*FULLY BOOKED* Underground Cinema: Fish Story (2009, JP)

OCCII is happy to have Jeffrey Babcock screen a film at ours!

FISH STORY (2009)
Directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura
112 minutes
In Japanese with English subtitles

This is the kind of film that really needs to be seen more – a film that many people love in Japan, that has gained a cult following, that is bursting with music and energy, and it has never been screened in the cinemas here in the West!

What is this rarely seen film about? A lone man meanders through the seemingly empty streets of a deserted city on his scooter. Garbage is strewn in the streets, cars are abandoned, there is not a soul in sight….. except at a strange little record shop that’s open. The lone man goes in and is annoyed that the owner would open his record store on the day a comet is racing towards the Earth, inevitably causing its destruction. And so begins Fish Story, a seemingly disparate tale told over several times periods and unrelated people, only to show a strange butterfly effect in the final climax.

When the film made the rounds at various film festivals it got rave reviews, and deservedly so. Director Yoshihiro Nakamura creates a genre-bending film from a novel by Kotaro Isaka that is comedic, dramatic, supernatural, action-packed, and most of all a film about music and how even the most obscure song can change the fate of the world.

The film spans four decades and elements include a failed punk rock band in the late 1970s, a meek college student in the 1980s, a doomsday cult in 1999, a ferry-hijacking in 2009, and a trio of people hanging out in a second-hand record shop waiting for a comet to strike the earth in 2012. All these threads intertwine to create a really quirky and delightful tapestry, with wit and humour, as well as an exceptional cast. Even better, it’s definitely more than the sum of its parts…. and it has one of the greatest soundtracks ever recorded for a movie.

Here is one response:

“Fish Story is a film that it’s better to not know much about. What I can tell you is that it’s brilliant, funny and has freaking awesome music. It has a post-apocalyptic flair to it. Although it does ponder questions like – how you would spend your time if you knew the world was going to end, or if you believe in the unbelievable – the joy of it really is that it unfolds beautifully in front of the eyes like a puzzle slowly being put together but where each and every piece is a gem unto itself.”

This will be a High-definition screening.

—

Please note:

If you or a housemate/family member has signs of covid-19 or is diagnosed with covid-19 in the last 14 days, please do not attend this screening. Keep distance to other visitors and volunteers of OCCII. Covid-19 is not a conspiracy.

Entrance is FREE, but we ask you to make a booking/reservation ahead via our website if bookings are open (see below)
You can reserve 1 chair if you wish to sit separately, or 2 if you will arrive as a pair.
Reservations are valid until 10 minutes before the movie starts

We will have a few chairs available for people that arrive last minute, maybe more after no-shows.

Doors open: 20:30
Movie starts: 21:00

Our bar is cash only, please keep this in mind!