The Blessing Bell

2002, 87 min., 35 mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Sabu. With Susumu Terajima, Naomi Nishida, Seijun Suzuki, Reila Aphrodite.

Netpac Award, 2003 Berlin International Film Festival
Grand Jury Prize, 2003 Cinemanila International Film Festival

A lyrical and meditative tale that is often reminiscent of both Mike Leigh’s Naked (1993) and Takeshi Kitano’s early yakuza films, The Blessing Bell follows the wanderings of its blue-collar protagonist, Igarashi (Susumu Terajima) through the 24 hours that follow the closing of the factory he works for. After a fruitless job hunt, the newly unemployed man walks into other lost souls: a yakuza boss who has literally been stabbed in the back, a man who murdered his wife’s lover (but not his wife), a hopeless single mother, the ghost of an elderly man in a hospital (played by director Seijun Suzuki) and a suicidal salaryman. Coincidentally, he also runs into a burning building, gets hit by a car and wins the lottery.

Part of the series: Run, Salaryman, Run! A Retrospective of Sabu’s Film Works.

TICKETS
$12/$9 Japan Society members, students & seniors

Buy Tickets Online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. – Fri. 11 am – 6 pm, Weekends 11 am – 5 pm.