Hana and Alice

Hana & Alice (花とアリス)
Directed by Shunji Iwai
Produced by Shunji Iwai
Written by Shunji Iwai
Starring Anne Suzuki
Yû Aoi
Tomohiro Kaku
Music by Shunji Iwai
Distributed by Toho
Rockwell Eyes
Release dates
 March 13, 2004
Running time
 135 minutes
Language Japanese

Hana and Alice (花とアリス) is a 2004 Japanese teen romance film by director Shunji Iwai. The film, shot on HD digital video by the director of photography, Noboru Shinoda, who shared a longstanding working relationship with Shunji Iwai, concerns the life of two girls, the titular Hana (Anne Suzuki) and Alice (Yû Aoi), and the stress placed on their friendship as they move into high school.

Originally shot as a series of short films for the 30th anniversary of Kit Kat in Japan, it was later expanded into a feature film by Iwai and received theatrical release in Japan in 2004. It moved into theaters in other Asian territories later in 2004 and 2005, and into western film festivals, such as New York Asian Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival.

A prequel, The Case of Hana & Alice, is released on February 2015.[1]

Plot

Yu Aoi dancing in Hana and Alice

When Alice develops a crush on a stranger at the train station, she offers her best friend, Hana, the stranger's "half brother," Masashi. Hana declines, but after watching Masashi from a distance, she develops feelings for him. She stalks him by travelling on his regular train throughout the winter.

During the spring, Hana and Alice enrol Masashi's high school. Hana learns that Masashi is a member of the story-telling club, which prompts her to join as a member. As she continues to track him secretly, she witnesses his crash into a garage door, which leaves him unconscious. As he awakes, he finds Hana leaning over him. She reveals that a blow to Masashi's head has given him a case of amnesia and that she is his girlfriend. Hana and Masashi soon hang out as a couple while she continues deceiving him about their relationship. Alice becomes involved with Hana's lies by pretending she is Masashi's ex-girlfriend.

Through a series of events, a love triangle unexpectedly develops between Hana, Alice and Masashi when Masashi falls in love with Alice whom he still believes is his ex. Masashi eventually learns Hana's lie about his amnesia and reacts accordingly, which tests Hana and Alice's friendship and their relationships with people around them.

Cast

Awards

Box office

Box office gross:

References

  1. ↑ Kevin Ma (October 17, 2014). "Iwai Shunji to direct first anime feature". Film Business Asia. Retrieved October 18, 2014.

External links