Update on Kazuo Kuroki's KAMIYA ETSUKO NO SEISHUN, starring Tomoyo Harada, Masatoshi Nagase, Shunsuke Matsuoka, Manami Honjô, and Kaoru Kobayashi

As was reported here on Twitch back on April 27th, Pal Kikaku K.K. (K.K. Paru Kikaku) is scheduled to release the late Kazuo Kuroki's Kamiya Etsuko no seishun theatrically in Japan on August 12th.

The screenplay for Kamiya Etsuko no seishun was written by Kuroki and Hideki Yamada, based on the eponymous play by Masataka Matsuda. The movie stars (listed order corresponds to order on official subsite) Tomoyo Harada, Masatoshi Nagase, Shunsuke Matsuoka, Manami Honjô, and Kaoru Kobayashi.

Here's a description of Kamiya Etsuko no seishun from The Asahi Shimbun article "Requiem for an age and for a director now gone" (April 19th): "The story, set in Kagoshima in 1945, focuses on the rapport between a young military man who goes on a suicide mission, his friend and an acquaintance's daughter. ¶ With the exception of the film's beginning and ending to show its title, there is no music.... The movie dispassionately describes how the everyday life of people was built and destroyed by 'that age.' ¶ Eventually, the friend and the daughter get married. One evening, decades later, the aged couple are having a conversation. ¶ 'Is there a continuation of today?' asks the wife. 'Yes...' the husband replies. 'It will continue all the way. Forever.' ¶ His answer sounds like a requiem for the dead, for people who are deprived of the chance to affirm that there will be a tomorrow aftertoday."

Those who are interested in Kamiya Etsuko no seishun may also wish to read this Twitch article on Jun Ichikawa's Aogeba tôtoshi.

Kamiya Etsuko no seishun trailer (downloadable 2.2 MB WMV file)
Kamiya Etsuko no seishun official subsite
Aogeba tôtoshi trailer (downloadable 5.1 MB WMV file)
Aogeba tôtoshi official website