A Heartful of Love - Japanese Movie

Movie Review Genre: Drama Starring: Hideaki Ito, Mimula Director: Akihiko Shiota Year Made: 2005 Description: A heartful of love 戀愛復活 Kono mune ippai no ai wo While the film's title may lead one to expect a standard romantic melodrama, A HEARTFUL OF LOVE is a well-crafted fantasy tale that contains a number of sf elements, including time travel. The main character is Hiroshi Suzutani (played by Hideaki Ito), a 30 year-old advertising executive who returns on business to his childhood hometown of Moji in Kyushu. Also on the airplane are an elderly blind woman, a skittish college professor (Kankuro Kudo), and a 19 year-old yakuza thug named Nunokawa (Ryo Katsuji) who is hiding out following a failed hit assignment. Visiting Moji for the first time in decades, Hiroshi discovers that the port city is exactly as he remembers it; the buildings, the narrow streets, and even the inn his grandmother once owned are completely unchanged. While standing outside his old home, Hiroshi encounters a young boy and is stunned to see it is his 10 year-old self, Hiro (Ryo Tomioka). As he recovers from his shock at a nearby restaurant, Hiroshi is tracked down by Nunokawa. The pair attempt to piece things together and soon realize they've somehow been transported back in time twenty years. With no idea of how they ended up in 1986 or how they will return to 2006, the two realize there's nothing they can do but settle in and make the most of their circumstances. Nunokawa returns to his criminal roots and Hiroshi takes a job at the inn, rooming with his younger self. The boy Hiro is initially distrustful of the strange man who knows such much about his inner thoughts and feelings, but gradually the two develop a strong bond of trust. Hiroshi also delights in spending time with his unsuspecting grandmother (Chieko Baisho) and a beautiful young violinist named Kazumi (Mimula) who befriended him as a child but had died from a mysterious illness.