Description

Screenplay of the Year, 2013 Japan Academy Prize
Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, 2012 Blue Ribbon Awards
Halekulani Golden Orchid Award (Best Narrative Feature), 2012 Hawaii International Film Festival
Official Selection, 2012 Toronto International Film Festival

Nothing ever goes right for small-time actor Sakurai. So when opportunity strikes at a local bathhouse, he decides to switch lives with somebody else. Unfortunately, that somebody turns out to be master hitman Kondo and suddenly Sakurai is thrust into the role of his life. Meanwhile, the actual Kondo awakens as an amnesiac wandering onto film sets and into a really bad wardrobe.

Needless to say, hilarity ensues. But KEY OF LIFE is more than just screwball hijinks. Through writer-director Kenji Uchida’s mischievous twists and stone-cold humor, the film hysterically asks if we live life according to the script we’re given, or if destiny is open to rewrites. Actors Masato Sakai and Teruyuki Kagawa (Tokyo Sonata) attempt both possibilities with vivacious sympathy, while Ryoko Hirosue (Departures) quietly delights as the lonely but resolute magazine editor who cluelessly shrugs off common sense and pencils in her own happy ending. –Brian Hu

Co-presented by Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, Kyocera

Director's Bio

Filmography

2005: A Stranger of Mine
2008: After School

Credits

Cast: Masato Sakai, Teruyuki Kagawa, Ryoko Hirosue
Writer: Kenji Uchida
Producer: Makoto Fujimoto, Kazutoshi Wadakura, Yoji Ohnishi

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