The Light Shines Only There
Japan
|
2014
|
Color
|
120 min
This directory compiles the glossaries from all editions of Cines del Sur: eleven already held and the twelfth currently underway. It serves as a living memory of the festival, its films, guests, sections, and spaces for reflection on the cinemas of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Arab world. Here you can trace the evolution of its programming, rediscover filmmakers, and follow the thematic threads that have defined Cines del Sur's identity as a meeting point for cultures, perspectives, and ways of understanding cinema from the Global South.
In a Japanese port city, Tatsuo, a traumatized man, drifts aimlessly through his days and drinks away his nights. While killing time at a pachinko parlor, he meets Takuji, a young man on probation who impulsively invites him to his dilapidated home on the outskirts of town. Once there, Tatsuo glimpses Takuji's bedridden father, his unfeeling mother, and his older sister, Chinatsu, who is utterly weary of life. Although they are immediately drawn to each other, romance is a luxury that neither the emotionally guarded Tatsuo nor the disillusioned Chinatsu can afford. Chinatsu sells her body to support her family and keep her brother out of jail. As Tatsuo and Chinatsu tentatively move towards a relationship, the carefree Takuji latches onto Tatsuo, intertwining their fates. The steps they take to build a better life trigger a series of events with devastating consequences.
Technical Details
Direction:
Mipo O
Cinematography:
Ryuto Kondo
Music:
Takuto Tanaka
Language:
Japanese
Production:
Mamoru Nagata, Kazuhiro Sugawara
Art Direction:
Shinpei Inoue
Sound:
Yoshida Noriyoshi
Subtitles:
English and Spanish
Screenplay:
Ryo Takada
Editing:
Etsuko Kimura
Cast:
Go Ayano (Tatsuo), Chizuru Ikewaki (Chinatsu), Masaki Suda (Takuji), Kazuya Takahashi (Nakajimi), Shohei Hino (Matsumoto), Hiroko Isayama (Kazuko), Taijiro Tamura (Taiji)
Director
Mipo O
Born in Mie, Japan, in 1977. After graduating from the Visual Concept Planning Department at Osaka University of Arts, she began working as a screenwriter for the prolific filmmaker Nobuhiko Ōbayashi. Mipo O soon transitioned to directing, and her short film Eye won an award in 2002 at the Short Shorts Film Festival in Tokyo. In 2005, she wrote her first feature film screenplay, The Sakai’s Happiness, which won the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award. In 2010, she wrote and directed Here Comes the Bride, My Mom!, which screened at the Busan International Film Festival and won the Kaneto Shindo Awards' Grand Prize, awarded to promising directors by a jury of Japanese producers. With The Light Shines Only There, Mipo O won the Best Director Award at the Montreal World Film Festival.
