The Best Bad Thing

Infobox Film
name = The Best Bad Thing


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caption =
director = Peter Rowe
producer =
writer = David Preston
narrator =
starring =
music = Jimmy Tanaka
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1997
runtime =
country = Canada
language = English
budget =
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imdb_id = 0156022

"The Best Bad Thing" was originally a book authored by Yoshiko Uchida. A screenplay was developed and a film released in 1997. The story is set on the U.S. west coast during 1935 when the U.S. economy was still recovering from the effects of the Great Depression. It opens in a city, then moves to a rural Cucumber farm, where the majority of the action takes place. The farm is described as along California's central coast.

Beginning of plot

Most U.S. schools close during the summer, a throw-back to the days when children were needed to help with the annual harvest of crops. The story centers on the life of a teenage female character named Rinko Tsujimura who is sent from her parents' home, (in an unnamed California city,) for a character-building stay on an aunt's rural farm. Rinko, who is out of high school for the summer, is sent to the farm for a month. She wants to stay in her home town with her high school friends.

Book

The book was first published in 1983 with a second publication by Aladdin Books of New York during 1986, ( ISBN 0-689-71069-0 ).

Feature film (1997)

The 89-minute feature film is billed as a Cinar production in association with the Japanese television network NHK and Pittsburgh Public Television station WQED.

Dialog is English with about 30 seconds of the film in spoken Japanese. There are no subtitles but the context is sufficient for those who do not speak Japanese to understand and follow the plot. The film was shot in Quebec, Canada. People involved in the production include:

'Executive Producers:' Madeline A. Charest, Ronald A. Weinberg, Donna Mitroff, Yoshiki Nishimura.'Directed by:' Peter Rowe'Producer:' Patricia Laroie

Cast

*Lana McKissick as Rinko Tsujimura
*Michel Perron as Mr. Saunders
*Natsuko Ohama as Mrs. Tsujimura
*Robert Ito as Mr. Tsujimura
*Kitaro Sakurai as Zenny
*Brian Shigeru Matsuura as Abu
*Kirin Kiki as Auntie Hata
*George Takei as Mr. Yamanaka

Parents would probably consider the film suitable for even the most sheltered preteens or teenagers. The only possibly-offensive subject to any viewer was the presence of some short representations of ignorance-based anti-immigrant and anti-Japanese feelings by some characters of European ancestry.

ources

*United States Library of Congress catalog.
*Cinar Production VHS jacket and film credits.