Chasing My Girl

The debut film by Director Yuichi Fukuda, who has worked on a number of TV variety shows. As a TV screenwriter, scriptwriter and director, he has created major hit works such as “33 Minute Detective” and “THE 3 Young Men,” among others. Your eyes will be glued to the eccentric performances of today’s hottest, amazingly talented actors such as Takayuki Yamada and Yusuke Yamamoto!

Voice Actors' Live Stage in SHITA COME 2009

World-class voice actors’ performances revive classic masterpieces! The “Voice Actors’ Live Stage” loved by many last year as the preliminary event returns with even more power! This time, the slapstick comedy Kid Commotion, directed by the god of Japanese comedy, Torajiro Saito, and The Adventurer will be screened with the voice performances by a band of such popular voice actors as Shinsuke Chikaishi, Michio Hazama, Koichi Yamadera and Kikuko Inoue. Also look forward to a talk show featuring the voice actors while screening the rare piece, Chaplin’s Blooper Reels.

The latest work by Director Daihachi Yoshida, whose feature debut with Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! obtained attentions as the work invited to the International Critics’ Week at Cannes. His new piece is about a real life marriage swindler who milked an estimated 100 million yen from women with a nonsensical self-given background and costumes. Starred by Masato Sakai and Yasuko Matsuyuki. How does the swindler win the hearts of many women? Sad yet comical life of a bungler who himself was manipulated by human weaknesses, and the drama woven by the women around him.

Director Ryoo Seung-wan, often referred to as the “Korean Tarantino”, produced an outlandish spy comedy film with original style as a homage to the Korean films of the 60s and 70s this time. In 1940, the national treasure of Korea, the Golden Buddha is stolen. A Korean spy, Agent Dachimawa Lee, is assigned the recovery mission, but fails on his first attempt and loses his partner and his own memory. Learning that it was a setup by an insider, he swears revenge…The overtly passionate and dramatic performance will have viewers convulsing with laughter! The Japanese subtitles have been supervised by Seiko Ito.

Despite its low budget of approximate 1 million yen, it is a black comedy that stole the spotlight not only in its homeland of South Korea but also at international film festivals around the world. Hyuk-Jin has just broken up with his girlfriend. As he drinks himself away at a bar, he promises his friends he’ll take a trip with them to a small town called Joengseon. The next day, however, he ends up making his way to the destination alone. Little does he know that this was only the beginning of his bizarre journey and now he must find a way to end the big drunken adventure. Can he escape the world’s worst hangover?!

Director Ah Gan Comes to Japan!

Gao Xing

Starring Guo Tao, a proficient actor loved in China, this sidesplitting comedy was released during the 2009 new-year season and became a smash hit in China. Director Ah Gan, known as the pioneer of Chinese horror films, made the piece into a charming rap-musical comedy. Gao Xing Liu, a farmer from the countryside, strives to fit in to the city life but ends up making a living by collecting trash. Yet he still has a dream of someday flying an airplane he builds from a bicycle in the vast sky. One day, his friend Wu Fu falls ill. Gao Xing promises Wu Fu they will “fly over Xi’an Castle in his handmade airplane while watching the Yellow River far beneath them,” but…Will the two be able to successfully fly the airplane and escape their lowly life?

YEAR ONE

The latest work by Director Harold Ramis, who is also known as an actor in films such as the Ghostbusters series, takes up none other than the “origin” of mankind in a comedy where primitive men, played by Jack Black and Michael Cera, wander around in a world parodying the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament! In Year One, there were two primitive men, Zed and Oh, who lived with their fellow villagers in a remote land, but the two were somewhat outcasts of the village. One day, Zed gets his hands on the forbidden fruit in an attempt to prove himself, but this expels him from the village along with Oh. Where will the journey take Zed and Oh as they wander the world of the Old Testament?

For the SHITA COME Grand Prize 2009, we have received a great variety of original comedy works up to 20 minutes in length from all over Japan! Screened at the film festival are the top ten most nominated works! Director Nobuhiko Obayashi presides over the jury which consist of Kayoko Kishimoto, Keisuke Horibe, Kotobuki Shiriagari and Seiko Ito, the General Creative Producer of the festival. The audience members at the screening will decide the “Audience Award”. Which work will win the hearts of the honor of the first Grand Prize?

It is our pleasure to present the award to Conte 55-Go in our second year. In commemoration, we screen three films where you can enjoy their sense of humor to the fullest, including Ore ha Netakatta!! – with direction, production, writing and music all by Kinichi Hagimoto. Conte 55-Go takes the rostrum at the Comedy Award of Honor Awarding Ceremony during the Closing Ceremony which starts at 18:30pm, 25 September (Fri) at the Asakusa Public Hall.

It has been fifty years since voice dubbing of foreign films started in Japan. Voice-over acting by voice actors has been serving a vital role in the enjoyment of foreign works by Japanese people. This event welcomes 11 voice actors familiar to us all in foreign films! Come enjoy this “Reading Comedy” event with a rich cast and by the original play, and also a talk show, “Past and Present of Dubbing” in which voice actors share with us the old time episodes when different techniques were used.

Asakusa Kid, the notable film lovers, are finally coming to SHITA COME! The two have been sharing their broad knowledge on films in “The Asakusa Cinema Society” on Cinefil Imagica, and have each selected a comedy film for screening. They also appear in a talk show moderated by Seiko Ito. It is a dream program for all comedy film fans. Don’t miss it!

Hiho Night finally returns! The pandemonium festival brought with the collaboration between the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival and the film magazine Eiga Hiho returns in this film festival! Come experience a deep night where you will question the meaning of “comedy”!! While screening THE HANGOVER, SUKANPIN WALK and “ROBOT TAEKWON V”, we also have ready an all-night rich program packed with “tondemo” (outrageous) films. During the intermissions, we will hold a public press conference for the production of Death Kappa, will host an event for Noboru Iguchi’s latest film, RoboGeisha, will show a collection of rare reels and more!

As a legendary comedy group, “Monty Python”, has influenced creators around the globe. In commemoration of their 40th anniversary, SHITA COME conducts tribute screenings of works by Monty Python! Look forward to a stream of their works, from “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” to the UK’s BBC TV programs produced by the members of Monty Python. We have also picked out comedy works which have been great hits on the BBC in recent years. Also featuring the appeal of the BBC Empire, which, despite being a public broadcast station, has continued to walk a fine line and push broadcasting limits with their witty and sarcastic takes on society.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Junzaburo Ban. He appeared in a number of films and his works took Japan by storm with his famous fad word, “Ajapa.” As his works are loved and still talked about by old film fans to this day, SHITA COME this year screens three of his major works in Asakusa, his home field for work. In addition, we invite Shiraku Tatekawa, a rakugo master (comic storyteller) and film director, and Koichiro Yamamoto, Ban’s son and a fashion stylist, as guests on a talk show on “Ban Jun” as a comedian, actor and individual.

An audio guide will be made available as we wish for people with impaired vision to also enjoy the film. The piece is directed by Hideyuki Hirayama, the winner of the Best Director Award of the Japan Academy Award for his Begging for Love, and the screenplay by Satoko Okudera known for Moving, Haunted School and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The piece depicts the personal growths of three clumsy pupils of a rakugo (comic storytelling) master brought through the learning process of rakugo in Tokyo’s old town. A talk session with Satoko Okudera precedes the screening of the film.

Screenings of comedy films for parents and children to enjoy together. This year, the venue moves from Asakusa to Ueno. The lineup includes KITARO AND THE MILLENNIUM CURSE, the 2nd of the live-action series of the famous comic book, “Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro” by Shigeru Mizuki and the live-action version of YATTERMAN, originally known as the 2nd of the spectacular TV animation series “Time Bokan” and broadcast in 1977.

The program introduces two films the Taito-ku Film Commission supported with their productions and other aspects. The Deep Sea Monster RAIGA is the 2nd theatrical release by Director Shinpei Hayashiya. Raiga, the evolved version of the deep-sea aquatic dinosaur “Reigo” from Hayashiya’s first film Deep Sea Monster Reigo, runs rampant in the town of Asakusa! Decoration Truck Shu 2, As the second film in the series, lets you fully enjoy the rich nature of Aizu and Kitakata, heartwarming episodes of old towns, in addition to loads of flashy decoration trucks!