Shizumanu Taiyō
Encyclopedia
is a 2009 Japanese film
directed by Setsurō Wakamatsu. It is also known as The Unbroken in the United States.
Shizumanu Taiyō is based on a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki
. Set in the 1960s, the story centers on Hajime Onchi, the chairman of the employees' union
for a large national airline corporation. His reward for fighting for better working conditions for the staff is a series of postings abroad, to Pakistan
, Iran
, and finally Kenya
, a destination to which the company does not even fly.
The cast includes Ken Watanabe
as Hajime Onchi, Kōji Ishizaka, Kyōko Suzuki, Yasuko Matsuyuki and Tomokazu Miura. Shizumanu Taiyō is the biggest budget feature film Japan has ever produced.
The violininst Diana Yukawa
, whose father died in the crash of JAL 123 that is featured in the plot, was involved in the music for the film.
The premiere was on 24 October 2009 in Ginza
. Yukawa performed "Little Prayer", the track she recorded for the film.
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
directed by Setsurō Wakamatsu. It is also known as The Unbroken in the United States.
Shizumanu Taiyō is based on a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki
Toyoko Yamasaki
is a Japanese novelist.A native of Osaka, Yamasaki worked as a journalist for the Mainichi Shimbun from 1945 to 1959 after graduating from Kyoto Women's University in Japanese literature. She wrote her first story Noren in 1957. The following year, she won the Naoki Prize for her second novel Hana...
. Set in the 1960s, the story centers on Hajime Onchi, the chairman of the employees' union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
for a large national airline corporation. His reward for fighting for better working conditions for the staff is a series of postings abroad, to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and finally Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, a destination to which the company does not even fly.
The cast includes Ken Watanabe
Ken Watanabe
is a Japanese stage, film, and television actor. To English-speaking audiences he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in The Last Samurai, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
as Hajime Onchi, Kōji Ishizaka, Kyōko Suzuki, Yasuko Matsuyuki and Tomokazu Miura. Shizumanu Taiyō is the biggest budget feature film Japan has ever produced.
The violininst Diana Yukawa
Diana Yukawa
is an Anglo-Japanese solo violinist. She has had two solo albums with BMG Japan, one of which opened to #1.-Early life:Diana Yukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan to English ballet dancer Susanne Bayly and Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa one month after her father died in the 1985 Japan Airlines Flight...
, whose father died in the crash of JAL 123 that is featured in the plot, was involved in the music for the film.
The premiere was on 24 October 2009 in Ginza
Ginza
is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
. Yukawa performed "Little Prayer", the track she recorded for the film.
Awards and nominations
34th Hochi Film AwardHochi Film Award
The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by the Hochi Shimbun.- Categories :*Best Picture*Best International Picture*Best Actor*Best Actress*Best Supporting Actor*Best Supporting Actress*Best New Artist*Special Award*Best Director- Winner :...
- Won: Best Film
- Won: Best Actor - Ken WatanabeKen Watanabeis a Japanese stage, film, and television actor. To English-speaking audiences he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in The Last Samurai, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
External links
- Narratives on the World's Worst Plane Crash: Flight JL123 in Print and on Screen (by Hood, C.P. (2009), Research Seminar Paper, Ref No.7, Cardiff Crimes Narrative Network, Cardiff University - http://www.cf.ac.uk/chri/research/cnic/)
- Listen toThe Butterfly Effect
- Violinist Diana Yukawa official website