Face

Face

Japanese Title: Kao
Release Year in Japan: 2000
Release Year in the U.S.: 2005 (DVD)

Director: Junji Sakamoto
Casts: Naomi Fujiyama (Masako Yoshimura), Etsushi Toyokawa (Hiroyuki Nakagami), Koichi Sato (Akira Ikeda)

Osaka people have a crisp sense of humor, very different from Tokyo. "Face" is an Osaka-flavored unique human drama. The heroin Masako, 40-something unattractive woman who lives in isolation from the society, kills her sister and runs away. In exile, she meets various people - most of them unhappy in different manners - and starts discovering her own face in different light. Naomi Fujiyama, daughter of a famous Osaka comedian Kanbi Fujiyama, acts this character with a lot of reality and humor, and makes this otherwise dark drama rather light-hearted piece. Director Junji Sakamoto also is an Osaka native, and his crisp depiction of the characters brought him his first Japan Academy Aword in 2001. Supporting actors are also amazing - several first-class actors show their surprising charms through the relationships with Masako.