Sweet Bean (2015)

Burdened with a heavy and ever-increasing debt, a dorayaki baker hires a kind ageing woman, after tasting her delicious surprise. Little by little, she unravels her beautiful inner world. Could she be holding the secret to his success?

Director:

Naomi Kawase

Writers:

Durian Sukegawa (based on the novel by), Naomi Kawase (screenplay)

Stars:

Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida

7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Kirin Kiki	...	Tokue
Masatoshi Nagase	...	Sentarô
Kyara Uchida	...	Wakana
Miki Mizuno	...	Wakana's Mother
Miu Takeuchi
Saki Takahashi
Yurie Murata
Taiga Nakano	...	Yôhei (as Taiga)
Wakato Kanematsu	...	Wakato
Miyoko Asada	...	Shop Owner's Wife
Etsuko Ichihara	...	Yoshiko

Storyline

The manager of a pancake stall finds himself confronted with an odd but sympathetic elderly woman looking for work. A taste of her homemade red bean paste convinces him to hire her, which starts a relationship that is about much more than just street food.

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Plot Keywords:

small business | street vendor | teenage girl | japanese food | azuki bean | 

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Taglines:

A Sweet Taste Of Life.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The young actress playing Wakana is Kirin Kiki's granddaughter.

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Goofs

At approximately 3:22 something (presumably the boom) knocks the hat off of an extra walking past "Tokue". The hat falls in front of "Tokue" who glances down but continues walking. The extra doesn't stop until he is about 15 feet behind "Tokue". At that point he stops and turns back towards the camera. But instead of going to retrieve his hat he walks towards a store.

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Quotes

Tokue: An is the soul of the doriyaki.

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Connections

Features Listen to the Azuki's Voice (2016)

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Soundtracks

The Maiden's Prayer
Composed by Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska
At first scene

User Reviews

so simple so good

...after ten minutes or so I knew that this film was worth to watch. the actors; the pace; the cinematography showing all those sakura trees were perfect.

No doubt that Kirin Kiki is the movie herself but Masatoshi Nagase with his silence and sad face works for me too. Of course to have a good script and director sure help a lot but they captured the mood the right way.

Sometimes we cannot do or see the simply things because life gets on us; sometimes we have the problem; in our minds, souls or bodies. Life is so good for many but a pain for many others too; so depends on what side of the coin you are to live a full one; however, the script is telling us that if you are one that carry one of these big problems better to try to take the best out of you and do it the best possible way without fall too deep. You know, there s no choices, until dead comes...

Kyara Uchida is the third important character here; her roll is a shy but independent teenager that are somewhat on her own due to her mother does not act as one.

In real life she is the granddaughter of Kirin Kiki.

Details

Country:

Japan France Germany

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

30 May 2015 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Sweet Bean

Filming Locations:

2 Chome-16 Sakaecho, Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

JPY234,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,630, 20 March 2016

Gross USA:

$124,800

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,728,350

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aeon Entertainment, Asahi Shimbun, Comme des Cinémas

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1