BoxOffice® Pro - November 2011

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rattle their desks, a forceful girl named Chazawa (Fumi Nikaido) falls
for Sumida. At home, her parents plot her death like they’re looking
forward to Christmas, but Chazawa’s crush on the boy keeps her
cheerful. A few tsunami victims have camped out around the boat
rental house that Sumida’s mom lackadaisically runs, when she’s not
getting seduced by visitors. His mother’s revolving door of men gets a
blind eye from Sumida—his father is the villain. The man only comes
by to beat his kid, wish him dead and steal money from his wife. The
squatter’s watch apologetically; their sweetness and communal sentiment
towards Sumida makes his parents’ behavior seem nearly sacrilegious.
When Sumida’s mom abandons him and his father comes
home looking for money to resolve a debt, Sumida cracks and begins
a stabbing spree. But not out of hate—he loves the world so much
he’s using a kitchen knife to rid the world of violent whack jobs. More
self-sacrificial (and tragic) than Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle, Sumido
needs the forceful care of Chazawa to realize his good for the world
requires repentance. As they run from the police, the audience will
pant alongside them. Based on the manga of the same name, Himizu is
one filmmaker’s hopeful valentine to his splintered nation.
Crispian (filmmaker A.J. Bowden) it’s Erin (Sharni Vinson), a soft
but savvy Australian who seems like the odd girl out, particularly
because the Davidsons are lousy rich. Dad Paul (Rob Moran) seems
milquetoast, but he made a mint with a defense securities firm, an
offensive source of wealth his family defends with, “He was just in
marketing!” Karma approacheth. At dinner, the family rivalry is
high: Crispian hates his older suck-up brother Drake (filmmaker Joe
Swanberg, Alexander the Last) and their sister Amy (Aimee Seimetz),
who arrives toting an iffy filmmaker (horror maker Ti West of
Cabin Fever), and the brief dinner chat about documentaries versus
commercials (Swanberg calls them the best of the form) is catnip
for insiders and mumblecore fans. But the real juice happens before
the roast is served: arrows pierce the windows and, of course, the
CAST Shota Sometani, Fumi Nikaido, Yosuke Kubozuka, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Anne Suzuki,
Takahiro Nishijima DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER Shion Sono GENRE Drama; Japanese-language,
subtitled RATING Unrated RUNNING TIME 139 min. RELEASE DATE Unset
CONTACT: Gaga Communications / Tokyo / intl@gaga.co,jp
YOU’RE NEXT
Pass the salt—and look out for the machete!
It’s the Davidson’s 35th wedding anniversary and the all the kids
are attending the dinner. Each is introducing a love interest. For
Cutting Operating Costs, Not Quality
Perlux ® Digital
Greener, Smarter – A Brighter Choice
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80 BOXOFFICE PRO NOVEMBER 2011