Shunji Iwai

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Iwai Shunji
Shunji Iwai, filming 2004s Hana & Alice.
Born	January 24, 1963 (1963-01-24) (age 45) Sendai City, Japan

Shunji Iwai (岩井俊二 Iwai Shunji, born January 24, 1963 in Sendai, Japan, Miyagi prefecture). Iwai is a Japanese film director/video artist, writer and documentarian.

Iwai attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment industry by directing TV dramas and music videos. Then, in 1993, his TV drama, Fireworks, brought him critical praise and an award from the Japanese Director's Association for his portrayal of a group of children in the town of Iioka.

In 1995 he went on to start his career in feature films, starting with the box-office hit Love Letter, in which he cast pop singer Miho Nakayama in challenging dual roles. Love Letter also launched the movie career of Miki Sakai who won a Japanese Academy Award as 'Newcomer of the Year' for her portrayal of Itsuki Fujii as a young girl. Iwai collaborated with cinematographer Noboru Shinoda to produce a film praised for its evocative winter cinematography. Love Letter made an impact in other east Asian countries too, notably South Korea where the film's success helped break down the post-World War II barriers to Japanese films being shown there.

In 1996 came the commercial and critical success of Swallowtail Butterfly, a multifaceted story of the fictional Yen Town, a city of immigrants in search of hope and a better life with three separate and distinct main characters. Ageha (Ayumi Ito), an orphaned teenage girl, Glico (Chara), a prostitute turned pop star, and Feihong (Hiroshi Mikami), an immigrant who manages Glico's career and owns the Yen Town club.

In 1998, Fine Line Features released Love Letter in the US theatrically under the new title When I Close My Eyes ; it was the first Iwai-directed film to be released in the US theatrically.

Iwai enjoyed another kind of success with this film as well, having teamed up with Takeshi Kobayashi to create the music for the film and the Yen Town Band, headed by Pop star Chara. The band they created became a commercial hit in Japan. He would team up with Kobayashi again in 2001 for the harrowing High School Drama All About Lily Chou-Chou. Kobayashi would create the music for the titular pop star, Lily Chou-Chou (voiced by Japanese singer Salyu), that is spread through the film (as well as Debussy), and later be released as an album entitled Kokyu (Breathe).

In 2002 he released a short, ARITA, in which he composed his own film score for the first time. In 2004 Iwai released Hana & Alice, his first comedy. He once again composed the film score himself.

His next project, a piece he's written about the Japanese indie Rock scene in the mid 1990s called Bandage, is slated for release in late 2006. It will be helmed by Ryuhei Kitamura, of Azumi fame. Curiosity has spread over why Iwai is not directing his own script, but no answer has been revealed. He has recently directed a commercial airing in Japan featuring Matsu Takako, whom he has not worked with since 1998.

October, 2006 sees the Iwai produced film Rainbow Song released in Japan. The film is directed by Naoto Kumazawa and was written by Ami Sakurai. It stars previous Iwai actors Hayato Ichihara, Yu Aoi and Shoko Aida. Also in 2006, Iwai spent time documenting and interviewing Kon Ichikawa while filming The Inugamis (Inugamike no ichizoku - 2006) to create a feature length documentary about the director's life.

1 Filmography
2 Awards
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Filmography

Bandage Club (2007) (Writer only; credited as Aminosan)
The Kon Ichikawa Story (2006)
Rainbow Song (2006) (Producer and Writer)
Hana & Alice (2004)
30 days with the Japanese National Football Team (2002)
Jam Films (2002) - segment "ARITA"
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
The Kids Who Wanted to View Fireworks from Another Perspective (1999)
April Story (1998)
Takako Matsu: film -A Mirror in the Air- (1997)
Moon Riders: Knit Cap Man (1996)
Swallowtail Butterfly (1996)
Picnic (1996)
Love Letter (aka When I Close My Eyes (US)) (1995)
Lunatic Love (1994)
Undo (Film) (1994)
The Snow King (1993)
Fried Dragon Fish (1993)
Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (1993) - (Abbr: Fireworks)
Omelette (Film) (1992)
A Summer Solstice Story (1992)
A Tin of Crab Meat (1992)
Maria (Film) (1992)
Ghost Soup (1992)
The Man Who Came to Kill (1991)
Unknown Child (Film) (1991)