"This is a story
about my love." With the movie GO young Sugihara (wonderfully portrayed by Yôsuke KUBOZUKA) tells his story-the story about his life, the story of a generation, of two nations, but most of all a story about his love. He tells his story in his own speed, his own pictures-sometimes fast forwarding (but never hectic), sometimes in slow motion, he speeds forward, he looks back, yet doesn't lose count. GO for freedom It's not easy being Sugihara--raised as a Zainichi, a Korean who lives in Japan, by a father (helplessly lost: Tsutomu YAMAZAKI) who usually speaks with his fists and who'd rather be a Spaniard, a mother (secretly unhappy: Shinobu OTAKE) who is always trying to run away and this time maybe for good; his friends live in constant war with society (and the police). Violence is a daily routine, at home and at the North-Korean school Sugihara attends, where corporal punishment is a legitimate way of teaching and speaking Japanese is strictly prohibited. So Sugihara tries to fight through, constantly angry, constantly hostile. GO for love But something changes when Sugihara starts to visit a Japanese school, to outrun his patriotic teachers and their brainwashing methods, and first meets Sakurai (lovely: Kou SHIBASAKI) who decides that he should become her boyfriend. Sugihara's attention turns from violence to Shakespeare, but the anger grows to live among people whose intolerance is only exceeded by it's ignorance. And he learns that he will have to fight for acceptance-with words, with bare knuckles and maybe all alone, because Sakurai turns away from him when she finds out he's not Japanese. But he also understands that nobody is really free from prejudices, when one night he meets a young Japanese police officer who actually listens to him. GO to fight „No soy coreano; ni soy happones; jo soy desaraigardo" (I'm neither Korean, nor Japanese, I'm just grass without roots), Sugihara explains to his father and tells him about his future plans: He wants to attend College, wants to take a chance on his life. But most of all, he wants to accept and respect himself, for that, he understands, is the necessary first step. And because GO is a film about love, Sakurai returns to him, having overcome the xenophobia indoctrinated on her by her father, giving their love another chance. GO is fast, GO has speed, GO has action, GO has humour and GO has love. Director Isao YUKISADA characterizes a generation, a society, a nation and creates something unique: he lends the desperate his voice, that is loud enough to be heard without pointing fingers. GO is like it's protagonist-fresh, energetic and hungry for life; unwilling to give in to his fate.
c by Leska Beikircher
about my love." With the movie GO young Sugihara (wonderfully portrayed by Yôsuke KUBOZUKA) tells his story-the story about his life, the story of a generation, of two nations, but most of all a story about his love. He tells his story in his own speed, his own pictures-sometimes fast forwarding (but never hectic), sometimes in slow motion, he speeds forward, he looks back, yet doesn't lose count. GO for freedom It's not easy being Sugihara--raised as a Zainichi, a Korean who lives in Japan, by a father (helplessly lost: Tsutomu YAMAZAKI) who usually speaks with his fists and who'd rather be a Spaniard, a mother (secretly unhappy: Shinobu OTAKE) who is always trying to run away and this time maybe for good; his friends live in constant war with society (and the police). Violence is a daily routine, at home and at the North-Korean school Sugihara attends, where corporal punishment is a legitimate way of teaching and speaking Japanese is strictly prohibited. So Sugihara tries to fight through, constantly angry, constantly hostile. GO for love But something changes when Sugihara starts to visit a Japanese school, to outrun his patriotic teachers and their brainwashing methods, and first meets Sakurai (lovely: Kou SHIBASAKI) who decides that he should become her boyfriend. Sugihara's attention turns from violence to Shakespeare, but the anger grows to live among people whose intolerance is only exceeded by it's ignorance. And he learns that he will have to fight for acceptance-with words, with bare knuckles and maybe all alone, because Sakurai turns away from him when she finds out he's not Japanese. But he also understands that nobody is really free from prejudices, when one night he meets a young Japanese police officer who actually listens to him. GO to fight „No soy coreano; ni soy happones; jo soy desaraigardo" (I'm neither Korean, nor Japanese, I'm just grass without roots), Sugihara explains to his father and tells him about his future plans: He wants to attend College, wants to take a chance on his life. But most of all, he wants to accept and respect himself, for that, he understands, is the necessary first step. And because GO is a film about love, Sakurai returns to him, having overcome the xenophobia indoctrinated on her by her father, giving their love another chance. GO is fast, GO has speed, GO has action, GO has humour and GO has love. Director Isao YUKISADA characterizes a generation, a society, a nation and creates something unique: he lends the desperate his voice, that is loud enough to be heard without pointing fingers. GO is like it's protagonist-fresh, energetic and hungry for life; unwilling to give in to his fate.
c by Leska Beikircher