is a 2017 Japanese

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Kazuya Shiraishi is a Japanese filmmaker. Works Film TV series References External links * Japanese film directors Japanese television directors Living people 1974 births People from Hokkaido People from Asahikawa {{Japan-film-director-st ...

. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

2017 Toronto International Film Festival The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 7 to 17 September 2017. There were fourteen programmes, with the Vanguard and City to City programmes both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down b ...

Plot

Towako leads an idle life alongside Jinji Sano, in his fifties, a man about fifteen her senior, whom she despises and belittles at the slightest opportunity. The latter endures her remonstrances without flinching and alone provides for the needs of the household through hard work as a

blue-collar worker A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

. Towako takes Makoto Mizushima as her lover, but lives in the painful memory of her relationship with Shun'ichi Kurosaki which ended abruptly eight years earlier. One day she dials Kurosaki's number but hangs up immediately. Following this phone call, a police inspector visits her and tells her that Kurosaki disappeared without a trace five years ago. When Towako catches Jinji spying on her as she walks out of a love hotel with her lover, she begins to suspect that Jinji is responsible for Kurosaki's disappearance.

Cast

Yū Aoi is a Japanese actress and model. She made her film debut as Shiori Tsuda in Shunji Iwai's 2001 film ''All About Lily Chou-Chou''. She subsequently portrayed Tetsuko Arisugawa in ''Hana and Alice'' (2004), also directed by Iwai, Kimiko Tanigawa in ...

as Towako Kitahara *

Sadao Abe is a Japanese actor, stage actor and musician from Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. He started his acting career after joining a theater company/talent agency, Otona Keikaku, in around 1992 and gained his popularity after the drama series '' Team Med ...

as Jinji Sano *

Yutaka Takenouchi is a Japanese actor. His on-screen acting debut was in the drama 「ボクの就職」 (Boku no Syūshoku) in 1994, after winning a modeling contest. He regularly appears in commercials. Filmography TV series * ''Boku no Shūshoku/My First Job' ...

as Shunichi Kurosaki *

Tori Matsuzaka is a Japanese actor and model. He debuted as Shinkengers#Takeru Shiba, Takeru Shiba/Shinken Red in ''Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.'' Since then, he has appeared in several television shows and films. Personal life On December 10, 2020, Matsuzaka ...

as Makoto Mizushima *

Eri Murakawa is a Japanese actress associated with Amuse, Inc. She attended Omiya Junior High School and Hinode High School. Filmography Drama *'' Kaze no Haruka'' (2005) *''My Boss My Hero'' (2006) *'' Sexy Voice and Robo'' (2007) *''Good Job'' (2007) *' ...

as Kayo Kunieda *

Shu Nakajima was a Japanese actor and director. He was born in Tokyo. He formerly belonged to Gekidan NLT. He was represented with Come True. His wife was actress Machiko Washio is a Japanese actress who works in both live action as well as voice over wo ...

as Kunieda

About the film

''Birds Without Names'' is an adaptation of the successful novel of the same name by

Mahokaru Numata is a Japanese crime fiction and horror writer. There has been an iyamisu (eww mystery) boom in Japan since around 2012. Iyamisu (eww mystery) is a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature. R ...

whose writings often feature manipulative men, brutal women and their toxic relationships. Another adaptation of one of his novels, Yurigokoro (ユリゴコロ?) By

Naoto Kumazawa is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Naoto can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *直人, "honesty, person" *尚人, "esteem, person" *直登, "honesty, ascend" *尚登, "esteem, ascend" *直斗, "honest ...

, was released a month earlier in Japan. The film is set in and around

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, the actors speak with a strong

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...

References

External links

* * 2017 films 2017 drama films Japanese drama films 2010s Japanese-language films Films directed by Kazuya Shiraishi 2010s Japanese films {{2010s-drama-film-stub