[Review] Heaven’s Door (2009)

Posted under AardvarkAsia Reviews on Monday, 10 August 2009 by LoLyfe

Heaven's Door

Michael Arias, better known for his work in the animation and digital domain on such features such as Tekkonkinkreet, Princess Mononoke and The Animatrix; lends his hand to directing a live action, Japanese film that’s actually a remake of a German comedy/drama from 1997.
Okay, confusion out of the way – we can begin…
Tomoya Nagase (My Boss, My Hero) plays Masato Aoyama, a life-long part-timer with no ambition. After a string of blinding migraine attacks he seeks medical advice only to be told his has an inoperable brain tumor. After being hospitalised he meets Harumi Shiraishi played by Mayuko Fukuda. She has also been diagnosed with a terminal disease and they bond almost immediately.
The film then turns into a road movie as they drink too much tequila, steal a Maserati, rob a post office and in a last ditch attempt to fulfil their dreams – head for the beach.

Heavens Door

The lead characters plight is hampered all the way by a vicious man trying to get his hands on his Maserati (and the contents therein) and the Police Chief in charge of their capture. What starts out to be a joy-ride to the ocean escalates into a desperate attempt to make dreams come true.

With a superb screenplay by Mika Omori (My Boss My Hero, Detroit Metal City) [developed from an original story by Thomas Jahn, subsequently developed into a screenplay by Til Schweiger for the original German film], stunning photography, outstanding lighting and a soundtrack that is so subtle but massive supplied by the Electronic Virtuoso’s Plaid – the film takes a bleak theme and turns it into something beautiful and compelling.

Don’t miss the tiniest of cameo appearances by Anna Tsuchiya – I missed it first time around and had to skip back to double check!

The film is available in both DVD and Blu-ray format from Yes Asia.
And I highly recommend you check out the soundtrack too.