4th Okinawa International Movie Festival　Saturday March 24, 2012 to Saturday March 31, 2012

Actors Yoshio Harada and Jiro Sakagami as well as a director Yoshimitsu Morita suddenly passed away regrettably in 2011.
In memories of these three contributors of the film industry, we screen seven films that commemorate them.

In this feature, we’ll screen “PARTY7”, in which Yoshio Harada suspiciously played the role of a peeper,
and “Then Summer Came”, in which Harada was a father who loves his son very much.

You’ll find the variety of characters he acted in these movies and understand he was not only for the outlaw type roles.

Jiro Sakagami dominated the comedy world as Conte 55-Go with Kin-ichi Hagimoto.

The three films which will be shown this time are the creations by one of the masters of Japanese film,
Yoshitaro Nomura, who worked on many of their films, and you’ll see Nomura’s craftsmanship on his productions through these films.

Yoshimitsu Morita attracted tremendous support as a brilliant film director with unique sense of humor.

We’ll screen “Mamiya Brothers”, a companion piece of his latest and posthumous work “Bokutachi Express – A Train –”,
and his debut work and the roots of his work “Something Like It”. The lineup will let you overview his uniqueness as a storyteller.

Enjoy the never-fading charm of these three talented gentlemen on the screen.

The Feature “Yoshio Harada”, “Jiro Sakagami” and the director “Yoshimitsu Morita”

Photo courtesy／Shochiku

Conte 55-Go to Suizenji Kiyoko no Kamisama no koibito

Director	Yoshitaro Nomura
Year	1968
CAST	Jiro Sakagami　Kinichi Hagimoto　Kiyoko Suizenji　other

The Conte 55-Go at the peak of their popularity and Kiyoko Suizenji,
also a high-flying star known for her nickname Cheetah,
co-played in this comedy.
Kinichiro as a Yakuza and Jiro as a Ramen shop owner are quarrelling friends from childhood.
Kinichiro strong-arms his way into the Yakuza group after falling for the open-handed Yakuza boss Okuma,
who later turns out to be a damned hypocrite.

Photo courtesy／Shochiku

Kochira 55-Go Outou-seyo! Kiki-Hyappatsu

Director	Yoshitaro Nomura
Year	1970
CAST	Jiro Sakagami　Kinichi Hagimoto　Aiko Nagayama　other

Starred by the Conte 55-Go, then at their zest of popularity,
this suspense-comedy was directed by Master Yoshitaro Nomura of "Castle of Sand" on the screenplay written by James Miki.
A pair of veteran detective (Jiro Sakagami),
who is on his way out of commission, and novice detective (Kinichi Hagimoto) are entangled in a series of comical cat-and-mouse investigations in gut-wrenching laughter.
Falling in love with the same girl, Heijiro and Kinsuke are teamed up to go after a culprit of attempted stubbing murder and the sidesplitting chase ensues.

Photo courtesy／Shochiku

Conte 55-Go to Miko no Zettai-Zetsumei

Director	Yoshitaro Nomura
Year	1971
CAST	Jiro Sakagami Kinichi Hagimoto　Kaoru Yumi　other

Master Director Yoshitaro Nomura and the high-flying Conte 55-Go made this work in combination. Jiro and Kinsaku are brothers,
working at "Jack-of-all-trades section" of the Shonan City Office.
Out of the blue, Kinsaku gets a proposition that he marries the daughter of an influential prefectural assembly member.
He shies away because he is attracted to Hideko who is pinched for money for her mother's surgery.
The couple comes up with a ploy to squeeze the surgery money…

©TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORARTION/TV TOKYO　

PARTY7

Director	Katsuhito Ishii
Year	2000
CAST	Masatoshi Nagase　Tadanobu Asano　Yoshio Harada other

Party 7 is a comedy about a fuss created by seven characters, thrown together into the same hotel room.
It features Masatoshi Nagase and Tadanobu Asano, both highly-evaluated in foreign countries.
It is worth seeing the competing performances between Masatoshi and Tadanobu and the weird,
but attractive performance by Yoshio Harada as Captain Banana. The film credits are a must see,
as they are a mixture of live-action and animation. This film is innovative and stylish by an unusual talented director, Katsuhito Ishii,
from "Samehada Otoko to Momojiri Onna" (known as "Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl").

©THEN SUMMER CAME FILM PARTNERS

Then Summer Came

Director	Ryo Iwamatsu
Year	2007
CAST	Joe Odagiri　Kumiko Aso　Yoshio Harada　other

This film is a comedy drama about marriage with full of humor,
featuring Joe Odagiri and Kumiko Aso, from the director Ryo Iwamatsu, also known for the Japanese TV drama series, "Jikoh Keisatsu." Tamio, who is unenthusiastic about dating women,
along with his father, who never learns to grow up, makes a great effort to have Tamio's marry the heroine, Hitomi.
Together, Tamio and his father are tossed up and down by the unconventional people surrounding them.
This film depicts the reality of life and sinks deep into your memory.

©N.E.W.S.CORPORATION

Something Like It

Director	Yoshimitsu Morita
Year	1981
CAST	Kumiko Akiyoshi　Katsunobu Ito　Isao Bito　other

No Yona Mono is a directed brilliantly film by Yoshimitsu Morita,
who made a debut in a theatrical film. The unique sense of humor and visual display of this film has been highly evaluated.
In a working class neighborhood in Tokyo, a young professional comedic storyteller (Rakugoka),
Shintoto, devotes himself to master classic stories of traditional Japanese comic storytelling (Rakugo). Shintoto, dates Elizabeth, who works in sex industry, as well as,
falls in love with a high school girl, Yumi, who is a member of Rakugo study group.

©2006 THE MAMIYA BROTHERS FILM PARTNERS

Mamiya Brothers

Director	Yoshimitu Morita
Year	2006
CAST	Kuranosuke Sasaki　Muga Tsukaji　Erika Sawajiri　other

Based on the novel by one of Japan’s most successful writers Kaori Ekuni, “The Mamiya Brothers” is about the daily life of the brothers,
who are in their 30s and living under the same roof, and their well-organized living, the clumsy relationship with girls,
and the time filled with a lot of unique kinds of fun.