Foreboding (film)

Foreboding
Film poster
Directed byKiyoshi Kurosawa
Written by
  • Kiyoshi Kurosawa
  • Hiroshi Takahashi
Based onSanpo Suru Shinryakusha
by Tomohiro Maekawa
Starring
CinematographyAkiko Ashizawa
Edited byKoichi Takahashi
Music byYusuke Hayashi
Production
companies
Distributed byPony Canyon
Release date
  • 11 November 2017 (2017-11-11) (Japan)
Running time
140 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Foreboding (予兆 散歩する侵略者, Yochō: Sanpo Suru Shinryakusha) is a 2017 Japanese science fiction film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It stars Kaho, Shōta Sometani, and Masahiro Higashide. It is a spin-off from his 2017 film Before We Vanish.[1] It was originally produced as a five-part television series on WOWOW, and was re-edited for theatrical release in Japan on 11 November 2017.[2] It was selected to screen in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in 2018.[3]

Plot

A clinical engineer, Tatsuo (Shōta Sometani), encounters a new doctor, Makabe (Masahiro Higashide), at the hospital. Makabe is an alien who came to invade Earth. Tatsuo is forced to be a guide to help Makabe collect human concepts. Etsuko (Kaho), who is Tatsuo's wife, notices that she is immune to the alien's influence. She tries to save her husband.

Cast

  • Kaho as Etsuko Yamagiwa
  • Shōta Sometani as Tatsuo Yamagiwa
  • Masahiro Higashide as Shirō Makabe
  • Eriko Nakamura as Yoko Saiki
  • Yukino Kishii as Miyuki Asakawa
  • Junpei Yasui as Komori
  • Kei Ishibashi as Kazuyo Kawauchi
  • Mutsuo Yoshioka as Nogami
  • Hirota Otsuka as Police officer
  • Tetsuya Chiba as Tamotsu Asakawa
  • Taro Suwa as Taoka
  • Makiko Watanabe as Kasuya's wife
  • Makoto Nakamura as Kasuya
  • Ren Osugi as Nishizaki

Release

The film was released in Japan on 11 November 2017.[4] It screened in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival on 21 February 2018.[5]

Reception

Jessica Kiang of Variety commented that "Foreboding plays like an unwieldy summary of Kurosawa's gloomy thematic preoccupations and his worst formal tendencies: It's overlong and lacking focus, and the underwater pacing and dissociative, somnolent acting style make it hard to invest in the human characters even before they've been partially zombified."[6] Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "This Berlin Panorama Special entry seems like an unnecessary variation on the first film, sharing most of its pros and cons, including some eerie moments, slow storytelling and excess length, but lacking its more spectacular action sequences."[7] Contrastingly, Mark Schilling of The Japan Times stated that "Instead of recycling the earlier film, Yocho is quite different in story and tone ... darker and scarier from beginning to end."[8]

References

  1. ^ "「散歩する侵略者」スピンオフ「予兆」、ファンの声を受けて劇場公開決定！". 映画.com. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. ^ "『予兆 散歩する侵略者 劇場版』、第68回ベルリン映画祭の"パノラマ部門"に正式出品決定！". ぴあ映画生活. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2018.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ Blair, Gavin J. (17 February 2018). "'Foreboding' Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa on Being a Horror Master Who Doesn't Like Gore". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  4. ^ "もし世界が終わるなら？「予兆 散歩する侵略者」黒沢清や夏帆が想像巡らす". 映画ナタリー. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  5. ^ "黒沢清「予兆 散歩する侵略者」がベルリン映画祭で上映、「ベルリンも懐が深い」". 映画ナタリー. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  6. ^ Kiang, Jessica (27 February 2018). "Berlin Film Review: 'Foreboding'". Variety. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  7. ^ Young, Deborah (21 February 2018). "'Foreboding' ('Yocho'): Film Review | Berlin 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  8. ^ Schilling, Mark (15 November 2017). "'Yocho "Foreboding"': The doctor is in ... and he's terrifying". The Japan Times. Retrieved 6 October 2019.