Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 

Children of the Dark
Yami no kodomo-tachi

• Colour, 35 mm
• Japan, 2008, 137 min
• WP – World premiere
• Section: Horizons
• http://www.yami-kodomo.jp

Film screenings:
7P4 - 10.7., 19:00, Cinema GH Pupp
9R2 - 12.7., 13:30, Richmond Cinema

• Director: Sakamoto Junji
• Screenplay: Sakamoto Junji podle románu / based on the novel by Yan Sogil
• Dir. of Photography: Kasamatsu Norimichi
• Music: Iwashiro Taro
• Producer: Toya Nobuyuki, Nakazawa Toshiaki, Shill Yukiko
• Production: Sedic International, Geneon Entertainment, Amuse
• Sales: Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Cast

Eguchi Yosuke, Miyazaki Aoi, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Praptpadol Suwanbang, Prima Ratchata

Synopsis

The film was based on the theme of a controversial novel by Japanese-Korean author Yan Sogil, whose autobiography was the basis for the commercially and critically successful Blood and Bones (Chi to hone, 2004). The theme in this case is the drastic fate of Thai children trapped in the machinations of child prostitution and the black market in human organs. This new work from established Japanese director Sakamoto Junji differs from other films on similar themes in its unwillingness to lapse into primitive extremes and blatant manipulation of feelings, instead taking a comprehensive and indiscriminate view of the topic. The film does not console audiences with the idea of events taking place in a far-off land, and points a finger at Japan’s association with the problem, the key grounds for which are shown as apathetic dismissal, the unwillingness to acknowledge problems beyond the borders of one’s own country and the burden of guilt upon those who create the demand for child prostitution and trade in children’s organs.

About the director

Sakamoto Junji (b. 1954, Sakai) is one of Japan’s versatile filmmakers who alternate between his own work as writer-director outside the studio, ambitious projects for the viewing public and costly commercial commissions. For this reason he is credited with critically acclaimed pieces of modern Japanese cinema like Knockout (Dotsuitarunen, 1989), Face (Kao, 2000) and My House (Bokunchi, 2003). In addition to these, his name has also figured among box-office contenders that have included the revival of the legendary yakuza series Another Battle (Shin jingi naki tatakai, 2000), the nationalistic action spectacle Aegis (Boukoku no iijisu, 2005) and the hotly awaited action thriller Chameleon (2008). The film Out of This World (Kono yo no soto e, 2003) was shown in competition at the Karlovy Vary festival in 2004.

Film Guests

Sakamoto Junji

Contacts

Shochiku Co., Ltd.
4-1-1 Tsukiji, Togeki Bldg. 12th Floor, Chuo-Ku, 1048422 Tokyo
Japan
Tel: +81 3 555 016 23
Fax: +81 3 555 016 54
E-mail: ibd@shochiku.co.jp
www: www.shochikufilms.com

 

 

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