What a Wonderful Life!!
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User Rating
Current user rating: 100/100 (3 votes)
Profile
- Movie: What a Life!! / What a Wonderful Life!!
- Romaji: Wararaifu!!
- Japanese: ワラライフ！！
- Director: Yuichi Kimura
- Writer: Yuichi Kimura, Kishu Izuchi
- Producer: Keisuke Konishi
- Cinematographer: Yoshihiro Ikeuchi
- World Premiere: March 28, 2010 (Okinawa International Movie Festival)
- Release Date: January 29, 2011
- Runtime: 94min.
- Distributor: Phantom Film
- Language: Japanese
- Country: Japan
Plot
Shuichi Furukawa (Jun Murakami) receives a phone call from his mother. She reminds him that they are moving the next day. Shuichi, surprised by this revelation, replies "Oh ... I thought it was next week?"
The following day, Shuichi takes a train ride back to his hometown. He arrives at his parents home, but nobody is home. He looks for the house key under a potted plant but can't find the key. He starts to thinks back to his childhood days in his parents home.
Shuichi grew up with his younger brother, older sister, father who ran a shoe making business out of their garage and mother. Shuichi grew up with a crush on an older woman who lived next door and he loved to make piggy banks out of empty whiskey bottles. One day on a school picnic, Shuichi's classmates grabbed a lunchbox from a fellow student and eventually gave the lunch box to Shuichi. All the other students chanted "throw it away," while Shuichi's former friend looked on in despair.
Back to the present day. Shuichi (Yu Kashii) and his fiance Mary Ayashiro are looking for an apartment to move into. They go to a realtor's office. Shuichi seems strangely distant during the meeting with the real estate agent (Sosuke Takaoka) and to Mary for the next couple of days. Finally, Shuichi tells Mary the story about the lunchbox and how it belonged to the real estate agent ...
Cast
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| Jun Murakami | Yu Kashii |
| Shuichi Furukawa | Mary Ayashiro |
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| Koji Kikkawa | Anju Suzuki | Tomoko Tabata | Sosuke Takaoka |
| Shuichi's dad | Shuichi's mom | Shuichi's sister | real estate agent |
Additional Cast Members:
- You - real estate agent's mom (cameo)
- Yuichi Kimura - film developing employee (cameo)
- Itsuji Itao - dad's strange friend (cameo)
- Shohei Tanaka - Shuichi Furukawa (young)
- Riko Suzuki - Shuichi's sister (young)
- Naoko Otani
- Yoji Tanaka
- Junichi Komoto
- Kazuma Ikeda
- Tamae Ando
- Ryo Nishikata
- Tsubasa Kato
Trailer
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Image Gallery
Film Festivals
- 2010 (2nd) Okinawa International Movie Festival - March 20 - 28 - Peace Category *World Premiere
- 2010 (15th) Pusan International Film Festival - October 7-15 - A Window on Asian Cinema *International Premiere
Ki Says:
Oct 09 2010 10:24 am
Watched screening for "Wararaifu!!" at the Pusan International Film Festival and must say I loved the film! The movie has that Japanese indie comedy feel (maybe I first noticed it in "Taste of Tea") where the story moves along in a leisurely manner with quirky moments of humor popping up every few minutes. "Wararaifu!!" isn't nearly as over-the-top /absurd/surreal like "Taste of Tea" but its a good starting point if you want to get a quick grasp for the quality of the film. I also saw Yuichi Kimura & Jun Murakami appear for Q&A after the screening. Yuichi Kimura stated the film reflected his own personal experiences while growing up as a child. I also remember an audience member asking Yuichi Kimura what was a memorable scene for him in the film and he mentioned the scene with Jun Murakami visting Sosuke Takaoka at his apartment. Yuichi Kimura stated that through the dialogue between the characters he was able the grasp the type of parental love parent's posses. He also mentioned the scene with Jun Murakami & Tomoko Tabata eating dinner in silence with Tomoko Tabata & then suddenly screaming "say something!" was also memorable for its great timing.
If I had one complaint with "Wararaifu!!" - and its a very minor complaint - was with Yu Kashii's character Mary Ayashiro. Mary Ayashiro was written as such a perfect girlfriend that it made it her seem like a flat piece of cardboard compared to the depth all of the other characters seemed to possess. Some kind of flaw / dilemma would have brought her character out immensely.
Besides that small complaint I absolutely loved "Wararaifu!!" It's very funny, heart warming without being unnecessarily sentimental, and played extremely well by all of the actors. Props also to Yuichi Kimura for making such a delightful film.