Stars Ken Watanabe, 51, and Rinko Kikuchi, 30, made an appearance at the Japan premiere of their new film "Shanghai" this week. The film, directed by Mikael Hafstrom and starring John Cusack, Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat, is set on the eve of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Cusack is an American reporter drawn into a web of espionage. Watanabe plays a Japanese naval intelligence office and Kikuchi, in a bit part, a mystery woman being sought after by both sides.
Talking about his role, Watanabe said: “He isn’t the kind of guy you’d like to have in your house.” In the film, someone utters the line that "Men are romanticists,” and Watanabe was asked if he concurred. "I think men can be fools when it comes to romance. Romantics are deluded by many things. And I'm one of them."
Kikuchi praised her co-star, saying: "Seeing the way Ken approaches a character or scene and explores many avenues was a good learning experience that will stay with me. He is an extremely remarkable person.”
"Shanghai" opens in Japan on Saturday.
© Japan Today
7 Comments
Login to comment
Tamarama
Rinko Kikuchi is sensational! Serious talent for once on this site. Ol' Ken's not bad either.....
smithinjapan
I've heard from a few people who already got to see this (via Asahi free sneak-peak tickets) and they said it was okay. They said Watanabe was great, but I think most Japanese I know are hesitant to comment on Kikuchi because they're still shocked by Babel. Anyway, I agree that both are quite talented. I'd have to say I think Watanabe is better, but Kikuchi is still up and coming.
anglootaku
Good film, quite late for its release in Japan
shady86
I watched the Blu-Ray version almost one year ago. I wonder why foreign movies often take ages to be released here?
oberst
Watanabe is a good and serious actor.
tokyotom
the reason it takes forever to release in Japan are subtitle cost and time, the other reason is sales need to be proven in original markets before japanese distributors will take a chance
BurakuminDes
He really is a talented actor and I look forward to this. I realised the other day, looking at his filmography, that I had seen pretty much all of Watanabe's flicks! All good, too.