Below is a new synopsis for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Hana (Hana yori mo naho) - alternative transliteration: "Hana yori mo nao" - that was recently added to ShochikuFilms.com - the English-language website of Shochiku Co. Ltd. (Shôchiku K.K.).
The time is 1702.
A young samurai, Sozaemon Aoki (Aoki Sôzaemon ... Okada Jun'ichi), has left his countryside hometown and is now living in Edo (Tokyo), in search of Jubei Kanazawa (Kanazawa Jûbei ... Asano Tadanobu) - the man who killed his father.
He is living in a dilapidated tenement house, in the poor quarters of Edo. His neighbors in the so-called "row houses" are all good, solid folk who can never even hope to rise out of the squalor of their surroundings. Sozaemon, the provincial samurai, becomes friends with a variety of characters including a habitual drunk, an unsuccessful would-be petty official, a ragman, a perky girl, a doctor, and a scrivener. As the relationships between the characters unfold, we are led deeper into the blossoming love story of Sozaemon and the beautiful widow, Osae (O-Sae ... Miyazawa Rie).
Although he has never forgotten his task to find his father's enemy and to succeed in his vengeance, being around Osae and her son, Sozaemon feels a warm feeling inside, which leads to doubts about the entire act of revenge. However, to walk away from the revenge act (adauchi) could actually bring his entire family down; not only would he be without the reward from the Shogun, but also, as a samurai, his failure to seek revenge would be an act of cowardice, and a disgrace to the entire family name.
Sozaemon, still not being able to decide whether he should seek revenge, goes on with his everyday life, teaching the neighborhood children mathematics, reading, and writing. He wonders whether he can ever enjoy life without the specter of revenge and swordplay.
With the discovery of a rich, meaningful life rather than the meaningless death of a warrior, Sozaemon, together with his strange friends at the tenement row house, decides to plot the act of a lifetime....
This should be a fascinating departure for the director. Kore-eda's previous films have all been preoccupied with modern concerns, using a self-repflexive documentary approach to explore contempory reality. I am really looking forward to seeing what he will do within the jidai-geki format.
English subbed DVD is now available for pre-order
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBJ-2738
(didn't see this info yet, forget it if you couldn't be bothered)
really great site....but where are Susumu and Asano!!!!
cheers,
gth
ARIGATOU!