is a 2013 Japanese

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent an ...

. It was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...

and it was released on 26 April 2013.

Plot

Ninagawa was a powerful man in Japanese politics and with top economic connections. His granddaughter is then murdered. The suspect is Kunihide Kiyomaru. Three months after the murder of his granddaughter, Ninagawa places a whole page ad in the three major Japanese newspapers. The ad states that if Kiyomaru is killed, Ninagawa will offer ¥1,000,000,000 as a reward. Kunihide Kiyomaru turns himself in at the Fukuoka Prefectural Police station. Five detectives from the

Security Police Security police officers are employed by or for a governmental agency or corporations to provide security service security services to those properties. Security police protect facilities, properties, personnel, users, visitors and enforce cer ...

(SP) of the

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister. The Tokyo Metro ...

travel to

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

to escort Kunihide Kiyomaru back to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The distance between Fukuoka and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

is apprixmately 1,200 km.

Cast

Takao Osawa is a Japanese actor. Career Osawa starred in the 2002 film ''Filament'' and the 2007 film ''Midnight Eagle''. He has also appeared in films such as Masayuki Suo's ''A Terminal Trust'' and Takashi Miike's ''Shield of Straw''. The Newport Beach F ...

as Kazuki Mekari *

Nanako Matsushima is a critically acclaimed Japanese actress and model known for her role in the horror film ''Ring''. She was also the female lead character in the drama '' A Story of Love'', along with ''Ring'' co-star Hiroyuki Sanada. In 2011, her drama ''Kas ...

as Atsuko Shiraiwa *

Tatsuya Fujiwara is a Japanese actor. Internationally, he is best known for his leading roles as Shuya Nanahara in the '' Battle Royale'' films, Light Yagami in the ''Death Note'' films, Kaiji Itō in the '' Kaiji'' films, and Rikuhiko Yuki in Hideo Nakata's ''Th ...

as Kunihide Kiyomaru *

Masatō Ibu is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is sometimes credited as Masato Eve. Filmography Films * ''Love Hotel'' (1985) *''Maison Ikkoku'' (1986) *''Empire of the Sun'' (1987) – Sgt. Nagata *'' Sukeban Deka'' (1987) *'' Toki o Kakeru Shōj ...

as Kenji Sekiya *

Kento Nagayama is a Japanese actor. He has appeared in more than 30 films since 2008. Nagayama has two elder brothers who are also actors: Tatsuya and Eita is a Japanese actor from Tokyo. He has appeared in many Japanese television dramas and movies; mo ...

as Masaki Kamihashi *

Hirotarō Honda is a Japanese actor from MIto, Ibaraki Prefecture. He started his acting career at the Bungakuza Theatre Company's acting school. His first film appearance was in the Nikkatsu Roman Porno film ''Sei to Ai no Korider'' in 1977. Filmography Fil ...

as Oki *

Kimiko Yo is a Japanese actress. She was given Best Supporting Actress awards at the 2004 and the 2009 Yokohama Film Festival ceremonies. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 32nd and at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy ...

as Chikako Yuri *

Tsutomu Yamazaki is a Japanese actor. He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor in 1984 for '' The Funeral'' and '' Farewell to the Ark''. Yamazaki is well known for his role "Nenbutsu no Tetsu" on the television jidaigeki '' Hissatsu Shiokinin'' and ''Shin Hi ...

as Ninagawa

Production

The filming began on 19 August 2012, and took place in Japan, primarily in

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...

and

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

s, and Taiwan. After the

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

denied filming onboard its rolling stock, the train scenes were shot at the

Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the high-speed railway of Taiwan consisting of one line that runs approximately along the west coast, from the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction and operations managed by a pri ...

in September that year, with the support of the

Taipei Film Commission The Taipei Film Commission (TFC; ) is an organization based in Da'an District, Taipei, Taiwan. History The commission was established in 2007. Transportation The headquarters of the organization is accessible within walking distance east of ...

Remake

On 24 October 2016, it was announced that

EuropaCorp EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP.) is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature ...

is planning an English-language remake to be penned by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt and produced by Depth of Field's

Chris Weitz Christopher John Weitz (born November 30, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Paul on the comedy films '' American Pie'' and '' About a Boy''; the latter earned the Weitz ...

, Andrew Miano and Dan Balgoyen and All Nippon Entertainment Works's

Sandy Climan Sanford (Sandy) Climan is an Americans, American film producer, best known for Martin Scorsese, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004 film), ''The Aviator'' and the film ''U2 3D''. He is the Founder and President of Entertainment Media Ventures, a ...

and Annmarie Bailey, and Nippon Television's Naoaki Kitajima.

References

External links

* * 2013 films 2013 action thriller films 2010s police films 2010s spy thriller films Films about bodyguards Films about contract killing Films about corruption Films about murderers Films about police misconduct Films about terrorism in Asia Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Takashi Miike Nippon TV films Films set in Fukuoka Prefecture Films set in Tokyo Films shot in Japan Films shot in Taiwan Japanese action thriller films Japanese films about revenge OLM, Inc. Warner Bros. films 2010s Japanese films 2010s Japanese-language films {{2010s-Japan-film-stub