Life Improvement Club
Arata Furuta plays a disgruntled saleryman fed up with being stepped on at home and at work, decides to get revenge on those who do bad things by killing them, only to gain a group of followers.
Ikki Katashima
Jiro Yoshikawa
Casts & Crew
Arata Furuta
Chiaki Kuriyama
Shugo Oshinari
Narimi Arimori
Shirô Sano
Kosuke Toyohara
Also Directed by Ikki Katashima
In Okinawa, a down-and-out middle-aged yakuza underling named Shidara kidnaps and confines a high school girl named Yui, the daughter of a fellow yakuza’s mistress.
Ninomiya Azusa is a depressed elementary school teacher in Tokyo, who has problems both at work and in her personal life. One day, she suddenly hears a voice saying "If you go to Imore Island, you will get what you want.", so she decides to give it a try.
One day, a high school boy was being bullied by the mob, and a girl on her way home saw this and came to save him. The boy can't forget the girl who left without telling her name. A few days later, the boy sees the girl again, but is shocked that she wore a Chimachogori (Korean ethnic dress). A moment later, the girl is surrounded by college men, they start to make fun of her and cut her chimachogori. The scissors in the college man's hands gets pushed into the girl's chest and the girl dies. It was autumn of 2002, whilst the top news was about Japanese kidnap cases by North Koreans.
Based on the masterpiece of Japanese literary writer TANIZAKI Jun’ichirō, Naomi, this is an ambitious work by KATASHIMA Ikki showcasing his unique and bold style of cinematography. The original novel is set in the early 20th century during which the western influence largely affected Japan. However, this film version is set in the 70s, when Japan was starting to enjoy its affluence and the World Exposition was held in Osaka. In the middle of a hot and humid summer, Joji, a middle-aged man, appears to be enchanted by a young and attractive Naomi. Joji openly pursues her, while Naomi sometimes despises and makes fun of him. Regardless, Joji falls more and more for her. One Day, Naomi suddenly disappears. Joji’s jealousy and obsession surmounts until it threatened to destroy them all.
Twenty-year-old Kaori, an aspiring accessory designer, spends her days troubled by her mother's violence and excessive meddling. Meanwhile, forty-year-old secretary Kaori, whose daughter is a shut-in, can't stop shoplifting and having casual sex.