is a 2013 Japanese spy

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...

. It was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and ...

and it was released on 26 April 2013.

Plot

Ninagawa was a powerful man in Japanese politics and with top economic connections. His granddaughter is then murdered. The suspect is Kunihide Kiyomaru. Three months after the murder of his granddaughter, Ninagawa places a whole page ad in the three major Japanese newspapers. The ad states that if Kiyomaru is killed, Ninagawa will offer ¥1,000,000,000 as a reward. Kunihide Kiyomaru turns himself in at the Fukuoka Prefectural Police station. Five detectives from the

Security Police Security police officers are employed by or for a governmental agency or corporations to provide security service security services to those properties. Security police protect facilities, properties, personnel, users, visitors and enforce cert ...

(SP) of the

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister. The Tokyo Met ...

travel to

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center ...

to escort Kunihide Kiyomaru back to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The distance between Fukuoka and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

is apprixmately 1,200 km.

Cast

* Takao Osawa as Kazuki Mekari *

Nanako Matsushima is a critically acclaimed Japanese actress and model known for her role in the horror film '' Ring''. She was also the female lead character in the drama '' A Story of Love'', along with ''Ring'' co-star Hiroyuki Sanada. In 2011, her drama '' K ...

as Atsuko Shiraiwa *

Tatsuya Fujiwara is a Japanese actor. Internationally, he is best known for his leading roles as Shuya Nanahara in the '' Battle Royale'' films, Light Yagami in the ''Death Note'' films, Kaiji Itō in the ''Kaiji'' films, and Rikuhiko Yuki in Hideo Nakata's '' ...

as Kunihide Kiyomaru *

Masatō Ibu is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is sometimes credited as Masato Eve. Filmography Films * ''Love Hotel'' (1985) *''Maison Ikkoku'' (1986) *''Empire of the Sun'' (1987) – Sgt. Nagata *''Sukeban Deka'' (1987) *''Toki o Kakeru Shōjo' ...

as Kenji Sekiya *

Kento Nagayama is a Japanese actor. He has appeared in more than 30 films since 2008. Nagayama has two elder brothers who are also actors: Tatsuya is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Tatsuya can be written using different kanji ...

as Masaki Kamihashi * Hirotarō Honda as Oki * Kimiko Yo as Chikako Yuri *

Tsutomu Yamazaki is a Japanese actor. He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor in 1984 for '' The Funeral'' and '' Farewell to the Ark''. Yamazaki is well known for his role "Nenbutsu no Tetsu" on the television jidaigeki ''Hissatsu Shiokinin'' and ''Shin His ...

as Ninagawa

Production

The filming began on 19 August 2012, and took place in Japan, primarily in

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

and

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture ...

s, and Taiwan. After the

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond ...

denied filming onboard its rolling stock, the train scenes were shot at the

Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the high-speed railway of Taiwan consisting of one line that runs approximately along the west coast, from the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction and operations managed by a pr ...

in September that year, with the support of the Taipei Film Commission.

Remake

On 24 October 2016, it was announced that

EuropaCorp EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP.) is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature ...

is planning an English-language remake to be penned by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt and produced by Depth of Field's

Chris Weitz Christopher John Weitz (born November 30, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Paul on the comedy films '' American Pie'' and '' About a Boy''; the latter earned the Weitz ...

, Andrew Miano and Dan Balgoyen and All Nippon Entertainment Works's

Sandy Climan Sanford (Sandy) Climan is an American film producer, best known for Martin Scorsese's ''The Aviator'' and the film '' U2 3D''. He is the Founder and President of Entertainment Media Ventures, a Los Angeles-based strategic advisory and media i ...

and Annmarie Bailey, and Nippon Television's Naoaki Kitajima.

References

External links

* * 2013 films 2013 action thriller films 2010s police films 2010s spy thriller films Films about bodyguards Films about contract killing Films about corruption Films about murderers Films about police misconduct Films about terrorism in Asia Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Takashi Miike Nippon TV films Films set in Fukuoka Prefecture Films set in Tokyo Films shot in Japan Films shot in Taiwan Japanese action thriller films Japanese films about revenge OLM, Inc. Warner Bros. films 2010s Japanese films 2010s Japanese-language films {{2010s-Japan-film-stub