, also known as ''Children of Darkness'', is a 2008 Japanese crime film written and directed by

Junji Sakamoto is a Japanese film director. Career After working as a set assistant or assistant director under such filmmakers as Sogo Ishii and Kazuyuki Izutsu, he made his directorial debut in 1989 with '' Dotsuitarunen'' (earning the Directors Guild of Ja ...

based upon the book by the same name by Yang Sok-il. The film premiered on August 2, 2008 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and stars

Yōsuke Eguchi is a Japanese actor and singer. Since 1986, he has appeared in a number of television series and movies. He is married to the singer-songwriter Chisato Moritaka (born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwrit ...

Aoi Miyazaki is a Japanese actress. She is known for her roles in ''Nana'' and '' Virgin Snow''. Career Miyazaki started working in the entertainment industry at the age of four. Initially she appeared mostly in commercials, magazine advertisements, and a ...

and

Satoshi Tsumabuki is a Japanese actor. His breakthrough film was ''Waterboys'' for which he was nominated for the 'Best Actor' award at the Japanese Academy Awards, and won the 'Newcomer of the Year' prize. He is also the bassist and lead singer of the Japanese ...

. Due to its content,

Bangkok International Film Festival The Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF) ( th, เทศกาลภาพยนตร์นานาชาติกรุงเทพฯ) is an international film festival held annually in Bangkok, Thailand, since 2003. In addition to fi ...

pulled ''Children of the Dark'' from its 2008 film lineup, stating that it was “not appropriate for Thai society.”

Cast

as Hiroyuki Nanbu *

as Keiko Otowa *

as Hiroaki Yoda * Kōichi Satō as Katsuhito Kajikawa * Sawa Suzuki as Mineko Kajikawa * Kosuke Toyohara as Tetsuo Shimizu * Prima Ratchata as Napapom * Setanan Homyamyen as Aranya * Thanayong Wongtrakun

Production

Filming for ''Children of the Dark'' took place in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

despite initial problems securing a filming permit for

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, who denied Sakamoto's attempts to procure one. Actor Yōsuke Eguchi had some difficulties with the script, as he did not speak

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

and did not have enough time to learn beyond a few basic words in the language. As a result, Eguchi had to learn the script phonetically, and he wrote the each script line's pronunciation in

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

before memorizing the lines. After completing the film, Eguchi stated that he began to see things "deeper", as he "saw slums nestled among high-rise buildings in Bangkok, where wealth exists alongside the poor and vulnerable." ''Children of the Dark'' was initially accepted into the Bangkok International Film Festival, who intended to show the film at their 2008 festival, only for festival sponsors ''Tourism Authority of Thailand'' and the ''Federation of National Film Association'' to pull the film after learning of the movie's content. Sakamoto offered to edit the film in order for it to be shown, only for the festival programmers to decline as they wanted the movie to remain uncut.

Reception

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' gave the film three out of five stars, questioning Sakamoto's decision to insert a twist in the film's ending as they felt that it was the "one false note in Sakamoto’s strongest, bravest and most debate-worthy film in years." Richard Kuipers of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave ''Children of the Dark'' a positive review, and described it as "a compelling, disturbing thriller set in the twilight world of child prostitution in Thailand."

References

External links

*
Official site
{{Junji Sakamoto 2008 films 2000s Japanese-language films Thai-language films 2008 crime drama films 2008 crime thriller films Films directed by Junji Sakamoto Films scored by Taro Iwashiro Japanese crime drama films Japanese crime thriller films Films about pedophilia Films based on Japanese novels 2000s Japanese films