My Grandpa

My Grandpa (2003)

わたしのグランパ

Kenzo was behind bars for killing a gangster. Upon his release, he goes to live with his son, whose marriage is on the rocks. His 14-year-old granddaughter Tamako is ostracized when she discovers that her grandfather is a murderer. Kenzo soon helps defend Tamako from bullies at school. When Tamako stands up for herself, she comes to believe that she has inherited some of her grandfather’s great strength. Eventually, an associate of the man Kenzo killed comes looking for revenge, along with the dead man’s son.

Date of release
2003-04-05
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (5)
Runtime
1h 53m
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Director
Yōichi Higashi

Casting

Interesting facts

My Grandpa is a 2003 Japanese coming of age drama film directed by Yōichi Higashi. It was adapted by Higashi from a novel of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui. The film depicts the relationship between a young woman and her grandfather, who has recently returned from prison. It stars Bunta Sugawara in the lead role, in addition to Satomi Ishihara, Tadanobu Asano, Mitsuru Hirata and Yoshiko Miyazaki. Alpha composed the film's score. My Grandpa was theatrically released by Toei Company on April 5, 2003, in Japan. Ishihara won several awards for her performance in the film.

Production

Higashi had seen Bunta Sugawara give a televised interview in the early 1990s, in which Sugawara stated that "The main [film] audience [are] in their teens and twenties, and film companies are biased toward making films specifically for young people, so older actors aren't needed [anymore]." His words struck a chord with the director, who was only a year younger than Sugawara. He endeavored to make a film with the actor at some point.

Akira Kobayashi later stated that he was approached as a potential back-up casting for Kenzo; however, he turned the role down, believing he wasn't right for the part.

Author Tsutsui was affiliated with Horipro; once the film adaptation was greenlit, Horipro decided to hold a public audition for the role of Tamako.

Filming took place primarily on location in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, as well as Fujioka and the Watarase River.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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