is a
2006
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mystery-drama film, directed by
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
Miwa Nishikawa
is a Japanese director and screenwriter. Nishikawa received a degree in literature from the University of Waseda, and after working on several independent films as well as catching the eye of Hirokazu Kore-eda, her film making career took off ...
, which features sibling rivalry and a possible murder.
Plot summary
Tokyo fashion photographer Takeru Hayakawa (Jo Odagiri) returns to his hometown for his mother's memorial service. His late arrival at the memorial irritates his father (Masatō Ibu), who accuses him of disrespecting his late mother and shaming their family name. Takeru's older brother Minoru (Teruyuki Kagawa) quickly intervenes and soothes their father with drinks and sympathetic comments.
Takeru and Minoru later have a conversation, which reveals Takeru's thinly veiled contempt towards Minoru for not having the strength to leave their dead-end hometown, but Minoru tells him he doesn't understand how things are and besides, he's fine with the way things are. Takeru later learns that his brother has taken over their family business, a run-down garage, and that his ex-girlfriend, Chieko (Yōko Maki), now works there as a gas attendant.
Chieko and Takeru later meet for drinks, and proceed to have a one-night stand. In the morning after, she hesitantly suggests she would be happy to follow him to Tokyo when he leaves, but he pretends he doesn't hear her.
Minoru realises something has happened between his younger brother and Chieko, and suggests they all should go for a walk along the Hasami River in the mountains where Takeru could take photographs. Chieko, believing this would buy more time with Takeru, immediately agrees. Wanting to get away from their town's mundaneness, Takeru agrees.
During the trip, Takeru distances himself from Chieko by walking ahead of her and Minoru. Whilst on a forested mountain, he takes photographs and through his viewfinder, sees Minoru and Chieko talking on a suspension bridge over a
gorge
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
. He looks away to take photographs of flowers.
On the bridge, Minoru tries to catch Chieko when she stumbles, but she recoils from his touch as she shouts at him to get away from her. They stare at each other for a few tense seconds. Minoru asks if she's leaving him for Takeru. Chieko replies that she has no interest in him, and never will.
Takeru glances back to the bridge and sees Minoru alone on the bridge, looking down to the gorge below, and realises Chieko has fallen from the bridge. The police locates Chieko's body in the gorge and arrests Minoru for murder. His father rejects the charge, insisting Minoru isn't the type to kill, but Takeru isn't so sure.
As the case proceeds during a courtroom trial, Takeru begins to doubt his testimony when he realises hidden resentment and deeply buried anger between Minoru and himself, which may have affected what he witnessed on the bridge that afternoon.
Awards
''Sway'' won the Best Film award at the
2007 Yokohama Film Festival.
and the
Best Film award at the 2006
Mainichi Film Award
The
are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan.
History
The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...
.
Cast
*
Jo Odagiri - Takeru Hayakawa
*
Teruyuki Kagawa
is a Japanese actor, kabuki actor and boxing commentator.
Biography
Born in 1965, his parents are the kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke III and the cinema actress Yuko Hama. His grandmother is the film actress Sanae Takasugi.
In the Kabuki world, ...
- Minoru Hayakawa
*
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 ...
- Isamu Hayakawa (father)
*
Yōko Maki - Chieko Kawabata
*
Hirofumi Arai
is a third-generation Zainichi Korean former actor.
Career
Arai made his screen debut in Isao Yukisada's '' Go'' in 2001 when he was 22 years old. His next film role was the emotionally disturbed senior high school student Aoki in Toshiaki Toy ...
- Yohei Okajima
*
Keizō Kanie
was a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 1st Yokohama Film Festival for '' Angel Guts: Red Classroom'' and '' Jūkyūsai no Chizu'' and at the 12th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Ware ni utsu yoi ari'' and '' Boku to ...
- Osamu Hayakawa
*
Yūichi Kimura
Yūichi, Yuichi, or Yuuichi is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Yūichi can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples:
*勇一, "courage, 1"
*祐一, "to help, 1"
*祐市, "to help, cit ...
- Akihito Maruo
*
Tomorowo Taguchi
is a Japanese actor, film director and musician.
After leaving Dokkyo University without graduating, he started to earn his living as an illustrator, writer and pornographic cartoonist. He joined a theatre called Hakken no Kai in 1978 and he ma ...
- Judge
*
Pierre Taki
, better known by his stage name , is the front man for Japanese synthpop group Denki Groove, which consists of himself and Takkyu Ishino. As of 2001 he was involved in an exhibit called Prince Tongha with Hideyuki Tanaka in New York City. He als ...
- Funaki
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sway
2006 films
Japanese films
2000s Japanese-language films
Films directed by Miwa Nishikawa