The Hotel Venus
Encyclopedia
The Hotel Venus is a Japan
ese-made film, performed in the Korean language
. It was released on March 6, 2004 in Japan
, Tokyo
and in South Korea
September 10, 2004. In the Cannes Film Market in France it was released May 14, 2004.
) who lives in the attic and works as a waiter or handyman at the hotel. Room 1 is shared by two residents: an alcoholic doctor named Doctor (Teruyuki Kagawa), and Wife (Miki Nakatani), who used to be a nurse but now works as a hostess living in the hope of Doctor's recuperation. In Room 3 lives a bubbly girl by the name of Soda (Jo Eun Ji), who came from a deserted town where no one's flowers flourished and who has a dream to open her own flower shop. Finally, Room 4 is occupied by a challenging young boy by the name of Boy (Lee Jun Ki
), who carries around a gun longing to become a strong man and who wishes to become a hitman some day. Then there is the owner of the café, Venus, a mysterious transvestite with one bad leg.
Late one day, a drifter by the name of Gai (Park Jung Woo), a quiet man who avoids verbal communication, walks into the Venus Café with a little girl named Sai (Heui Ko To) who never smiles. He tells Chonan the secret password to entering the hidden hotel, and they become the residents of Room 2.
Gai later gets a job at a construction site, while Chonan perseveres in comforting Sai, encouraging her to open up her heart; in the process he finds his own heart slowly opening as well. Boy, who wants to become a strong man, doesn't like Gai staying at the hotel and in the midst of things he gets into a fight with Gai, challenging him to show his worth as a strong man. But in the process he ends up shooting Sai in the leg, handicapping her. In addition, Soda who is usually bubbly later becomes sad due to the illegal errands she has run for her boss at the flower shop. But Chonan eventually discovers Soda's illegal errands and confronts her, reminding her of the differences between right and wrong. Meanwhile, Doctor and Wife are constantly fighting over their petty differences and Doctor's alcoholism, which later causes Wife to leave in depression.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese-made film, performed in the Korean language
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
. It was released on March 6, 2004 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
September 10, 2004. In the Cannes Film Market in France it was released May 14, 2004.
Synopsis
In a strange world there is a secret hotel behind a shabby diner called the Venus Café, harbouring some unusual people where compelling secrets lie in each resident's heart—torturing secrets that have broken their emotional boundaries in the past. In this bittersweet, heart-wrenching story, there is a man by the name of Chonan (Tsuyoshi KusanagiTsuyoshi Kusanagi
is a Japanese entertainer. Kusanagi is a member of the popular Japanese idol group SMAP and has also appeared in a number of television dramas, variety shows and movies.-Background:Kusanagi grew up in Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan....
) who lives in the attic and works as a waiter or handyman at the hotel. Room 1 is shared by two residents: an alcoholic doctor named Doctor (Teruyuki Kagawa), and Wife (Miki Nakatani), who used to be a nurse but now works as a hostess living in the hope of Doctor's recuperation. In Room 3 lives a bubbly girl by the name of Soda (Jo Eun Ji), who came from a deserted town where no one's flowers flourished and who has a dream to open her own flower shop. Finally, Room 4 is occupied by a challenging young boy by the name of Boy (Lee Jun Ki
Lee Jun Ki
Lee Jun Ki is a South Korean actor, model and singer, who Koreans regard as a quintessential kkonminam idol. He rose to fame as Gong-gil in The King and the Clown...
), who carries around a gun longing to become a strong man and who wishes to become a hitman some day. Then there is the owner of the café, Venus, a mysterious transvestite with one bad leg.
Late one day, a drifter by the name of Gai (Park Jung Woo), a quiet man who avoids verbal communication, walks into the Venus Café with a little girl named Sai (Heui Ko To) who never smiles. He tells Chonan the secret password to entering the hidden hotel, and they become the residents of Room 2.
Gai later gets a job at a construction site, while Chonan perseveres in comforting Sai, encouraging her to open up her heart; in the process he finds his own heart slowly opening as well. Boy, who wants to become a strong man, doesn't like Gai staying at the hotel and in the midst of things he gets into a fight with Gai, challenging him to show his worth as a strong man. But in the process he ends up shooting Sai in the leg, handicapping her. In addition, Soda who is usually bubbly later becomes sad due to the illegal errands she has run for her boss at the flower shop. But Chonan eventually discovers Soda's illegal errands and confronts her, reminding her of the differences between right and wrong. Meanwhile, Doctor and Wife are constantly fighting over their petty differences and Doctor's alcoholism, which later causes Wife to leave in depression.
Cast
- Tsuyoshi KusanagiTsuyoshi Kusanagiis a Japanese entertainer. Kusanagi is a member of the popular Japanese idol group SMAP and has also appeared in a number of television dramas, variety shows and movies.-Background:Kusanagi grew up in Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan....
- Chonan - Miki Nakatani - Wife
- Teruyuki Kagawa - Doctor
- Park Jung Woo - Gai
- Heui Ko To - Sai
- Jo Eun Ji - Soda
- Lee Jun KiLee Jun KiLee Jun Ki is a South Korean actor, model and singer, who Koreans regard as a quintessential kkonminam idol. He rose to fame as Gong-gil in The King and the Clown...
- Boy - Masachika IchimuraMasachika Ichimurais a Japanese voice actor and musical singer. He was born in Kawagoe, Saitama. He is married to singer Ryoko Shinohara.-Movies:*Pokémon: The First Movie *The Nightmare Before Christmas...
- Venus - Masato IbuMasato Ibu' is a Japanese actor and voice actor.-Films:*Maison Ikkoku *Empire of the Sun as Sgt. Nagata*Sukeban Deka *Dr. Akagi *Taboo *Godzilla vs...
- Takashi MatsuoTakashi Matsuo' is a Japanese tarento, narrator, disc jockey, actor, and columnist from Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. His pet name, as well as his former stage name, is '. He is currently attached to Furutachi-Project. He is a graduate of the Osaka University of Arts's graphic design course, and is the chairman of...
- Flower shop owner - Masanobu Katsumura
- Yoji Tanaka - Policeman A
- Pete Plum - Duster
- Rizumu Kaneko - Lover of Chonan
- Ji Hyun Wu
Production credits
- Director: Hideta Takahata
- Screenplay: Tetsuro Aso
- Executive Producers: Chihiro Kameyama, Yasushi Shiina, Teruo Saegusa, Junichi Sakomoto
- Supervisors: Toru Ota, Takashi Ishihara, Nobuhisa Shimizu, Takeo Hisamatsu
- Producers: Yasushi Ogawa, Kuga Maeda, Masao Teshima, Yuichiro Eto
- Director of Photography: Jun Nakamura
- Production Designer: Yuji Tsuzuki
- Lighting Director: Katsutoshi Hirano
- Sound Mixer: Takashi Nishida
- Editor: Hideta Takahata