Query: Japanese Films Set in New York City

[M Arnold]

Yamamoto Masashi's "Limousine Drive" (2001) was set and shot in NYC. I never 
saw the film, but it was fairly well promoted when it came out in Japan. I 
must have seen the trailer a dozen times in front of other movies and on 
video screens at record and video shops in Tokyo. With Yamamoto at the helm 
I might have given it a chance, but my curiosity quickly fizzled after 
watching the previews . . .

According to online reviews, it's a comedy about a Japanese "ganguro" girl 
who goes searching for her boyfriend in NY and befriends a black limousine 
driver who used to play in a funk band (played by T.M. Stevens, who really 
does play in a funk band http://www.myspace.com/tmstevens). It should be out 
on video in Japan. If anyone here has seen it I'd be curious to hear what 
they thought.

There's not much info about the film online, but this YouTube video might be 
the trailer. Unfortunately I can't get it to load:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcwQi9KeORw&v3

I also remember the Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door movie from the 
same year. If my memory serves me, it was supposed to be set on Mars or 
somewhere in the future, but I think I remember a few shots with the World 
Trade Center towers in the background. It was a crime/action movie though.

I think one or more of Toei's early-90s V America series videos were set in 
New York. Those were likely all crime stories too though.

By the way, I think "Kyofu kikei ningen" is coming out on DVD in the U.S. 
soon.

Michael Arnold




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael McCaskey" <mccaskem at georgetown.edu>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 3:15 PM
Subject: Query: Japanese Films Set in New York City


> I've been looking for a fairly recent Japanese film set in NYC, which is 
> not a crime or detective film.
>
> I've come across "Last Love," a new film starring Tamura Masakazu--but it 
> seems to be a Yoshi-type melodrama, and a DVD of it is not likely to come 
> out soon in any case.
>
> There's also another Tamura film, "Furuhata Ninzaburo: New York de no 
> Dekigoto" (1996), but it's a TV detective episode.
>
> I got Odagiri's "Hazard," but it's a crime film.
>
> I also got "Sakura Taisen New York NY," but it's way too cute for my 
> purposes.
>
> I would think there must be some good Japanese films set in NYC. I'd even 
> settle for an NYC episode within a film, like the Paris ending of "Tokyo 
> Tower." (I'm not necessarily saying that "Tokyo Tower" is all that good 
> itself.) Or a TV drama.
>
> I'm sure I've missed some, maybe many, Japanese films set in NYC, and 
> would appreciate information you might have about them.
>