Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for its latest live-action original series from Japan, Burn the House Down, set to launch globally on July 13.
A domestic revenge thriller, the show stars Mei Nagano (My Love Story!, Hanbun, Aoi) as Anzu Murata, a young woman whose childhood was torn apart when her family’s home burned down, prompting her parents to divorce. Convinced that her ailing mother was wrongly accused of the conflagration, Anzu goes undercover to work as a housekeeper for the suspicious woman who married her father in the wake of the blaze — convinced that she can gather evidence and discover the truth of what really happened.
The show is an adaptation of the popular manga Burn the House Down (Mitarai-ke Enjō Suru), which ran in Japan from 2017 to 2021. Kodansha USA Publishing began releasing the manga in English in June 2022.
‘Burn the House Down’
The lead cast includes: Asuka Kudo,...
A domestic revenge thriller, the show stars Mei Nagano (My Love Story!, Hanbun, Aoi) as Anzu Murata, a young woman whose childhood was torn apart when her family’s home burned down, prompting her parents to divorce. Convinced that her ailing mother was wrongly accused of the conflagration, Anzu goes undercover to work as a housekeeper for the suspicious woman who married her father in the wake of the blaze — convinced that she can gather evidence and discover the truth of what really happened.
The show is an adaptation of the popular manga Burn the House Down (Mitarai-ke Enjō Suru), which ran in Japan from 2017 to 2021. Kodansha USA Publishing began releasing the manga in English in June 2022.
‘Burn the House Down’
The lead cast includes: Asuka Kudo,...
- 6/20/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Netflix has lined up its next Japanese original series, a mystery thriller adaptation of the hit manga Burn the House Down.
Created by up-and-coming artist Moyashi Fujisawa, the original manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Kiss magazine in 2017 and became an immediate hit, attracting multiple adaptation offers in the year’s since.
The Netflix series, like the manga, will tell the story of Anzu Murata, a young woman who infiltrates the house of the wealthy Mitarai family as a housekeeper in order to reclaim the life that was taken from her. She is greeted by the beautiful and impeccable second wife of Mr. Mitarai, Makiko, and undertakes a mission that will reveal the secrets behind a shocking fire that took place 13 years ago.
Anzu Murata will be played by popular Japanese actress Mei Nagano, while local screen veteran Kyoka Suzuki co-stars as Makiko Mitarai.
Netflix has lined up its next Japanese original series, a mystery thriller adaptation of the hit manga Burn the House Down.
Created by up-and-coming artist Moyashi Fujisawa, the original manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Kiss magazine in 2017 and became an immediate hit, attracting multiple adaptation offers in the year’s since.
The Netflix series, like the manga, will tell the story of Anzu Murata, a young woman who infiltrates the house of the wealthy Mitarai family as a housekeeper in order to reclaim the life that was taken from her. She is greeted by the beautiful and impeccable second wife of Mr. Mitarai, Makiko, and undertakes a mission that will reveal the secrets behind a shocking fire that took place 13 years ago.
Anzu Murata will be played by popular Japanese actress Mei Nagano, while local screen veteran Kyoka Suzuki co-stars as Makiko Mitarai.
- 7/18/2022
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Japan’s Toho Company is launching sales on If Cats Disappeared From The World at Hong Kong Filmart.
Directed by Akira Nagai (Judge!), the film stars Takeru Sato (Ruroni Kenshin) and Aoi Miyazaki (The Great Passage, The Chart of Love).
Screenwriter Yoshikazu Okada (Be With You) is adapting the story from the bestselling novel by Genki Kawamura, producer of films such as Trainman, Parasyte and Confessions.
If Cats Disappeared From The World follows a postman with a cat who finds out he has a brain tumor and is told by a devil that he needs to eliminate a variety of things from the world if he wants to live longer.
Currently in production, the film is produced by Kei Haruna (Crying Out Love In The Center Of The World).
Directed by Akira Nagai (Judge!), the film stars Takeru Sato (Ruroni Kenshin) and Aoi Miyazaki (The Great Passage, The Chart of Love).
Screenwriter Yoshikazu Okada (Be With You) is adapting the story from the bestselling novel by Genki Kawamura, producer of films such as Trainman, Parasyte and Confessions.
If Cats Disappeared From The World follows a postman with a cat who finds out he has a brain tumor and is told by a devil that he needs to eliminate a variety of things from the world if he wants to live longer.
Currently in production, the film is produced by Kei Haruna (Crying Out Love In The Center Of The World).
- 3/23/2015
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Pusan International Film Festival
Closed Note (Kurosudo Nooto), as its title suggests, is a closed world where ugly reality is locked out, offering gift-wrapped romance made for escapists. Director Isao Yukisada pulls the done-to-death trick of the old diary connecting one person to another living in a different time and world.
The film opened in third place at the Japanese boxoffice Sept. 29, partially stimulated by controversy about lead actress Erika Sawajiri's "attitude problem." Yukisada's unabashedly commercial romances "Crying Out Love From the Center of the World" and Spring Snow replicated their domestic success in Asia, but the new film is slack on originality and chemistry, so it probably won't perform a hat trick in the overseas market.
Kae (Erika Sawajiri), a college student training to be a school teacher, discovers a notebook tucked away in her newly rented apartment. It is the handwritten diary of former tenant, Ibuki Mano (Yuko Takeuchi), a elementary school teacher. She starts to follow Ibuki's floridly written entries like a Harlequin addict. Ibuki who has more patience for her nauseatingly cherubic pupils than Mother Teresa for the sick, becomes the diffident Kae's role model. As Kae serializes Ibuki's love life in her mind, she casts her TV idol in the role of Ibuki's boyfriend Takashi.
When not strumming her mandolin like a Vermeer portrait, Kae works part-time in a shop specializing in rare fountain pens. And who could have walked in but the most classically chiseled face in Japanese cinema -- Yusuke Iseya (Sukiyaki Western Django, Memories of Matsuko) playing a man named Ryu Ishitobi. He is looking for the right pen for his exhibition though it's not ink but corny dialogue that flows.
It turns out that Ryu has been loitering in Kae's neighborhood, and she is driven to distraction by expectations of a full-blown romance with his mildly suggestive overtures. Kae eventually summons the courage to confess her love to Ryu, but overhears a crushing truth. This is supposed to be a big revelation, though there'll be few gasps of surprise in the cinema. Hearts are broken and healed, tears are shed, but there follows a resolution that helps wash down the emotional heartburn from too much syrupy sweetness and melodrama.
With many outdoor locations set in or around Kyoto, every encounter between the main protagonists are framed by a lush backdrop, sprinkled with conventional visual tropes like rain falling at a sad moment, or a close-up of blue andrangeas under the window sill to suggest a romantic interlude. The problem is that every character is too damn nice -- to look at and to each other -- so every scene feels cosmetic and lacks enough contrast and tension to justify the running length. Love scenes are scrubbed clean of sexual passion, leaving only a bland chasteness.
Closed Note still makes a good date movie, if only to let the female audience swoon over Yusuke Iseya, whose flowing mane and real illustrations (he was an art college graduate) make him look the part. Guys get to drool over Japan's two loveliest actresses for the price of one ticket.
CLOSED NOTE
Toho Company Ltd./Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc./SDP Inc./Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc./Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd.
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Isao Yukisada
Screenwriters: Tomoko Yoshida, Chihiro Ito
Based on the novel by: Shusuke Shizukui
Producers: Kei Haruna, Morio Amagi, Akihiro Yamauchi, Hasashi Usui
Executive producer: Minami Ichikawa
Director of photography: Koichi Nakayama
Production designer: Yuji Tsuzuki
Music: Meina Co
Costume designer: Sachiko Ito
Editor: Tsuyoshi Imai
Cast:
Kae Horii: Erika Sawajiri
Ryu Ishitobi: Yusuke Iseya
Ibuki Mano: Yuko Takeuchi
Running time -- 138 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Closed Note (Kurosudo Nooto), as its title suggests, is a closed world where ugly reality is locked out, offering gift-wrapped romance made for escapists. Director Isao Yukisada pulls the done-to-death trick of the old diary connecting one person to another living in a different time and world.
The film opened in third place at the Japanese boxoffice Sept. 29, partially stimulated by controversy about lead actress Erika Sawajiri's "attitude problem." Yukisada's unabashedly commercial romances "Crying Out Love From the Center of the World" and Spring Snow replicated their domestic success in Asia, but the new film is slack on originality and chemistry, so it probably won't perform a hat trick in the overseas market.
Kae (Erika Sawajiri), a college student training to be a school teacher, discovers a notebook tucked away in her newly rented apartment. It is the handwritten diary of former tenant, Ibuki Mano (Yuko Takeuchi), a elementary school teacher. She starts to follow Ibuki's floridly written entries like a Harlequin addict. Ibuki who has more patience for her nauseatingly cherubic pupils than Mother Teresa for the sick, becomes the diffident Kae's role model. As Kae serializes Ibuki's love life in her mind, she casts her TV idol in the role of Ibuki's boyfriend Takashi.
When not strumming her mandolin like a Vermeer portrait, Kae works part-time in a shop specializing in rare fountain pens. And who could have walked in but the most classically chiseled face in Japanese cinema -- Yusuke Iseya (Sukiyaki Western Django, Memories of Matsuko) playing a man named Ryu Ishitobi. He is looking for the right pen for his exhibition though it's not ink but corny dialogue that flows.
It turns out that Ryu has been loitering in Kae's neighborhood, and she is driven to distraction by expectations of a full-blown romance with his mildly suggestive overtures. Kae eventually summons the courage to confess her love to Ryu, but overhears a crushing truth. This is supposed to be a big revelation, though there'll be few gasps of surprise in the cinema. Hearts are broken and healed, tears are shed, but there follows a resolution that helps wash down the emotional heartburn from too much syrupy sweetness and melodrama.
With many outdoor locations set in or around Kyoto, every encounter between the main protagonists are framed by a lush backdrop, sprinkled with conventional visual tropes like rain falling at a sad moment, or a close-up of blue andrangeas under the window sill to suggest a romantic interlude. The problem is that every character is too damn nice -- to look at and to each other -- so every scene feels cosmetic and lacks enough contrast and tension to justify the running length. Love scenes are scrubbed clean of sexual passion, leaving only a bland chasteness.
Closed Note still makes a good date movie, if only to let the female audience swoon over Yusuke Iseya, whose flowing mane and real illustrations (he was an art college graduate) make him look the part. Guys get to drool over Japan's two loveliest actresses for the price of one ticket.
CLOSED NOTE
Toho Company Ltd./Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc./SDP Inc./Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc./Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd.
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Isao Yukisada
Screenwriters: Tomoko Yoshida, Chihiro Ito
Based on the novel by: Shusuke Shizukui
Producers: Kei Haruna, Morio Amagi, Akihiro Yamauchi, Hasashi Usui
Executive producer: Minami Ichikawa
Director of photography: Koichi Nakayama
Production designer: Yuji Tsuzuki
Music: Meina Co
Costume designer: Sachiko Ito
Editor: Tsuyoshi Imai
Cast:
Kae Horii: Erika Sawajiri
Ryu Ishitobi: Yusuke Iseya
Ibuki Mano: Yuko Takeuchi
Running time -- 138 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/5/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This second installment in Hong Kong director Fruit Chan's "prostitute trilogy" -- the first was "Durian Durian", which played at Venice last year -- is lucid and free-flowing. The story, scripted by Chan, shows the havoc a girlish prostitute from mainland China wreaks on an overweight family in Hong Kong. It's a sharp, deceptively casual look at how immigrants from China are influencing Hong Kong daily life four years after the territory's return to Chinese rule. "Hollywood Hong Kong" screened recently in the main competition at Venice.
The film's neorealist approach, coupled with the current fascination for all things Asian, should interest art house distributors in the West. Chan's name, meanwhile, should guarantee sales in such upscale Asian markets as Japan and South Korea.
The story unfolds in Hong Kong's last shantytown, a rough-and-tumble place in the shadow of a newish development called Hollywood Plaza. Chu (Glen Chin) and his two sons run a small business roasting pork. Their life is humdrum, with their prize pig Mama -- whom they resemble in size -- providing the only entertainment. The family is befriended unexpectedly by a happy-go-lucky Shanghai prostitute, Tong Tong ("Suzhou River"'s Zhou Xun), whose girlish innocence brings joy into their lives.
The first hour sees Tong Tong ingratiate herself effortlessly into Chu's clan. She befriends the father and youngest son and sleeps with the older brother -- as well as their neighbor Wong, a would-be pimp. Then things turn much nastier. Tong Tong reveals that she is underage and hires a crooked lawyer to blackmail the two boys with a claim of statutory rape.
Performances are nicely understated. Although sex comes into the picture, Tong Tong mainly brings excitement and affection into the family's life. Even when it's clear that she's blackmailing them, they are slow to anger and prefer to let the situation ride. In fact, the three very fat, almost immobile lads seem impervious to anything.
The point of the film is to show how immigrants from China are bringing small-scale chaos to the lives of Hong Kongers. Pre-1997, modern Hong Kong was an influence on developing China. But now the vast, economically powerful motherland is changing Hong Kong. As the film makes clear, people rather than politics are influencing the territory. Economic migrants are bringing disorder from China and upsetting the balance of Hong Kong life.
The film is shot through with Chan's customary black humor. The comedy is more integrated than in previous works, though a body-disposal scene seems out of place. Bearing in mind the amount of comment that previous tampon-hurling and shit-throwing scenes aroused, it's tempting to conclude that Chan cheekily included this scene to irritate conservative viewers.
HOLLYWOOD HONG KONG
Capitol Films
Nicetop Independent Ltd. and Hakuhodo
A Movement Pictures Media Suits
and Nicetop Independent Ltd. production
in association with Golden Network Asia
Producers: Christine Ravet, Doris Yang, Kei Haruna, Sylvain Bursztejn, Fruit Chan
Director-screenwriter: Fruit Chan
Executive producers: Carrie Wong, Kimi Kobata, Sharon Harel
Director of photography: O Sing-Pui
Art director: Oliver Wong
Music: Lam Wah-chuen, Chu Hing-cheung
Costume designer: Jessie Dai
Editor: Tim Sang-fat
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tong Tong: Zhou Xun
Boss Chu: Glen Chin
Wong: Wong You-nam
Ming: Ho Sai-man
Running time -- 108 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The film's neorealist approach, coupled with the current fascination for all things Asian, should interest art house distributors in the West. Chan's name, meanwhile, should guarantee sales in such upscale Asian markets as Japan and South Korea.
The story unfolds in Hong Kong's last shantytown, a rough-and-tumble place in the shadow of a newish development called Hollywood Plaza. Chu (Glen Chin) and his two sons run a small business roasting pork. Their life is humdrum, with their prize pig Mama -- whom they resemble in size -- providing the only entertainment. The family is befriended unexpectedly by a happy-go-lucky Shanghai prostitute, Tong Tong ("Suzhou River"'s Zhou Xun), whose girlish innocence brings joy into their lives.
The first hour sees Tong Tong ingratiate herself effortlessly into Chu's clan. She befriends the father and youngest son and sleeps with the older brother -- as well as their neighbor Wong, a would-be pimp. Then things turn much nastier. Tong Tong reveals that she is underage and hires a crooked lawyer to blackmail the two boys with a claim of statutory rape.
Performances are nicely understated. Although sex comes into the picture, Tong Tong mainly brings excitement and affection into the family's life. Even when it's clear that she's blackmailing them, they are slow to anger and prefer to let the situation ride. In fact, the three very fat, almost immobile lads seem impervious to anything.
The point of the film is to show how immigrants from China are bringing small-scale chaos to the lives of Hong Kongers. Pre-1997, modern Hong Kong was an influence on developing China. But now the vast, economically powerful motherland is changing Hong Kong. As the film makes clear, people rather than politics are influencing the territory. Economic migrants are bringing disorder from China and upsetting the balance of Hong Kong life.
The film is shot through with Chan's customary black humor. The comedy is more integrated than in previous works, though a body-disposal scene seems out of place. Bearing in mind the amount of comment that previous tampon-hurling and shit-throwing scenes aroused, it's tempting to conclude that Chan cheekily included this scene to irritate conservative viewers.
HOLLYWOOD HONG KONG
Capitol Films
Nicetop Independent Ltd. and Hakuhodo
A Movement Pictures Media Suits
and Nicetop Independent Ltd. production
in association with Golden Network Asia
Producers: Christine Ravet, Doris Yang, Kei Haruna, Sylvain Bursztejn, Fruit Chan
Director-screenwriter: Fruit Chan
Executive producers: Carrie Wong, Kimi Kobata, Sharon Harel
Director of photography: O Sing-Pui
Art director: Oliver Wong
Music: Lam Wah-chuen, Chu Hing-cheung
Costume designer: Jessie Dai
Editor: Tim Sang-fat
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tong Tong: Zhou Xun
Boss Chu: Glen Chin
Wong: Wong You-nam
Ming: Ho Sai-man
Running time -- 108 minutes
No MPAA rating...
This second installment in Hong Kong director Fruit Chan's "prostitute trilogy" -- the first was "Durian Durian", which played at Venice last year -- is lucid and free-flowing. The story, scripted by Chan, shows the havoc a girlish prostitute from mainland China wreaks on an overweight family in Hong Kong. It's a sharp, deceptively casual look at how immigrants from China are influencing Hong Kong daily life four years after the territory's return to Chinese rule. "Hollywood Hong Kong" screened recently in the main competition at Venice.
The film's neorealist approach, coupled with the current fascination for all things Asian, should interest art house distributors in the West. Chan's name, meanwhile, should guarantee sales in such upscale Asian markets as Japan and South Korea.
The story unfolds in Hong Kong's last shantytown, a rough-and-tumble place in the shadow of a newish development called Hollywood Plaza. Chu (Glen Chin) and his two sons run a small business roasting pork. Their life is humdrum, with their prize pig Mama -- whom they resemble in size -- providing the only entertainment. The family is befriended unexpectedly by a happy-go-lucky Shanghai prostitute, Tong Tong ("Suzhou River"'s Zhou Xun), whose girlish innocence brings joy into their lives.
The first hour sees Tong Tong ingratiate herself effortlessly into Chu's clan. She befriends the father and youngest son and sleeps with the older brother -- as well as their neighbor Wong, a would-be pimp. Then things turn much nastier. Tong Tong reveals that she is underage and hires a crooked lawyer to blackmail the two boys with a claim of statutory rape.
Performances are nicely understated. Although sex comes into the picture, Tong Tong mainly brings excitement and affection into the family's life. Even when it's clear that she's blackmailing them, they are slow to anger and prefer to let the situation ride. In fact, the three very fat, almost immobile lads seem impervious to anything.
The point of the film is to show how immigrants from China are bringing small-scale chaos to the lives of Hong Kongers. Pre-1997, modern Hong Kong was an influence on developing China. But now the vast, economically powerful motherland is changing Hong Kong. As the film makes clear, people rather than politics are influencing the territory. Economic migrants are bringing disorder from China and upsetting the balance of Hong Kong life.
The film is shot through with Chan's customary black humor. The comedy is more integrated than in previous works, though a body-disposal scene seems out of place. Bearing in mind the amount of comment that previous tampon-hurling and shit-throwing scenes aroused, it's tempting to conclude that Chan cheekily included this scene to irritate conservative viewers.
HOLLYWOOD HONG KONG
Capitol Films
Nicetop Independent Ltd. and Hakuhodo
A Movement Pictures Media Suits
and Nicetop Independent Ltd. production
in association with Golden Network Asia
Producers: Christine Ravet, Doris Yang, Kei Haruna, Sylvain Bursztejn, Fruit Chan
Director-screenwriter: Fruit Chan
Executive producers: Carrie Wong, Kimi Kobata, Sharon Harel
Director of photography: O Sing-Pui
Art director: Oliver Wong
Music: Lam Wah-chuen, Chu Hing-cheung
Costume designer: Jessie Dai
Editor: Tim Sang-fat
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tong Tong: Zhou Xun
Boss Chu: Glen Chin
Wong: Wong You-nam
Ming: Ho Sai-man
Running time -- 108 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The film's neorealist approach, coupled with the current fascination for all things Asian, should interest art house distributors in the West. Chan's name, meanwhile, should guarantee sales in such upscale Asian markets as Japan and South Korea.
The story unfolds in Hong Kong's last shantytown, a rough-and-tumble place in the shadow of a newish development called Hollywood Plaza. Chu (Glen Chin) and his two sons run a small business roasting pork. Their life is humdrum, with their prize pig Mama -- whom they resemble in size -- providing the only entertainment. The family is befriended unexpectedly by a happy-go-lucky Shanghai prostitute, Tong Tong ("Suzhou River"'s Zhou Xun), whose girlish innocence brings joy into their lives.
The first hour sees Tong Tong ingratiate herself effortlessly into Chu's clan. She befriends the father and youngest son and sleeps with the older brother -- as well as their neighbor Wong, a would-be pimp. Then things turn much nastier. Tong Tong reveals that she is underage and hires a crooked lawyer to blackmail the two boys with a claim of statutory rape.
Performances are nicely understated. Although sex comes into the picture, Tong Tong mainly brings excitement and affection into the family's life. Even when it's clear that she's blackmailing them, they are slow to anger and prefer to let the situation ride. In fact, the three very fat, almost immobile lads seem impervious to anything.
The point of the film is to show how immigrants from China are bringing small-scale chaos to the lives of Hong Kongers. Pre-1997, modern Hong Kong was an influence on developing China. But now the vast, economically powerful motherland is changing Hong Kong. As the film makes clear, people rather than politics are influencing the territory. Economic migrants are bringing disorder from China and upsetting the balance of Hong Kong life.
The film is shot through with Chan's customary black humor. The comedy is more integrated than in previous works, though a body-disposal scene seems out of place. Bearing in mind the amount of comment that previous tampon-hurling and shit-throwing scenes aroused, it's tempting to conclude that Chan cheekily included this scene to irritate conservative viewers.
HOLLYWOOD HONG KONG
Capitol Films
Nicetop Independent Ltd. and Hakuhodo
A Movement Pictures Media Suits
and Nicetop Independent Ltd. production
in association with Golden Network Asia
Producers: Christine Ravet, Doris Yang, Kei Haruna, Sylvain Bursztejn, Fruit Chan
Director-screenwriter: Fruit Chan
Executive producers: Carrie Wong, Kimi Kobata, Sharon Harel
Director of photography: O Sing-Pui
Art director: Oliver Wong
Music: Lam Wah-chuen, Chu Hing-cheung
Costume designer: Jessie Dai
Editor: Tim Sang-fat
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tong Tong: Zhou Xun
Boss Chu: Glen Chin
Wong: Wong You-nam
Ming: Ho Sai-man
Running time -- 108 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/4/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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