Friday, January 14, 2011

Masato Harada returns with an adaptation of Yasushi Inoue's novel "Waga Haha no Ki".

by Chris MaGee

One of the most critically-acclaimed films of 2008 in Japan was Masato Harada's "Climber's High". The suspense drama about the aftermath of the tragic 1985 crash of a JAL airliner in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture raked in major award nominations and wins including a Best Director nomination for Masato Harada from the Japanese Academy Awards, but since the success of "Climber's High" we haven't heard much from the 61-year-old film-maker (above left). That all changed this week when Tokyograph reported on Harada's next film.

Harada is prepping to start production next month on an adapation of Akutagawa Prize-winning author Yasushi Inoue's 1975 autobiographical novel "Waga Haha no Ki". The film will chronicle the life of the author as he contends with his mother's growing dementia and old age. No cast has been announced for Harada's "Waga Haha" as of yet, in fact the original Tokyograph post mentions that a few key roles are still being cast, but producers are still shooting to have the film in Japanese theatres by sometime next year.

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