Pierre Boutier

TOKYO: In a new road movie by director Yuya Ishii, two Japanese film stars, Joe Odagiri and Sosuke Ikematsu appear as two brothers, Toru and Takeshi, in the cosmetics sales business in South Korea.

One of the brothers, Toru (Odagiri), has settled in South Korea, and the other, Takeshi (Ikematsu), a young novelist, joins him with his young child after the untimely death of his wife.

Together, encouraged by the promise of significant gains, they decide to get into the booming Korean cosmetics business.

They face a daunting clash of cultures with their Korean competitors, who still nurse a historical grudge against the Japanese. Nonetheless, during a road trip, the two end up forming a very close friendship with a Korean singer (South Korean actress Moon Choi) who they were traveling with after she was abandoned by her influential producer.

The South Korean film, produced entirely by a Japanese director, evokes the difficulties in communication between the two nations; it also showcases how to overcome the language barrier by genuine feelings, honest communication.

Sosuke Ikematsu is well known to foreign audiences for playing the character of Higen in the movie Last Samurai with Tom Cruise, and Yuya Ishii is a promising director who has received the prestigious international award for best director at the Asian Film Awards in 2018.

The film, The Asian Angel, is scheduled for release in Japan from July 2 and will be released in South Korea between September or November, depending on the pandemic situation.