is a Japanese drama film, produced in 2014, directed by

Nobuhiko Obayashi was a Japanese director, screenwriter and editor of films and television advertisements. He began his filmmaking career as a pioneer of Japanese experimental films before transitioning to directing more mainstream media, and his resulting film ...

. The film stars

Tōru Shinagawa Toru is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toru can be expressed with several kanji. Some examples: *徹, "penetrate" *透, "transparent" *享, "enjoy" *亨, "smoothly" *暢, "freely" The name can also be written in hiragana と ...

Takako Tokiwa is a Japanese actress. Career Tokiwa was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2005 for her performance in ''Akai Tsuki''. She co-starred with Hidetoshi Nishijima in Amir Naderi's 2011 film ''Cut''. Filmog ...

, Tokie Hidari,

Takehiro Murata Takehiro (written: , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese actor *Takehiro Honda (born 1945), Japanese jazz pianist *, Jap ...

Yutaka Matsushige is a Japanese actor. Career Matsushige has appeared in the films such as ''EM Embalming'', ''Adrenaline Drive'', ''Last Life in the Universe'', and ''Outrage Beyond''. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 31st Yokohama Film Festiv ...

, Shunsuke Kubozuka,

Saki Terashima Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cult ...

and

Hirona Yamazaki is a Japanese actress who is represented by the talent agency Toho Entertainment. Biography Yamazaki won the Special Jury Prize at the ''7th Toho Cinderella Audition''. Her first film appearance is in ''We Were There (manga), We Were There'' and ...

. The screenplay by Obayashi and Tadashi Naito was based on the story by Koji Hasegawa. The residents of the small northern town of

Ashibetsu is a city located in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the city had an estimated population of 14,260 and a density of 16 persons per km2. The total area is 865.02 km2. History Ashibetsu was once a prosperous ...

, where the film was set, helped fund the film."Seven Weeks – Film Review – The Japan Society " http://www.japansociety.org/event/seven-weeks-1

Plot

The film examines such issues as Japan's wartime responsibility, the current nuclear fallout issue, and romance. The director, Nobuhiko Obayashi, has referred to the film as "Guernica in moving images." The film's story follows the funeral of Mitsuo Suzuki, played by Toru Shinagawa, where the family, including his sister Eiko ( Tokie Hidari); grandchildren Fuyuki (

), Haruhiko (

), Akito ( Shunsuke Kubozuka), Kanna (

); and his great-granddaughter Kasane (

) all meet to discuss his death. Much of the film focuses on flashbacks to Suzuki's youth, and covers the history of the town of

during the 1930s. The film crisscrosses the stories of a dozen different characters, from different decades.

Cast

The film stars *

* Tokie Hidari *

* Shunsuke Kubozuka *

Production

The residents of the small northern town of Ashibetsu, where the film was set, helped fund the film, which resulted in the film having a small budget.

References

External links

* 2014 drama films 2014 films Films based on Japanese novels Japanese drama films Films directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi Films scored by Kousuke Yamashita 2010s Japanese films {{2010s-Japan-film-stub