Michiko Hada Movies
- 2000
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A former mob boss' past returns to haunt him as he tries to walk the straight and narrow in director Takashi Miike's adaptation of Hiroshi Motomiya's popular manga. He may have been a wild man in his past, but these days former biker Kintaro (Katsunori Takahashi) opts to spend his days working a white-collar job for a respected construction company. Though his street smarts seem to come in handy when a powerful corporation begins utilizing corrupt politicians and yakuza thugs in a bid to take over the company, Kintaro soon realizes that he alone cannot put an end to the strong-arm tactics, and if there is any hope for the company, he must enlist the help of some old, not so subtle friends. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Hou Hsiao-hsien (Goodbye South, Goodbye) directed this Taiwanese-Japanese period drama set in the British section brothels of 19th-century Shanghai. Chu Tien-wen's screenplay was adapted from Han Ziyun's 1894 novel Haishang Huia Liezhuang (Biographies of Flowers of Shanghai), translated from the original dialect to Mandarin during the '30s by Shanghai writer Eileen Chang. Around 1884, during the closing years of Imperial China, Crimson (Japanese actress Michiko Hada) worries that she's about to be dropped by civil servant Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), since he's spending so much time with Jasmin (Wei Hsiao-hui). Emotions escalate when word arrives that Wang will relocate to another post in the Canton province. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Michiko Hada, (more)
- 1997
Continuing the Setouchi trilogy -- which began with 1984's MacArthur's Children -- this film looks at Japan just after World War II. The film opens with documentary footage of the 1995 Hanshin earthquake that flattened Kobe. The devastation reminds an elderly Keita Onda of the ruined landscape of Kobe just after the Allied bombing raids, which he witnessed from his home on nearby Awajishima Island. Cut to 1945, when Keita's father, Kokichi (Kyozo Nagatsuka), receives the ashes of his eldest son who died on the battlefield. A rigid traditionalist, Kokichi decides to follow custom and return the ashes to his son's birthplace in Kyushu. He hires out a car -- a lavish expense that has the neighbors' tongues wagging about a possible mass suicide. Instead, the family -- consisting of the father, the mother Fuji (played by Shinoda's wife, Shima Iwashita), Keita (Hideyuki Kasahara), daughter Hideko (Sayuri Kawachi), and teenaged son Koji (Jun Toba) -- end up on a ferry bound for the south of Japan. Koji and his father are locked in a battle of wills. While dad preaches the value of tradition, Koji is much more interested in all things American. As the film progresses, Koji falls for a beautiful war-orphan named Yukiko (Hinano Yoshikawa). Also featured in this film are side stories about other passengers on the boat, including a sweet-talking black marketer who enlightens Kokichi on the joys of foreign liquor, a drug-addled soldier who falls in love with an impoverished woman about to turn tricks just to eat, and a dapper middle-aged man who jumps from the boat. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
A man must decide how long can he hold onto his dream in this drama. Tiff Wood (Colin Ferguson) is a world-class amateur rower whose dream is to compete in the Olympic games. While competition is fierce and Wood suffers more than his share of disappointments, in 1980 he makes the U.S. Olympic team and is thought to be a sure thing to bring home a gold medal in the Moscow games. Political tensions heat up between the United States and Russia, however, and President Jimmy Carter announces that America will be boycotting the Olympics. Crushed, Tiff sees only one option available to him -- to train himself to beat younger and stronger rowers so he can make the team in 1984. Based on the book The Amateurs by David Halberstam, Rowing Through was jointly produced by Japanese and Canadian production companies; the supporting cast includes Leslie Hope, Helen Shaver, and Peter Murnik. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Ferguson, Leslie Hope, (more)
Edogawa Rampo -- a pen name that is also a homonym in Japanese for Edgar Allen Poe -- amassed a major cult following after writing a series of short stories that masterly meld the erotic and the grotesque. Unlike previous films about of his work -- such as Noboru Tanaka's masterful Stroller in the Attic -- this piece is not so much an adaptation of his work than a dreamlike vision of his inner workings. Set during the 1930s, Rampo (Naoto Takenaka), after learning that his piece Osei Tojo was censored by the government, reads a newspaper article about an incident that bears freakish similarity to his suppressed story. The article details a murder investigation surrounding Sonoko (Michiko Hada), the wife of an antique dealer who was found suffocated in an large oblong chest. At the funeral, Rampo is immediately drawn to Sonoko, who exudes a certain femme fatal magnetism. She fires his creativity and soon he is banging out a sequel to his censored work. In his story, Osei becomes the lover of a debauched aristocrat (Mikijiro Hira) who likes to sexually humiliate the recent widow. Meanwhile, a straight-arrow detective, Kogoro Akechi (Masahiro Motoki), ventures to the count's estate to further investigate the murder. While writing this tale, he passionately pursues Osei in real life -- or at least what he thinks is real life. This film was famous in Japan for its turbulent production history. Producer Kazuyoshi Okuyama was displeased with original director Rintaro Mayuzumi's faithful, delicate version of the film and reshot 80 percent of the film, fashioning it into a flashier, bawdier affair. Both versions were released in Japan. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Masahiro Motoki, Naoto Takenaka, (more)
