Love Letter

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This article is about the 1995 Japanese language film. For other uses, see Love letter (disambiguation).

Love Letter

Directed by	Shunji Iwai
Produced by	Tomoki Ikeda Jiro Komaki Masahiko Nagasawa
Written by	Shunji Iwai
Starring	Miho Nakayama Etsushi Toyokawa Bunjaku Han Miki Sakai Takashi Kashiwabara
Music by	The Pillows, Remedios
Cinematography	Noboru Shinoda
Editing by	Shunji Iwai
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release date(s)	25 March 1995 (Japan) June 12, 1998 (USA)
Running time	117 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
IMDb profile

Love Letter is a 1995 film by Japanese film director Shunji Iwai, starring Miho Nakayama. The film was shot almost entirely on the island of Hokkaidō, mainly in the city of Otaru.

Love Letter became a box-office hit in Japan and later in other east Asian countries, most notably South Korea where it was one of the first Japanese films to be shown in cinemas since World War II.

Director Shunji Iwai hired Noboru Shinoda as cinematographer and the collaboration between the two produced a film praised for its evocative winter cinematography.

Iwai cast pop singer Miho Nakayama in the challenging dual roles of Hiroko Watanabe and Itsuki Fujii. The film also launched the movie career of teenager Miki Sakai who won 'Newcomer of the Year' Award in the Japanese Academy Awards for her portrayal of Itsuki Fujii as a young girl. The main male roles were played by Etsushi Toyokawa as Akiba Shigeru and Takashi Kashiwabara as the male Itsuki Fujii.

Fine Line Features acquired all US distribution rights of Love Letter ; Fine Line Features released this movie in the US theatrically under the new title When I Close My Eyes. However, Fine Line Features hasn't released this movie on DVD yet.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Awards
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Hiroko Watanabe has recently lost her fiancé Itsuki Fujii in a mountain climbing accident. On the day of his memorial ceremony, two years after his death, Watanabe finds his address in his high-school photo album. She decides to write him a letter. Surprisingly, she receives a reply from Fujii. Unsure who sent the reply, she cannot keep from writing again.