Hana (film)
Hana (Hana yori mo Naho - 花よりもなほ) | |
---|---|
Directed by | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
Written by | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
Produced by | Nozomu Enoki Shiho Sato Hijiri Taguchi |
Starring | Junichi Okada Rie Miyazawa |
Cinematography | Yutaka Yamasaki |
Edited by | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
Distributed by | Shochiku (Japan) Funimation (USA) |
Release date | June 3, 2006 |
Running time | 127 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Hana - the Tale of a Reluctant Samurai, known in Japan as Hana yori mo Naho (花よりもなほ), is a 2006 Japanese jidaigeki by director Hirokazu Kore-eda. The film was released in the United States by Funimation who also gave it an English-language dub.
Story
The story takes place over one year during Japan's Genroku era, beginning at the start of 1702.
A young and inexperienced samurai, Aoki Sozaemon, has come from Matsumoto to Edo. Living in a slum, he waits to locate and take revenge against his father's killer, to restore honor to his clan's name. However, his impoverished, revenge-driven life takes a negative toll on him, as does his discovery that his intended victim, another low-status samurai, has a wife and young children. Eventually, Soza must decide: to kill, or not kill?
Making up the backdrop of the film are the many other residents of the slum, including children, the landlord, a group putting on an amateur play, as well as a young widow, Osae, with whom Soza becomes romantically involved.
Unbeknownst to everyone, also living in the slum are a small group of
Cast
- Junichi Okada as Sōzaemon "Sōza" Aoki
- Rie Miyazawa as Osae
- Tadanobu Asano as Jubei Kanazawa
- Arata Furuta as Sadashiro
- Terajima Susumuas Kichiemon Terasaka
- Teruyuki Kagawa as Jirozaemon Hirano
- Jun Kunimura as Isekan
- Seiji Chihara as Tomekichi
Reception
Film critic Andrew Thayne of the Asian Movie Pulse said that "Koreeda makes an unconventional take on the samurai film, as a young samurai struggles with his role as both samurai and son."[1]
References
- ^ Thayne, Andrew (2020-04-04). "Film Review: Hana (2006) by Hirokazu Koreeda". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
External links
- Hana at IMDb
- Hana at Letterboxd