Firefly (Japanese: 組画, Hepburn: Hotaru) is a 2000 Japanese drama film directed by Naomi Kawase. It was her second drama feature after her 1997 debut drama feature Suzaku and won the FIPREPSCI Prize at its 2000 debut at Locarno for its "personal and universal approach towards the conflict between tradition and modernity".[1] Like Suzaku, the film explores life in rural Japan and draws on Kawase's background as a documentary filmmaker.[2][3][4] Together, these two films established Kawase as one of Japan's key contemporary female directors.[1]
| Firefly | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Naomi Kawase |
| Written by | Naomi Kawase |
| Produced by | Takenori Sentô |
| Starring | Yūko Nakamura |
| Cinematography | Masami Inomoto |
| Edited by | Naomi Kawase |
Release date |
|
Running time | 164 min |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Plot
editAyako, a striptease dancer, falls in and out of a relationship with Daiji, a potter, and returns to her childhood hometown in Nara province, Japan.[2]
Cast
edit- Yūko Nakamura as Ayako
- Toshiya Nagasawa as Daiji
- Miyako Yamaguchi as Yasuko
Reception
editWinner of the FIPREPSCI Prize and the C.I.C.A.E. Award at the Festival del film, Locarno, 2000.[5]
Yūko Nakamura won Best Actress at BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival), 2001.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b Taylor-Jones, Kate E. (2013). Rising Sun, Divided Land: Japanese and South Korean Filmmakers. Columbia University Press. pp. 157–158. doi:10.7312/tayl16586. ISBN 9780231850445. JSTOR 10.7312/tayl16586.
- ^ a b "NYC Happenings: MoMA's Naomi Kawase Retrospective Explores Her Poetic and Intensely Personal Cinema". ScreenAnarchy. 2016-06-27. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
- ^ Anderson, Joel Neville (2020-01-02). "Home birth, world cinema: Kawase Naomi's films in circulation". Studies in Documentary Film. 14 (1): 50–62. doi:10.1080/17503280.2020.1720091. ISSN 1750-3280. S2CID 213788581.
- ^ McDonald, Keiko I. (2006). Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2939-1. JSTOR j.ctvvmxwh.
- ^ "53rd Locarno International Film Festival". Retrieved 2021-12-26.
- ^ "HOTARU / Firefly". JFDB (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-12-26.
External links
edit- Firefly at IMDb
- HOTARU / Firefly at the Japanese Film Database
- Director's website (in English)