GANTZ and BREATH at VIZ Cinema in February

Source: MediaLab press release Official Site: NewPeopleWorld.com Special Thanks to Erik Jansen VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese and Asian film, presents a pair of special movie events taking place at the venue in February. Trailers, screening times and tickets are available at VIZCinema.com. The venue is located inside NEW PEOPLE at 1746 Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown. Slated to screen on February 19th will be the acclaimed Korean director Kim Ki-duk’s romantic prison drama, BREATH, which will be followed by a reception with The Red Lantern: Bay Area Asian Cinephiles, based in San Francisco and the world`s largest Meetup group for Asian films. Also, by popular demand, VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE will offer a special one-night-only screening on February 19th of the live-action sci-fi thriller GANTZ (in Japanese with English subtitles). GANTZ is based on the smash hit manga and anime series and was world-premiered at 334 theatres nationwide in January.

BREATH Saturday, 2/19 at 5:00pm – ONE NIGHT ONLY! Tickets: $12.00 Directed by Kim Ki-duk, Korea, 83min, 2007, Digital, Korean with English subtitles On a cold winter day, after learning her husband has found a new woman, Yeon (Park Ji-ah) absent-mindedly heads for a prison where an inmate name Jin (Chang Chen) is confined. Although she doesn’t know him personally, repeated news of his suicide attempts on TV have subconsciously grown in her mind which now is leading her to seek him. Jin has no visitors and normally would not agree to meet a complete stranger, but hearing that it’s a woman, he accepts her request out of curiosity. Their first encounter is awkward. Yeon treats Jin like an old friend whereas Jin doesn’t open up so easily. To Jin’s surprise, Yeon comes back for a second visit… One day her husband follows her to the prison and witnesses an intimate exchange between Yeon and Jin. The jealous husband drags her home and tries to separate the new couple. While forced to be apart, time winds down for Jin’s execution. But the two are already attached to one another more than her husband assumed – more than life and death. And desperate Yeon finds a way to elude her husband and help Jin out of his misery. The Red Lantern: Bay Area Asian Cinephiles, VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE and the VCinema podcast and Webcast team up for The Red Lantern Series, San Francisco’s first and only year-round showcase dedicated to Asian cinema. For their third installment they present BREATH, the 14th film by South Korea’s Kim Ki-duk, who won Best Director honors at the Venice Film Festival for 3-IRON and at the Berlin International Film Festival for SAMARITAN GIRL. BREATH, which stars Chang Chen of 2046 and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, played in competition for the Palme d’Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. A raffle giveaway will precede the screening, and a reception will follow.

GANTZ (English Subtitled Version) Saturday, 2/19 at 7:15pm – ONE NIGHT ONLY! Tickets: $12.00 (attendees will also receive a special GANTZ poster) Directed by Shinsuke Sato, Japan, 129min, 2011, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles GANTZ is based on a hit manga series created by Hiroya Oku and stars leading Japanese actors Kazunari Ninomiya (LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA) and Kenichi Matsuyama (DETROIT METAL CITY, DEATH NOTE). The film tells the story of two childhood friends that are accidentally killed while trying to save another man’s life. Rather than find themselves in the hereafter, however, they awaken in a strange apartment in which they find a mysterious black orb they come to know as “GANTZ.” Along with similar abductees, they are provided with equipment and weaponry and manipulated into playing a kind of game in which they are sent back out to the greater world to do battle with alien beings, all while never quite knowing whether this game is an illusion or their new reality.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at NewPeopleWorld.com.

About VIZ Cinema

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s first movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX-certified sound system.

For more information on GANTZ please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan: