Beijing Watermelon (北京的西瓜, Pekin no Suika) is a 1989 Japanese film directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi.
| Beijing Watermelon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Nobuhiko Obayashi |
| Screenplay by | Yoshihiro Ishimatsu |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Nobuhiko Obayashi |
| Distributed by | Shochiku |
Release date |
|
Running time | 135 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Languages | Japanese, Chinese |
Synopsis
editIn Funabashi, greengrocer Shunzo offers a discount on produce to a Chinese exchange student who cannot afford to purchase vegetables. The act begins a long relationship between Shunzo and a rotating group of Chinese exchange students living in the city.
Cast
edit- Bengal as Shunzo Horikoshi
- Masako Motai as Michi Horikoshi
- Tōru Minegishi as Dr. Muraki
- Takashi Sasano as Yamada
- Akira Emoto as Teramoto
- Haruhiko Saitō as Ioka[1]
Production and release
editBeijing Watermelon is directed and edited Nobuhiko Obayashi with a screenplay by Yoshihiro Ishimatsu.[1] The plot is partly based on true events, and was produced after Obayashi and his crew met the real-life grocer and students that the film is based on while shooting another film.[2][3] Filmed from May to June 1989, the Tiananmen Square massacre occurred mid-production, forcing the cancellation of plans to shoot the Beijing-set portions of the film on-location.[4]
In 2021, a restoration of the film was undertaken by distributor Shochiku.[5]
Reception
editUpon its original release, Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times praised Beijing Watermelon as "an eloquent commentary on the magic of the cinema itself" that "bring[s] to mind the films of Frank Capra."[6] In an essay about the restoration of the film for Metrograph, Matt Turner describes Beijing Watermelon as a film "about finding connections and commonalities despite differences of nationality, culture, and class" but where the "imaginative side of Obayashi is still much on display", comparing it to the works of Yasujirō Ozu and Robert Altman.[2] The Gene Siskel Film Center similarly described the film as "Ôbayashi at his most modern, while his experimental flourishes invite viewers to fill in the blanks of history".[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Canby, Vincent (March 24, 1990). "Review/Film Festival; A Japanese Greengrocer Stricken by 'Chinese Fever'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Turner, Matt. "Beijing Watermelon". Metrograph. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ Crawford, Elizabeth. "Beijing Watermelon". Screen Slate. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ Erickson, Steve (June 5, 2024). "Beijing Watermelon: The Return of a Drama Caught Between China and Japan, Reality and Fiction". Crooked Marquee. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ a b "Beijing Watermelon (Pekin no Suika)". Gene Siskel Film Center. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- ^ Thomas, Kevin (October 5, 1990). "'Beijing Watermelon' a Slice of Real Life". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
