The Friends

In the organizer's words:

夏の庭 The Friends
Natsu no niwa The Friends

Director: SÔMAI Shinji
1994, 113 minutes, OmeU DCP (restored version)

This moving story about growing up is based on the award-winning children's novel of the same name by writer Yumoto Kazumi. It depicts the cautious rapprochement between three boys and an old man in summertime Kobe.

Sixth-grade friends Kiyama, Kawabe and Yamashita enjoy playing soccer together, but are also interested in death. They decide to observe an elderly man who lives alone in a house in their neighborhood. When the eccentric Kihachi becomes aware of the boys, he is initially furious, but gradually a tender bond develops between the generations. The recluse, burdened by past experiences, opens up and shares his war memories with the children, who eagerly set about restoring his overgrown garden.

Film series
Director Sômai Shinji (1948-2001)
A sensitive master of long takes

Sômai Shinji is considered one of the great poets among Japanese directors. His visually powerful films are characterized by long takes, which he uses to sensitively address life and death, the challenges of growing up, family and friendship, togetherness and loneliness.

Sômai rose to prominence in Japan in the 1980s, when the film industry had to reorganize itself after the collapse of the traditional studio system. During this transitional phase, he acted as a pioneer in the era of independent directing. In Japan, his work is highly regarded and has won numerous awards; important directors such as Hamaguchi Ryûsuke, Koreeda Hirokazu and Kurosawa Kiyoshi were influenced by him. For a long time, Sômai was little known outside of Japan, but his work has been rediscovered and enthusiastically received by critics and audiences, especially in recent years, after Ohikkoshi (Moving) won the Venice Classics Award for Best Restored Film at the Venice International Film Festival in 2023.

Sômai Shinji was born on January 13, 1948 in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. After dropping out of law school, he began working as an assistant director at the Nikkatsu production company in 1972, where he worked with directors such as Hasegawa Kazuhiko and Terayama Shûji. He worked freelance from 1975 to 1979 and made his directorial debut in 1980 with Tonda kappuru (Dreamy fifteen). In 1982, Sômai founded the production company "Director's Company" together with other young filmmakers, which produced the style-defining film Taifû kurabu (Typhoon Club), among others. The breadth of his work ranges from the box office success Sêrâ fuku to kikanjû (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun) to moving dramas such as Ohikkoshi (Moving) and the melancholy road movie Kazahana (KAZA-HANA).

Between 1980 and 2001, Sômai directed 13 feature films, ten of which are presented here, including digitally restored versions. The series is complemented by the groundbreaking thriller Taiyô o nusunda otoko (The Man Who Stole the Sun) by Hasegawa Kazuhiko, Sômai's great mentor.

On September 9, 2001, Sômai died of cancer at the age of only 53.

Parts of the series will also be shown in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.

Supported by JTI

Price information:

Admission free