Strawberry Shortcakes (2006)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Hitoshi Yazaki

Writers:

Kiriko Nananan (comic)
Kyoko Inukai (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 July 2007 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Based On Comic

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Chizuru Ikewaki	...	Satoko
Noriko Nakagoshi	...	Chihiro
Yûko Nakamura	...	Akiyo
Kiriko Nananan	...	Toko (as Toko Iwase)
Ryo Kase	...	Nagai
Masanobu Ando	...	Kikuchi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tamiyasu Cho	...	Lee
Kazushi Hosaka	...	Client
Akito Inui	...	Client
Yôko Ishino	...	Doctor
Kiyomi Ito	...	Matsushita
Asami Katsura	...	Sakie
Ayaka Maeda	...	Michiru
Chieko Misaka
Tomomi Miyashita	...	Yuri
Seminosuke Murasugi	...	Morio
Hitomi Nakahara	...	Machiko
Kouen Okumura	...	Tadokoro
Taro Suwa	...	Client
Mai Takahashi	...	Kondo
Ei Takatori	...	Client
Kenichi Yajima	...	Osaki

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Japan:R-15 | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

UPLINK Company

Still Comes Shining Through

This story about four young ladies in Tokyo is quietly moving and, at times, difficult to watch. You are almost a voyeur watching these ladies live their lives. It is two hours of well acted drama that surprised me, because I almost expected a Japanese version of "Sex And The City". The fact that these four have their individual existences is reason enough to watch. The city of Tokyo is almost a co-star in this film. Like "Lost In Translation" and other films, you get a direct feel for the rhythm of the city. It is a beautifully shot film. Now the one thing that makes the film difficult to watch: I have the DVD, having missed it when it played in New York in the summer of 2008. The English subtitles are absolutely atrocious, as if the person who did them cannot speak English. Its as if they had an English/Japanese dictionary in front of them and wrote out the words from the script. So, often you have sentences spoken by these ladies that make zero sense. I don't usually comment about these things, but I found it detracted from the enjoyment of watching this film. It prevented me giving it a 9 or 10, thats how bad the subtitles are. Still watch it, though. Even if you do not know Japanese the power of this film comes through.