The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival is set to open with the world premiere of musical drama Sukiyaki and close with Korean zombie blockbuster Colony with monster sequel Godzilla Minus Zero set as the Centrepiece feature.
Opening the festival on October 26, Sukiyaki is based on the true story of a Japanese song that spent three weeks at the top of the US Billboard charts in 1963. Set at a time when Japan was still recovering from postwar turbulence, the drama revolves around the three creative forces behind the legendary song: composer Nakamura Hachidai, lyricist Ei Rokusuke and singer Sakamoto Kyu. The cast is led by Junichi Okada, Tori Matsuzaka and Taiga Nakano.
It is directed by Zeze Takahisa, known for commercial hits such as The 8-Year Engagement and arthouse titles including Heaven’s Story, which won two prizes at the Berlinale in 2011, and The Chrysanthemum And The Guillotine, which played Busan and Tokyo in 2018. His 2017 drama The Lowlife was in Competition at Tokyo in 2017.
Toho will open the film locally on December 25.
Fresh from its world premiere at New York Film Festival, Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero will screen as Tokyo’s Centerpiece title.
The highly anticipated follow-up to Oscar-winning monster feature Godzilla Minus One is set in 1949, two years after the first film, it continues the story of the Shikishima family as they face an all-new disaster. Ryunosuke Kamiki returns as hero Koichi Shikishima alongside Minami Hamabe as Noriko Oishi, who survived Godzilla’s first attack on Tokyo.
It is the first Japanese film to ever be filmed for Imax and Toho will release locally on November 3.
Closing the festival will be Korean blockbuster Colony, the latest zombie thriller from Train To Busan director Yeon Sang-ho. The film premiered at Cannes and made $44.3m at the Korea box office, where it is the fourth highest-grossing title of the year to date.
The story follows a professor, played by Gianna Jun, who witnesses a biotechnology conference spiral into catastrophe when a rapidly mutating virus is unleashed. As the outbreak spreads and the infected begin to transform in unexpected ways, authorities seal off the entire building, trapping the survivors.
The 31st Tokyo International Film Festival is set to take place from October 26-November 4 with market TIFFCOM scheduled to run parallel from October 28-30.
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