"Sakuran" screenwriter to bring us "1,000,000 Yen Girl"

Browsing through Nippon Cinema I came across a really interesting looking film set to be released this July in Japanese theatres. Titled “Hyakuman-en to Nigamushi Onna (1,000,000 Yen Girl)” it tells the story of an unemployed and friendless college grad, played by Yû Aoi, who through a bad set of circumstances gets convicted of a crime. Saddled with a record she’s forced to travel from town to town picking up part-time jobs with the goal of saving ¥1 million.

What makes this such an interesting project is the writer/ director. Yuki Tanada not only penned the screenplay for the Anna Tsuchiya revisionist geisha pic “Sakuran”, but she wrote and directed the 2005 film “Moon and Cherry” that Tom Mes of Midnight Eye called “a lively, hugely enjoyable romp”. The presence of actress Yû Aoi doesn’t hurt either. The 23-year-old is already a veteran having starred in 27 films including “Harmful Insect”, “All About Lily Chou-Chou”, “Honey and Clover” and the Bong-Joon Ho directed segment “Shaking Tokyo” in the upcoming omnibus film “Tokyo!”

It's nice to see a female director like Yuki Tanada getting some recognition. In the past few years she, Naomi Kawase, Mai Tominaga, Kei Fujiwara and Mika Ninagawa have given a healthy injection of estrogen into the the overwhelmingly testosterone loaded Japanese film industry. I'd make a Spice Girl's "Girl Power" reference, but that would be cheesy... but wait... I guess I did...

Check out the teaser trailer below and if your kanji skills are up to snuff head on over to the film’s official website here.