Sakuran - Japanese Movie

Original title: Sakuran
Genre: Drama; History
Country: Japan
Year: 2006
Language: Japanese
Filming Locations: Tokyo, Japan
Runtime: 111 min

A young kamuro (maid in a brothel) is sold into the red-light district Yoshiwara and is put under the care of the oiran of the Tamakiku house, Shouhi, who names her Tomeki. The girl is very rebellious, does not cry when punished, is foul-mouthed and bad-mannered, and talks back and even hits the other kamuro. It is because of this that the more experienced people in the household begin to think that she will be one day a great oiran, since an oiran needs not only beauty and talent, but she should also have the tenacity to maintain the position.
After that, Tomeki becomes O-Rin, a hikkomi (or prostitute-in-training), and later Kiyoha, the most beautiful girl in the Tamakiku household. Her popularity threatens the position of Tamakiku's oiran Mikumo, which creates great tension and jealousy between the two.
But rivalry is not the main problem to overcome for young Kiyoha, but rather the appearance of young Soujiro and the impossibility of love in these quarters.

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Director:

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Actors and actresses:


    

    

    

• Director: Mika Ninagawa

  is daughter of famouse director Yukio Ninagawa and is known as one of the best-selling photographers in Japan. Her photographic style is one that is instantly identified by her versatile style and the drawing from various fields. Her work is highly acclaimed across the generations from teen fashion magazines to high-end commercial fashion and advertising. She won numerous prizes for her photography and has published more than 30 books of her photographs.
  
  This uncompromising 'Edo costume drama' her glittering directorial debut. Spurning eye-catching effects and composites, she has relied instead on her vivid sense of color.
  
  Movie has been officially entered into the Berlinale Special section of the 57th Berlin International Film Festival. To coincide with the festival, Mika also held a photography exhibition at Arndt & Partner, which was extremely successful.

• Story: Moyoco Anno

  is charismatic manga artist and a fashion writer, with numerous books published in both categories.
  Her most popular manga works Happy Mania and Hataraki Man were made into a television series in 1998 and 2007.
  
  This story, the first she has conceived 'for herself' since becoming a manga artist, is also her first that has been developed into a film.

• Screenplay: Yuki Tanada

  is director and screenwriter, whose previous credit was a documentary on wandering folk singer Wataru Takada, a film that became a surprise hit during its tiny Tokyo run, and excellent comedy of mores Tsuki to Cherry (Moon and Cherry), an entirely credible portrait of a young woman in control of her life.
  
  Tanada's script maintains a very fine balance between carnality, comedy and drama. Basing her plot on Moyco Anno's description of how she planned the story to finish, Tanada worked up the script over several month with director Ninagawa.

• Music: Ringo Shiina

  is a talanted singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, who writes music spanning numerous genres. She is well known for her eccentricity, rolling her "r"s and creating promotional music videos with striking visuals.
  
  Shiina has written all of the songs heard in the film especially for this production immersed herself for three months in the world of the film.

• Starring: Anna Tsuchiya

  is the multi-talented singer, lyricist, model and actress. Tsuchiya made her acting debut in Novala Takemoto's adapted runaway hit Kamikaze Girls in 2004 as punk yanki "Ichigo Shirayuri". Her role brought her both immediate attention and critical success; winning several awards in Japan including Best New Performer.
  
  Anna's natural energy and empowered approach to life make her a perfect fit with the lead character.

» more Sakuran posters, photos and wallpapers »

• Yoshiwara
  "The Las Vegas of its day"
  

  whose name means Good Luck Meadow, was a famous red-light district, pleasure quarter in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. As a social venue officially recognized by the Shogunate goverment it surpassed even the Ginza or Akasaka of today in its respect for the customs and morals of the well-born and the wealthy, and thus coressponds to the licensed U.S. gambling mecca of Las Vegas.
  
  The 'habitues', versed in the ways of Quarter, formed cultural salons with the courtesans in wich flourished the arts, fashions, and trends of the Edo period, making it a place offering everything both men and women could want.
  
  The Yoshiwara was home to some 1,750 women in the 1700s, with records of some 3,000 women from all over Japan at one time. These women were often sold to the brothels by their parents at the age of about seven to twelve. If the young girl was lucky, she would become an apprentice to a high ranking courtesan. When the girl was old enough and had completed her training, she would become a courtesan herself and work her way up the ranks. The girls often had a contract to the brothel for only about five to ten years, but massive debt often kept them in the brothels their entire life. There were very few ways for a young lady to get out of the brothel due to all of her debt. The girls were allowed to (temporarily) leave Yoshiwara only for two reasons: to visit dying parents, and to see the cherry blossoms in Ueno Park.



• Oiran
  "A thousand gawkers, a hungred customers, ten clients, and one lover"
  

  Reigning over the Yoshiwara quarter were its oiran, the the highest class of courtesan, with whom it was a point of pride that their favors were not to be won by money alone. Oiran practiced the arts of dance, music, poetry and calligraphy, and an educated wit was considered essential to sophisticated conversation. For the common people of Edo, the oiran was the object of admiration and envy.
  
  The term oiran is said to have been shorterned from 'our older sister', oira no nesama in the dialect of the time, the term by which the attendants and 'new girls' would address the courtesan under whom they worked.
  
  The rise of the geisha ended the era of the oiran. Geisha practiced the common entertainments enjoyed by the people of that time, and were much more accessible to the casual visitor. Their popularity grew rapidly and eclipsed that of the oiran. The last recorded oiran was in 1761.



• Oiran Dochu
  

  The procession of a leading oiran in full regalia - Shinano, Sakura, and Bunsui - among the cherry blossoms in April and on the most formal occasion consisted of some twenty or twenty-one persons. As there were courtesans of such high rank, each procession was enjoyed by spectators. Bordello proprietors were quite aware of the appeal of such a display and made the most of processions to advertise their courtesans.

• Sakuran official site
  http://sakuran-themovie.com/
  On Japanese and on English
• Ninagawa Mika official site
  http://ninamika.com/
  On Japanese and on English
• Questia Library
  http://www.questia.com/read/596595?title=Title%20Page
  Cecilia Segawa Seigle. YOSHIWARA:The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, 1993.

• Walking tall in the Edo Period, by MARK SCHILLING
  http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20070223a1.html
  How did "Memoirs of a Geisha" get it so drearily wrong -- and Mika Ninagawa's new film, "Sakuran," get it so gloriously right?
• Midnight Eye review: Sakuran, by Tom Mes
  http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/sakuran.shtml
  Thankfully, there is more to Sakuran than meets the eye. Sakuran easily out grows its limitations and the marketing-led minds of its producers.
• Twitch - Ninagawa Mika's "Sakuran" Review, by JMaruyama
  http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/ninagawa-mikas-sakuran-review/
  "Sakuran" is a gorgeous, vibrant and simply beautiful movie. Stunningly visual, lavish and absolutely mesmerizing.
• Sakuran : Lunapark6
  http://lunapark6.com/sakuran.html
  Sakuran is a movie that impresses with style and pizazz. Visually the movie is comparable with Tetsuya Nakashima's films, while the soundtrack effectively used a broad array of modern genres to turn up the ambiance.
• Sakuran Review - Variety.com, by RUSSELL EDWARDS
  http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117932748.html
  Intrigue and ambition in the floating world of Japanese courtesans is defeated by glorious images and excessive art direction in manga-inspired "Sakuran."

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