A Stranger of Mine

Colour, 35 mm
Japan, 2004, 98 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Three tragicomic stories are seen through the eyes of five characters, as if linked by a statement made by one of them: "It happened because my happiness was dependent on someone else". Inconsolable 30-year-old Miyata has been suddenly abandoned by his girlfriend, just after he had set them up a nice little love nest. His friend Kandu is fed up with workinf as a private detective; although he tries to advise Miyata on what to do about his life, he is losing control of his own. And Mafia boss Kisuke is having problems with his criminal organisation. The men’s stories are linked by disillusioned Maki who abandons her fiancé before their wedding and now finds herself unexpectedly involved in the mechanisms of cause and effect, set in motion by professional con woman Ayumi. As the story develops, we gradually begin to see a connection between seemingly simple and independent episodes as the film surprisingly discloses unforeseen relationships and contexts.

About the director

Uchida Kenji (b. 1972) longed to become a director back during his school days; in 1992 he registered at the State University in San Francisco for a film study programme which enabled him to learn about screenwriting and film techniques using 8 mm-35 mm film stock. After his studies he returned in 1998 to Japan, where he wrote and directed the film Weekend Blues and won the TBS "Planning Award" and "Brilliant Award" at the 24th Pia Film Festival (PFF). In 2004 he won the 14th PFF scholarship (a competition where the winner gets the chance to make a feature film based on his own script, which is then sent into distribution, the whole project being financed by the PFF) and thus was able to make his first feature-length film, A Stranger of Mine. The Film was screened this year at Cannes.