English subtitled screenings of "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai" in Tokyo

[Rob Schwartz]

Roland-

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.

Perhaps Mark Schilling will review it as well?

Rob Schwartz

On 11/25/05, Roland Domenig <roland.domenig at univie.ac.at> wrote:
>
> For all in or near Tokyo I'd like to call attention to the screening of
> Meike Mitsuru's
> THE GLAMOUROUS LIFE OF SACHIKO HANAI  at the Pole-Pole Higashi Nakano.
> The film will be shown with English subtitles!
> It is a very funny pink movie that one shouldn't miss.
>
> Roland Domenig
> Institute of East Asian Studies
> Vienna University
>
>
>
> A MEIKE Mitsuru Film
>
> THE GLAMOROUS LIFE OF SACHIKO HANAI
> A Japanese PINK Film with English Subtitle
>
> 2004/35mm/90min/color/1:1.85
>
> Pole Pole Higashi-Nakano (03.3371.0088 http://www.mmjp.or.jp/pole2/)
>
> Saturday, 26th November ~ Friday, 9th December
> starting time: 9:00 pm
> ticket price: ?1,000 (in advance)  ?1,200 (sold on the day)
>
> Official selection:
> Nippon Connection (Frankfurt, Germany)
> PIA Film Festival (Tokyo, Japan)
> Real Fantastic Film Festival (Seoul, South Korea)
> Scanners: the New York Video Festival (New York city, USA)
> Raindance Film Festival (London, UK)
> Hawaii International Film Festival (Honolulu, USA)
> Chicago International Film Festival (Chicago, USA)
> Austin Film Festival (Austin, USA)
> Denver International Film Festival (Denver, USA)
>
>
> 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.
>
> Synopsis
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
>
> Comments
> 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).
> (New York Times)
>
> 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.
> (Roland Domenig)
>
> 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
> (Jasper Sharp)
>
> 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.
> (Alex Zahlten)
>
> 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!
> (Hawaii Film Festival)
>
> A bizarre, satirical piece that may offend, "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko
> Hanai" contains strong sexual content and is for mature audiences only.
> (Austin Film Festival)
>
>
> Cast
> KURODA Emi
> ITO Takeshi
> HOTARU Yukijiro
> HAYAMI Kyoko
> MATSUE Tetsuaki
>
> Staff
> Director: MEIKE Mitsuru
> Screenplay: NAKANO Takao
> Music: KISHIOKA Taro
> Director of Photography: ITO Hiroshi
> Producer: KINUGAWA Nakahito, MORITA Kazuto, MASUKO Kyoichi
> Executive Producer: ASAKURA Daisuke
> Production Company: Kokuei Co. Ltd
> Publicity: ARGO Pictures
>
>
> Director's profile
> MEIKE Mitsuru was born in 1969, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
> 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.
>
>  Selected Filmography
> A Nurse's Diary (1997)
> (Stop Using) Sex As A Weapon + (Just Like) Starting Over (1998)
> Snow/Woman (2000)
> Second-Hand Love (2000)
> Buuyan (2002)
> It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing (2002)
> The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai (2003/2004)
> Bitter Sweet (2004)
>
>
>
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