DIRECTOR

Directed by: Yukinari Hanawa "Tokyo Skin"

CAST

Aoi Miyazaki "The Boy and the Beast" "The Great Passage"
Keisuke Koide
Masaru Miyazaki
Rena Komine
Yu Emoto
Tadahiro Aoki
Yuya Matsuura

CREW

Written by Yukinari Hanawa, Harumi Ichikawa and Tetsuro Kamogawa
Based on the Novel by Misuzu Nakahara
Produced by Shigeo Minakami and Shusaku Matsuoka
Cinematography by Junichi Fujisawa (Quille, Battle Royale II)
Lighting by Nariyuki Ueda (Be With You)
Production Design by Iwao Saito (Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, The Grudge)
Edited by Nobuko Tomita (Ashura, Onmyoji II)
Original Music by COIL
Theme Song "Requiem in Blue" by Chitose Hajime

Duration/Release

114 min. / 2006 / Color / 35mm

Synopsis

Writer Misuzu Nakahara confesses her involvement in the 300 Million Yen Affair. In the chaotic days of the 1960s, Misuzu, a lonely high school girl from a troubled family, finds a sanctuary with her nihilistic brother Ryo and his friends, who pass day by day hanging around a shadowy café bar and indulging themselves in sex, drugs and alcohol. As the social unrest seeps in and their relationships gradually fall off, Misuzu gets drawn into a dangerous plot against the society set by one of the rebellious boys, Kishi – robbing a bank car of 300 million yen. The two accomplices set out for numerous rehearsals, and their hearts get closer secretly and quietly. On one rainy day, helped by coincidences, the heist goes successful to give a huge impact on Japan, but it only brings Misuzu a great sense of loss and sadness she had never expected…

Introduction

The 300 Million Yen Affair - Unsolved Mystery

In the rainy morning of December 10, 1968, in the Tokyo suburb, a motorcycle policeman stopped a bank vehicle carrying 300 million yen (equivalent to today’s $2m) in cash – bonuses for the Toshiba employees. The policeman asked the driver and others in the car to step out while he inspects the car saying that there was a bombing threat. As they complied believing the fire from a smoke shell were real dynamite, he drove off the car and ran away. Despite more than 100 evidences left behind, with 170,000 policemen against 110,000 suspects spending almost a billion yen in the investigation, nobody was arrested and the stolen money was never found. The case was officially closed for prescription in 1975. The heist was so simple yet cool and precise it became one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century in Japan, and spawned many books, films and TV dramas based on speculations. The “montage” photo of the suspect in a white police helmet has become an undeletable image in many people’s memory.