Roland-<br>
<br>
My review, noting the fact the work will be shown with English
subtitles, will appear in Metropolis on Dec 3 so the English-speaking
community in Tokyo will have some notice of the screening.<br>
<br>
Perhaps Mark Schilling will review it as well?<br>
<br>
Rob Schwartz<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 11/25/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">Roland Domenig</b> <<a href="mailto:roland.domenig@univie.ac.at">roland.domenig@univie.ac.at</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<p><font size="2">For all in or near Tokyo I'd like to call attention to the screening of Meike Mitsuru's<br>
THE GLAMOUROUS LIFE OF SACHIKO HANAI at the Pole-Pole Higashi Nakano.<br>
The film will be shown with English subtitles!<br>
It is a very funny pink movie that one shouldn't miss. <br>
<br>
Roland Domenig<br>
Institute of East Asian Studies<br>
Vienna University<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
A MEIKE Mitsuru Film<br>
<br>
THE GLAMOROUS LIFE OF SACHIKO HANAI<br>
A Japanese PINK Film with English Subtitle<br>
<br>
2004/35mm/90min/color/1:1.85<br>
<br>
Pole Pole Higashi-Nakano (03.3371.0088 <a href="http://www.mmjp.or.jp/pole2/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.mmjp.or.jp/pole2/</a>)<br>
<br>
Saturday, 26th November ~ Friday, 9th December<br>
starting time: 9:00 pm<br>
ticket price: ?1,000 (in advance) ?1,200 (sold on the day)<br>
<br>
Official selection:<br>
Nippon Connection (Frankfurt, Germany)<br>
PIA Film Festival (Tokyo, Japan)<br>
Real Fantastic Film Festival (Seoul, South Korea)<br>
Scanners: the New York Video Festival (New York city, USA)<br>
Raindance Film Festival (London, UK)<br>
Hawaii International Film Festival (Honolulu, USA)<br>
Chicago International Film Festival (Chicago, USA)<br>
Austin Film Festival (Austin, USA)<br>
Denver International Film Festival (Denver, USA)<br>
<br>
<br>
The U.S. and U.K. forces attacked Iraq in the name of justice on March
20th, 2003. However, peace hasn't come to Iraq yet. Many unsolved
problems are still prevailing: terrorism, North Korea's kidnapping of
Japanese nationals, sending the self-defense forces and more. "The
Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai" wasn't made to solve these problems
concerning Japa, but was completed only by superficial understanding
and mere chance. It is simply a comedy, a satirical sketch of our times.<br>
<br>
Synopsis<br>
Sachiko Hanai works at an "image club", specialized on playing the role
of a "lusty private home tutor." One day, she inadvertently stumbles
into a coffee shop where some suspicious-looking dealings are taking
place between a North Korean and a man from the Middle East. Suddenly a
pistol is drawn, and Sachiko is shot square in the center of her
forehead. Remarkably, Sachiko gets up and wanders out towards the
street, not noticing that the clerk had put a strange metal canister
into her bag.<br>
<br>
The next day, after discovering the small hole in her forehead, she is
intensely tempted to stick her eyeliner pencil into the opening. When
she does so, it sets off a volley of flashing lights and strange images
in her mind. Meanwhile, the North Korean pursues Sachiko in search of
the canister. It contains a replica of the American President's middle
finger, whose fingerprint is capable of unleashing a devastating
nuclear apocalypse. Sachiko finds herself the subject of unprecedented
international attention.<br>
<br>
<br>
Comments<br>
What makes "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai" so unusual isn't the
rape that turns into a seduction (a pink-movie trope), but the infusion
of global politics amid all the panting. The plot hinges on a woman
who, after a bullet becomes lodged in her brain, turns into a genius
nymphomaniac implicated in a doomsday scenario featuring President
Bush. I'll say no more, save that this film's detour into politics
works far better than similar turns in some of the other featured
videos (in the New York Video Festival).<br>
(New York Times)<br>
<br>
If the catchphrase "ero-guro-nonsense" still bears meaning in Japanese
cinema, it is in the field of pink eiga. The best of these qualities
can be seen in "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai", a hilarious
comedy about a pure-hearted fool saving the world from even greater
fools, made by a fool who speaks out the truth.<br>
(Roland Domenig)<br>
<br>
Along with the UK premier of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, the only
other film to completely sell out from the ten films in the Japanese
selection at the 13th Raindance Film Festival in London this year was
Meike Mitsuru's The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai, and the audiences
loved it. This hilarious sexy satirical romp about a call girl who
inadvertently finds herself in possession of a replica of President
Bush's finger and pursued by North Korean spies was the surprise hit of
the festival, and the Raindance audience couldn't get enough. The film
turned out to be one of the major talking points of the festival when
one couple got so horny watching it, that they slipped out of the
theatre into the corridor for a quickie<br>
(Jasper Sharp)<br>
<br>
I was delighted when I received the message that HANAI SACHIKO would
receive English subtitles, and therefore we would be able to show it at
Nippon Connection. When the night of the screening arrived, the theater
was so crowded we could have sold the film out twice. Many people
couldn't even enter the theater, and we had to calm the red-faced
people, angry they couldn't get in because they had arrived too late
for tickets. But I was hesitant about how to announce the film to the
packed theater- should I explain to the German audience that this was a
Pink Film, and "what a Pink Film is"? In the end, I decided not to
"explain" the genre, because the film itself is unexplainable. It is a
sparkling little marvel of madness, made to counter the craziness, not
to be understood... and soon this was obvious to the baffled audience
too. The laughter, shouting, and thunderous applause at the end must
have meant that the audience understood something, however. And though
they probably didn't feel they understood "what a Pink Film is", they
didn't need to- all they needed was this shining little wonder.<br>
(Alex Zahlten)<br>
<br>
All Sachiko wants to do is find smart people, philosophize about
Chomsky and the military industrial complex, and oh yeah, have lots of
sex. This is, after all, from a prolific director of Japanese porn!
Full of pink film tropes, a twisted plot and a deranged cameo from the
Leader of the Free World himself, SACHIKO HANAI is a hilarious and
bizarre political satire. If the notion of politiking furrows your
brow, then watch it for the tons of sex. Everybody wins!<br>
(Hawaii Film Festival)<br>
<br>
A bizarre, satirical piece that may offend, "The Glamorous Life of
Sachiko Hanai" contains strong sexual content and is for mature
audiences only.<br>
(Austin Film Festival)<br>
<br>
<br>
Cast<br>
KURODA Emi<br>
ITO Takeshi<br>
HOTARU Yukijiro<br>
HAYAMI Kyoko<br>
MATSUE Tetsuaki<br>
<br>
Staff<br>
Director: MEIKE Mitsuru<br>
Screenplay: NAKANO Takao<br>
Music: KISHIOKA Taro<br>
Director of Photography: ITO Hiroshi<br>
Producer: KINUGAWA Nakahito, MORITA Kazuto, MASUKO Kyoichi<br>
Executive Producer: ASAKURA Daisuke<br>
Production Company: Kokuei Co. Ltd<br>
Publicity: ARGO Pictures<br>
<br>
<br>
Director's profile<br>
MEIKE Mitsuru was born in 1969, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.<br>
In 1992, He dropped out college and was to be an assistant director of
Toshiki Sato. He made debut by straight- to-video "Kankin"
(Confinement) in 1996. The next year, he made first Pink Film "A
Nurse's Diary". This film got the prize of new Pink Film director of
the year He has been made eight Pink Film so far. He had been in New
York for a year until last October because he had been granted the
fellowship under the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for
Artists. In the forty-year history of Pink Film, he was the first to
receive this grant.<br>
<br>
Selected Filmography<br>
A Nurse's Diary (1997)<br>
(Stop Using) Sex As A Weapon + (Just Like) Starting Over (1998)<br>
Snow/Woman (2000)<br>
Second-Hand Love (2000)<br>
Buuyan (2002)<br>
It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing (2002)<br>
The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai (2003/2004)<br>
Bitter Sweet (2004)<br>
<br>
<br>
</font>
</p>
</blockquote></div><br>