''Map of the Sounds of Tokyo'' ( es, Mapa de los sonidos de Tokio, ca, Mapa dels sons de Tòquio) is a 2009 Spanish

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

Isabel Coixet Isabel Coixet Castillo (; born 9 April 1960 ) is a Spanish film director. She is one of the most prolific film directors of contemporary Spain, having directed twelve feature-length films since the beginning of her film career in 1988, in additio ...

. The film competed in the main competition at the

62nd Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

Plot

The movie begins with Mr. Nagara, a wealthy CEO, complaining to his loyal assistant, Ishida, that he does not like the way he has to entertain the people he is signing a contract with. They eat sushi off of the naked bodies of women lying on the tables. Ishida receives a phone call and tells Mr. Nagara that his daughter has killed herself. Mr. Nagara blames Midori's boyfriend, David, a Spanish man who owns a wine shop in Tokyo. Mr. Nagara cannot abide the fact that David is alive and Midori is dead. Ishida says he will take care of it and hires a woman who works in a fish market, Ryu, to murder David. The story teller is an unnamed gray haired sound engineer for movies, who loves the fragile looking Ryu and records her often, but is unable to get her to tell him about her life. The sound engineer records Ryu as she visits and cleans gravesites. Ryu does not tell him that these are the graves of the people she has been hired to shoot. Ryu enters the wine shop and David propositions her. They go to a

love hotel A love hotel is a type of short-stay hotel found around the world operated primarily for the purpose of allowing guests privacy for sexual activities. The name originates from "Hotel Love" in Osaka, which was built in 1968 and had a rotating s ...

and have

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

. Ryu is unable to bring herself to shoot David as he sleeps after sex. She thinks about him all day at the fish market as she slices fish. Ryu tries to return the money to Ishida and call off the killing, but Ishida threatens her. Mr. Nagara slowly deteriorates. As David grieves the loss of Midori, the assistant says that Midori was a vengeful person who wanted her father's attention, and who didn't love anyone. Ryu and David have sex again the next week on her day off, and then during Ryu's work week. She leaves a recording device in his shop and hears him selling his shop to his assistant, and planning to move back to Spain. The assistant asks him what he will do about his new girlfriend. David says he doesn't have a girlfriend. The assistant describes Ryu. David says, she is nobody. David longs to talk to Mr. Nagara. Ryu considers killing herself with her gun. David calls Mr. Nagara and says he misses Midori and loved her, causing Mr. Nagara more anguish. Mr. Nagara is unable to conduct business. Ishida is furious with Ryu for not completing the killing. David comes to the fish market to say goodbye to Ryu. Ryu is hurt and guarded, but David tenderly says goodbye and Ryu melts. As they hug Ryu sees Ishida approach with a gun. She turns and shields David, dying from Ishida's gunshot. The film ends with a view of the gray haired sound engineer cleaning Ryu's grave.

Cast

Rinko Kikuchi (born ; January 6, 1981) is a Japanese actress. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in ''Babel'' (2006). Kikuchi's other notable films include '' Norwegian Wood'' (2010), which s ...

as Ryu *

Sergi López Sergi López may refer to: *Sergi López (actor) (born 1965), Spanish actor * Sergi López Segú (1967–2006), Spanish footballer See also * Sergio López (disambiguation) * Sergi, the given name *López López is a surname of Spanish origin. I ...

as David * Min Tanaka as Narrator *

Manabu Oshio is a Japanese former singer and actor. He is the former vocalist of the band LIV. He was convicted in 2011 of drug use and failing to provide assistance to an acquaintance who died after taking drugs he had provided her. History Raised in Lo ...

as Yoshi *

Takeo Nakahara is a Japanese actor. Filmography Film *'' Okoge'' (1992) – Tochihiko Terazaki *'' Kaettekita Kogarashi Monjirō'' (1993) - Hachibei *''Godzilla 2000'' (1999) – Takada *''Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla'' (2002) – JXSDF Chief Ichiyanagi *'' ...

as Nagara *

Hideo Sakaki (born June 4, 1970) is a Japanese actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Japanese cult films '' Versus'', '' Battlefield Baseball'', and ''Alive''. He is a close friend of director Ryuhei Kitamura and appears in several ...

as Ishida

Criticism

The film has been criticized for misrepresenting Japanese culture. A scene depicting

nyotaimori , often referred to as "body sushi", is the Japanese practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the naked body of a woman. is the male equivalent. History The origin of nyotaimori can be traced back to the food play of performed in Yūkaku du ...

(the practice of serving sushi on the body of a naked female) as if it were commonplace in Japan, while in reality it is nearly non-existent. However, even in the film, the two Japanese businessmen ridicule the need to "eat hot sushi off a woman's navel" in order to "fit in with the idea that they have of us..."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Map Of The Sounds Of Tokyo 2009 drama films 2009 films Spanish thriller films 2000s Japanese-language films Films directed by Isabel Coixet Girls with guns films Films set in Tokyo 2000s Spanish films