Golden Slumber

Gôruden suranbâ

(Japan, 2009, 139 mins, 35mm)

North American Premiere

Producers: Yosushi Uta Gawa, Hitoshi Endo, Hisashi Usui
Screenwriters: Yoshihiro Nakamura, Tamio Hayashi, Kenichi Suzuki
Cinematographer: Takashi Komatsu
Editor: Hirohide Abe
Cast: Masato Sakai, Yuko Takeuchi, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Gekidan Hitori, Teruyuki Kagawa

In Yoshihiro Nakamura’s seriocomic thriller, when easy-going Aoyagi meets an old friend for a fishing trip, he ends up drugged, framed for the Prime Minister's assassination, and on the run from corrupt cops. It’s only the beginning of what quickly becomes the worst, weirdest day of his life. But he'll get by with a little help from his friends, who include a famous pop diva, a rockabilly deliveryman, a crippled old gangster, and the world's most cheerful serial killer.

Among the many puzzles of this twisty, clever film is how Nakamura manages to sneak a genuinely moving tribute to friendship into the madcap procession of perilous events. No matter what befalls Aoyagi, his friends and parents believe in him because of his steadfast, almost irrational pleasantness. For all of us who've ever wondered what a cross between Pee-wee's Big Adventure and The Fugitive might look like, search no further than this hugely satisfying pop concoction, based on a novel by the popular young novelist Kotaro Isaka and already a major hit in its native Japan.

Travis Miles

Hosted by

  Print this Page