Round Trip Heart Q&A - Japan Cuts 2015

Round Trip Heart
ロマンス (Romansu)
Friday, July 10, 6:30 PM
FEATURE SLATE
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Introduction and Q&A with director Yuki Tanada
Moderated by Joel Neville Anderson (JAPAN CUTS 2015 Programmer), with interpreter Marie Iida.
The limited express “Romancecar” railway service links Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station with tourist destinations such as Odawara, Enoshima, and Kamakura, every day carrying train attendant Hachiko Hojo back and forth (an excellent Yuko Oshima, in her first starring role since departing the idol group AKB48). In her mid-twenties, Hachiko excels in her job serving meals and refreshments onboard the train. However a comic encounter with a sleazy movie producer passenger (character actor Koji Okura in a winning lead role) brings her to rediscover not only the gorgeous Hakone of Kanagawa prefecture, but past memories that have been holding her back from following her own path. Directing her first original screenplay since the 2008 One Million Yen Girl, Yuki Tanada once again shows herself to be one of the most thrilling directors in Japan in this touching road movie.
Japan. 2015. 97 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Yuki Tanada. With Yuko Oshima, Koji Okura, Yoshimi Nozaki, Masataka Kubota.
“With her films manifesting a unique wit and a genuine warmth and affection for her characters, [Tanada] is one of the most exciting arrivals on the scene” -Jasper Sharp, Midnight Eye
Part of JAPAN CUTS 2015.