Plot: Nightclub manager Bingo (Satoshi Tsumbuki) has stolen away the girlfriend (Eri Fukatsu) of his yakuza boss Teshio's (Toshiyuki Nishida) and now he faces an ultimatum: he can introduce the chief to the legendary mysterious hitman 'Phantom Assassin' named Della Togashi or die. As a desperate measure, Bingo decides to hire stuntman/wannabe star Taiki Murata (Koichi Sato) to play the part of the elusive assassin. Believing he will be starring in an epic gangster film in the role of his life, Taiki comes to the port town of Sucago, where the film is to be shot, but he is actually risking his neck walked into a major gang war.
The fictional port town of 'Sucago,' used as the backdrop of the movie, was built entirely at Toho Studio. Eventually taking up over five studios at the Toho Studios.
The “magic hour” is a film term referring to a brief period of time between dusk and nightfall when the most beautiful footage can be shot. Spanning the time when the sun has dropped below the horizon to the moment when the last lingering rays are blotted out by darkness, it is the world bathed in an ethereally pale light.
'I want to make a perfect comedy that will go down in history and make the audience laughs three times a minute, while also incorporating the elements of a human drama,' Koki Mitani told reporters. Adding that the 'sky is the limit' for the budget,' Mitani said he plans to build sets at the Toho studio totaling 3,675 square meters (39,557 square feet) in area.
Tags: Magic Hour, Za Majikku Awa, 2008, Japanese movies, Comedy movies, asian movies
Featured reviews for
Magic Hour, The
LoveHKfilm, by Kozosource:
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/magic_hour.html
«This isn't a realistic film, and is instead wonderfully filmed theater, managing to earn exceptional goodwill through fun situations, snappy pacing, agreeable comedy, and a sentimental warmth that never feels pandering. For glorious, engaging four-color fun, The Magic Hour is hard to beat - in this or any other moviemaking era.»
«THE MAGIC HOUR, like Mitani's previous film, is very well-made and well-acted, and is filled with lots celebrity cameos. I've often marvelled at how polite and quiet Japanese audiences are in cinemas, but THE MAGIC HOUR is definitely the first time when I heard the people in the cinema laughing that loudly the whole time.»
«With that tantalizing premise, “The Magic Hour” sets out to make you laugh continuously, while also introducing warm fuzzy moments from the golden age of cinema.»
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