An Adolescent

Colour, 35mm
Japan, 2001, 132 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Tomokawa works as a policeman in a small town. During the hot summer he lazily strolls the streets, passing the time setting up petty deals and seducing married women. Then suddenly the young and beautiful Yoko steps into his life with an offer no man can refuse. The fiery affair which ensues radically changes both their lives. The girl falls passionately in love with the policeman and he, unable to conquer his feelings, loses his carefully cultivated mask of sophisticated cynicism. Moreover, they have much more in common than was at first apparent. Yoko’s mother is Tomokawa’s ex-girlfriend and her father, Yoko’s grandfather, designed the wonderful tattoo of a single-winged phoenix on the policeman’s back. And it is the old man who becomes enraged when he finds out about his granddaughter’s relationship with Tomokawa. The lovers are unprepared for its surprising outcome. Eiji Okuda on his film: “In developing the story for An Adolescent, I focused on the “pure love” between a middle-aged man and a young girl. What I wanted to do was depict the union of two pure souls, where this union is never just sex and will never be fulfilled. I will be very happy if I can get across an important message: be yourself, regardless of the absurdity of the world”.

About the director

Eiji Okuda (b. 1950, Aichi) has until now chiefly devoted himself to acting. He debuted in the lead role of the film Motto shinayakani (dir. Toschihachi Fujita, 1979). He also became famous outside his native Japan and in 1987 won a Silver Bear - the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival for his role in the film Sea and Poison (Umi to dokuyaku, dir. Kei Kumai, 1986). He worked with director Kei Kumai on another successful film entitled The Death of a Tea Master (Sen no rikyu-honkakubo ibun, 1989). For his role in this film he won the Silver Lion at the Venice IFF in 1989. Filmography (selection) Deep River (Fukaikawa, dir. Kei Kumai, 1994), Koi gokudo (dir. Rokuro Mochizuki, 1997), Puraido: Unmeui no syunkan (dir. Toshiya Ito, 1998), Mina Zuki (dir. Rokuro Mochizuki, 1999). The film An Adolescent is his directorial debut.