Happy Hour

  • 317'
  • Japan
  • 2015
From Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, the mundane can become epic given the proper length. The 317 minutes of Happy Hour (2015) are more than enough to connect with Jun, Akari, Sakurako and Fumi, four housewives living in Kobe, Japan. The divorce of one of them will test their friendship and expectations from life.
With this film, director Hamaguchi Ryusuke wanted to make a female version of John Cassavetes’ Husbands but the whole experience is more like a series. Not the screaming, Desperate Housewives/Sex & The City type, but an intimate, warm, bittersweet exploration of womanhood, with much attention for detail, psychology and conversations. The film owes a great deal to the chemistry between its four non-professional actresses - Sachie Tanaka, Maiko Mihara, Hazuki Kikuchi, Rira Kawamura - and their emotional honesty.
Director
Hamaguchi Ryūsuke
Country of production
Japan
Year
2015
Festival Edition
IFFR 2016
Length
317'
Medium
DCP
Language
Japanese
Producers
Takata Satoshi, Hideyuki Okamoto, Nohara Tadashi
Production Company
NEOPA
Sales
NEOPA
Screenplay
Nohara Tadashi, Hamaguchi Ryūsuke, Koubou Hatano, Takahashi Tomoyuki
Cinematography
Kitagawa Yoshio
Sound Design
Matsuno Izumi
Music
Abe Umitaro
Cast
Tanaka Sachie, Kikuchi Hazuki
Local Distributor
NEOPA
Website
http://hh.fictive.jp/en/
Director
Hamaguchi Ryūsuke
Country of production
Japan
Year
2015
Festival Edition
IFFR 2016
Length
317'
Medium
DCP
Language
Japanese
Producers
Takata Satoshi, Hideyuki Okamoto, Nohara Tadashi
Production Company
NEOPA
Sales
NEOPA
Screenplay
Nohara Tadashi, Hamaguchi Ryūsuke, Koubou Hatano, Takahashi Tomoyuki
Cinematography
Kitagawa Yoshio
Sound Design
Matsuno Izumi
Music
Abe Umitaro
Cast
Tanaka Sachie, Kikuchi Hazuki
Local Distributor
NEOPA
Website
http://hh.fictive.jp/en/