Bucheon Choice: Features

Taro the Fool

OMORI Tatsushi|Japan|2019 |119min |Korean Premiere |15+

Code Time Theater Rate GV
230 7/11  20:00 - 21:59 CGV Sopung 10 15 GV
619 7/15  16:30 - 18:29 CGV Sopung 4 15
230 7/11  20:00 - 21:59CGV Sopung 10
15  GV
619 7/15  16:30 - 18:29CGV Sopung 4
15

Unless following Subtitle code is marked, all films will have English subtitles

Notice of No English-Subtitle

Program Note

Taro (Yoshi) has no family registration and has never been to school. Neglected by his single mother, he spends his time idling on waste ground. ‘Taro’ refers to someone who is nameless. High school students, Eiji (Masaki Suda) and Sugio (Taiga Nakano) are his playmates who enjoy risky, perilous freedom and deviation. One day Eiji gets caught in a fight and gets hold of a gun. 

Director Omori, whose typical themes include stray outsiders, says that he wrote Taro the Fool before he made his debut feature The Whispering of the Gods. His latest film reflects morbid symptoms in Japanese society, including the 2016 mass murder at a care home for people with disabilities, the neglect of childcare and of vulnerable people. There is no hint of reason or concern about the consequences in the boys’ reckless behavior, leaving viewers uneasy throughout the film. Yoshi, making his film debut as Taro, brilliantly portrays the fragile, 15-year-old boy who is likely to explode at any moment. (Ellen Y. D. KIM)  

Director

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OMORI Tatsushi

He made his directorial debut with The Whispering of the Gods in 2005. He won many awards from home and abroad including the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award with A Crowd of Three (2010), and the Special Jury Prize at the Moscow IFF with The Ravine of Goodbye (2013). 

Credit

Producer Kondo Takahiko
Screenplay Omori Tatsushi
Cinematographer Tsuji Tomohiko
Editor Omori Tatsushi
Sound Shimazu Mikisuke
Music Otomo Yoshihide
Production Design Kurokawa Michitoshi, Ohara Kiyotaka
Cast Okuno Eita, Ueda Sasha, Toyota Ellie, Kunimura Jun
Sales ColorBird Inc.