Fukuchan of Fukufuku Flats is one of my favourite films of all time and it made my top ten list of films I saw in 2014. It has a story that is really, really funny, poignant and quirky and the characters are all loveable.
I am a fan of the director Yosuke Fujita and I met him at last year’s Raindance International Film Festival before a screening of the film and talked to him where I explained that I loved his first film Fine, Totally Fine and I found I relate to his characters, all of whom are 20/30-somethings drifting along in life (kinda like me). We talked comedy and his background and then I saw Fukuchan and loved it (especially the characters and enka song used in the end credits – video at the bottom). It has an awesome performance by Miyuki Oshima who has excellent comic support from Yoshiyoshi Arakawa.
The reason I held off on reviewing the film was because I got caught up with many other things after the festival and decided to write a review when the DVD was going to be released. That release is next week Monday which is when I will post a review!
Here are the details of the DVD release:
Directed by Yosuke Fujita (Fine, Totally Fine)
Japan / 2014 / 111 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour
Starring: Miyuki Oshima (from ‘Morisanchu’ one of Japan’s top comedy troupes)
Asami Mizukawa (Bilocation, Nodame Cantabile)
Yoshiyoshi Arakawa (Fine Totally Fine, Memories of Matsuko, Survive Style 5+, Key of Life, Judge!)
On DVD July 13th
DVD Special Features:
Roundtable discussion with actress Miyuki Oshima, director Yosuke Fujita & producer Adam Torel
Interview with director Yosuke Fujita
Theatrical Trailer
32-year-old Tatsuo Fukuda, nickname “Fuku-chan” (Miyuki Oshima), is a painter who lives in a run-down apartment complex called Fukufuku Flats. He spends his days working up a sweat painting buildings, his nights mediating disputes between the other denizens of Fukufuku Flats, and his days off flying handmade kites down by the riverside.
One day, an unfamiliar woman turns up at Fukufuku Flats. It is Chiho, his first love from his junior high school days who he has not seen for around 20 years, and she has come to apologize for something that happened in their past. As Fuku-chan allows himself to get caught up in Chiho’s quest to become a photographer, he begins to fall in love all over again with this woman who was responsible for the traumatizing incident that led to his fear of women…
Directed and written by Yosuke Fujita
Producers : Adam Torel, Naoko Arai, Keiko Fujimura
Co-producers: Sabrina Baracetti, Thomas Bertacche, Stephan Holl, James Liu
Director of Photography: Yoshihiro Ikeuchi
Sound: Akira Fukada
Set Decoration: Masahide Yoshino
Editor: Zensuke Hori
Fantasia Film Festival – Winner: Best Actress
Japanese Film Professional Assocation – Winner: Best Actress
Fukuoka Film Festival – Winner: Audience Award
Japanese Film Festival Ireland – Winner: Audience Award
Here’s that Enka song I mentioned:
