From left: Scriptwriter Kundo Koyama, actor Masahiro Motoki and director Yojiro Takita.

Academy award winning 'Okuribito' marks one-year run at Shinjuku theater

Tuesday 08th September, 04:35 AM JST

TOKYO —

“Okuribito” (Departures), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Oscars, will mark its one-year run at the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater next weekend. The movie, which began showing at the theater on Sept 13 last year, will screen for the last time on Sept 18. The Oscar statuette and posters used for the film in some of the 65 countries it showed in will also be on display until then.

Actor Masahiro Motoki, 43, scriptwriter Kundo Koyama, 45, and director Yojiro Takita, 53, attended an event at the theater recently to celebrate the movie’s long run, which according to the distributor Shochiku, is a new record for a Japanese film at a single theater. Motoki said that he was sad to hear the movie’s run would be coming to an end, but added he hoped it would be remembered as a classic 200 or 300 years from now.

Koyama and Takita announced that they would be involved in the upcoming stage play based on the film, which will be performed in Tokyo next May, and in Osaka and Nagoya in June. Actor and kabuki star Kantaro Nakamura, 27, will play Daigo Kobayashi (played by Motoki in the movie) and actress Rena Tanaka, 29, will play his wife Mika (played by actress Ryoko Hirosue, 29.)

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9 Comments

JeffLee at 06:25 AM JST - 8th September

If this film didn't win a foreign award, would anyone here have taken notice of it, I wonder?
mojibake at 06:28 AM JST - 8th September

Yes, it's an excellent film!
noborito at 07:18 AM JST - 8th September

What Academy? I am sure it is the Japanese Academy.
chuckers at 08:32 AM JST - 8th September

I think Mononoke Hime ran for about 1.5 years in the theatres, but I could be remembering it incorrectly.
R_M_s at 09:33 AM JST - 8th September

JeffLee> Yes. I saw it before it won as did a lot of people I know. Its an excellent, easily amongst the best I've seen in recent years
USNinJapan2 at 09:50 AM JST - 8th September

Simply an excellent movie. I hope to god they do a good job with the English subtitles...
tsukki at 09:59 AM JST - 8th September

My favorite film ever. I've already watched it three times.
Osakadaz at 12:46 PM JST - 8th September

brilliant film that got tears from my eyes on numerous occasions.
harmoneeikaiwa at 01:49 PM JST - 8th September

It is a great movie,regardless of getting an award.The best Japanese movie since Juzo Itami's Minbo and Marusa movies.