FCCJ sneak preview

[Eija Niskanen]

SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW SCREENING
followed by a Q&A session with director Hideyuki Hirayama and
co-director Cellin Gluck

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9   6:45 pm  20th floor
Please note earlier start time.

OBA: THE LAST SAMURAI  (Taiheiyo no Kiseki - Fokkusu to Yobareta Otoko)
Japan, 2011  128 minutes  In Japanese and English with appropriate subtitles

Director: Hideyuki Hirayama
Co-director: Cellin Gluck
Writer: Takuya Nishioka, based on a script by Gregory Marquette and Cellin Gluck
Executive producer: Seiji Okuda
Producers: Nobuyuki Iinuma
Cast: Yutaka Takenouchi, Sean McGowan, Treat Williams, Daniel Baldwin,
Toshiaki Karasawa, Takayuki Yamada, Tomoko Nakajima, Mao Inoue,
Yoshinori Okada, Sadao Abe, Hideyuki Hirayama, Bengal

Film courtesy of Toho

The Movie Committee is thrilled to present this sneak preview
screening of “Oba: The Last Samurai” ahead of its Japan-wide opening
this Friday, Feb. 11.

As WWII is drawing to a close in 1945, Capt. Sakae Oba, aka “Fox,”
leads the last remaining Japanese units in Saipan. Oba and his ragtag
troops employ guerrilla tactics to hold out against overwhelming odds,
outwitting 45,000 American soldiers before finally surrendering in
December 1945, 3 months after Japan has surrendered to US forces. In
the end, Oba’s fighting men number only 47.

To honor their heroic effort, Don Jones, a US Marine officer and one
of their “enemies,” wrote the account of the incredible standoff.
Sixty-five years later, this true story of courage and tenacity, of
unsung heroes who never gave up hope, is now a major motion picture
brought to the screen by the joint efforts of a Japanese and American
cast and crew working side by side.

Defying conventional cinema narratives, “Oba: The Last Samurai”
depicts the war from the viewpoints of both the Americans and the
Japanese. Yutaka Takenouchi, star of hit TV dramas and movies like
“Between Calmness” and “Passion and the Hovering Blade” portrays the
heroic Fox. Sean McGowan (“Bones,” “24”), heads an American cast that
includes Daniel Baldwin and Treat Williams.

Director Hideyuki Hirayama, known for his family movie franchise
“Haunted School” as well as serious dramas like the Japan Academy
Award-winning “Begging for Love” (2003), directs the international
production with US director Cellin Gluck, whose debut was the 2009
film “Sideways.” The film was photographed by Garry Waller, an Academy
Award nominee for his work on “Poltergeist II.”

Please join Mr. Hirayama and Mr. Gluck for a glass of wine and light
snacks before the screening begins, at our Meet the Filmmakers
Cocktail Party, from 6:00 – 6:45 pm. The cocktail party is ¥1,260
(incl. tax). Space is limited to the first thirty (30) people to sign
up at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161). On Feb. 9, please pick up
your ticket at the front desk from 6:00 pm, and join us in the
Anteroom. Cancellations received after noon on the day of the
screening will be charged in full.

You may attend the film without attending the cocktail party. Please
make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161) to allow
for seating arrangements.

All movie screenings are private, noncommercial events restricted to
FCCJ members and their guests.

Karen Severns, Edwin Karmiol, Movie Committee



-- 
Eija Niskanen
080-3479-8475
Kichijoji Honcho 4-12-6
Musashino-shi
Tokyo 180-0004