Sekai no Okiku (Okiku and the World)

[Machine Translation] Okiku, 22 years old. He lost his voice, but he fell in love. I have words I want to say to him. So today, I will walk everywhere to meet him. A lovely coming-of-age story was born, depicting a group of young people who, despite the harsh and painful reality, do not give up on communicating with each other. The 30th film directed by Junji Sakamoto, a longtime leader in the Japanese film industry, is the first period piece with an original screenplay. The main character, Okiku, is a young woman who has been starring in "Small House", "Living with Mother" (2015), and "The Asada Family! (2020), for which she has won three Japan Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress. She co-stars with Kanichiro and Sousuke Ikematsu. The film also features an exquisite ensemble of veteran actors including Koichi Sato, Kurarito Maki, and Renji Ishibashi. --The story takes place at the end of the Edo period (1603-1867). One rainy day, Okiku, who teaches children to read and write at a terakoya, meets Nakatsugu, a paper scrapper, and Ya-ryo, a shoddy buyer, who were sheltering from the rain under the awning of the washroom. Okiku, who grew up in a samurai family but now lives a simple life in a poor tenement house, and Nakatsugu and Yaryo, who work at the lowest level, buying and selling used paper and manure. The three live their lives in despair and hardship, and eventually find a way to connect with each other, but in a tragic incident, Okiku's throat is slit and she loses her voice. Okiku, who has closed her heart, Nakatsugu, who has a faint crush on Okiku, and Ya Ryo, who laughs at the harshness of the world, all three run through their youth together and come into contact with the brightness of the endless world.

Special Feature / Bonus Track: making-of, stage footage, and trailer(s) (subject to change)

おきく、22歳。声を失ったけれど、恋をした。彼に伝えたい言葉がある。だから今日、どこまでも歩いて会いに行く。つらく厳しい現実にくじけそうになりながら、それでも心を通わせることを諦めない若者たちを描く、愛おしい青春物語が誕生。日本映画界を長年にわたり牽引してきた阪本順治の監督30作目は、初のオリジナル脚本による時代もの。主人公のおきくには、『小さいおうち』、『母と暮せば』(2015)、『浅田家!』(2020)で日本アカデミー賞助演女優賞に三度輝くなど、卓越した演技力で高い評価を得てきた黒木華。共演に寛一郎、池松壮亮。また佐藤浩市、眞木蔵人、石橋蓮司らベテラン俳優たちが絶妙なアンサンブルを見せている。――江戸末期。寺子屋で子供たちに読み書きを教えているおきくは、ある雨の日、厠のひさしの下で雨宿りをしていた紙屑拾いの中次、下肥買いの矢亮と出会う。武家育ちでありながら、今は貧乏長屋で質素な生活を送るおきくと、古紙や糞尿を売り買いする最下層の仕事に就く中次と矢亮。わびしく辛い人生を懸命に生きる三人は、やがて心を通わせていくが、ある悲惨な出来事に巻き込まれたおきくは、喉を切られ、声を失ってしまう――。心を閉ざしたおきく、彼女に淡い思いを寄せる中次、そして過酷な世の中を糞くらえと笑い飛ばす矢亮――三人は共に青春を駆け抜け、果てしなく広がる"せかい"の輝きに触れる。

特典映像約40分(予定): メイキング、舞台映像集 (予定)、劇場予告編(予定)