One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman
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From AsianMediaWiki
User Rating
Current user rating: 91/100 (30 votes)
Profile
- Movie: One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman / One Million Yen Girl
- Romaji: Hyakuman-en to Nigamushi Onna
- Japanese: 百万円と苦虫女
- Director: Yuki Tanada
- Writer: Yuki Tanada
- Producer: Kumi Kobata, Koko Maeda
- Cinematographer:
- Release Date: July 19, 2008
- Runtime: 121 min.
- Movie Studio: Nikkatsu
- Distributor: Nikkatsu
- Language: Japanese
- Country: Japan
Plot
Suzuko Sato (Yu Aoi) is an unremarkable young teen that has trouble fitting in. While her younger brother is often praised for his smarts, her family & neighbors have nothing to say about Suzuko.
One day at work, Suzuko’s co-worker offers to become roommates with Suzoko. Suzuko jumps at that chance to move out of her parents house and they set out to find an apartment. Unfortunately, Suzuko’s friend never mentions her plan to have her boyfriend Takeshi live with them – until after they sign the lease on their apartment. Making matters worse, on their big moving day Suzuko finds her co-worker a no-show but her boyfriend Takeshi (Ryusei Saito) sits glumly in the apartment. It turns out that the couple recently experienced a falling out, with the boyfriend still intending to move into the apartment without his girlfriend. Things then hit the boiling point when Takeshi throws out Suzuko’s cat. Suzuko retaliates the next day by throwing away all of his belongings and then quickly moves out before Takeshi returns.
The next day at work Suzuko is visited by detectives who ask Suzuko to come in for questioning. It seems Suzuko broke the law by throwing away Takeshi’s belongings and because of she is fined and receives a criminal record. When news of this spreads to Suzuko’s neighborhood, Suzuko suddenly feels even more alienated. She then decides to save up one million yen with the goal of moving out of town. Suzuko then plans to find another job, save one million yen, and then move on to the next town.
Cast
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| Yu Aoi | Mirai Moriyama | Terunosuke Takezai | Ryusei Saito | Takashi Sasano | Sumie Sasaki |
| Suzuko Sato | Ryohei Nakajima | Yuuki | Takuya Sato | Siraishi | Fujii Kinu |
Additional Cast Members:
- Kami Hiraiwa - Riko (Suzuko's co-worker/roommate)
- Tomohisa Yuge - Takeshi Hamada (Suzuko's roommate)
- Midoriko Kimura - Suzuko & Takuya's mother
- Kenichi Yajima - Suzuko & Takuya's father
- Keisuke Horibe - Manager of Home Improvement Store
- Taro Ishida - Mr. Ueda (mayor)
- Ayumu Saito- Restaurant on the beach owner
- Saya Yuki - Tomoyo Miyamoto (Ryohei's classmate)
- Noriko Eguchi - Takuya's teacher
- Morooka Moro - Detective
- Pierre Taki - Haruo Fujii
- Kyusaku Shimada
- Kota Mizumori - Noguchi
- Shin Koyanagi
Trailer
Image Gallery
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Film Festivals
- 2009 (11th) Udine Far East Film - April 24th-May 2nd *Italian Premiere
- 2010 (10th) Nippon Connection - April 14-19 - Nippon Cinema *German Premiere
Awards
- My Movies Audience Award - 2009 (11th) Udine Far East Film - April 24th-May 2nd
Ki Says:
Jun 06 2009 4:01 pm
There’s a lot of coming-of-age road films out there, but there’s not many that features Yu Aoi in the lead role. That in itself should pique your interest in Yuki Tanada’s “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman.” When I first took a brief glimpse at the scenario for the film, I instantly had visions of Yu Aoi playing an ex-convict running from the law with pistol in hand. Well maybe that movie will be made someday (hopefully by Takashi Miike, Hiroyuki Nakano, or Kazuyoshi Kumakiri), but it’s not what “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman” is about. Instead “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman” is a film told from the distinct perspective of a talented female screenwriter/director, wanting to recreate all of the internal angst that comes with adolescence colored with moments of light comedy, drama, and romance.
The story found in “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman,” doesn’t break new ground nor does it have any intention to do so. As the film breezes through its four major movements: 1.) Suzuko Sato’s eventual departure from her hometown 2.) Suzuko’s first stop in a small sea-side town 3.) Suzuko’s next stop in rural peach village 4.) Suzoko’s return to city life, first love, and her eventual departure, you can’t help to sit goggleeyed as watch Suzuko’s transformation from a frail young youth to an adult able to stand up to the world. The film also teases the viewer with the possibility of a fairy tale like ending, but typical of the movie’s understated sense of humor, reverts back to reality with a witty line from Suzuko Sato. Making things all the more enjoyable, you’re treated to Yu Aoi’s best performance since “Hana & Alice.” This is certainly her most low-key performance in quite some time and it really allows all of her talents to come to the foreground naturally.
“One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman” is a coming of age film that elicits feelings of warmth, in the range of Jae-eun Jeong’s “Take Care of My Cat” and Akiko Oku’ “Tokyo Serendipity.” The road film element works just as well, offering the one-two punch of enjoyable visceral settings and the intimate close-ups needed for the viewer to truly connect with Suzuko Sato. “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman” is a film that does a lot of things right.