This DVD is Region-Free. Should play on all
machines, including
PS/2 game consoles.
(Synopsis)
This quirky buddy picture features a tape-recorder diary-keeping salaryman and a near-psychotic yakuza hitman with a traumatic past travelling through the countryside of China in search of a mysterious mountain village with a fabled vein of jade. The salaryman Wada (Masahiro Motoki) is there for his company, and the yakuza Ujiie is there to collect from that company. Led by a preternaturally calm guide Shen (Mako Iwamatsu), they are gradually weaned from their attachments to modern civilization as they trek deeper and deeper into the verdant, rocky heights of Yunnan, China. They meet with obstacles and strange characters such as a boatman obsessively frightened of death and attached to the turtles that pull his raft. But, nothing prepares them for what greets them when they reach the village. Here a blue-eyed Chinese girl works at teaching children to fly with wings made out of canvas and wood, and sings old Irish folksongs. In this dreamy, heartfelt comedy, themes like magical escapism, duty, tradition, and modernity clash as each man wrestles with conscience and soul over the meaning of their lives.
Director
Takashi Miike
Script
Masa Nakamura
Producers
Toshiaki Nakazawa
Yasuhiko Furusato
Cast
Li Li Wang
Mako
Manzo Shinra
Masahiro Motoki
Michiko Kase
Renji Ishibashi
Tomohiko Okuda
Yuichi Minato
Publisher: UWM
Audio: Japanese
Video: LetterBox
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 118mins
Release Year: 1998
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