The latter, which lasts more than five hours, tells the life of four girls linked by a fragile friendship when one of them disappears. Four thirtysomething female friends in the misty seaside city of kobe navigate the unsteady currents of their work, domestic, and romantic lives. Jul 27, 2016 breaking the film up into more digestible sections, however, may ruin what hamaguchi so successfully achieves. Watch happy hour a film in 3 parts online vimeo on. Happy hour new directorsnew films film at lincoln center. Winner of awards at major international festivalsincluding locarno, where stars sachie tanaka, hazuki kikuchi, maiko mihara and rira kawamura shared the golden leopard for best actress happy hour has brought new attention to the work and career of one of japans most talented young directors. Asian films dominated major awards at the 68th locarno film festival which wrapped today. With sachie tanaka, hazuki kikuchi, maiko mihara, rira kawamura.
The wellknown director bernard weber directed his film hotel locarno here in 1978. Started in 1995 connecting films to festivals, reporting and promoting festivals worldwide a brand new website will soon be available. This intimate epic by the previously littleknown hamaguchi was the revelation of several 2016 film festivals including locarno and new directorsnew films and a highranker on several bestoftheyear. The film had its world premiere at the 68th locarno festival on 14 august 2015. Happy hour new zealand international film festival. Watch happy hour a film in 3 parts online vimeo on demand. Aug 17, 2015 here are the 2015 locarno film festival winners. Happy hour, a work of distinctly modern cinema, reaches deep into. Aug 15, 2015 asian films dominated major awards at the 68th locarno film festival which wrapped today.
At happy hour films, we aim to serve up an attitude adjustment without the hangover. In 20, he directed touching the skin of eeriness and happy hour in 2015. A film by ryusuke hamaguchi an icarus films release. In the competition lineup at locarno, it was the longest film by some. The best actress prize was split between the four leads of ryusuke hamaguchis happy hour. Nov 21, 2017 winner of awards at major international festivalsincluding locarno, where stars sachie tanaka, hazuki kikuchi, maiko mihara and rira kawamura shared the golden leopard for best actresshappy hour has brought new attention to the work and career of one of japans most talented young directors. Happy hour is a slowburning epic chronicling the emotional journey of four.
Locarno, switzerland four japanese women together won the best actress award on saturday at the locarno international film festival in switzerland for their performances in the film happy. Sachie tanaka, hazuki kikuchi, maiko mihara and rira kawamura. Right now, wrong then, happy hour take top prizes at. They seek solace in one anothers company, but a sudden revelation creates a rift, and rouses each woman to take. This intimate epic by the previously littleknown hamaguchi was the revelation of several 2016 film festivals including locarno and new directorsnew films and a highranker on several bestoftheyear lists including the new yorker and slant. Four japanese women together won the best actress award on saturday at the locarno international film festival in switzerland for their performances in the film happy hour, festival organizers said. Special mention for the script of happy hour by hamaguchi ryusuke, japan. A powerful affirmation of the immersive potential of cinema. Four female friends in the dawn of adulthoodsakurako hazuki kikuchi, fumi maiko mihara, akari sachie tanaka, and jun rira kawamuraattend a. Here are the 2015 locarno film festival winners indiewire. The film was voted the third best japanese film of 2015 in the kinema junpo poll of critics.
Yet the four awardwinning leads, collectively given best actress at the 2015 locarno international film festival, ensure that that time is spent exploring the most human of moments. Aug 24, 2016 a fivehour japanese film captures the agonizing intimacies of daily life. Hamaguchi developed the script from acting workshops with mostly nonprofessionals, including the four leads, who took home a collective best actress prize at the 2015 locarno film festival for their sensitive, subtle portrayals of these women at a major crossroads. The narrative centers on four women in their midthirties in the hilly port city of kobe. But also, when seen alongside the other more stylized, formally assertive works in the competition, happy hour certainly seems more like highminded television, perhaps an experimental variation on a conventional asian soap. As they navigate the unsteady currents of their work, domestic, and romantic lives a sudden, unexpected rift opens between that propels each to a new, richer understanding of life. Happy hour at hotel locarno in rome is a hip place to be. Locarno film festival announces 2015 open door awards. Developed through workshops with a cast of mostly newcomers the extraordinary lead quartet shared the best actress award at the locarno film festival, and filled with absorbing sequences that flow almost in real time, happy hour has a novelistic depth and texture. Locarno nomination for the european film awards premio pianifica fils du loup by lola quivoron, france. Happy hour is a slowburning epic chronicling the emotional journey of four thirtysomething women in the misty seaside city of kobe. With a grandeur and detail afforded by its running time, happy hour explores that balance through a feat of fortitude and the poise of simply being there between friends.
Developed through workshops with a cast of mostly newcomers the lead quartet shared the best actress award at the locarno film festival, and filled with absorbing sequences that flow almost in real time, happy hour comes to life through novelistic depth and texture. Tanaka sachie, kikuchi hazuki, mihara maiko, kawamura rira for happy hour by hamaguchi ryusuke, japan. Founded in 1946, it is one of the longestrunning film festivals, and is also known for being a prestigious platform for art house films. Those two scenes in particular are magnificent tests of selfreflection for the characters, epic jousts of chicanery that are also brilliant allegories for friendship. Happy hour at hotel locarno in rome travel through italy. The unusual way in which the director allows most of his scenes time to develop, to grow and transform, makes this film about love, friendship and balance, one of a kind. Four japanese win best actress award at locarno film festival. Happy hour has a predilection for observation that is gently dramatic and surprisingly tense.
A japanese double bluray set is being released on may 18th, 2018, with cast interviews called beyond happy hour 38 min. In 2015 his feature fiction happy hour was selected for the official competition of ff locarno, where it won a leopard for the best actress given to the ensemble cast and a special mention for its script. Developed through workshops with a cast of most newcomers the extraordinary lead quartet shared the best actress award at the locarno film festival, and filled with absorbing sequences that flow almost in real time, happy hour has a novelistic depth and texture. Representing film and tv directors in europe since 1980. Winner of awards at major international festivalsincluding locarno, where stars sachie tanaka, hazuki kikuchi, maiko mihara and rira kawamura shared the golden leopard for best actress happy hour. Winner of awards at major international festivalsincluding locarno, where stars. The medium is one thing, but a long film should never just be randomly sliced up for the sake of consumption.
Aug 16, 2015 four japanese women together won the best actress award on saturday at the locarno international film festival in switzerland for their performances in the. Ben konigsberg in the new york times wrote that if happy hour doesnt quite deliver all it promises, that may only be because it promises quite a lot. Nov 09, 2015 happy hour has been compared by some to the works of hou hsiaohsien, though this does the film a bit of a disservice, as despite its length and unhurried pace, it shouldnt necessarily be categorised as slow cinema. In the competition lineup at locarno, it was the longest film by some distance at five hours and 17 minutes. In the city, hotel locarno is known for their aperitivo. Hamaguchi builds his character drama not only out of conversations but also. Yet, there is hope that happy hour will find a postfestival home on a streaming service. This extraordinary film is awarded twice at the locarno festival. Happy hour 2015 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. A fivehour japanese film captures the agonizing intimacies. Sep 30, 2018 winner of awards at major international festivalsincluding locarno, where stars sachie tanaka, hazuki kikuchi, maiko mihara and rira kawamura shared the golden leopard for best actresshappy hour has brought new attention to the work and career of one of japans most talented young directors.
Cowriterdirector ryusuke hamaguchis whose first film in 2007 was a remake of solaris. Following the lives of four female friends, happy hour investigates the women at midlife and their friendship as they each work through personal struggles and events that will send them slowly spiraling. Mar 27, 2016 developed through workshops with a cast of mostly newcomers the extraordinary lead quartet shared the best actress award at the locarno film festival, and filled with absorbing sequences that flow almost in real time, happy hour has a novelistic depth and texture. It has and continues to be a stage and retreat for famous film actors, directors, writers, producers and musicians. Hamaguchi mounts an epic film of intimate gestures that unfolds in great lapping movements containing minute stanzas of heartbreak, in which a meditation class, a postworkshop happy hour, a divorce hearing, and a book reading are allowed to exist both as worlds onto themselves as well as links in chains comprising larger existences. Certainly, theres a great deal going on here during the five hour running time, and the film is a fine example of patient. Winner of awards at major international festivalsincluding locarno, where stars sachie tanaka, hazuki kikuchi, maiko mihara and rira kawamura shared the golden leopard for best actresshappy hour has brought new attention to the work and career of one of japans most talented young directors.
Collecting a special mention at locarno for its script, along with the best actress award shared collectively between its four leads, ryusuke hamaguchis happy hour is a joyfully discursive. Four japanese women together won the best actress award on saturday at the locarno international film festival in switzerland for their performances in the. Hong sangsoos right now, wrong then from south korea took the golden leopard for best film and best. By allowing for space in happy hour for these more passive forms of social interaction, hamaguchi shows what both art cinema and tv dramedies omit, yielding a highly unusual, uppermiddlebrow atmosphere for the reception of new ideas. The locarno film festival is an annual film festival held every august in locarno, switzerland. As most japanese films focus on human experiences in everyday life, ryusuke hamaguchi presents a five hour indepth storyline behind womens daily lives which are based on emotions and.
In happy hour, and particularly in that beautiful scene on the ferry, the world is not just gliding byit is being slid into place before our eyes, as if for the first time. In 2015 his feature fiction happy hour was selected for the official competition of ff locarno, where it won a leopard for the best actress given to the ensemble cast and a special. A married film director falls for a young painter twice. Buoyed by remarkable performances from its four leadsnonprofessional actresses discovered at an improvisational theater workshopwho shared the best actress prize at the 2015 locarno film festival, happy hour crafts complex, fullyrealized characters and nuanced relationships, building to a slowburn melodramatic climax that is riveting. Ryusuke hamaguchis five hour epic happy hour has so far enjoyed a healthy international festival run, travelling to shanghai, spain, the united states, south korea and now finally in australia where it recently had its australian premiere at the melbourne international film festival the film stars a cast of unknown actors and focuses its attention on four. Happy hour is a film that doesnt rely on having one idea, but many. I could have kept on watching it building further layers for another five and a half hours. Locarno fest launches industry academy exclusive variety. Four japanese win best actress award at locarno film.
His next film happy hour was first developed while hamaguchi was an artist in residence at kiito design and creative center kobe in 20. The precious balance holding together four best friends is tested when one announces that she will be divorcing her husband. For the script of happy hour by hamaguchi ryusuke, japan for the cinematography by shai goldman for tikkun by avishai sivan, israel. Home about news deadlines pro press locarno boutique previous next. Oct 20, 2015 ryusuke hamaguchis happy hour received two awards from the locarno film festival 2015 for best actresses and special mention for script. Jun, akari, sakurako and fumi truly believe that they can. It came out of an improvisational acting workshop he held for nonprofessionals, with many of the film s performers having participated in the workshop. Hats off to moma for giving an extraordinary new filmhappy hour, directed by. Yet this is no arty lav diaz epic, but rather a sprawling, realistic drama of four female friends in their late 30s who each come to reconsider their relationships as one. It came out of an improvisational acting workshop he held for nonprofessionals, with many of the film s performers having participated in. At some point everyone needs an attitude adjustment. But its also the kind of immersive, intensely moving experience that remains. Japanese film wins award at locarno film fest august 15, 2015 by emanuellevy japanese director hamaguchi ryusukes happy hour took a joint best actress award for ensemble players tanaka sachie, kikuchi hazuki, mihara maiko and kawamura rira, with a special mention for its script.
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