is a 2003 Japanese film based on the novel of the same name by
Yusuke Kishi
is a Japanese author. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan.
Biography
He graduated from Kyoto University with a degree in Economics. After working for a life insurance company for seve ...
, directed and co-written by
Yukio Ninagawa
was a Japanese theatre director, actor and film director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. He directed eight distinct renditions of ''Hamlet.'' Ninagawa was also emeritus of the ...
, and starring
Kazunari Ninomiya
, often called , is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actor, voice actor, presenter and radio host. He is a member of the Japanese idol group Arashi.
His career began in the entertainment industry after joining the Japanese talent agency Johnny & As ...
and
Aya Matsuura
is a Japanese actress and pop singer, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan.
Career
2000–2009: Hello! Project
Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part o ...
. The film portrays Ninomiya playing Shūichi, a high school student finding a way to get rid of his stepfather who had returned home and begins to terrorize his family.
''Ao no Honō'' was released in
Japan on March 15, 2003 and was shown at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
on May 15, 2003.
Plot
Shūichi Kushimori (
Kazunari Ninomiya
, often called , is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actor, voice actor, presenter and radio host. He is a member of the Japanese idol group Arashi.
His career began in the entertainment industry after joining the Japanese talent agency Johnny & As ...
) lives with this mother Yūko (
Kumiko Akiyoshi
(born July 29, 1954), better known as , is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 1st Hochi Film Award for ''Banka'', ''Saraba natsuno hikariyo'' and '' Brother and Sister''.
Filmography
Films
* '' Tabi no omosa'' (19 ...
) and younger stepsister Haruka (
Anne Suzuki
is a Japanese actress.
Career
Suzuki co-starred in Shunji Iwai's '' Hana and Alice'' with Yū Aoi. She voiced the title character Ray Steam in Katsuhiro Otomo's animated film ''Steamboy''.
Suzuki played a supporting role in Andrew Lau and Ala ...
). One day, his estranged stepfather Ryūji Sone (
Kansai Yamamoto
was a Japanese fashion designer, most influential during the 1970s and 1980s.
Early life and career
Kansai was born in 1944 in Yokohama, Japan. He focused on civil engineering in high school, and majored in English at the Nippon University ...
) suddenly returns home and begins to freeload off his family. After Shūichi encounters what appeared to be Sone making sexual advances towards Haruka one night, he tries to get rid of Sone. However, Shūichi discovers that it is impossible to do so legally as Haruka is his daughter, and Yūko asks him to endure it until Haruka turns fifteen and can choose Yūko as her legal guardian.
After thorough research and experimentation on electrocution, he carries out his plan and kills his stepfather. The police declares that Sone had died of natural causes, especially as Shūichi was supposed to be in school at that time. His alibi checks out because his classmates saw him leave with a half-finished painting and return with it finished at the end of class. Later, at home, Haruka reveals to him that Sone had been dying of cancer.
Shūichi continues his everyday life and begins seeing classmate Noriko Fukuhara (
Aya Matsuura
is a Japanese actress and pop singer, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan.
Career
2000–2009: Hello! Project
Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part o ...
). One day, Takuya Ishioka (Yosuke Kawamura), a classmate who skips school and causes trouble, goes to see him at the convenience store where he works. Ishioka, who figures out what Shūichi did and has the bag of the things he used to kill Sone, threatens to tell the police if Shūichi does not get him 300,000
yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...
(approx. $3,000
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
) in a week.
Although Shūichi regrets his actions, in order to keep Ishioka quiet, he fools Ishioka into staging a robbery at his workplace with a fake knife. Shūichi stabs him, making it look like an act of self-defense on the security cameras. However, police officer Masashi Kano (Baijaku Nakamura), who also met Shūichi at the time of Sone's murder, finds flaws in Shūichi's claims and actions.
While seeing Noriko home at the train station, Shūichi admits to her that he is a murderer. The police manages to uncover the truth of what really happened to Sone and Ishioka, but Kano lets Shūichi go home on the basis that he promises to willingly turn himself in the next day. After having breakfast as usual with his family, he visits Noriko at school before class starts. She confirms that she lied for him and will continue to lie for him in court. Shūichi leaves her a tape recording before he leaves.
Then he commits suicide, steering his bike into the direct path of a bus.
In his tape recording, Shūichi talks about his favorite things. Noriko stops coloring her drawing of a future Shūichi blue to listen.
Cast
See also
*
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ao No Hono
2003 films
Films about murder
Films about teenagers
Japanese crime drama films
2000s Japanese films
2000s Japanese-language films