Masami Nagasawa to star in Fox Japan's tear-jerker "Gunjo"

by Chris MaGee

Fox Studios Japan made their first foray into a domestically produced film back in 2002 with Hideyuki Hirayama's big screen adaptation of Natsuo Kirino's mystery thriller "Out" ( a film I still dream will get a North American DVD release). Now they are gearing up for another domestically produced Japanese film, this time with Yosuke Nakagawa's adaptation of Ayako Miyagi's serialized novel "Gunjo" about a young woman who returns to her father's home in Okinawa where she either works as or observes the work of the "uminchu" or local pearl divers (reports are still unclear) while she tries to come to terms with the death of her boyfriend. Japanese starlet Masami Nagasawa (Crying Out Love in the Centre of the World) will play the lead role.

"Gunjo" is currently in post-production and the brass at Fox Japan are aiming at a February 2009 release to conicide with the Berlin International Film Festival.

Thanks to Tokyograph and Variety Asia Online for the details on this.