Nada Sōsō (film)

Nada Sōsō
Japanese DVD cover of Nada Sōsō
Directed by	Nobuhiko Doi
Produced by	Kazuya Hamana, Junichi Shindo
Screenplay by	Noriko Yoshida
Based on	Nada Sōsō by Begin and Ryoko Moriyama
Starring	Masami Nagasawa Satoshi Tsumabuki Kumiko Aso
Music by	Akira Senju
Cinematography	Takeshi Hamada
Studio	TBS
Distributed by	Toho EDKO Film Golden Village Entertainment, Festive Films
Release date(s)	October 27, 2006 (2006-10-27) (Japan) March 8, 2007 (2007-03-08) (Hong Kong) March 27, 2007 (2007-03-27) (Singapore) March 30, 2007 (2007-03-30) (Taiwan) May 17, 2007 (2007-05-17) (South Korea)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥3,100,000,000 (December 31, 2006)

Nada Sōsō (涙そうそう^?, Tears for You) is a 2006 Japanese romance film directed by Nobuhiko Doi. Starring Masami Nagasawa, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kumiko Aso as Kaoru Aragaki, Yotaro Aragaki and Keiko Inamine, the film depicts Okinawan step-siblings, Koaru and Yotaru, growing up.

Reception and Nominations

Nada Sōsō was nominated for Best Actor (Satoshi Tsumabuki) and Best Actress (Masami Nagasawa) for the 2007 Japanese Academy Awards. However, for the 2007 Bunshun Kiichigo Awards, Nada Sōsō was ranked 4th worst film and Masami Nagasawa as worst actress. ^[1]

The Japan Times' Mark Schilling comments that the film "has the feel of a more hardscrabble, pure-spirited time and place, when struggle, sacrifice and premature death for the virtuous on-screen heroes were as common as chopsticks." ^[2] Film critic Victor Chan commends the film, saying "Nada Sou Sou boasts of all-round great acting by its cast, and its simple but homely style neatly complements the strong rural Okinawan setting, making this movie a classic triple hanky tearjerker which should appeal to not just the young Japanese movie fan, but also older audiences who have been starved for good tearjerkers." ^[3] Calvin McMillin, reviewing for LoveHKFilm, criticises the relationship between Tsumabuki and Nagasawa, saying they "do a serviceable job as would-be lovers, but both performances are somewhat problematic in execution. Although likeable enough, Tsumabuki doesn't seem to be able to handle the emotional scenes, as it always looks as if he's going to laugh even when he's breaking down in tears." He criticises Nagasawa's acting by stating "[she] is so over-exuberant (perhaps intentionally so) in the initial parts of the film that she's more of a grating presence than an endearing one. However, Nagasawa's performance improves considerably as the more dramatic aspects of the plot kick into overdrive." He also underlines the film's main downfall in trying to "adhere to the "Pure Love" aesthetic [that] the filmmakers completely gloss over the complications that could arise from a blossoming romantic relationship between these step-siblings by purposely avoiding the issue at any cost." ^[4]

References

1. ^ "Earthsea Wins "Raspberry Award"". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-01-25/earthsea-wins-rasperry-award. Retrieved 12 April 2011. 
2. ^ Schilling, Mark. "Swimming in tears, and then a trippy dip". The Japan Times. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20061027a2.html. Retrieved 12 April 2011. 
3. ^ Chan, Victor. "Nada Sou Sou". http://apersistentvision.blogspot.com/2007/03/nada-sou-sou-2006.html. Retrieved 12 April 2011. 
4. ^ McMillin, Calvin. "Tears for You". LoveHKFilm. http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/tears_for_you.htm. Retrieved 12 April 2011. 

External links

• Nada Sōsō at the Internet Movie Database
• German review