Green Mind, Metal Bats

When Kumakiri was asked by producer Kimura whether he was interested in filming the manga Green Minds, Metal Bats, he certainly did not expect a particularly good-natured subject. Not only because of the title, but also because Kimura is known for many extreme Miike Takashi films and because Kumakiri himself made his début with the splatter film Kichiku. Since A Hole in the Sky (Tiger Awards Competition 2001), Kumakiri has however developed into a steady, mature and tender chronicler of loves and obsessions in modern Japan. When it became apparent that the story was about young people who are all victims in their own pathetic way of their love for baseball, he accepted the challenge. The three protagonists have ended up going nowhere. Nanba is without money and a girlfriend. At secondary school, the future seemed promising: in those years, he played baseball at the highest level. But in the local supermarket where he has a part-time job, his colleagues think he is ‘kind of yucky’. When he meets the aggressive alcoholic Eiko, the peace and quiet in Nanba’s life is over. He also comes into contact with the frustrated policeman Ishioka, an old team mate who had to give up his sporting career because of an elbow injury. Wakamatsu Koji, the legendary maker of pink film classics such as Sex Jack (1967) and Ecstasy of Angels (1972), plays the spirit of Babe Ruth; we also see Terajima Susumu, star of films by Kitano and Kore-Eda. (GT)