The Dark Harbour (不灯港 Futouko)
“Wry, sympathetic visuals and an infectious warmth mark Takatsugu Naito’s enjoyable scholarship feature…”
– Jay Weissberg, Variety
CANADIAN PREMIERE
Co-presented by The Don Valley Hotel & Suites
Manzo (Shinya Kote) is a lonely fisherman. All Manzo’s buddies down at the dock are lonely fishermen as well. Nights out at the only bar in town don’t result in any love connections, so when the Prefectural government arranges for a video dating night for the men Manzo buys himself some fancy clothes, combs his hair and makes videotaped plea for affection. If he only noticed that Mitsuko (Yuko Miyamoto) and Masao (Kazuki Hirooka) had secretly taken up residence in his closet he might actually have a chance at turning his life around. He does by falling for single mother Mitsuko and becoming a father figure for her little son, but love often goes just as quickly as it comes.
A down beat comedy that any fan of Finnish director Aki Kaurasmaki (or a less violent Takeshi Kitano) could appreciate The Dark Harbour is a crowd-pleasing journey out to see and into the heart of a solitary working man.
Director: Naito Takatsugu
Producer: Mayumi Amano
Screenplay: Naito Takatsugu
Cinematpgrapher: Kiyoaki Hashimoto
Editing: Shinichi Fushima
Music: Akira Matsumoto
Cast: Shinya Kote, Yuko Miyamoto, Kazuki Hirooka, Akaji Maro, Diamond Yukai
Released: 2009
Running time: 101 minutes
Director’s Bio
Born in 1981 in Miyazaki Prefecture Takatsugu started out studying Mathematics at Tokyo Metropolitan University, but soon realized his true calling as a filmmaker. He made his first film through the Pia Film Festival, 2006′s Midnight Pig Skin Wolf, which won the festival’s TBS Award that year. He then went on to win the 2008 PFF Scholarship Award which he used to make The Dark Harbour.
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