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Hura gâru

  • 20062006
  • 1h 48m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Hura gâru (2006)
  • Comedy
  • Drama
Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Sang-il Lee
  • Writers
    • Sang-il Lee
    • Daisuke Habara
  • Stars
    • Yasuko Matsuyuki
    • Etsushi Toyokawa
    • Yû Aoi
Top credits
  • Director
    • Sang-il Lee
  • Writers
    • Sang-il Lee
    • Daisuke Habara
  • Stars
    • Yasuko Matsuyuki
    • Etsushi Toyokawa
    • Yû Aoi
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 15User reviews
    • 22Critic reviews
    • 53Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 23 wins & 8 nominations

    Photos130

    Hura gâru (2006)
    Yû Aoi and Shizuyo Yamasaki in Hura gâru (2006)
    Yû Aoi, Shoko Ikezu, and Shizuyo Yamasaki in Hura gâru (2006)
    Yû Aoi in Hura gâru (2006)
    Sumiko Fuji and Yû Aoi in Hura gâru (2006)
    Yasuko Matsuyuki and Yû Aoi in Hura gâru (2006)
    Yû Aoi in Hura gâru (2006)
    Yû Aoi in Hura gâru (2006)
    Hura gâru (2006)
    Yasuko Matsuyuki in Hura gâru (2006)
    Yû Aoi in Hura gâru (2006)
    Yû Aoi in Hura gâru (2006)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Yasuko Matsuyuki
    Yasuko Matsuyuki
    • Madoka Hirayamaas Madoka Hirayama
    Etsushi Toyokawa
    Etsushi Toyokawa
    • Yojiro Tanikawaas Yojiro Tanikawa
    Yû Aoi
    Yû Aoi
    • Kimiko Tanikawaas Kimiko Tanikawa
    Shizuyo Yamasaki
    • Sayuri Kumanoas Sayuri Kumano
    Shoko Ikezu
    Eri Tokunaga
    • Sanae Kimuraas Sanae Kimura
    Kojo Miyake
    Susumu Terajima
    Susumu Terajima
    Masaru Shiga
    Hiroshi Ohkôchi
    Daikichi Sugawara
    Daikichi Sugawara
    Katsumi Takahashi
    Ittoku Kishibe
    • Norio Yoshimotoas Norio Yoshimoto
    Sumiko Fuji
    • Chiyo Tanikawaas Chiyo Tanikawa
    • (as Junko Fuji)
    Tomori Abe
    • Yoneko Tsutayaas Yoneko Tsutaya
    • Director
      • Sang-il Lee
    • Writers
      • Sang-il Lee
      • Daisuke Habara
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    In 1965 the planned closing of a coal mine in Iwaki (northeastern Japan) will put 2,000 people out of work with devastating effects on the community. The mining company plans to build the Hawaiian Center to promote tourism, but the idea meets with resistance by the community's union families who boycott the effort. However, a few of the young women in Joban see the call for dancers to possibly provide a more promising future. Norio Yoshimoto is put in charge of organizing the center, with Madoka Hirayama, a professional dancer fleeing creditors in Tokyo hired to train the dancers. Kimiko, her friend Sanae, and Sayuri are amongst the handful first showing up for lessons but soon others join them. When Kimiko's mother, Chiyo, discovers that she has skipped school classes to learn dancing the two argue and Kimiko leaves home. Her brother Yojiro, one of the newly out of work miners, comes to be supportive of her dancing as he becomes protective of Madoka. The girls start to tour neighboring communities and dance to promote the center, getting more proficient in the process. After secretly seeing Kimiko practice, and how good she has become, Chiyo helps gather heaters to save palm trees imported from Taiwan from dying from the cold. Her change of heart as head of the union's woman's organization shifts the sympathies of the community as the opening of the center nears. Madoka has molded coal miner's daughters into professional dancers, and Kimiko performs a standout solo dance at the opening. —Brian Greenhalgh
    • japanese girl
    • japanese woman
    • japanese teenage girl
    • japanese teenager
    • teenager
    • 7 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Drama
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In September 2006, the film was selected as the official submission from Japan in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 2007 Oscars.

    User reviews15

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Wonderful music, wonderful Japanese comedy is great family entertainment
    Make no mistake about it, this is a Japanese comedy, with few ties to Hawaii. But that doesn't take away from the fact the film is wonderfully scored, believably acted, and a fun, entertaining movie. Screened for the first time in the U.S. in October 2006 as the finale gala extravaganza at the Hawaii International Film Festival (#1 Asian festival & one of world's 10 best overall now), many hula teachers and Hawaii fans may have feared this movie might take a less- than-serious-enough view of the sacred Hawaiian dance. But, upon viewing this light-hearted comedy, critics had to sit back and appreciate just how loyal the film remained to the Japanese interpretation of hula. Japanese view hula as a dance, and Hawaii as a warm tropical paradise in much the same way American filmmakers viewed Hawaii in the 1950s. Viewers, even kumu hula and critics, shouldn't forget that this is a film about that Japanese interpretation - at that time, and not impose upon it the serious more cultural aspects a current movement in Hawaii is bringing back to the dance. In fact, the director of "Hula Garu" successfully gets away with this by making the film a comedy, and never trying to delve into the historical, religious, or other cultural dimensions of hula. While not true to today's view of hula in Hawaii, this film is not about today, or Hawaii. It's about an obscure little town in northern Japan that created a Hawaiian village concept, complete with its own hula troupe to attract tourists and save the town from extinction. Several heart warming moments in this 'To Sir With Love,' teacher-conquers- impossible-odds themed story bring tears to the spectators' eyes. And the music could hardly have been more perfect to help accentuate those emotional moments. Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro's score is perfect, and likely to win awards, and possibly even help make Jake a household name on the U.S. mainland, as it already has become in many circles in Japan. The film's screenplay successfully draws the audience into the characters in a way that forces even the most critical hula fans to forgive the film's small imperfections. The only strong disappointment I had about the film was how it confused hula and Tahitian dancing. On the other hand, that's a common misconception that all Hawaii visitors make, since hula troups almost always perform both types of dances in public. So, in a sense, the film is true to the way Japanese and tourists perceive hula, if not to hula itself. This film is not a film about Hawaii or hula dancing; but a comedy about how Japanese have adopted this wonderful dance in its own way, while respecting the Hawaiian culture in doing so. Keeping that in mind, viewers will have little to critique and everything to enjoy about this film, the acting, and the wonderful music. Overall, this is a fun, enjoyable family movie which deserves to be seen on the big screen. Don't wait to rent the video. See it in a theater and feel the energy, the music, and the strange story that began Japan's growing love for Hawaii's greatest export.
    helpful•15
    2
    • editor-118
    • Nov 2, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 23, 2006 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Official sites
      • Official site (Japan)
      • Official site (Taiwan)
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Hula Girls
    • Filming locations
      • Naka-minato station, Hitachi-naka, Ibaraki, Japan
    • Production companies
      • Black Diamonds
      • Cine Quanon
      • Happinet(I).
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $9,483,095
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 48 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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