Break Through!

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Break Through!
Poster
Japanese name
Kanaパッチギ!
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnPacchigi!
Directed byKazuyuki Izutsu
StarringErika Sawajiri
Shun Shioya
Yōko Maki
CinematographyHideo Yamamoto
Release date
  • January 22, 2005 (2005-01-22)
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Break Through! (パッチギ!, Pacchigi!) is a 2005 Japanese film directed by Kazuyuki Izutsu. [citation needed]

Plot[edit]

Romeo, A.K.A. Kosuke Matsuyama (Shun Shioya), is a second-year high school student. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a rampaging crowd of Korean boys, outraged by insults perpetrated by several of his idiotic classmates on two Korean girls. He makes a narrow escape, but soon after, he and his best friend Yoshio (Keisuke Koide) are sent by their homeroom teacher to invite the Korean students to a friendly soccer game as a way of restoring the peace.

Trembling like black-uniformed leaves, they enter enemy territory, where Kosuke encounters a doll-faced but serious-looking girl, Lee Kyung-ja (Erika Sawajiri), playing a Korean folk song, "Rimjin River," on a flute. He and Yoshio are also nearly lynched by her older brother Lee An-sung (Sosuke Takaoka) and his gang, but he is already smitten—and eager to learn that haunting tune.

The narrative focuses on the protagonist Kosuke's endeavor to both master a musical composition and earn the affection of a young woman who appears to inhabit a foreign and inhospitable environment. Concurrently, Ang Son and his group engage in street skirmishes with Japanese delinquents, adopting a confrontational approach akin to a competitive sport, with alternating victories. Ang Son, excessively adhering to notions of masculinity, confronts a pivotal decision when he discovers that his romantic partner, Kyoko Yanagihara, is expecting a child and resolute in keeping it, compelling him to confront a daunting dilemma: to mature or evade responsibility.

Cast[edit]

  • Shun Shioya as Kosuke Matsuyama (松山浩介), the main protagonist and a second-year student who falls in love with a girl of Korean origin, Lee Kyung-ja.
  • Keisuke Koide as Norio Yoshida (吉田紀男), Kosuke Matsuyama's best friend.
  • Sousuke Takaoka as Lee An-sung (이안성/イ・アンソン), a Zainichi Korean troublemaker who is the hot headed older brother of Lee Kyung-ja.
  • Erika Sawajiri as Lee Kyung-ja (이경자/イ・キョンジャ), a Zainichi Korean student who studies in a North korean school in Kyoto and Lee An-sung's shy younger sister who dreams of becoming a movie star. She's also the love interest of Kosuke Matsuyama.
  • Kazuki Namioka as Motoki Bang-ho (모토키 방호/モトキ・バンホー), Lee An-sung's best friend.
  • Hiroyuki Onoue as Park Jae-dok (박재독/パク・ジェドク), Lee An-sung's younger brother.
  • Kyoko Yanagihara as Momoko (桃子), Lee An-sung's girlfriend who gets pregnant by him, making him make a decision about his life.
  • Yoko Maki as Chun Gang-ja (전강자/チョン・ガンジャ), the best martial artist in the North korean school and the friend of Lee An-sung, Motoki and Jae-dok.
  • Noriko Eguchi as Hyeyoung (혜영/ヘヨン), Chun Gang-ja's best friend

Awards[edit]

48th Blue Ribbon Awards[1]

  • Won: Best Film

27th Yokohama Film Festival[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ ブルーリボン賞ヒストリー (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. Archived from the original on 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  2. ^ 第27回ヨコハマ映画祭 2005年日本映画個人賞 (in Japanese). Yokohama Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2007-09-04. Retrieved 2010-01-16.