The Great Passage

The Great Passage
The Great Passage
	The Original Japanese Poster.
Japanese name
Kanji	舟を編む
Revised Hepburn
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Fune o Amu
Directed by	Yuya Ishii
Written by	Kansaku Watanabe
Based on	The Great Passage; by Shion Miura
Produced by	Tomoo Tsuchii; Kimitaka Goka; Fumitsugu Ikeda; Yasuyuki Iwanami
Starring	Ryuhei Matsuda; Aoi Miyazaki; Joe Odagiri; Kaoru Kobayashi; Go Kato
Cinematography	Junichi Fujisawa
Edited by	Shinichi Fushima
Music by	Takashi Watanabe
Production; companies	Filmmakers; Little More Co.
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	13 April 2013 (Japan);
Running time	133 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

The Great Passage (舟を編む, Fune o Amu) is a 2013 Japanese drama film directed by Yuya Ishii, starring Ryuhei Matsuda as a dictionary editor. It is based on the best-selling novel by Shion Miura.^[1] The film won several awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year, and also received several nominations. It was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,^[1] but it was not nominated.

Plot

Mitsuya Majime (Ryuhei Matsuda) is an unsuccessful and introverted publishing salesman. But his love of reading and dedication, as well as a post-graduate degree in linguistics, catches the eyes of Masashi Nishioka (Joe Odagiri) and Kouhei Araki (Kaoru Kobayashi), dictionary editors in his company who are seeking a replacement for Araki himself, as his wife is sick and he would like to spend more time looking after her.

With Majime on the editing team, the group plans to produce a new dictionary called "Daitokai" (The Great Passage/大渡海)^[2] which would bridge the gap between people and the sea of words and would take years to complete.

Back at his home, the Sou-Un-Sou Rooming House, Majime meets Kaguya Hayashi (Aoi Miyazaki), his landlady's granddaughter who has just returned from culinary school. He is struck by her beauty. Upon discovering this, the chief editor Matsumoto (Go Kato) asks Majime to write the definition for the word "Love".

Cast

Ryuhei Matsuda as Mitsuya Majime
Aoi Miyazaki as Kaguya Hayashi
Joe Odagiri as Masashi Nishioka
Kaoru Kobayashi as Kohei Araki
Go Kato as Tomosuke Matsumoto
Haru Kuroki as Midori Kishibe
Misako Watanabe as Take
Chizuru Ikewaki as Remi Miyoshi
Shingo Tsurumi as Murakoshi
Hiroko Isayama as Kaoru Sasaki
Kaoru Yachigusa as Chie Matsumoto
Kazuki Namioka as Editor
Kumiko Asō as Actress

Reception

Critical response

The Great Passage received generally favorable reviews from critics. Yvonne Teh of South China Morning Post gave the film 4 and a half out of 5 stars.^[3] James Hadfield of Time Out Tokyo gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, saying "Yuya Ishii's tale of a dictionary maker in love is genuinely charming."^[4] Screen International's Mark Adams writes that, "The film pays affectionate – and even old-fashioned – tribute to the world of words and dictionaries, while also finding space for a tender and slow-paced romance that would be out-of-step for a contemporary story."^[5] Gary Goldstein of Los Angeles Times gave the film a favorable review, noting that "it's the power of words to enlighten and connect us that remains the constant and gives this charming film its special place on the shelf."^[6]

Accolades

Awards
Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
Blue Ribbon Awards^[7]^[8]	February 11, 2014	Best Film		Nominated
		Best Director	Yuya Ishii	Nominated
		Best Actor	Ryuhei Matsuda	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Joe Odagiri	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Haru Kuroki	Nominated
		Best New Actor	Haru Kuroki	Won
Hochi Film Award^[9]	December 18, 2013	Best Film		Won
		Best Actor	Ryuhei Matsuda	Won
		Best Supporting Actress	Chizuru Ikewaki	Won
Japan Academy Prize^[10]	March 7, 2014^[11]^[12]	Best Film		Won
		Best Director	Yuya Ishii	Won
		Best Screenplay	Kansaku Watanabe	Won
		Best Actor	Ryuhei Matsuda	Won
		Best Actress	Aoi Miyazaki	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Joe Odagiri	Nominated
		Best Music	Takashi Watanabe	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Junichi Fujisawa	Nominated
		Best Lighting	Tatsuya Osada	Nominated
		Best Art	Mitsuo Harada	Nominated
		Best Sound Recording	Hirokazu Katou	Won
		Best Editing	Junichi Fushima	Won
		Best Newcomer	Haru Kuroki	Nominated
Mainichi Film Award^[13]	January, 2014	Best Film		Won
		Best Director	Yuya Ishii	Won
		Best Actor	Ryuhei Matsuda	Won
		Best Art Direction		Won

References

^ ^a ^b Mark Schilling (September 4, 2013). "Japan Picks 'Passage' as Oscar Pic". Variety. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
^ This titles is an homage to the first authentic Japanese Dictionary Daigenkai/大言海 (literally, The Great Ocean) edited by Ōtsuki Fumihiko.
^ Yvonne Teh (August 22, 2013). "Film Review: Tongue-tied linguist's lexicon of love in The Great Passage". South China Morning Post.
^ James Hadfield (April 12, 2013). "The Great Passage (Fune wo Amu)". Time Out Tokyo. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
^ Mark Adams (19 March 2013). "The Great Passage". Screen International. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
^ Gary Goldstein (December 12, 2013). "Review: 'The Great Passage' sweetly shows the power of words". Los Angeles Times.
^ Kevin Ma (January 6, 2014). "Great Passage leads Blue Ribbon nominations". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
^ Kevin Ma (January 23, 2014). "Yonosuke tops Blue Ribbon Awards". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
^ Kevin Ma (November 29, 2013). "Great Passage tops 38th Hochi Film Awards". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
^ 第37回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品発表！. japan-academy-prize.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved January 21, 2014.
^ Kevin Ma (January 17, 2014). "Kore-eda, Ishii, Yamada lead Japan awards". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
^ Kevin Ma (March 7, 2014). "The Great Passage wins Japan Academy Prize". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
^ Kevin Ma (January 21, 2014). "Great Passage, Pecoross top Mainichi Award". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.