FIREFLY
by Naomi Kawase
synopsis
In the street corner of Nara, inheriting the peaceful and solemn atmosphere of the ancient capital. Ayako, a lonely show dancer who has an incurable memory from the past, meets a ceramic artist, Daiji. Having encountered the loved one's deaths respectively, they struggle and seek for an unseeable bond each other. Ayako gradually gets over her past and discovers her own life, in the background of Shunie (a Buddhist ceremony usually called "Omizutori") at the Nigatsu-do Hall of Todaiji Temple, Jizoue (Buddhist ceremony) at the Kofukuji Temple, and in the scenery lightened up by flares. The film describes fierceness and purity both expressively and pathetically.
international title: | Firefly |
original title: | Hotaru |
country: | France, Japan |
sales agent: | Goodfellas |
year: | 2000 |
genre: | fiction |
directed by: | Naomi Kawase |
film run: | 164' |
screenplay: | Naomi Kawase |
cast: | Yûko Nakamura, Yoshiya Nagasawa, Miyako Yamaguchi |
cinematography by: | Masami Inomoto |
film editing: | Naomi Kawase |
music: | Naomi Kawase, Naomi Matsuoka |
producer: | Takenori Sento, Philippe Avril |
production: | Les Films de l'Observatoire, Dentsu (JP), Imagica (JP), Suncent Cinema Works (JP), Tokyo Theaters Company (JP) |