back

Kimi no tori wa utaeru

And Your Bird Can Sing
Forum 2019
© Hakodate Cinema Iris
Sachiko works in a bookstore in a harbour town on Hokkaido, where a perpetually late co-worker named Boku catches her eye. After spending a night in the bunk bed of his minuscule apartment, Sachiko also meets Boku’s unemployed roommate Shizuo. “As we get older, do we also lose our youth?” she wants to know. Kimi no tori wa utaeru depicts a carefree ménage à trois that unfolds on sultry summer nights, attempting to draw out the desire to live in the moment into infinity, forever and ever. The sense of being adrift – by turns exuberant and melancholic – sets the pace. Nights are for clubbing, karaoke, billiards and the next morning, the three wake up beside each other once again. But what sort of life is this? How long can emotions float freely? Do these three need a greater sense of commitment to keep developing? These questions hang over the dancing trio, and each must find their own answers to them. The film observes young people as they gradually begin to look at themselves. The camera captures their faces and emotional responses in close-up, then takes a big step back – as more and more perspectives continue to appear on the horizon.
by Sho Miyake
with Tasuku Emoto, Shizuka Ishibashi, Shota Sometani, Masato Hagiwara, Makiko Watanabe, Tomomitsu Adachi, Ai Yamamoto, Takaya Shibata, OMSB, Hi'Spec Japan 2018 Japanese 106’ Colour

With

  • Tasuku Emoto (Me)
  • Shizuka Ishibashi (Sachiko)
  • Shota Sometani (Shizuo)
  • Masato Hagiwara (Shimada)
  • Makiko Watanabe (Naoko)
  • Tomomitsu Adachi (Moriguchi)
  • Ai Yamamoto (Mizuki)
  • Takaya Shibata (Hasegawa)
  • OMSB (MC)
  • Hi'Spec (DJ)

Crew

Written and Directed by Sho Miyake
Cinematography Hidetoshi Shinomiya
Editing Sho Miyake
Music Hi'Spec
Sound Design Takamitsu Kawai
Sound Takamitsu Kawai
Production Design Shinpei Inoue
Costumes Noriko Ishihara
Make-Up Sao Ishikawa
Producers Kazuhiro Sugawara Cinema Iris, Hiroshi Matsui Pigdom

World sales

SDP

http://www.stardustpictures.co.jp http://www.stardustpictures.co.jp

Produced by

Cinema Iris

Pigdom

Photos

Shô Miyake

© Hitoshi Makanai

Born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1984. His debut feature film Playback screened in competition at Locarno while And Your Bird Can Sing was presented in the Berlinale Forum. His other major works as a director include the music documentary The Cockpit which was selected for the Cinéma du Réel film festival in Paris and the streaming drama series Ju-on: Origins.

Filmography

2012 Playback 2014 The Cockpit; documentary 2017 Misshi to bannin 2018 Kimi no tori wa utaeru (And Your Bird Can Sing) 2019 Wairudo tsuâ (Wild Tour) 2020 Ju-on: Origins; series, 6 episodes 2022 Keiko, me wo sumasete (Small, Slow But Steady)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2022