is a 2000

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

written and directed by

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

. The film is Anno's second live-action feature. The screenplay is an adaption of Ayako Fujitani's novella ''Tōhimu'', which was inspired by an emotionally difficult time in Los Angeles working on her father

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

's 1998 film '' The Patriot''. The film tells the story of a director (

Shunji Iwai is a Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Life and career Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment ...

) who meets an odd young woman (Fujitani). Taking place over a period of 33 days, the plot involves these two characters trying to work their way out of a collective emotional funk. Michael Ordona of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' reported the film had "dark themes of mental illness and suicidal ideation". ''Shiki-Jitsu'' won an award for Best Artistic Contribution at the 13th International Film Festival in Tokyo.

Story

The film follows a young Director returning to his home city of Ube in

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture t ...

, and an eccentric young Woman he meets, whose quirks include saying "tomorrow is my birthday" every day and wearing very unusual clothing. But as the days go by, it appears that the Woman has little touch with reality and is constantly escaping into a fantasy world, while the Director himself is a former

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

director who is seeking to do a "real film" and embrace reality. The two eventually fall in love. In the end, the Director confronts the Woman with her mother, allowing the Woman to make the first steps into the real world. The films ends with the Girl circling December 7 as her real birthday and the words "beyond the 33rd day: unknown".

Release

The film was produced by Studio Kajino, an offshoot of

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and h ...

, run by its former president Toshio Suzuki who served on the film as executive producer. It was given a première at the Tokyo Photography Museum in Ebisu Garden Place on December 7, 2000. The movie was later released on VHS and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan July 24, 2003 as part of the "Ghibli Cinematic Library" series. On July 1, 2020, the movie was released to

Video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

by King Records.

References

External links

*
Tokyo Movie Report 26
* {{Studio Ghibli Films Japanese films 2000 films Films directed by Hideaki Anno Films with screenplays by Hideaki Anno 2000s Japanese-language films