Kou Shibasaki Movies
- 2008
This postmodern mystery-thriller from director Hiroshi Nishitani embodies a big-screen cinematization of the popular Japanese television series Galileo. Shinichi Tsutsumi stars as Ishigami Tetsuya, a brilliant but eccentric mathematician-cum-high school science teacher who develops a crush on the fetching Hanaoka Yasuko (Yasuko Matsuyuki), a saleswoman of bentos (or small, wooden lunchboxes unique to Japan). Hanaoka, as it turns out, is something of a criminal. Having successfully murdered a man in tandem with her daughter, she needs a foolproof alibi, and Ishigami draws on his scientific genius to help them construct one. The police are just as determined and resourceful, however, and enlist the support of their own scientist in the murder investigation, the equally brilliant and eccentric physicist Yukawa Manabu - who just happens to be an old classmate of Ishigami's. Thus marks the beginning of an aggressive, unchecked battle of wills between the two scientists to completely outwit one another. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Masaharu Fukuyama, Kazuki Kitamura, (more)
From director Nibou Mizuta comes this high energy comedy focusing on the story of Kimihiko Onizuka (Sadao Abe), a nerdy businessman that drops his normal place in society in order to indulge in the pleasures of the strip baseball with a Geisha. Things get a bit complicated when a professional baseball player gets in the way of Onizuka's dream, thereby leaving him with the only course of action - to become a legitimate baseball player himself. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sadawo Abe, Shinichi Tsutsumi, (more)
A fierce woman warrior joins a wandering demon hunter on his quest to recover the missing body parts and regain his natural form in director Akihiko Shiota's adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's popular manga of the same name. Years ago, malevolent ruler Daigo Kagemitsu promised to deliver his unborn son to the forty-eight devils of the underworld in exchange for the power to conquer his country. When his son was born with forty-eight body parts missing, Daigo knew he had gotten his wish and cast the infant child into the river. Rescued from certain death and given the name Hyakkimaru (Satoshi Tsumabuki) by a poor herb doctor, the boy was outfitted with a glass eye, fitted with artificial limbs, and raised amidst the confusion of war. Now, every time Hyakkimaru slays a demon, he regains another one of his missing body parts. One day, as Hyakkimaru does battle with a particularly fierce spider demon, a scrappy female thief named Dororo (Kou Shibasaki) takes notice and comes to his aid. Fascinated by the strange sword affixed to Hyakkimaru's artificial arm and awestruck by the fact that he somehow managed to grow a new leg after defeating the giant spider, Dororo agrees to follow Hyakkimaru on his journey after learning of his story from an ageing minstrel. But while Dororo is a fearless ally indeed, she has a troublesome habit of getting into mischief at the most awkward times. Later, as Hyakkimaru prepares to face off against his powerful father - he leaves his new friend behind in order to face his fate alone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kou Shibasaki, Satoshi Tsumabuki, (more)
- 2005
Isao Yukisada directed and co-wrote this romantic melodrama, based on a best-selling novel by Katayama Kyoichi. A typhoon is approaching town when Ritsuko (Kou Shibasaki, who also starred in director Yukisada's Go) discovers a mysterious old cassette tape that leads her to abruptly abandon her fiancé, Sakutaro (Takao Osawa of All About Lily Chou-Chou). When Sakutaro realizes where she's gone, it leads him to take a journey of his own. Sakutaro (played by Mirai Moriyama as a teen) goes into a deep reverie, thinking back to his high school years (which are shown in flashback), when he developed a powerful crush on a classmate, Aki (Masami Nagasawa). Aki was beautiful, poised, and athletic, and seemed on the verge of escaping their small town. With the encouragement of his best friend Ryunosuke (Issei Takahashi) and his uncle (Tsutomu Yamazaki, who also starred in Go), a wedding photographer, Sakutaro pursues Aki. She's drawn to him, and encourages him to open up to her in cassette recordings that they exchange. Their romance is blossoming when Sakutaro learns that Aki is gravely ill. As he relives his past, it becomes unclear whether their respective journeys will reunite Sakutaro and Ritsuko. Crying Out Love in the Center of the World was shown at the 2005 Asian American International Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Takao Osawa, Masami Nagasawa, (more)
Visionary horror film director Takashi Miike delivers a typically stylish and idiosyncratic scare-fest with this thriller. Yumi Nakamura (Kou Shibasaki) is a mildly paranoid young woman whose good friend, Yoko, receives a strange and mysterious call on her cell phone. The phone's read-out says that the call came from Yoko's own number, but from three days into the future; 72 hours later, Yoko dies in a bizarre accident moments after getting the same call over again. Yumi learns that Yoko isn't the only person to have had this experience; the spirit of a vengeful woman has been creeping into people's cell phones, and one by one is taking the lives of the folks in their internal telephone books. As Yumi struggles to solve the mystery of how and why this could be happening before someone else dies, she discovers the story has more to do with her than she imagined. Chakushin Ari was a major box-office success in Japan, where leading lady Kou Shibasaki is a popular recording artist as well as an actress. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kou Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi, (more)
- 2002
Isao Yukisada spins this gritty coming-of-age tale about Sugihara (Yosuke Kubozuka), a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean who struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him. The film begins with Sugihara studying at a Korean junior high school that is dedicated to memory of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. His father (Tsutomu Yamazaki) is a grizzled ex-boxer who recently changed his citizenship from North to South Korea so he and his wife -- Sugihara's mom (Shinobu Otake) -- could visit Hawaii. Though his father regularly gets drunk and thrashes him, he also taught Sugihara the finer point of the sweet science. At one point in the film, Sugihara takes out an entire basketball team that was bent on taking him out. Upon graduation, Sugihara enters a normal Japanese high school where he meets and soon falls for Sakurai (Kou Shibasaski) -- a loose-sock copper-haired damsel who is attracted to Sugihara's restless spirit. As the film progresses, Sugihara desperately struggles to throw off the stigma of his ethnicity and live a quiet, successful life. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yosuke Kubozuka, Kou Shibasaki, (more)
- 2002
In Sabu's Drive, a group of bank robbers ends up in a panic when their driver, Mickey (Toshio Kakei), double-crosses them, taking off with all the loot and leaving them stranded. Meanwhile, Asakuru (Shinichi Tsutsumi of Sabu's Postman Blues) has just seen the doctor about his debilitating tension headaches. One of Asakuru's few pleasures is driving by the corner where a pretty young woman, Sakai (Kou Shibasaki of Battle Royale), takes her lunch break every afternoon. But on this day while he watches the girl, his reverie is interrupted by the bank robbers, who commandeer his car, ordering him to pursue Nishi. Unfortunately for them, Asakuru refuses to drive over the speed limit, let alone run a red light. The gang quickly grows frustrated and stops at a café to formulate a plan. But word is out about their "successful" robbery, and a meddlesome waiter recognizes them and threatens to blow the whistle. He runs into some bad luck, and soon the gang is on the move again, Asakuru in tow, and encountering some strange luck of their own. The angriest (Susumu Terajima of Ichi the Killer) has an edifying run-in with a punk rock band. The youngest member (Masanobu Ando, also from Battle Royale) rediscovers his aptitude for baseball, while Nishi (Ren Osugi of The Twilight Samurai) finds out there may be something more important to him than the cash. Meanwhile, Mickey has an epiphany of his own when his escape plans are thwarted by some angry spirits. Drive was shown at the 2004 New York Asian Film Festival, presented by Subway Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kou Shibasaki, (more)
- 2001
In a future where society is on the verge of collapse, the government takes drastic action against the problem of rebellious teenagers in this violent sci-fi opus from Japan. In the year 2002, Japan's economy has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and massive unemployment and inflation have thrown most adults into a state of chaos; the nation's youth culture responds with unprecedented violence, delinquency, and truancy. Desperate to restore order, the Japanese parliament responds by creating the Millennial Reform School Act, in which groups of junior high students are selected at random, sent to an isolated island, and forced to play a rigorous war game, in which all but one of their number are killed. Kitano (Beat Takeshi) is an embittered school instructor who guides the 44 students of the Zentsuji Middle School's Class B through the deadly game known as "Battle Royale," as they struggle to survive against the elements and each other. Battle Royale proved to be both successful and highly controversial in Japan, where it set box-office records and prompted political leaders to call for stricter controls on violence in Japanese entertainment; the film was initially rated R-15 (no one under 15 admitted), unusual for violent films in Japan, though director Kinji Fukasaku later prepared a re-edited version that earned a more lenient classification. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, (more)
