is a 1997

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

directed and written by Hiroyuki Tanaka under the name Sabu. The film features

Shin'ichi Tsutsumi is a Japanese stage and screen actor. Internationally, he is best known for his roles as Koichi Takagi in the ''Monday'' films, Tetsuya Ishigami in the '' Suspect X'' films, and Jo Sawashiro in '' Yakuza: Like a Dragon.'' In Japan, he is best kn ...

Keisuke Horibe Keisuke (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese general *, Japanese mixed martial artist *, Japanese footballer * ...

Ren Ohsugi , born was a Japanese actor. For his work in ''Cure'', '' Hana-bi'' and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival. He often worked alongside Takeshi Kitano and Susumu Terajima. In the DVD c ...

and Kyōko Tōyama in the lead roles. It tells the story of a postman (Shin'ichi Tsutsumi) who is mistaken by the police as a criminal. The film was released in Japan in 1997 and later in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1999 and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 2003. Hiroyuki Tanaka won the New Blood award at the 1999

Cognac Festival du Film Policier The Festival du Film policier de Cognac (), also known as Cognac Festival du Film Policier, was an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007. History The inaugural Festival du Film policier de Cognac was held in 19 ...

for the film.

Plot

Sawaki (Shin'ichi Tsutsumi) is a postman. He has an old friend Noguchi (Keisuke Horibe) who, unknown to him, had become a

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

. Noguchi was being spied by the police for a long time. One day Sawaki delivers a letter to him and stays at his place for a while. During his stay Noguchi puts a package of drugs into Sawaki's letter bag. His finger, which he cut off as a symbol of loyalty to his gang, also accidentally falls into the bag. Viewing his relationship with Noguchi, the police think that Sawaki is a member of the yakuza and follow him. On reaching home, Sawaki finds a suicide note in his bag written by a cancer patient to her aunt. He rushes to the hospital to see the girl Kyoko (Kyoko Toyama) and falls in love with her. He meets a hit man Joe (

Ren Osugi , born was a Japanese actor. For his work in ''Cure'', '' Hana-bi'' and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival. He often worked alongside Takeshi Kitano and Susumu Terajima. In the DVD com ...

) there who tells him how he had won the contract killing competition called the "Killer of killers". The police profiler (Tomoro Taguchi), who was following Sawaki, comes to the conclusion that Sawaki is a member of the criminal gang. Meanwhile, Naguchi discovers that the finger he had cut was no longer in his house. All this marked the beginning of problems for Sawaki.

Cast

as Sawaki * Kyōko Tōyama as Sayoko Kitagawa *

as Joe *Keisuke Horibe as Noguchi Shuji *Shimizu Hiroshi as Detective Domon Taizo *Takizawa Ryoko as Ran *

Tomorowo Taguchi is a Japanese actor, film director and musician. After leaving Dokkyo University without graduating, he started to earn his living as an illustrator, writer and pornographic cartoonist. He joined a theatre called Hakken no Kai in 1978 and he ...

as Profiler *

Akaji Maro is a Japanese butoh performer, theater director and film actor. Early life In 1943, Maro was born in Sakurai, Nara, Japan. Career In 1972, Maro founded the , a large-scale butoh company which has gained an enduring international reputation. ...

as Hanta

Reviews and reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was hailed by some of them as one of the best works of Hiroyuki Tanaka. The film was commercially successful and was declared a hit at the Japanese box office. Cinematographer Kuriyama Shuji was praised for implementing the change of camerawork from high-action scenes to love scenes. Japanese film critics praised the film by calling it "both a superb parody of the gangster genre and a masterful exercise in style and storytelling". The film received negative reviews from a few foreign film critics. Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian'' called the film a "chaotic Yakuza thriller, which has a lot of energy and pace, but is let down by uncertain, and slightly callow, undertones of comic sentimentality". French critics said that "''Postman Blues'' could have been an intelligent extension of his first film that surprised many people". It was even called a disappointment and an innocent black comedy.

Home video release

DVD of the film was released by Asian Film Network.

Awards

References

External links

* * {{Tokyo Sports Film Award for Best Film 1997 films Japanese comedy films 1997 crime comedy films Films directed by Sabu Films set in Japan Yakuza films 1990s Japanese films