Movie: The Magic Hour
Romaji: Za Majikku Awa
Japanese: ザ・マジックアワー
Director: Koki Mitani
Writer: Koki Mitani
Executive Producers: Takashi Ishihara , Kenji Shimizu, Minami Ichikawa
Producer: Chihiro Kameyama, Yoshinari Shimatani
Cinematographer: Hideo Yamamoto
Release Date: June 7, 2008
Runtime : 136 min.
Genre: Comedy / Gangster / Filmmaking
Studio: Fuji TV
Distributor: Toho
Country: Japanese
Language: Japan
Plot
Bingo (Satoshi Tsumabuki) has stolen away the girlfriend (Eri Fukatsu) of his crime syndicate boss (Toshiyuki Nishida), and now he faces an ultimatum: find him a legendary assassin named Della Togashi, or die. But time is running out and Della’s whereabouts remain moot. As a desperate measure, Bingo decides to hire a failing actor, Taiki Murata (Koichi Sato) to play the part of the elusive assassin. Believing he’ll be starring in an epic gangster film in the role of his life, Taiki comes to the port town of Sucago, where the film is to be shot. In his attempt to convince his boss that he has found Della Togashi, Bingo inadvertently winds up indenturing Taiki into the service of the town’s crime syndicate just as it prepares for a major gang war.
Notes
The fictional port town of "Sucago," used as the backdrop of the movie, was built entirely at Toho Studio. Eventually taking up over five studios at the Toho Studios,
The “magic hour” is a film term referring to a brief period of time between dusk and nightfall when the most beautiful footage can be shot. Spanning the time when the sun has dropped below the horizon to the moment when the last lingering rays are blotted out by darkness, it is the world bathed in an ethereally pale light.
Cast
Satoshi Tsumabuki as Noboru Bingo
Koichi Sato as Taiki Murata
Eri Fukatsu as Mari Takachiho
Toshiyuki Nishida as Konosuke Tessio
Haruka Ayase as Natsuko Shikama
Fumiyo Kohinata as Kenjuro Hasegawa
Susumu Terajima as Hiromi Kurokawa
Keiko Toda as Madame Ranko
Goro Ibuki as Shikama Takashi
Keisuke Horibe as Bambi
Kyoka Suzuki as Sayoko
Shosuke Tanihara as Niko