“A beautiful study of the human condition and our search for connections despite cultural differences.”
— Garry McConnachie, Daily Record
“Rich in poetic representations of Japanese food culture.”
— Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film
A CHINESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN JAPAN ACCLIMATES
TO HIS NEW LIFE THROUGH FOOD, FAMILY AND ROMANCE IN THIS DEEPLY MOVING FILM ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITION
COMPLICITY
Street Date: January 21, 2020
DVD/Digital: $24.95
The Drama from Japanese Director Kei Chikaura, an Official Selection at the
Toronto International Film Festival and the Culinary Cinema Section at the Berlinale, Arrives on DVD with the Bonus Short Film “About Bintou”
from Director Dezhou Li
SYNOPSIS
Chen Liang (Lu Yulai), a young Chinese immigrant illegally living in Japan, buys a fake ID and cell phone on the black market. When he receives a call about a job, he blindly accepts the offer. Chen, now assuming the identity of Liu Wei, ends up working as an apprentice in a family-run soba restaurant. As he acclimates to his new life, he forms a strong bond with his sagely mentor (Tatsuya Fuji, In the Realm of the Senses) and finds happiness in a budding romance with a local artist, but the constant threat of deportation looms large over him. Director Kei Chikaura’s moving and insightful feature debut offers a rare inside view of life as a marginalized immigrant in Japan.
Gary McConnachie of the Daily Record writes, “This isn’t merely a film about immigrants. This is a film about the beauty of the human condition, about risking everything to have those relationships that mean the most to us and why cultural differences can bring people together rather than push them apart…In a world where hatred and a “them and us” approach to life is bringing ugly traits into the open, Complicity tells us the world can be a beautiful place despite our differences.”
BONUS FEATURE
Bonus Short Film – About Bintou (Written and directed by Dezhou Li | China/United Kingdom | 13 minutes) — This illuminating documentary short follows a young African woman’s life as a student in Guangzhou, China. In French and Mandarin with English subtitles.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type: DVD/Digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu)
Running Time: 116 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen
Audio: 5.1 Surround Sound/2.0 Stereo
Language: Japanese and Mandarin with English Subtitles
About Film Movement
Founded in 2002, Film Movement is a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide. Film Movement’s theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign art house titles. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Diane Kurys, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, King Hu, Sergio Corbucci and Ettore Scola. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com. Visit www.filmmovementplus.com for more information about Film Movement Plus, the new subscription streaming service from Film Movement.
