Lots of movies are based on novels but this is the first film I’ve heard of that’s based on a photobook. The book is the extremely popular Asadake, a collection of lovingly humorous staged photos of the Asada family for which their second son, photographer Masashi Asada, won the prestigious Kimura Ihee award in 2008. The book, published in 2012 was a best-seller.
The film apparently recreates some of the pictures in the book and builds upon the importance of family photographs through means of the 3.11 tsunami and the true story of the thousands of lost and found snapshots.
Mega-popular ARASHI star Kazunari Ninomiya in the lead role will doubtlessly expose countless young smartphone-photo-era fans to the importance of familial photographic legacies.
I quite like how they went for accuracy in both Asada’s tattoos and use of a Pentax 67II.