Snow Woman (Yuki Onna)

[Machine Translation] If you tell anyone about this, I will take your life. A tale of fear, mystery, and a love as delicate and fragile as a snowflake, "A Thriller," written by Koizumi Yakumo over 100 years ago, sublimated legends from various regions of Japan into a work of ghost literature. This film is Kiki Sugino's unique interpretation of one of his stories, "The Snow Woman". Following "Manganiku to Boku" and "Greed," this is the third film by Sugino, who has long wanted to make a film of this story, and she took on the dual roles of Yuki-no-onna and Yuki herself. The main character Minokichi is played by Aoki Takataka, who has been remarkably active in his career, and his daughter Ume is played by Yamaguchi Mayu, a young and hot actress. The film is flanked by young actors and actresses such as Shiro Sano, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Takeshi Yamamoto, and Kodai Matsuoka, and is anchored by veteran veteran Kumi Mizuno. The cinematography is by master cinematographer Shogo Ueno, art by Masami Tanaka, a student of Yohei Taneda, and music by snow jow, who has been involved in almost all of Sugino's films. With the full cooperation of Hiroshima Prefecture, Sugino's hometown, the film was shot entirely in Hiroshima Prefecture and in the Hiroshima dialect, mainly in Onomichi City, known as a film town. Officially entered in the Competition section of the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival. --A certain time, deep in the mountains, on a blizzard night. Minokichi, a hunter, witnesses a snow woman take the life of his fellow hunter, Shigesaku, in a mountain lodge. The snow woman disappears, saying, "If you speak of this, I will take your life. The following year, on his way home from a memorial service for the first anniversary of Shigesaku's death, Minokichi meets a beautiful woman named Yuki. Fourteen years later, Ume grows up to be a beautiful and intelligent girl who is a good friend to Mikio, a sickly distant relative of Shigesaku. One day, however, Mikio dies in the cabin where Shigesaku died. Mikio's body bears the same frostbite scars as Shigesaku. Mikio's grandfather furiously accuses Minokichi of blaming his daughter, who has Yuki's blood in her veins. The events of 14 years ago come back to Minokichi's mind, and he struggles with the doubts he has had about Yuki for some time. What did he see that night in the cabin, and who is Yuki?

Special Feature / Bonus Track: theatrical trailer(s), greeting footage, press conference footage

「このことを誰かに話したら、あなたの命を奪います。」恐怖と神秘と、そして雪の結晶のように繊細ではかなく美しい愛の物語。100年以上前に小泉八雲が著した「怪談」は、日本各地の伝説を怪奇文学に昇華させた作品。その中の一編「雪女」を、独自の解釈で杉野希妃が映画化したのが本作。『マンガ肉と僕』、『欲動』に続く、監督第三作としてかねてから映画化を切望していた杉野が、自ら雪女とユキの二役に挑んだ。主人公の巳之吉役に、活躍目覚ましい青木崇高、娘のウメに注目の若手山口まゆ。佐野史郎、宮崎美子、山本剛史、松岡広大など演技派、若手が脇を固め、大ベテランの水野久美がひきしめる。撮影監督は名手上野彰吾、美術は種田陽平門下の田中真紗美、音楽は杉野作品の殆どに携わっているsnow jow。杉野の故郷である広島県の全面協力のもと、映画の街で知られる尾道市を中心に、全編を広島県内、広島弁で撮影された。第29回東京国際映画祭コンペティション部門正式出品作品。 ――ある時代、ある山の奥深く、吹雪の夜。猟師の巳之吉は、山小屋で、雪女が仲間の茂作の命を奪う姿を目撃してしまう。雪女は「この事を口外したら、お前の命を奪う」と言い残して消え去る。翌年、茂作の一周忌法要の帰り道に、巳之吉は美しい女ユキと出会う。やがて二人は結婚し、娘ウメが生まれる。14年後、美しく聡明な少女に成長したウメは、茂作の遠戚にあたる病弱な幹生の良き話し相手だった。しかしある日、茂作の死んだ山小屋で幹生が亡くなってしまう。幹生の遺体には、茂作と同じような凍傷の跡があった。ユキの血を引く娘のせいだと、巳之吉を激しく問いつめる幹生の祖父。巳之吉の脳裏に14年前の出来事が蘇り、以前から自分の中にあったユキに対する疑心と葛藤する。自分があの夜の山小屋で見たものは何だったのか、そしてユキは誰なのか・・・。

映像特典: 劇場予告編、舞台挨拶映像、記者会見映像