STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES (Japan, 2006)
NEW YORK PREMIERE
127 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Hitoshi Yazaki
Starring: Chizuru Ikewaki, Noriko Nakagoshi, Yuko Nakamura, Toko Iwase, Ryo Kase, Masanobu Ando
Showtimes: SUN June 22, 9:00pm at the IFC Center [Buy Tickets];
TUE July 1, 9:15pm at the IFC Center [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.
Imagine the movie that SEX AND THE CITY should have been, and you’ll have an idea of what’s waiting for you in the deceptively titled STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES, a movie of surprising depth about four women living in Tokyo that many critics consider the best Japanese film of 2006. Satoko (Ikewaki Chizuru) is a receptionist at the “Heaven’s Gate” escort agency, still licking her wounds after a break-up with a much-older boyfriend. She lives on her own and the most human contact she gets is when she fights off her boss’s advances. The Ice Queen of “Heaven’s Gate” is the one escort the other girls regard as a slut, Akiyo (Nakamura Yuko). But beneath her “anything for money” attitude she carries a painful torch for her best friend from high school, and she’s kept her job hidden from him for years.
Across town are two roommates, Chihiro and Toko. Chihiro (Nakagoshi Noriko) is a “typical” office lady who wants so badly to be married that she’s willing to overlook the fact that her current boyfriend regards her as little more than a convenient fling. Her roommate, Toko (Iwase Toko), is a freelance illustrator who comes across as the most successful and practical of the bunch, but the more we know her the more we learn that no one’s life is as easy as it seems. Based on a wildly popular manga with the richly ironic name “Sweet Cream and Red Strawberries,” this movie offers up not just a story about professional women living in the city, but a movie about faith, friendship, god, love and aging. But don’t let that scare you off – this is one of the most entertaining chick flicks you’ll ever see, one that redefines your notion of both chicks and flicks. Incredibly, the movie’s most devastating character is Toko, the freelance illustrator, whose raw, moving performance is more watchable than any special effect from IRON MAN. Incredibly, this role is played by Iwase Toko, a first-time actor and friend of the director, whose performance feels like watching a slow motion train wreck – in a good way. Director Hitoshi Yazaki chronicles the lives of all four of these women and charts their quiet desperation as they all approach 30, without once copping out or going for easy, arthouse cynicism and always remembering that where there’s life, there’s hope.
