TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
120 minutes. Japan-Uzbekistan-Qatar. 2020. Languages: Japanese, Uzbek. Subtitled. Colour.
Official selection: Locarno International Film Festival (Closing film); New York Film Festival; BFI London Film Festival
TV host Yoko (Atsuko Maeda) is in Uzbekistan shooting the latest episode of a travel show with an all male crew. Although she is put in dangerous situations, Yoko is resilient. In her free time she wanders alone through the streets, texts her firefighter boyfriend in Tokyo, or sings Edith Piaf songs.
Japanese writer-director Kiyoshi Kurosawa sets this modern-day docu-drama – insightful and humorous detour into ‘cultural’ tourism – on the silk road in commemoration of 25 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Uzbekistan. Kurosawa draws a nuanced, rich and emotional performance from Atsuko Maeda (a former J-pop idol in her third collaboration with Kurosawa).
This is a rare opportunity to discover the stunning urban, rural, and natural settings found in Uzbekistan through the eyes of a fine director.
