|
|
Based
on a comic by Akimi Yoshida, SAKURA NO SONO (English title: THE CHERRY
ORCHARD) tells the story about an all-girl's high school preparing and
rehearsing for their annual performance of Chekov's play. The
unpretentiousness and beauty of shun Nakahara's minimalist direction
make that the film looks and works like an actual play, complete with a
stage-like composition and long master shots with no cuts. Except
for three short scenes outside the school building the film takes place
entirely inside the school, and the rehearsal room in particular. Behind the scenes drama makes up the biggest part of the story. A girl got her hair in a permanent. Somebody rings the fire alarm. And the school is discussing whether or not to cancel the play because the night before one of the girls was seen smoking. All trivialities but the way the film sucks you into its protected universe you really think of these problems as being the end of the world. |
|
Sakura No Sono Review of the film and DVD by Jeroen
Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best... |
||
|
As for the characters, the film focuses on Chiyoko - who wanted to play a male part in the play - and Yuko and their suppressed affection for each other. The scene towards the end of the two of them posing for a portrait is truly wonderful. Dressed in their Russian stage costumes, the camera on self-timer. When they move closer together for each following shot ultimately their faces touch in the most gentle way, and they smile. |
||
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
| The metaphors are all obvious, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful. The cherry blossoms symbolize the fleeting youth and beauty of the girls. The play represents 'later', and the uncertainty of the future. The final scene shows Yuko walking on stage carrying a candleholder while being blinded by the spotlight. The picture drowns in white, voices fading into the background. Cut to the empty rehearsal room, the last light of day touching the floor of the dim room. Even the end credits have meaning in this film: when the last line rolls of the screen the picture zooms in on one of the open windows, showing fresh Sakura leafs being blown into the empty room. | ||
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
||
|
FILM and DVD Details Region 2, NTSC, oar 1.85:1, 16:9 enhanced, film-sourced. Audio Dolby digital 2.0 Japanese with optional English subtitles. This disc looks great! Very smooth and film-like picture with not a trace of edge enhancement or excessive filtering. Rich colors, deep blacks, and detail level that's just a tad below perfection. Check out the scenes outside with trees in the background, you can almost count the number of leafs. Only complaint is that shadow detail could be better. It's no big deal but in a film that features girls wearing black uniforms in almost every frame you can't help but notice the lack of detail in the dark fabric. Film grain is noticeable if you look for it. This is good. Audio is fine. The delicate piano music sounds wonderful while dialog is always clear. I didn't notice a/v sync problems. |
||
| Full Cast and Crew for Sakura no sono (1990) Directed by Shun Nakahara Writing credits Yoshida Akimi (book) Hiroaki Jinno Cast (in credits order) Hiroko Nakajima .... Yuko Shimizu Miho Tsumiki .... Noriko Sugiyama Yasuyo Shiroshima .... Chiyoko Kurata Miho Miyazawa .... Kaori Jomaru Aki Kajiwara .... Maki Kubota Yuki Minowa .... Mayumi Omachi Miki Shiraishi .... Kazuyo Hirai Yumi Goto .... Reiko Toda Megumi Iseri .... Kimiko Kawai Miki Kongoji .... Shimako Inoue Kayo Sugawara .... Atsuko Nakano Mitae Nagata .... Chiaki Fujishiro Shoko Maruyama .... Tamaki Nakamura Rika Furukawa .... Keiko Matsumoto Yukie Nishimura .... Kazuko Mishima Ryôka Yuzuki .... Shiomi Kanagawa Yûki Sato (I) .... Mariko Takada Junko Asanuma .... Kanako Onishi Sumiyo Yamada .... Sayuri Horiguchi Chieko Shiratori .... Kumi Takano Chigusa Abe .... Arimi Tashiro Makoto Ohara .... Rumiko Sano Natsuko Morisawa .... Student of Seika Girls High School Yukiko Nishiyama .... Student of Seika Girls High School Yoshimi Uetake .... Student of Seika Girls High School Reina Ito .... Fan of Chiyoko Noriko Mori .... Fan of Chiyoko Mihoko Hirono .... Fan of Chiyoko Yuichi Mikami .... Yusuke Shimada Yukari Tachibana .... Ayako Nakano Kôichi Ueda .... Sakaguchi Hiroshi Nanbara .... Mr. Nakamura rest of cast listed alphabetically Maiko Okamoto .... Ms. Satomi (as Mai Okamoto) Produced by Yutaka Okada .... producer Kosaburo Sasaoka .... producer Original music by Federico Mompou Cinematography by Junichi Fujisawa |
DVD Details
|
|
