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Penguin Highway and Japanese Touring Film Programme Screening Updates
posted on by Andrew Osmond
The touring programme of Japanese films is running in Britain and Ireland until March 28. The programme includes the anime film Penguin Highway (screening details here) as well as three live-action adaptions of manga: Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari, Kabocha to Mayonnaise (Pumpkin and Mayonnaise), Hitsuji no Ki (The Sheep's Tree or The Scythian Lamb). There are more details of the films below.
The screenings at the Showroom Cinema, Sheffield can be booked here, including Penguin Highway (February 21, 5.45 p.m.) and The Scythian Lamb (February 26, 5.45 p.m).
The screenings at the Queens Film Theatre, Belfast can be booked here, including Penguin Highway (February 23, 12.30 p.m.); The Scythian Lamb (March 3, 3.20 p.m); Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari (February 16, 3.40 p.m.); Pumpkin and Mayonnaise (February 17, 3.40 p.m.).
The screenings at the Phoenix, Leicester include Penguin Highway (February 24, 5 p.m.); The Scythian Lamb (March 26, 6.15 p.m.) and Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari (March 16, 8.15 p.m.).
The screenings at the Storyhouse, Chester can be booked here, including Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari (February 24, 12.45 p.m.).
The screenings at the Square Chapel, Halifax will include Pumpkin and Mayonnaise (February 26, 8 p.m.).
The screenings at the Dundee Contemporary Arts include Penguin Highway (February 27, 6 p.m.), Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari (February 24, 6 p.m.) and The Scythian Lamb (February 23, 6 p.m.)
The screenings at Depot, Lewes will include The Scythian Lamb (February 27, 8.15 p.m.).
The screenings at the Brewery, Kendal include Penguin Highway (March 14, 8.15 p.m.) and Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari (March 7, 8.15 p.m.).
The screenings at the Exeter Picturehouse will include Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura (March 6, TBC).
The screenings at the Firstsite, Colchester include Penguin Highway (March 9, 2.30 p.m.) and Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari (February 17, 3 p.m.).
The screenings at the Broadway, Nottingham include Penguin Highway (March 23, TBC) and Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari (March 27, TBC.).
Of the live-action manga adaptations, Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari is the live-action film adaptation of Ryohei Saigan's Kamakura Monogatari manga. Takashi Yamazaki (Always: Sunset on Third Street, Stand By Me Doraemon) directed the film, wrote the script, and handled the visual effects. The manga's story centers on mystery writer Masakazu Isshiki, who lives with his wife Akiko in Kamakura, as they encounter strange incidents and creatures such as kappa and gods of poverty. The trailer below shows the main characters, the married couple Masakazu and Akiko Isshiki, and their encounters with supernatural beings.
Another film in the programme is the live-action adaptation of Kiriko Nananan's Kabocha to Mayonnaise (Pumpkin and Mayonnaise) manga. The manga focused on the relationship between Tsuchida and Seiichi, a couple living together trying to make ends meet. Seiichi is a musician and songwriter in a band that dreams big, and Tsuchida works at a clothing store to support them, but sometimes still thinks about her ex-boyfriend Hagio. Tsuchida follows the lead of a friend to work at a hostess bar for extra money, but gives in to the sexual advances of a client. When Seiichi finds out, the couple begin to grow more distant, especially after Hagio's sudden re-entry into Tsuchida's life.
Another film being screened is the live-action version of Tatsuhiko Yamagami and Mikio Igarashi's Hitsuji no Ki (The Sheep's Tree or The Scythian Lamb) manga. The manga's story is set in a former seaport town that becomes the center of a secret government project. The project involves sending former convicts to live in the town, with almost no one in the town aware that they are former criminals. The story depicts the tension between the former convicts, whose intentions are unknown, and the citizens. Ryo Nishikido stars in the lead role as Hajime Tsukisue, a kind-hearted public servant who is one of the few who know about the government project central to the story.
