the Oscar for her role in this. She makes the most of the relatively short amount of screen time she has, and we can see why the main character would fall in love with her.

Not the best Japanese movie I've ever seen, but still pretty good. Worth your while. 7/10

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Korean

Release Date:

20 October 2001 (Japan)

Also Known As:

GO

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Tokyo, Star Max, TV Tokyo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1