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Bookmark this pageBright Future (2002)
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Kiyoshi Kurosawa finally fulfils his promise with a haunting and ecstatic crypto-gay movie in which the weird imagery and knockout performances are in perfect sync. The flaky Yuji (Odagiri) and seemingly placid Mamoru (Asano) are workmates in a hand-towel laundry, irritated by the false bonhomie of their boss. Mamoru's only apparent interest in life is a project to acclimatise a pet jellyfish to fresh water - a project he bequeaths to Yuji when he's jailed for murdering the boss and his family. But when Yuji naively voices aloud the realisation that he loves his friend, Mamoru rejects him. Distraught, Yuji lurches into a partnership of sorts with Mamoru's father Shinichiro (Fuji, little seen since Ai no Corrida), who recycles techno-junk in a ramshackle workshop - eventually becoming something like his surrogate son. Images of retrieval, renewal and mutation illuminate a drama centred on the unvoiced thoughts and feelings between men. Dark and mysterious, but with a radiantly optimistic pay off.Author: TR
User reviews of this film
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- godfrey hamilton said...
- Posted on Oct 17 2010 09:33 Tony Rayns is right on the money here; but it should be emphasised that it is the 115 minute verson, not the much-truncated cut shown in Cannes (edited down by KK himself, for some reason) that wields the blissful alchemical power.
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Cast & crew
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Producer: Takashi Asai, Harumi Noshita, Sadayuki Iwase
Cast: Joe Odagiri, Tadanobu Asano, Tatsuya Fuji, Takashi Sasano, Ryo, Marumi Shiraishi, Ryo Kase, Sayuri Oyamada full cast
Duration: 115 mins
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