Jun Kunimura Movies

A high-class prostitute and two misfit admirers are on the run in 19th Century Japan in this comedy from director Hideyuki Hirayama. Okino (Kyoko Koizumi) is a courtesan edging into her forties who wants to give up the business, but her "managers" demand more money than she can pay for her freedom. With the help of her friend Yaji (Kanzaburo Nakamura), a sweet but hare-brained pastry chef who has carried a torch for her since the death of his wife, Okino sends fake severed fingers to her best clients hoping they'll help her raise the money, but the scam fails to fool anyone. Okino tells the caretakers of her house that her father is ill and she needs to visit him, and she and Yaji hit the road towards freedom, but it isn't long before her pimps realizes what's happened and they give chase. En route, Okino and Yaji are joined by washed-up actor Kita (Akira Emoto), who is looking to cheer himself up after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Kita and Yaji become rivals for Okino's affections while the trio is joined by a street kid (Takato Sasano) who has magical powers and can transform himself into anything from a raccoon to pair of dice in a crap game. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Japanese body horror auteur Shinya Tsukamoto, still best known in the U.S. for Tetsuo, teams with hipster icon Tadanobu Asano for the psychological drama Vital. Asano plays Hiroshi Takagi, who wakes from a coma, his memory seriously impaired, and decides, to the relief of his parents (Kazuyoshi Kushida and Lily), to go back to medical school. His memory returns slowly. Eventually, Hiroshi remembers that he had a girlfriend, Ryôko (Nami Tsukamoto) who was with him when he wrecked his car. She was killed in the crash. As he and his classmates begin to work on human cadavers, Hiroshi catches the attention of another top student, a driven and manipulative young woman named Ikumi (Kiki). The two become involved in a twisted relationship of sorts, but Hiroshi is more and more focused on his work. He comes to believe that the corpse he's working on in the lab is Ryôko's. Distraught, he goes to visit the dead girl's parents (Jun Kunimura and Hana Kino), who offer little comfort. Meanwhile, the other students are disturbed by Hiroshi's growing obsession with his "subject." Vital was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of the 2005 Film Comment Selects. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Japanese filmmaker Satoshi Isaka directs the baseball comedy Mr. Rookie, adapted from the novel by Dankan. By day, family man Koji Ohara (real-life baseball player Kazushige Nagashima) manages a construction company. By night, he's the masked pitcher of the Hanshin Tigers known as "Mr. Rookie." When he injures his shoulder while playing with his son Shunsuke (Yoneda Ryo), Ohara is given a superpowerful massage by Yang (Jun Kunimura) that vastly improves his game. While the Tigers manager Segawa (Isao Hashizume) demands more out of him, he finds his skills are putting strain on his marriage to Yuko (Mayu Tsuruta) as well. Meanwhile, an investigative reporter is sent to unmask the legendary "Mr. Rookie," and his celebrity is blown up to enclude endorsements for "Mr. Rookie Beer." ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Former assistant director to Sogo Ishii, Akira Ogata makes his debut with this complex coming of age drama about a pair of orphans obsessed with choir singing. Set during the political tumult of the 1970s, the film focuses on Michio (Atsushi Ito), a stuttering, socially-inept 15-year-old. Michio's quiet childhood is cut short with the death of his father. After clearing out his dad's photography studio, he is sent by his uncle to the militaristic Dokoritsu Orphange for Boys. There he meets and befriends the effeminate-looking Yasuo (Sora Toma), who is the lead soprano of the orphanage's choir. Singing quickly dominates both boys' lives as they prepare for the National Chorus Competition. Yet the political chaos of the times soon comes to their doorstep with the unexpected appearance of Satomi (Ryoko Takizawa), a radical on the run from the law after a couple notorious bombings. Choirmaster Seino (Teruyuki Kagawa), a former revolutionary himself, takes in the fugitive and shelters her for a spell. When she ultimately blows herself up in front of the boys while running from the cops, the two react in decidedly different ways. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Junji Sakamoto spins this tale of a socially inept yet indomitable woman searching for freedom and self-respect. Set in Kobe at the beginning of 1995, the film introduces Masako (Naomi Fujiyama), a withdrawn, middle-aged woman living above her mother's dry cleaning shop. She rarely leaves the house and is often tormented by her pretty younger sister. After their mother suddenly dies, the sisters' sibling rivalry takes a rather nasty turn. Immediately after the funeral, Masako strangles her sister in an explosion of rage and humiliation. Just as she stumbles into life on the run, the Kobe earthquake strikes. Terrified that the disaster is some divine retribution for her crime, she flees willy-nilly to Osaka, where, after losing her virginity to a rape, she finds shelter and eventually employment at a "love hotel." When the owner of that establishment hangs himself to escape a mountain of bad debt, Masako flees to Beppu on the southern island of Kyushu. There she falls in love with a down-and-out salesman and finds camaraderie with a world-weary bar owner. In spite of the constant air of violence and the occasional rape, Masako blossoms in her new surroundings until her past -- and the police -- start to catch up with her. This film was screened at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Following up on his acclaimed Helpless and Chimpura, Shinji Aoyama directs this bizarre reworking of a yakuza flick. Hiroki Sakai (Kosuke Toyohara) adjusts pins in pachinko machines for a living. It's a dull existence, but Sakai seems to have made his peace with it. One day he runs into his former co-worker, Mizuguchi (Ken Mitsuishi), a twitchy sort who managed a parlor before yakuza goons beat him up and robbed the place. Now he is obsessed with the thought of vengeance against his assailants. Soon afterwards, he runs into Rie (Yuna Natsuo) -- the daughter of his boss -- who has suddenly blossomed into voluptuous womanhood and who is eagerly hoping to improve her relationship with Sakai. Later, he finds himself the target of yakuza aggression when the gang's boss comes to believe that Sakai is the bearer of a coveted envelope. Though a sensible and retiring sort by nature, he realizes that the only way to end this unwanted adventure is to rescue his boss, Tsumura (Mickey Curtis), from the clutches of the yakuza. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this final installment of the long-running film series adapted from manga writer Junji Ito's wildly successful comic series, the constantly regenerating titular character returns to terrorize an artistically inclined young girl and her widowed father. Slowly integrating herself into the family as she casts a mysterious spell on the lovelorn father, Tomie (Nozomi Ando) nearly causes the grieving widower to kill his own daughter before he snaps out of the hypnotic spell -- dismembering Tomie and dumping her body into a nearby river. When his daughter discovers the disembodied but still-living head of Tomie, she too falls under the mysterious creature's overpowering spell and begins helping Tomie to regenerate a new body. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide