The End of the Pale Hour 明け方の若者たち
PRODUCTION NOTES
Young director adapts novel that was a hit among young people
23 year-old director Hana Matsumoto, only 17 when her "Da Da Da Da Seventeen" won the Special Jury and Audience Prizes at the 2016 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, is back with "The End of the Pale Hour", from the debut romantic novel and social-media phenomenon by author Masahiko Katsuse.
A production staff of the industry’s best includes Director of Photography Yuta Tsukinaga, who won the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography at the San Sebastián International Film Festival for "Any Crybabies Around?" (20).
A popular and talented young cast
In the role of the main character, suffering in the gap between his ideals and the reality he finds in the workaday world, is Takumi Kitamura, winner of the Japan Academy Newcomer of the Year Award for "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas" (17), and also known for such well-known films as "Love Me, Love Me Not" (20) and "Tokyo Revengers" (21). Like director Matsumoto, he is 23. Also the leader and vocalist of the rock band Dish, he is gaining a formidable reputation among Japan’s youth.
In the role of the woman with whom the hero falls instantly in love is Yuina Kuroshima, who won the the Japan Academy Newcomer of the Year Award for "Katsuben!" (19), and who has been announced for the lead role of the 2022 NHK morning drama "Chimudondon".
STORY
Tokyo, March 2012. A man about to graduate from university is invited to a dull gathering of "winners" who have received job offers from well-known corporations. There he meets a woman. She leaves the party early, and sends him a text: "Drinking with me might be more fun." He leaves, meets her in a nearby park, and falls in love. A few days later, they go to see a play, and afterwards spend the night together.
While he is happy during the time he spends with her, the printing company where he begins to work assigns him to a different section than he had hoped, and he agonizes over the gap between his ideals and his reality. He takes comfort in the support of the woman and a co-worker friend. Drinking till dawn, the three live a glorious paean to youth.
However, after the main character and the woman spend a weekend at a luxury hotel in lieu of attending the Fuji Rock festival, she breaks off contact.
Desolated, he explains to his co-worker friend the shocking cause of his misery. Then, to come to terms with a truth about her he was previously unwilling to face, he sets about trying to see her again.
■ 22nd Nippon Connection (2022)
- Nippon Cinema
■ 17th CAMERA JAPAN Festival (2022)
- 主演
- 北村匠海、黒島結菜、井上祐貴
- 导演
- 松本花奈
- 编剧
- 小寺和久
- 原著
- Masahiko Katsuse (カツセマサヒコ)
- 日本公映日
- 2021年12月31日