When in 2008 the director of the Taste of Tea worked on the remake of japanese classic My Darling of the Mountains, he delivered a beautifully shot & touching slow-paced drama. But, that was quite down-to-earth, missing his inventive way to reveal the craziness & humanity of a bunch of outsiders. Well, this seems to be back in Smuggler!
Smuggler is based on the manga of the same name, which is about a failed actor, caught up in debts, who is forced to accept a special job. Helping gangs by taking care of their “waste”… It seems like some sort of Sunshine Cleaning set in the middle of a gang war, without the boring indie touch,
The good thing to notice here is that unlike many mainstream japanese directors, Katsuhito Ishii is one of those who can actually create visually incredible universes, bending genres or medium to innovate. Or at least, to surprise the audience. He has the real ability to successfully translate ideas from paper onto the screen. And not copy/paste the source material.
And so far, the trailer confirms the presence of eccentric/colored characters, and highly weird situations… Looks like some fun entertainment. Starring Satoshi Tsumabuki (Akunin), Masanobu Ando (Sukiyaki) and Hikari Mitsushima (Love Exposure), among other things.
Smuggler will open in Japan on October 22, 2011.
Sources: Official website, FilmSmash, Yahoo — Stills gallery
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Looks great! And the cast is good (Hikari Mitsushima!)