NYAFF'09 Films
VACATION (JAPAN, 2008)
NEW YORK PREMIERE
116 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Hajime Kadoi
Starring: Kaoru Kobayashi, Ren Osugi, Nene Otsuka, Hidetoshi Nishijima
Showtimes:
Wed July 1, 6:30pm at Japan Society [Buy Tickets].
Fri July 3, 4:00pm at Japan Society [Buy Tickets].
Note: "Buy Tickets" links will take you to the IFC Center website (for shows at IFC Center) and to Japan Society website (for shows at Japan Society). Tickets for each venue must be purchased separately.
Dubai Int’l Film Festival - 2008
Runner Up – “Best Film”
Yokohama Film Festival – 2009
Winner – “Best Actor” – Kaoru Kobayashi
Winner – “Best Supporting Actor” – Hidetoshi Nishijima
Prisoner #350 doesn't know it yet, but in two days he's going to die and soft-spoken guard, Toru Hirai, is going to walk him through it. Hirai has taken up the responsibility of holding Kaneda's legs during his final death spasms as he is hanged, seeing to it that his neck breaks. In return, Hirai will receive an extra week's vacation so he can go on his honeymoon with a bride he barely knows. The job terrifies Hirai, who has been a "support person" before, but he needs the money and, most of all, he needs the vacation.
VACATION is all about people in difficult situations. We follow Hirai and the rest of the prison staff (including the legendary Ren Osugi) as they struggle to keep the facts from prisoner Kaneda and arrange the logistics of his "by the book" execution without losing their nerve in the process. We also watch as middle-aged, lonely Hirai prepares for his arranged nuptials to a young single mother, Mika. Bride and groom are cautious with each other, but Mika's young son Tatsuya has already decided he wants no part of his new dad. As the wedding preparations grow increasingly awkward, and the traumatized guards squabble over the banal cruelties of the job, Hirai can do little more than face front and march forward.
VACATION is the sophomore effort from director Hajime Kadoi, a stark, unrelenting, yet distinctly human drama about life, death and the obligations we incur in between. The film is based on a short story by Akira Yoshimura (THE EEL), and despite its bleak subject matter, it's become an unexpected box office success in Japan. It's VACATION's matter-of-fact honesty about the bureaucracy of death that sets it apart from Hollywood death row weepie fare like THE GREEN MILE; we're denied the swelling strings, tearful confessions, and catharsis we've been trained to expect. Yet throughout all this quietly mounting dread, Kadoi has deep sympathy for all his characters, refusing to judge them or the death penalty, merely examining their struggles in a series of closed systems. And in the end, there are always moments of hope and tenderness, as Hirai faces his new life and embraces Tatsuya, telling him, "I'm sorry." Sorry for what? Who knows?
Co-presented by JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film
VACATION (JAPAN, 2008)
NEW YORK PREMIERE
116 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Hajime Kadoi
Starring: Kaoru Kobayashi, Ren Osugi, Nene Otsuka, Hidetoshi Nishijima
Showtimes:
Wed July 1, 6:30pm at Japan Society [Buy Tickets].
Fri July 3, 4:00pm at Japan Society [Buy Tickets].
Note: "Buy Tickets" links will take you to the IFC Center website (for shows at IFC Center) and to Japan Society website (for shows at Japan Society). Tickets for each venue must be purchased separately.
Dubai Int’l Film Festival - 2008
Runner Up – “Best Film”
Yokohama Film Festival – 2009
Winner – “Best Actor” – Kaoru Kobayashi
Winner – “Best Supporting Actor” – Hidetoshi Nishijima
Prisoner #350 doesn't know it yet, but in two days he's going to die and soft-spoken guard, Toru Hirai, is going to walk him through it. Hirai has taken up the responsibility of holding Kaneda's legs during his final death spasms as he is hanged, seeing to it that his neck breaks. In return, Hirai will receive an extra week's vacation so he can go on his honeymoon with a bride he barely knows. The job terrifies Hirai, who has been a "support person" before, but he needs the money and, most of all, he needs the vacation.
VACATION is all about people in difficult situations. We follow Hirai and the rest of the prison staff (including the legendary Ren Osugi) as they struggle to keep the facts from prisoner Kaneda and arrange the logistics of his "by the book" execution without losing their nerve in the process. We also watch as middle-aged, lonely Hirai prepares for his arranged nuptials to a young single mother, Mika. Bride and groom are cautious with each other, but Mika's young son Tatsuya has already decided he wants no part of his new dad. As the wedding preparations grow increasingly awkward, and the traumatized guards squabble over the banal cruelties of the job, Hirai can do little more than face front and march forward.
VACATION is the sophomore effort from director Hajime Kadoi, a stark, unrelenting, yet distinctly human drama about life, death and the obligations we incur in between. The film is based on a short story by Akira Yoshimura (THE EEL), and despite its bleak subject matter, it's become an unexpected box office success in Japan. It's VACATION's matter-of-fact honesty about the bureaucracy of death that sets it apart from Hollywood death row weepie fare like THE GREEN MILE; we're denied the swelling strings, tearful confessions, and catharsis we've been trained to expect. Yet throughout all this quietly mounting dread, Kadoi has deep sympathy for all his characters, refusing to judge them or the death penalty, merely examining their struggles in a series of closed systems. And in the end, there are always moments of hope and tenderness, as Hirai faces his new life and embraces Tatsuya, telling him, "I'm sorry." Sorry for what? Who knows?
Co-presented by JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film
