Cast
About The Director
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Trailer
Festivals & Awards
Tech:
2005
110 minutes
Format : 35 mm, Couleur
Ratio : 1:85
a film by
CLAUDE GAGNON
starring
MATT SMILEY
TATSUYA FUJI
KAZUKO YOSHIYUKI
LISLE WILKERSON
NAHO WATANABE
CHRISTOPHER HEYERDAHL
Art Director
KIYOSHI SEY TAKEYAMA
Director of Photography
HIDEHO URATA
Lighting Director
YOSHIO TSUNETANI
Sound
KAZUYOSHI KAWASHIMA
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERBERT
LOUIS COLIN
Original Music Score
JORANE
Executive Producer
NOBUO ISOBE
Producers
YURI YOSHIMURA
SAMUEL GAGNON
TORU KANZAKI
Written, directed and edited by
CLAUDE GAGNON
Produced with the financial participation of
SODEC
Société de développement des entreprises culturelles - Québec
The Government of Canada
Canadian Film & Video Production Tax Credit program
KEN, a 22-year-old North American man, lost his father and his desire to live. He attempts suicide but miraculously survives a deadly plunge off a bridge. His mother feels that an estranged Japanese uncle is the only person who can help him find what he has lost. Uncle Takuma is a world famous potter. Eccentric and unpredictable he lives by his own unconventional moral standards. He is an opposite of Ken’s late father. Takuma’s shock treatment of sake, mystery, sexual tension and art succeeds in stirring his nephew’s curiosity. Will those sparks be enough to rekindle
Characters
KEN-ANTOINE
A young man of 22, troubled by the loss of his father.
A medical student with good grades, but no 'joie de
vivre'. A quiet boy, with a touch of a menace. Under
those soft eyes, rests a deep sorrow and curtness
towards the outside world. Unable to deal with his
emotions, Ken tries to solve his problems by jumping
off a bridge in the midst of a cold winter--however, he
miraculously survives. The physical shock does not
rekindle his desire to live. His mother decides to try
the cultural shock as the last resort. Ken finds
himself in Japan in the company of an eccentric
Japanese uncle he never met. Will uncle Takuma manage
to turn him around?
TAKUMA
The
true artist’s spirit. Takuma lives from moment to
moment to moment, working on his ancient technique of
pottery firing. A man who loves everything that screams
tacky and non-conformist. His unusual ways had him part
with his brother a long time ago when Ken was just a
kid. Moral standards, a non-issue, Takuma takes his
friends and family for who they are. A man with a
strong love for nature, simplicity and the art of
being.
KARIYA SENSEI
Widow
of Takuma’s late master potter; Kariya Sensei is the
pure essence of natural beauty. She has aged with grace
and honor, still keeping the inner child hidden behind
her mystic eyes that spell ‘young and free’. Everything
that she does, is done with ease and calmness, a sheer
indication of her long daily rituals of Qi-Gong and
meditation. Her close relationship with Takuma remains
a deep mystery, as is, just about anything about her.
She remains, a mystic character to be discovered and
appreciated.
RITA
A
tall, athletic American woman, Rita has been studying
the ancient firing techniques of Japanese traditional
pottery, the art of Kamataki. She has been Takuma’s
apprentice for five years, helping him with his
particular style and creativity. A profound respect for
her master sheds light on the levels of appreciation
found in the Japanese culture of apprenticeship. Rita
is rough around the edges, a bit of a hippy with a
desire to find herself through her art.
AUNT
MIO
At
the age of 34, Mio is a bouncy bundle of joy, fully
capable of keeping up with her lover’s eccentric
personality. Mio is not offended by Takuma’s way of
living, in fact, they embrace a life of casual
relationships, deep rooted with a strong love for each
other. An artist in her own right, Mio practices the
art of Taiko drums, only a small indication of her wild
side.
SCOTT
An
American potter who wishes to work as an apprentice for
Takuma in order to learn the ancient technique and
bring it back home. His beliefs and ways of creating
pottery might be wonderful but his attitude could be
better.