No One's Ark

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Movie: No One's Ark
Romaji: Baka no hakobune
Japanese: ばかのハコ船
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita
Writer: Kosuke Mukai, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Producer:
Cinematographer:
Release Date: April 26, 2003
Runtime: 111 min
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot

"The film opens in Tokyo with a shot of a small sidewalk-stand and the hopeless efforts of the two main protagonists to sell a health drink named "Akajiru" (a play on the popular "Aojiru" product). The tone is set for the futility to come. Daisuke (Hiroshi Yamamoto) is in debt five million yen (over US$35,000) and his girlfriend Hisako (Kotera) is along for the ride down. Moments later we're "escaping" in small motorboat heading for an unnamed, sparsely populated island. After many unsuccessful years in Tokyo, Daisuke is going home to ply his wares. He outlines his master business plan for his bewildered father and the story is on its way. We're quickly introduced to two of Daisuke's former classmates; highly eccentric (bordering on Tourettic) grocery-store manager Ozaki (Takeshi Yamamoto) and highschool-era object of affection Madoka (Hoso), now a fuzoku (sex industry) worker. Daisuke and Hisako try to convince Ozaki to sell Akajiru through his shop, but he sees through their ploy. Next up is Daisuke's cousin, who works at a large food company with his father, but all they can present him with is a monogrammed uniform. "I'd rather fucking die than work in this place", he spits. As the odds mount against their efforts to get out of debt, we flash back to more innocent, optimistic days in the characters' lives."