Yuki Uchida Movies
- 2007
A troubled woman must confront the madness in others in this offbeat Japanese comedy-drama. Asuka Sakura (Yuki Uchida) is a writer who has enjoyed some success as a magazine reporter, but the stress and long hours of her work has caused her to become dependent on drugs and she's physically and emotionally worn to a frazzle. One day, Asuka awakes to discover she's in a psychiatric hospital after spending two days in a coma; her boyfriend, a television presenter named Tetsuo (Kudo Kankuro), is convinced her accidental overdose was really a suicide attempt, and he's had her committed for observation, even though he's clearly more disturbed than she is. As Asuka struggles to detox and regain her stability, she has to deal with the often-difficult personalities of her fellow patients, ranging from a former porn star with a gift for smuggling forbidden goods into the hospital to a gifted pianist with an eating disorder and a profound fear of open spaces. Kuwaieto rumo ni yokoso (aka Welcome To The Quiet Room was written and directed by Matsuo Suzuki, whose screenplay was based on his own novel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yuki Uchida, Kankuro Kudo, (more)
- 1998
Set in 1963 when the Japanese island of Okinawa was home to its native residents -- as well as Japanese colonists and American soldiers who were sent in increasing numbers to fight in Vietnam -- this drama recounts the racial tensions and chaos of those times as it tells the story of Takeshi, a half-Japanese, half-native Okinawan bartender who works at a popular watering hole for American servicemen. As is typical of such bars, there are plenty of prostitutes, the prettiest of whom is Michi whom Takeshi secretly adores. The barkeep particularly despises Ryan, the GI who regularly employs Michi and who has told her that he wants to bring her stateside as his bride. In hopes of preventing this, Takeshi launches a one-man war against the Americans, stealing supplies at every opportunity. Takeshi gets help when a mysterious unnamed stranger shows up in town. A devastating typhoon hits the island, and shortly thereafter Ryan finds himself assigned to active duty in Vietnam, a place Ryan desperately wants to avoid. Unwilling to accept the dangerous assignment and desperate to force the reluctant Michi to join him, Ryan kidnaps Michi's young daughter. This high-energy look at cross-cultural tensions was screened during Critics Week at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Maki, Yuki Uchida, (more)
