As this year's edition of the Toronto International Film Festival edges closer we're starting to gear up our search for more detailed information on the included titles - expect a massive trailer round up in late August / early September - and today the kindly folk at Fortissimo Films were good enough to send along stills and a synopsis of Lee Sang-Il's new film Hula Girls, which is slated to have its world premiere at the festival.
Ethnically Korean but born in Japan Lee has built a strong reputation for his earlier films 69 and Scrap Heaven and this new comedy is bound to draw comparisons to a certain Robert Carlyle starring blue collar UK comedy ...
It is 1965 and in Japan, the country has started to shift from coal to oil. One by one the old mining towns begin their long slow decline, but for one small town way up north, one man's vision is to build Japan's first Hawaiian Village as a way save the town. But what's a Hawaiian Village without a troupe of Hula dancers? The only problem is that no one knows how to do the dance, or even knows what the Hula is! In this hilariously touching comedy, the skepticism and conservatism of the locals is gradually overcome as their daughters fall under the spell of one talented and determined dance instructor from the big city of Tokyo.
Based on a true story, HULA GIRLS is a heartwarming comedy about coal miners’ daughters who took a once-in-a-lifetime chance to escape their monotonous lives, only to become unwitting heroes to their depressed mining town as well as the whole of Japan.
Image One, Image Two, Image Three, Image Four
Hula Girls teaser trailer #2 (downloadable 9.2 MB MOV file)
Hula Girls teaser trailer #2 (downloadable 6.6 MB WMV file)
Hula Girls teaser trailer #1 (downloadable 5.6 MB MPEG-4 file)
Hula Girls teaser trailer #1 (downloadable 5 MB WMV file)
Hula Girls official website
Twitch: Article on Hula Girls, etc.
Speaking of Scrap Heaven, did Kino Video delay or cancel the R1 DVD release? It was supposed to be released two months ago. I can't find it in stock anywhere.
This sounds interesting. In addition to "The Full Monty" Hula Girls also seems like a variation of Yaguchi Shinobu's "Swing Girls" and "Water Boys" although I doubt that this will be as great as those films. As someone living in Hawaii I would be interested in seeing how authentic (or sterotypical) the various elements of the Hawaiian Village and Hula dances are.