is a 2019

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by

Joe Odagiri Jō Odagiri (; born 16 February 1976), better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is most famous for portraying Yusuke Godai, the titular hero of the 2000 tokusatsu series '' Kamen Rider Kuuga''. Early life and education Joe Odag ...

and stars

Akira Emoto is a Japanese actor. Career In 1999, he won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Dr. Akagi''. He also won the award for best supporting actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award for '' Dotonbori River'' and '' Hearts an ...

. In the debut directorial feature by actor Joe Odagiri, the film follows an old ferryman in a remote

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

community. For years, he has transported people back and forth on a river amid unspoiled beauty. His placid and cyclical life is disturbed by the construction of the nearby bridge, and transformed by saving a girl floating in the water. Shot by

Christopher Doyle Christopher Doyle, also known as Dù Kěfēng (Mandarin) or Dou Ho-Fung (Cantonese) () (born 2 May 1952) is an Australian cinematographer, best known for his work in Hong Kong cinema. He has worked on over fifty Chinese-language films, being ...

and the debut film music feature by

Tigran Hamasyan Tigran Hamasyan (; born July 17 1987) is an Armenian jazz pianist and composer. He plays mostly original compositions, strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities. In addition to this folk influence, ...

Plot

The ferryman Toichi sees a ghost on the side of the river. One evening, a girl wrapped in cloth flows in. He brings her into his hut and cares for her. Toichi hears rumors that in a village upstream, a family has been decapitated and killed, and a girl has been taken away. The girl turns out to be alive but spends all the day staring at the surface of the river, not saying a word. When Nihei, a hunter, sees her, Toichi lies and says that she is the daughter of a relative who has been taken care of for a while. The ghost of the river reappears and says, “I know you well.” One night, the girl by the river is gone. Many people in the community talk about Toichi losing his job when a new bridge is completed. Genzo, a young neighbor, says. ” Why don't we destroy that bridge before it's finished?” Toichi has a daydream that he and Genzo kill people crossing the bridge while the river ghost watches. One night, the girl at the river comes back. Toichi asks her if she has anywhere to go, and she shakes her head. On a day when there are no passengers, he takes the girl on his boat. The girl doesn't talk about herself, only telling him her name is “Foo”. The girl jumps into the river, and when Toichi jumps in after her, she is swimming around with a smile on her face. Toichi is relieved when Genzo goes to the village upstream and hears there was no murder. On a night when it is raining heavily, Nihei's father dies. His dying wish is to dedicate his body to the forest, so Toichi takes a boat in the middle of the night to carry it there. Toichi tells the girl that he wants to become a person who can help others like Nihei's father. Smoke rises from the bridge, which is nearing completion. When Toichi rushes to the bridge, the ghost of the river appears and says, "That girl should have died that night. I took her life, and she was supposed to leave her body and wait for her next life. But she was saved by you. The girl will torment you." The bridge is completed and winter has arrived. The riversides are covered with snow and oil is floating in the river. Toichi is completely in low spirits. Genzo, now better dressed, visits the hut with an arrogant attitude. He confirms that Toichi is away at the doctor's office, and brings the girl into the hut. When Toichi crosses the bridge and returns to the hut, he finds Genzo killed by slitting his throat. Toichi sets fire to the hut and launches his boat with the girl. The boat with the two on board goes down the river.

Cast

as Toichi * Ririka Kawashima as girl * Nijiro Murakami as Genzo *

Tsuyoshi Ihara is a Japanese actor, martial artist, and writer of Korean descent. Biography Ihara, a third-generation Zainichi Korean by birth, was born on November 6, 1963, in Kitakyūshū as Yun Yu-gu () to second-generation Zainichi Koreans and grew up i ...

as bridge laborer *

Tadanobu Asano better known by his stage name is a Japanese actor, director, and musician, who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and ...

as regular passenger *

Jun Murakami is a Japanese actor. Career Murakami starred in Sho Miyake's ''Playback'' (2012). He co-starred in Sion Sono's '' The Land of Hope'' (2012) with Megumi Kagurazaka. He has also appeared in films such as Takahisa Zeze's '' Heaven's Story'' an ...

as merchant *

Yū Aoi is a Japanese actress and model. She made her film debut as Shiori Tsuda in Shunji Iwai's 2001 film '' All About Lily Chou-Chou''. She subsequently portrayed Tetsuko Arisugawa in '' Hana and Alice'' (2004), also directed by Iwai, Kimiko Tanigawa ...

as geisha *

Takashi Sasano is a Japanese actor. Career Sasano has appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films '' Bright Future'' (2003) and '' Before We Vanish'' (2017). He also appeared in Amir Naderi's 2011 film ''Cut''. Filmography Film * '' Tora-san's Island Encounter'' ( ...

as passenger with a bull *

Mitsuko Kusabue is a Japanese actress. Selected filmography Films Television dramas Theater Anime Dubbing Honours * Medal with Purple Ribbon (1999) * Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2005) *Kinuyo Tanaka Award (2006) *Japa ...

as woman telling "fox story" *

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop f ...

as Nihei's father *

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's ''Cold Fever'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''Mystery Train (film), Mystery Train''. Nagase was described by Todd Brown of Twitch Film as "one of t ...

as Nihei *

Isao Hashizume is a Japanese actor. He also worked as a narrator for documentaries, both on television and film. He trained as an actor at Bungakuza is a Japanese theatre company. Along with the Mingei Theatre Company and the Haiyuza Theatre Company it ...

as doctor * Kukki! as

chindon'ya , also known as Japanese marching bands, and known historically as or are a type of elaborately costumed street musicians in Japan who advertise for shops and other establishments. advertise the opening of new stores or other venues and promo ...

" * Jun-ichi Komoto as bridge laborer

Reception

On review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''They Say Nothing Stays the Same'' has a 100% approval rating based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 8.17/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, based on 4 critics, the film has a 66/100 rating, signifying "Generally Favorable". Odagiri received the Golden Crow Pheasant for Best Film at the 2019

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

for being "a poetic tale of idyllic rural life being threatened by change in a uncompromising visual style," and the Best Film, International Feature Film Competition Award of the 2019

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most important film festival in Turkey. Since 2009, t ...

References

External links

Kino films: They Say Nothing Stays the Same
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Rotten Tomatoes IndieTigran Hamasyan - They Say Nothing Stays The Same - Soundtrack album of Joe Odagiri's film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theysaynothingstaysthesame 2019 drama films Japanese drama films Films set in Japan 2000s Japanese-language films