SABU
1964 (60 лет)Born in Wakayama Prefecture, Sabu studied at an Osaka fashion school before deciding to go to Tokyo to become a professional musician. It was suggested he try acting and in 1986 he made his film debut in Sorobanzuku. He earned his first starring role in the 1991 World Apartment Horror, a live-action film directed by Katsuhiro Ōtomo of Akira fame. Working from a script he wrote himself, he made his directorial debut with the 1996 Dangan Runner, a film that set his early style of "quirky action-comedies propelled by characters who hurtle headlong though squirming narratives steered more by the forces of incidence and coincidence than the actions of the protagonists themselves." Shin'ichi Tsutsumi played the lead in Sabu's first five films. Blessing Bell, starring Susumu Terajima (who has played minor roles in nearly all of Sabu's films), was a turn away from his kinetic, parodic, and black comedy narratives, and earned the NETPAC Award at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. Later films featured the J-pop band V6. In 2009, he directed The Crab Cannery Ship, a modern adaptation of a classic of Japanese proletarian literature written by Takiji Kobayashi.
He has continued to work as an actor, such as in Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer (2001).
His film Chasuke's Journey was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.
ポストマン・ブルース
SABU
Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kyôko Tôyama
Sawaki is a postman who's not quite thrilled about his boring way of life. But his life is about to change when he delivers mail to his old schoolmate Noguchi, who's now a member of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia, and just finished cutting his little finger off.
Postman Blues
ジョゼと虎と魚たち
Isshin Inudô
Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chizuru Ikewaki
Tsuneo is a university student working part-time in a mah-jong parlour. Lately the customers have been talking about an old lady who pushes a baby carriage through the streets. They say she is carrying something for a crime syndicate, and they wonder what it is she has in the carriage Money? Drugs? One day, the owner of the mah-jong parlour sends Tsuneo out to walk his dog. A baby carriage comes rolling down a hill and crashes into a guard rail. The old lady asks him to look into the carriage, where he finds a young woman clutching a knife. This is how Tsuneo first meets the girl who calls herself Josee.
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
Bunny Drop
SABU
Kenichi Matsuyama, Karina
Daikichi learns that his recently deceased grandfather has an illegitimate daughter with an unknown mother. The girl's name is Rin and she is just 6 years old. Everybody in Daikichi's family looks at the girl as an embarrassment and wants no part of her. Daikichi, annoyed by his family's attitude, decides to raise Rin by himself. Even though Daikichi himself has no experience raising a child and is still single.
Bunny Drop
ドライブ
SABU
Shinichi Tsutsumi, Ren Osugi
Kenichi Asakura is an uptight, hyper-square salesman. One day, three bank robbers commandeer his van. They are in hot pursuit of their fellow robber who has snatched the money. Unfortunately for the bank robbers, Asakura never drives over 40 km/h speed limit even under the extreme situation.
Drive
修羅の伝説
Seiji Izumi
Akira Kobayashi, Takanori Jinnai
A story about the development of a bright and strong yakuza. Otaki is an old-fashioned respectful yakuza who tries to protect his small yakuza family. When his boss gets shot, he decides to go after the plotters.
A Legend of Turmoil
800 Two Lap Runners
Ryuichi Hiroki
Shunsuke Matsuoka, Eugene Nomura
This coming-of-age story revolves around two young long distance runners, Kenji Hirose and Ryuji Nakazawa. Kenji, haunted by memories of his dead friend Aihara with whom he had a brief homosexual affair, is now dating Aihara's former girlfriend Kyoko, but Kyoko is more interested in Kenji than he is in her. Ryuji, Kenji's friend and track rival, is pursuing hurdler Shoko but she in turn is after Kenji. Ryuji does have his own admirer, Nao, Kenji's younger sister, but when they do get together, Nao resembles her brother too much for Ryuji to go through with the lovemaking.
800 Two Lap Runners
Jam
SABU
Sho Aoyagi, Keita Machida
A traditional ballad singer Hiroshi has enthusiastic middle-aged female fans. Takeru believes that by doing good things to others, he could cause a miracle to happen and cure his beloved girlfriend who is in coma. Tetsuo avenges himself on yakuza for putting him in a jail and now is chased by them. These three men's paths are somehow intertwined and drawing them toward a showdown.
Jam
弾丸ランナー
SABU
Shinichi Tsutsumi, Tomorowo Taguchi
An unemployed man trying to steal from a convenience store, and the store clerk catches him in the act. the thief runs away with the store-clerk right after him. All the while, the store clerk is in trouble with a low-rank yakuza. Along the chase for the thief, they catch the eye of the Yakuza who's been looking for the convenience store clerk.
Dangan Runner
